Are you selling right?

Strategy


When the conversion ration of your sales leads increases, what do you credit it to? To your skill and salesmanship? Conventionally many entrepreneurs tend to think this way. You may be a good sales person yourself and if you are not, you can be only lucky to find a great salesman to join your team. I bet, in most circumstances you would be unlucky and herein I have a solution to suggest you: Chart out a Sales System for the entire process right from generating a lead to closing the deal. Break up the process so that it can be followed in steps. This will enable you to make your sales efforts work, whether or not you are genetically blessed with the required skills.

I have presented my suggestion in the following points.

1. The first question in designing your Sales System is, ‘Do you completely understand your product?’ Write down all the features of your product and the ROI (return on investment) your customer will get out of each feature. There can be a different set of customers for each feature. You might have discovered that often different customers want to buy the same product but their needs can slightly differ. At the same time you cannot come out with a different product for different customers. The solution lies in pitching the product in a customized way (highlighting the required set of features) to different leads.

2. Having understood your product in and out, what is the first thing to do when you come face to face with your customer? Go on and on and on.. about your product? Let me wake you up. He is absolutely not interested in knowing about your product. He is only interested in what is it that you’ve got to offer him. What is it that will solve his problem? So the first thing to do is to quickly engage with him to scoop out his ‘problem area’ which he wants addressed. Once you have discovered the problem, pick up those features in your product which will be relevant to him. Finally present your product as a solution to his problem.

3. Sell your customer a USP. Consider why your customer would want to buy your product when other players in the same area are offering the same product. So unless your product is an innovation in the industry, it is indispensable to crown it with a USP.

4. Back your product with a guarantee. Nothing works better to prove the credibility of your product other than to back your product with a guarantee. Tag your offer with a ‘money back’. And what if you had to pay back to a few customers. That is the most effective way to know about the snags in your system. Secondly the number of leads generated will far outnumber the number of money back claims (if any).

I would further like to know whether you guys are actually following a ‘Sales System’.
What are your ideas on the same?