There are a number of important elements to any business aspiring to success. One of those elements is a good product or service. But, no matter how wonderful your products or services might be, unless there is an audience who sees value in them, and is willing to purchase them, they are pretty much worthless. This is where establishing a sales system strategy comes into play. Identifying target markets of people who will buy what you want to sell, then converting them into actual paying customers, may be the most important strategies you will face in developing a successful company.
I found the following Prosperity formula in an article in the Under30CEO e-Newsletter. The article discussed the need for a sales strategy in order to prosper. Here is the formula the author shared for achieving Prosperity
Perceived Expertise + Visibility = Credibility
Credibility + Sales System = More Clients / Sales (Prosperity)
One thing you can certainly find in abundance online these days is an enormous number of self-proclaimed gurus, ninjas, experts and specialists on social media and marketing. “Create exceptional content.” “Content is King!” “Improve your profile.” “Sign on to the newest social media platform.” “Secrets to social media success”. Each one vying for your attention and dollars, promising to help you achieve only a portion of this important formula for prospering: creating credibility by presenting your expertise, or perceived expertise to the world.
Of course businesses and individuals need to develop expertise and publish it where potential customers can find it. But, that will only get your firm part way to Prosperity. For credibility to evolve into actual, paying customers, you need to have a sales system strategy as well. How do you know that your brand and credibility is actually getting to your ideal customers? Will your messaging get lost in all the noise of cyberspace? If you are spending hour upon hour in front of your computer, posting on every available social media site, is it paying off? No? Well, you are definitely not alone.
For those who have identified their ideal customers and are positioned to reach them, what comes next? Where do you go from this point? What steps need to be taken to move the prospect forward toward an actual sale? Even firms with sales staff on board often don’t achieve the results they want or need. Why? Because they don’t have a sales system strategy. Sales personnel often use their own ideas and experiences, then wait for Prosperity to knock on their door or call on the phone. It’s just not that simple.
Some time ago, one of those great nuggets of wisdom appeared in an article in ‘Tactics’, an e-newsletter I receive from Lissa Versteegh, of Sandler Training in Georgia. The article discussed the need to know exactly where actual sales are made. We don’t make sales while learning how to sell. We don’t make sales while reading up on sales techniques or sitting in a sales seminar. Nor do sales happen while you are searching the Internet, trying to find information to help you close a pending sale with a prospect.
The most successful salesman Lissa knows shared his secret: sales happen when you are in front of people. Face to face, not over the phone or through your computer. The adage: ‘People buy from those they know, like and trust.’ supports his theory. It’s only when you actually meet with clients that they decide they can believe all they have heard or read about you, your company, your products and services. It’s only then they can decide if they like and can trust you to provide solutions for their needs. Then the sale takes place.
Develop your own company sales system strategy. Once you have a prospect’s interest, what next steps will get you nearer to closing the deal and actually making a sale? When and where will face time with the prospect occur? Do scheduled meetings need to occur? What needs to transpire at each meeting? What useful information should be presented and at what point in your process?
The sales process does not need to be overly complex, but you do need a step-by-step strategy. Without that sales strategy and system, it will be very difficult for your firm to prosper. Uniformity within your sales staff will take you toward Prosperity.
We’d love to have you share your own sales strategy or system below. How do you move prospects from initial contact through signing on the line, issuing a check or handing you the cash?
