by Stephanie Willis, Kansas SBDC Advisor
Sales Solves Everything!
The key to a successful sales and growth strategy is a process. As illustrated in the below graph in a study by Hubspot, companies who defined their Customer Journey and sales process achieved:
- Greater Return on Marketing Investment
- Improvement on Sales Cycle Timing
- Revenue generated from Cross sell or upsell
Where and how do you start building your sales process?
- Define your Entry Points – this can be website, referrals, social media – anywhere where the customer might here about you
- Capture Emails – According to a McKinsey & Co. study, email marketing is still 40 times more effective at reaching your target consumer than most social channels
- Understand your customer’s pain point and decision criteria – Putting yourself in the customer’s shoes will allow you to solve the problem they have as well as deliver the expected experience to ensure success.
- Craft Communication – each piece of content should focus on a stage of the customer journey and should meet their focused interest to move them further through the journey. PRO TIP: Help your customer through their journey:
- KNOW – Get to know you and why you might be a solution
- LIKE – What do others say about you
- Trust – Do you have certifications, statistics to support your solution
- Try – Is there someway to experience you product/service and/or have a meeting with you to determine if the solution is correct for them.
- Buying Process – work through the touchpoints and minimize the effort it takes to make a purchase.
- Advocacy – your customers are your best sales people. Be sure to survey their experience and continue to work with them to build a solid relationship.
Developing your sales process will not only make it easier for your sales people to work effectively and efficiently, but it will allow you to track progress and modify as needed. Utilizing METRICS helps to develop projections and plan production/staffing for the delivery of your services/product. So take some time to define this process and take the struggle and mystery out of increasing your sales!
