Action Coach Portsmouth

Action Coach Portsmouth

Steve Mullins

Closing More Sales Now

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Closing_More_Sales_NowA critical success factor for all businesses is how good they are at selling.

Every business is selling something, a product and/or a service, but very few are actually trained in the art of selling.

Here are seven keys to selling to help you on the track to greater business success:

1. Ask More Questions:

Questions are the answers in sales. Too many sales people tell their customers the features and benefits of their product or service but never take the time to find out which of the benefits the customer is actually interested in. So, ask them to tell you what they want.

2. Set Daily Targets:

A common theme in sales- chase enough customers in the hope that one or more will buy. In reality this leads to sales people only selling to the early adopters or price shoppers who would probably buy from anyone. However by keeping track of how many customers buy on average from a given number of leads and then introducing strategies to convert a higher percentage will ensure your sales team learn how to improve their results. Set daily targets and assess your performance against these targets.

3. Use Sales Scripts:

No one likes to hear someone read from a script but customers do expect us to be consistent. So how do you ensure all your interactions with prospects are consistent and that you deal with objections in a professional way? By writing down what it is you say in any given situation and by training your team to use the same questions and language you can bring a lot more productivity to your sales process.

4. Offer / Guarantee:

Why should someone buy from you and not a competitor who can provide the same product or service at a lower price? What is it that you offer them or can guarantee them that will differentiate you from your competition? Your offer must generate excitement to get prospects to make a decision to buy now.

5. Ask For The Sale:

One of the biggest common failings in sales is not asking the prospect to buy. A fear of rejection, that the sale will be lost, prevents many sales people from actually asking the final question. Just do it and learn from those that say no so you can improve your conversion rate over time.

6. Learning:

To be successful in sales there absolutely must be a habit of learning. Learn from other sales experts, learn from books, learn from your best customers and learn from past experience. Both your good and bad experiences can be a huge help in improving your sales success. You must record these experiences and build your knowledge over time. Write it down so you do not keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

7. Testimonials:

We all need to be reminded of what we are doing right and why our best customers love dealing with us. Sometimes we focus too much on what is going wrong rather than what we are doing right. Focus on the good stuff and we will do more of it! Get your customers to write down their testimonials so you can use it in your marketing and attract even more great customers.

Question: When is the best time to make a sale?

Answer: Just after you made your last one. Ever hear stories of football players who stop scoring goals and it seems they will never score again? Well generally they change something about themselves; their attitude or a superstition or a habit; and then suddenly they are back in scoring form again and they keep scoring.

Get the message from your Business Coach, change something about your sales process and improve your scoring.

Stop Chasing Sales to Close More Sales

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Stop_Chasing_Sales_to_Close_More_SalesJohn had been doing very well in sales.

But he knew he could do better. So he called and asked for some business help. He was making a very good living, but felt that he wasn’t focused. He wasn’t spending his time, effort, and energy in the right places.

John was running on two cylinders – which weren’t running very smoothly – and was still making over £50,000. For years he’d said to himself, “Imagine what I could do if only I could get focused and manage my time better. Then I could make some ‘real’ money.”

When asked what his closing ratios were, John pondered the question for a few moments, then said that he didn’t have the slightest idea. He had never kept any kind of statistical records.

We then asked more sales-related questions:

  • What is the size of your average sale?
  • How many sales did you make last year?
  • What was your biggest sale last year?
  • How much money did you earn on it?
  • What was your smallest sale last year?
  • How much money did you earn on it?
  • What is the profile for your ‘ideal’ client?
  • How many sales do you close on the first meeting/call?
  • The second? The third? The fourth, fifth, sixth, or tenth?
  • What is your best source for leads?
  • What are your sales, profit and income goals for this coming year?

John thought about these questions for a few moments, and with a puzzled look on his face, he said in a soft, quiet voice, “I don’t know the answers to most of your questions, but if you’ll wait a moment I can dig up the answers to the others, I just don’t have that information at my fingertips. He continued, “I was never much into record keeping. For the most part, I’ve just been flying by the seat of my pants.”

If you want to be successful, you must run your business like a business. You need to know:

  • Who are your best (most profitable) customers
  • Where they came from
  • How much they spent with you
  • What are your most profitable products
  • The average value of your sales
  • Your closing ratios.

You should have the answers to these questions at your fingertips. Without them, you’re like a sailor who is in the middle of the ocean without a compass, sextant, radio, radar or GPS.

You’ve no idea what direction you’re going. Because John didn’t keep any records, he didn’t know where he was, and as a result he didn’t know what changes he should be making in his business planning.

Over the next few weeks John started keeping sales records. He recorded the names of the people he met with, what he thought they would purchase, the dates he met with them, whether or not they bought from him, and the amount of the sale. As we studied his records, we noticed something very interesting in his spreadsheet:

He was closing about 23 percent of his sales on the first interview, 12 percent on the second interview, and 6 percent on the third interview. When he met with a prospect a fourth, fifth, or subsequent interview, only 2 percent of those people ever purchased.

