How to Improve Sales

on

On Thursday the 20th of March at the luxurious Intercontinental Melbourne the Rialto, saw the first Google Partners Masterclass event for 2015 taking place.
Guest speaker Alex Langshur from Cardinal Path – an industry leading firm in digital analytics from the United States, spent two days sharing his expertise with 30 lucky Melbourne-based digital marketers, teaching them how to acquire more customers and grow their sales pipelines.
As usual, Google provided us with a full course of meals throughout the day, as well as an unlimited supply of Nespresso coffee!
Overall the event was an eye-opening and fun experience and I strongly encourage anyone who is remotely interested in digital marketing or achieving success online to become a Google Partner and attend the next Masterclass.

How to improve your sales

We've put together a valuable list comprised of our learnings during the past few days so if you're keen on improving your sales pitch be sure to include these essential elements to both your online and offline sales strategies.

Sales Philosophy & Principles

  • Commit to the practice of listening – Listen more than you speak and you will be able to better meet your client’s needs.
  • Practice radical honesty – Honesty is the best policy; do not simply tell your client what they want to hear. If you can’t meet their needs then say so. By doing this you will build trust and respect.
  • Practice knowing yourself – What is it that you do best? What is unique about you that differentiates you from your competitors?
  • What is your story? – How did you come to be? Your story helps you align with prospects’ needs.
  • Hunt Mammoths not rabbits – Go for the big clients first before the smaller ones. Smaller clients have the same or greater workload, but less revenue.
  • Relationships are important – People buy people so make sure you are 'likeable'.
  • Be fearless – Don’t take rejection personally. Use it as an opportunity to sort the wheat from the chaff.
  • Be responsive – Answer inquiries ASAP. There is a good chance that you are not the only agency your client is speaking to.
  • Follow through – Say what you are going to do and when. Then do it.
  • Follow up – Be patient if prospects don’t follow through right away. Don’t be shy about reaching out.
  • Seek alignment – Make sure that you are in synchronisation with your client.

Lead generation

  • Step 1: prospect & qualify – Cast a broad net and start to narrow it down to potential clients who are a good “fit” for you. The types of questions you could ask are; Are they local? Are they “Mammoth or a Rabbit? Have they visited my website? Are they a cold, warm or hot lead? Have you had experience in their industry?
  • Step 2: Pre-approach – Here is where we refine our research and narrow our qualified prospects even further. You may want to; Analyse their campaigns & form an opinion: can I do better? Follow them on Twitter and learn about their interests. Leverage LinkedIn and find out if you know someone who could introduce you to anyone in the company.
  • Step 3 – Approach – Make the approach. Listen and determine for yourself if they are: A good fit; Good fit later; or a waste of time.

Pitching Business

One of the most important things to remember when pitching to a client is to make it about the client and their world, not yours.
Here are some pointers:
  • Shorter is better – make your pitch brief and to the point.
  • Make sure it can be tailored for each audience.
  • Practice Practice Practice.
  • Rehearse with friends. Rehearse in front of the mirror. Get comfortable with the flow.
  • Speak passionately.

Pricing

  • What is the cost to do the work? What is your hourly rate? What is the amount of effort you will be required to do?
  • What time do you have to do the work in? Compressed time frames mean that you have to devote yourself exclusively to something.
  • Cost + Margin = Price
  • When providing a service you can only provide two of the following: Fast; Cheap; Good.

People, partnerships & systems: keys to long-term success.

  • Tracking & Metrics. It is important that you are tracking your process to understand your performance. Choose the metrics that matter most to you and aim to improve them.
  • Rule 1 & 2 with salespeople – Hire slowly and fire quickly.

Comments

Post a Comment