Planning For Sales Success-10 Things Your People Need To Do Now |
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By: Kevin Cahalane Posted: 2007-01-23 23:28:54 |
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Is it possible for your people (or you, their leader) to make a sales call today, without a goal/target and an outcome clearly in mind?A sales call today is costing your organisation between $150 - $500 every single time a sales person walks through a customer's/prospect's door. (These figures are based on numerous industry surveys conducted over the years.)The answer to the above question is a resounding 'NO'.Sales people simply cannot be vendors (order takers) or tourists ('just in the area, thought I would pop in') any more. Customers and prospects today are sharper, busier, more demanding and conscious of the value their suppliers (should) offer them.Listed below are some of the key areas of the Planning Process, so your sales team will, in the words of ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky ... 'skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been'. Look at the Relationship 'GAP'. How are you perceived by your customers today? How do you want to be perceived in 6 - 12 months? What specific actions do you have to do to get there? This is a great sales team exercise.
Analyse your current customer base. Look for growth and product penetration opportunities; seek creative ways to help your customers grow their business. Do your people have upsell, cross-sell and account penetration objectives for every customer? Know what business you are in - are you a one stop shop? Fountain of knowledge for your customers? A profit-making machine - again, for your customers? Or, is your company on the lower end of a customer's wish list, due to poor service from a member of your team? Know what your customers want and need and create REAL VALUE for them - assist them with marketing and promotion? Train their staff (your product sales will soar, if you do)? What can you do to add REAL VALUE?? If you know the answer to the above, benchmark your sales team - this will determine your critical factors necessary for success and allow you to measure your team's sales and service excellence. Seek feedback from your customers on your sales team's performance. Squeeze the most out of your time each day. Make each day GOLD by prioritising and preparing, long term planning will inevitably fail if you don't look after the everyday business - this takes commitment to the task and the process. Are your people good time and resource managers? Your people should have a PURPOSE for every single call they make - a primary purpose; a value-adding purpose; establish a call back purpose as well. Your people will only build relationships with their customers if they know why they are calling. Develop a plan for New Business Acquisition and Lost Business Reactivation. Will this be 5% - 10% - 20% of time spent? A plan definitely needs to be factored in to your long term planning. Use the telephone! Keep in touch calls to customers, follow up, gaining appointments and low yield sales are all important but do not require personal calls all the time. The telephone is a powerful sales and service tool. Develop and utilise a data base. This will enable you and your team to save time, control the sales process and gain instant feedback on what is happening in your market. Sales funnel development is also an essential sales tool.Work with your sales team to develop and build on the above strategies and you will ensure successful results … and increased bottom line profits.Kevin Cahalane, Sales & Service Momentum, is an international speaker, sales/customer service training professional and business strategy specialist. He is the publisher of popular e.zine 'SaSeMo' - read by thousands of sales, service, marketing and training managers around the world. |
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