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SELLINGSelling yourself is the most important transaction. You have to show that you are trading in items that you believe in. Whether or not people buy from you, they must trust you and the information. You must show that you care enough about your customer to offer a product or service which will be of benefit to him/her. Be yourself and discover your best way of helping prospects to choose the right product for them. We all have different styles which are based on our own individual personalities. Don't try to be someone else. Learn from others - yes. Assimilate ideas. Remain true to your own ideals and be comfortable with what you are selling. What is selling?Selling is that part of marketing in which the sales person actively interacts with prospects/customers. This interaction will include face to face meetings, telephone and written communication and networking - in fact any way that you come into personal contact.Moving a cold contact to a hot prospectIt has been shown that a prospect will require about seven contacts before buying. Prospects move their way through being a cold contact, to warm contact to hot. Obviously the speed of this process varies from prospect to prospect. Depending upon the item which is for sale I have found that some people will not even look or consider during the first three approaches. Some may then begin to investigate the product and the offer being made. It may still take several more communications before people finally buy.What I have learned from this is not to give up. Just keep offering. This doesn't mean being pushy. Let people know you and your products are still available to them. With every contact you are attempting to move your prospects up the scale of 'heat' Imagine a thermometer measuring heat from zero to boiling - that is from cold prospect to customer who has bought the item on offer. At all stages of the process to get prospects from cold to hot records should be kept. At each stage various selling methods can be used. Collecting cold prospects: attend trade shows, exhibitions, give talks, network, cold call by telephone or face to face. Keeping prospects warm: sales letters and literature, follow up calls, consistent networking, meetings. Selling to hot prospects: once they know and trust you specific presentations and propositions can be put forward to close a sale. At each stage you will learn to feel your way and get to know when your prospect is moving to the next stage. The Sales PlanAll parts of the plan need to be undertaken. If everything depends on you then you must learn to do all parts yourself. You will be much more comfortable with some than others. Don't ignore the tactics you don't like doing. Learn to do all that is necessary and hopefully become more comfortable as you do things more often.Create a plan so that you work through all stages regularly throughout the year. That way you will produce a steady stream of buyers. Growing your customer base is a constant selling activity. Don't wait until you need customers, it takes time to work prospects through the system. The plan should be worked out in such a way that you include a forecast of customer levels and sales targets. A month by month forecast means that you can adjust as you find out what works. Be realistic. This is not a wish list. The plan must be possible to achieve and then you must work at it consistently. Depending on what it is that you are selling, there will be a delay at the beginning until the time that you get a steady stream of sales. For small goods 30 days could be the start up time frame whereas for larger products and services 90 days seem to be the usual time lag. Sales Plan FundamentalsSo what do we base the plan on? If the business has been running for a while there are records on which to base the forecast. Otherwise undertake your market research and use the figures obtained as your starting point.Take into consideration the following: 1 How many customers do you need? This will depend on whether you are selling small ticket or large ticket items. For example: if your products cost £10 you will need 100 sales to retail £1000 but if your service retails at £500 you will need two sales. 2 From #1 it will be seen that you also need to know how many sales you must make each month for your business to be viable. 3 Is your product range/service such that you, can expect customers to return? Or do you need to find new customers for each sale? 4 Will your sales fluctuate according to the seasons of the year? Each year will be different. * You may already have customers from previous years * Your business structure may already be in place. * What are the economic trends within your business sector? * What about your competition? Is there more? Is there less? Why? How will it affect your business? * Will you expand by employing more sales people? * How much do you intend to budget for advertising? * Will you keep prices the same? * Will your products/services remain the same? Write it all down. Don't keep it all in your head. It is not until you set it down that you find there are gaps. If find that while I mull things over in my head I will be concentrating on only one or two items to the exclusion of other areas. Keep your feet on the ground When forecasting what you hope to achieve keep your dreams in check and work with realism. There are only so many hours a day which you can harness. You will also have other constraints such as money. Keep communicating If you have sales people then ask them what customers want and what they think about the future. What are the views of your accountant? Thinking out your Sales PlanWhat are you going to focus on?* existing products / services * developing products / services * new products / services What needs changing? * packaging * customer service * equipment * staff * location Work out the steps need to achieve your aims How are you going to delegate, divide the work? Or how are you going to streamline your business in order to continue working alone?
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