And those were his smallest, least profitable sales. John had been trained in the “everybody’s a prospect” school of selling and had always followed the “I’m going to call on them ‘til they buy or they die!” sales methodology.

As John reviewed his records, he noted that he was closing 37 percent of his business opportunities on either the first or second call, and only 8 percent thereafter. As we considered this interesting fact, we talked about how much time he was investing in following-up on these opportunities. For the most part, the people who bought on the first or second meeting were typically easy sales. They were fun clients to work with, and many of these customers became friends.

But the 63 percent who didn’t buy on the first or second call were typically much more difficult to work with. They didn’t return phone calls or respond to voice or e-mail messages. They tended to cancel or postpone meetings. They just weren’t easy to work with. We asked John, ”How much time are you spending chasing these people?”

John thought for a moment and said, “I’ve been spending almost 60 percent of my time chasing people who aren’t buying. And the few that do buy aren’t usually worth the effort…in that they don’t often become long-term customers. It’s almost like they’re giving me an order just to get rid of me.” As he spoke, he appeared to have an “Ah-ha!”

A smile came across his face as he realized what had been keeping him from making the commissions he really wanted. He was wasting the majority of his time chasing people who were never going to buy from him.

We then discussed the ‘novel’ notion of not calling a prospect after the second contact. If they haven’t bought, move on; look for a better prospect. We spent the next few sessions working on John’s telephone techniques and helped him perfect his Elevator Speech.

We spent time improving his networking skills so when he went to business and industry meetings he could meet more people, make more friends, find more business opportunities, and close more sales.

Over the past few weeks, John’s results have been startling. Because he’s more focused on finding people who are in the market today, he’s not pushing himself on those that aren’t interested. He’s using the telephone much more effectively to find prospects and qualify them. His closing ratios have improved…and he’s making more money.

And best of all, he’s got more time for his friends, family and himself. He’s no longer working harder, and he’s not just working smarter. He’s working less.

Excuse Me, Please May I Buy That Customer?

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Excuse_Me_May_I_Buy_That_Customer_PleasetPreposterous! Buy a customer? Outrageous! Begging for customers, pleading for new clients, laying out breadcrumbs to lead unsuspecting customers in the door… Just how do you see bringing new customers into your business?

Have you ever just put an ad out there, whether it be on the radio, on TV, in a newspaper or even a flyer, hoping that somehow it would magically bring new customers in? Don’t be startled if you answered yes. As a matter of fact, stand up and give yourself a big pat on the back because you are like 95% of business owners I speak with about their marketing. Pat yourself on the back because what you are about to learn is the key to getting better customers and probably getting them at a discount!

“Whats all this about buying a customer, ” a client recently asked me. “I can’t just go out and buy a customer, they have to come to me. Don’t they? ” Ahhhh… isn’t that an interesting question? When I speak with business owners, the idea of investing in stock is common. When we talk about Marketing investment, the only thing we can buy is new customers. The question then becomes, how much do new customers cost you?

How do you figure this out? Let’s take an example. You’ve put £1000 into an ad campaign. As a result, you had 100 people call you. Let’s say that 1 out of 5 of these ‘Leads’ actually comes in and buys from you. Working out the numbers it cost you £10 to get each Lead. It cost you £50 (5 x £10) for a sale. In this example, it cost you £50 for a new Customer! This measurement is called ‘Customer Acquisition Cost’.

Now this is where is gets exciting. Imagine now that you knew that your specific marketing campaign was going to cost you £50 for every new customer it brought in, and that every new customer would eventually spend £500 with you, of which £100 was profit. How many times would you invest that £50 to buy more customers? Let’s see… spend £50 make £100, spend £50 make another £100 and so on and so on… I think you can see that it makes sense to repeat that one as much and as quickly as possible.

It sounds too good to be true? It really is that simple. Once you know how much it costs you to buy a customer,and as long as you are making more per customer than your Customer Acquisition Cost, you’re ready to start reaping the profits. To know your true acquisition cost, test and measure every marketing campaign. Give me a call and I’ll show you how.

When you see that your whole business is a marketing entity, not just a production, service or retail entity, you’ll begin to see why the amount you pay to buy a customer is your biggest expense.

It gets very exciting when you then discover new ways to buy customers for less than your profits on your first sale. What if that first sale came within days of your marketing? What if you put in place low-cost strategies to get those customers coming back over and over while buying even more per visit from you.

That’s where a business really starts ticking along generating an ever increasing revenue stream for the owner.

So What is Lead Generation?

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Lead_GenerationSo what is Lead Generation?

Lead generation is converting “suspects”- people who have never heard of your business into “prospects”-people who have inquired about your business. At ACTION we have 73 different strategies to generate leads.

