So, you’ve decided to
start or grow your business, or just landed a sales position and are looking
for new ideas on how to sell your product or service to as many people or
companies as possible. How you go about this will depend on whether you are
selling a product or a service, but the basic principles are the same. Even in
these difficult times, growing your business is not impossible as long as your
product or service is still relevant or can be temporarily adapted, as long as
you are using the right approach.
1)
Set
Clear Sales Targets
Having clear sales targets of how many items you want to sell, how many
new clients you want to bring on board each month or what financial goal you
want to achieve will certainly help you to achieve your objectives in sales.
Make sure the sales targets are communicated to everyone on the sales and
marketing teams, as well as other stakeholders who may be instrumental in
helping the company achieve overall sales targets.
2)
Clearly
Identify Your Target Customers
Make sure you are very clear on which customers would gain the most
benefit from your particular product or service. If your sales and marketing
teams understand your products well, they will be able to better promote them to
the right kind of prospects. You may be able to sell ice to the Eskimos, but if
they don’t have any need for it, you are wasting your time. Selling ice to the
Arabs might be a much better idea! The more you know about the customers you
are selling to – whether they are large, medium or small businesses, what their
annual turnover and profits are, what their main activities are and how many
branches they have for distribution, the more defined your targeting can be. So
make sure you do your homework and research them before you contact them. A company credit report can be a great source of this kind of
information.
3)
Have
a Passion for your Product or Service
If you don’t believe in what you are selling, you are in the wrong job
or the wrong business. Your feelings about whatever you are selling will shine
through to any prospect. If you truly believe in what you are selling, if you
think it is a great product or service and you know it will help your potential
customer, your pitch will be far more convincing.
4)
Be
Pitch Prepared
Depending on what you are selling, whether you are in a shop, cold
calling prospects or presenting via conference calls – you need to have a clear
sales pitch ready. Most times it won’t be wise to read off a script, but it is
still wise to have one. By writing down what you plan to say, you will identify
the pain points of your potential customers and the solutions your product or
service can offer them. Plan also what to say if they reject you, how you will
get them to talk to you in the first place, and how you will present a clear
‘call to action’ for the next steps of how they will actually buy from you.
5)
Be
Ready to Negotiate
Depending on the country you are selling into, there may often be a
negotiation stage before you can close the deal. Be ready for this beforehand –
know what is the maximum discount you could offer for example. It’s easy to
sell something that seems very cheap, but what is the point if it won’t make
you a profit or cover the costs of production? By having a clear idea of these
costs, you will be better prepared to know when to say no, and where you can
meet your sales prospect in the middle. Successful negotiation is essential to
closing a deal and the more prepared you are for the various scenarios your
prospective customer will come up with, the more successful you will be.
So, like many things
in business, having a clear strategy, setting clear objectives, having a
genuine passion and being prepared for any eventuality are the keys to being
successful. For more free business tips, follow me, or Cedar Rose’s company
page https://www.linkedin.com/company/cedar-rose-international-services-ltd on LinkedIn where my articles are also shared
or take a look at our Newsroom which has a lot of very useful information and
is regularly updated with around three articles a week giving you business
advice and ideas, as well as looking at specific key markets and forthcoming
events.
Cedar Rose can give
you access to information on over 12 million prospective customers today via
your Salesforce CRM with our free application.
We also provide company profiles, credit reports and marketing lists.