There are three major rules to follow in generating leads. First, you need to TEST and MEASURE how many leads you get from each marketing campaign. Second, you need to follow the AIDA principle, and third you need to follow the WIIFMprincipal.

TEST and MEASURE- You need to test which elements of your marketing are working and which are not. Measuring your marketing results on a daily basis is a must.

AIDA – Every marketing piece should follow this acronym.
ATTENTION – Does the ad (namely the headline) grab your attention?
INTEREST – Does the ad generate the readers’ interest?
DESIRE – Does the ad build desire for your product?
ACTION – Does the ad prompt the reader to take action?

WIIFM – This acronym stands for “WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?” Think like you are the prospect and how you can help them.

By following these three items you will turn your marketing costs from an expense into an investment.

Conversion Rate – The 8th Wonder of Business

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Conversion_Rate_The_8th_Wnder_of_BusinessI am often reminded of getting back to basics to build revenues and profits in business.

But none more so than when I am confronted with a business owner who shows me they need more new customers …

If you really want to grow your business and you really want to do it fast, then take a look at grasping these few simple ideas …

You are already getting people contacting you, coming in, emailing you and so on. Your people are already messing up and not selling to anywhere near enough of these people. Want to know just how bad it is, ask one of your friends to call your business and try to buy, just wait and see how they go …

Almost every business owner I meet believes that they are selling to the majority of prospects they come into contact with.

Well, put bluntly, you are not … how do I know? After doing this exercise with literally thousands of business owners, I have only twice been proven wrong.

So, here goes …

For the next two weeks keep a record of every phone call, every email enquiry, every walk in every single prospective buyer that contacts your business. Ask every single one of them how they found out about your business and keep a record of it. Was it referral, Yellow pages etc.?

Then, at the end of the two weeks see how many of them have bought from you. If you think you are at about 6 or 7 out of 10, it will be about 3 or 4 out of 10. I have seen this with so many companies, even restaurants who think they get everybody, then measure the people that call versus the people that book, and the people that read the menu out front versus those who actually come in …

Your Conversion Rate is a massive opportunity … If it is lower than say 50%, then we’ve got to get to work …

First, you’ve got to start measuring it every day. That focus alone will get it up to 10% higher than it is right now …

Add to that, here’s another 11 ways to boost your conversion rate right now, this week …

  1. Get your salesperson with the best conversion rate to train everybody else for a day or two.
  2. Script your sales process. Use a lot of questions in the script (it’s NOT a sales pitch) and learn from what the best sales people are doing.
  3. Break your sales process down into each and every critical step and work on one step at a time.
  4. Measure your conversion from one step to the next and work on improving each step by just 10% more than it was.
  5. Work on the letters, brochures and other written or audio and video material you use during each step of the sales process.
  6. Use my magic question for phone selling, “Thanks for your call, just so I can help you best would it be OK if I asked you a couple of questions?”
  7. Run a competition among your sales people for a week or two around the one area you need to see the most improvement in, then learn from the new ways they start doing things.
  8. Learn the critical buying step in your sale, for example in female fashion stores, it’s trying the clothes on, with it you have more than a 50% chance at making a sale, without it, less than 10%.
  9. Follow up and follow through, too many sales are lost by salespeople who can’t be bothered to follow up again and again and again … at least 7 times …
  10. Make an offer that is either limited or a bonus offer or something to get customers to act now and to give sales people some ammunition …
  11. Just plain ask people to buy, usually in sales training the one biggest reason sales people are not getting the sale is that they don’t ask for it …

Stay focused on your conversion rate for 3 months and watch the dramatic effect it has on your bottom line.

Once you’ve got it right, or at least much better than it is today, then and only then is it time to go to work getting more prospects and investing more money into your marketing and fixing the marketing you are doing now.

Conversion Rates

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Conversion_RatesConversion Rate – whether it’s converting a “potential” customer into a “buying” customer or a girlfriend into a wife–conversion rate is very important and, in business, this rate percentage is often overestimated.

The definition of conversion rate is the percentage of people who did buy divided by those who could have bought. For example, if you had ten people walk through your store today and you sold to three of them, you would have a conversion rate of three out of 10, or 30 percent.

There are many strategies a business can use to improve its conversion rate. One of the most important is identifying your customer’s number one concern in doing business with you and then promising them it won’t happen when doing business with you. Domino’s Pizza made a name for themselves when they promised “30 minutes or it’s free”. They identified a key concern of people calling for a pizza–which it wouldn’t be delivered on time. This simple guarantee or USP (unique selling point) made them a household name.

Other strategies to improve conversion rates are: measuring conversion rates, staying in touch with your customers through cards, newsletters, etc., using testimonials, quality brochures, rewriting quotes and proposals into action plans, educating on value not price, using sales scripts, and defining your uniqueness.

If there’s nothing different about you, people will only buy from you because of convenience, or price, nothing more.