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Atricle Dump - Win More Sales With a 5-Step Sales Process
For some, planning a business exit can be a predictable, methodical process. We know the competition; we understand market demands, know when we want to sell and might even know the actual date. But for far too many business owners, the business exit comes as a harsh reality and often unplanned event.Protecting your business and assets against the dreaded six D’s of an unplanned business exit can give whole new meaning to the term “Disaster Management”. While every business may experience unexpected pitfalls, careful planning to ensure risk exposure is minimized can assist in keeping you in the driver’s seat when
This is a critical step but professionals often skip it altogether. I recommend that you never meet with a prospect unless he or she had a chance to read a special report or an article you wrote, listen to an audio-program you created, participated in a teleclass you facilitated, or had a chance to “experience you” in some other form.
This gives you a chance to demonstrate your understanding of their problems, prove that you have the know-how needed to provide an effective solution
You never know when 60 Minutes will knock on your door and if not them, then maybe a local investigative reporter. A little media savvy is a valuable skill for executives and their image-conscious organizations. Unless you’ve had media training you know most businesspeople would rather face a firing squad than a crew from the 5:00 news. Although most reporters have professional integrity, some can be crafty.We remember the story about a local fire chief responding to a reporter’s questions. When the story aired, he heard the original question he was asked about one topic. What followed was his answer to another
If they are lucky to get to a face-to-face meeting, they “show-up and throw-up.” They spew all there is to know about their product or service and leave the meeting hoping for a favorable decision sometime in the near future.
Their follow-up consists of a few phone-calls that go somewhat like this: “Hi, remember me? We met last week? Anyway, I just wanted to know if you’ve made a decision yet? No? Oh, OK, I’ll call again…” Soon they discover their prospect got stuck in a “12-month meeting” (every time they call over the next 12 months the prospect is in a meeting). Sounds familiar?
What’s missing is clear, consistent and easy to duplicate sales process. In a nutshell sales process is a sequence of steps that predictably moves potential clients along the decision-making path.
While your unique process will be based on the type of product or service you are selling and who the buyer is, here is a simple five step model that’s guaranteed to help you close more deals.
STEP ONE: Generate Leads
The number one reason most promotional efforts don’t get the desired results is trying to make a sale too soon. Advertising should be designed to generate leads - inquiries about your product or service from qualified prospects – not to get an order!
Generating leads is relatively easy - there are hundreds (if not thousands) of ways to get potential clients to contact you. Speaking, publishing articles, referral systems, press releases, internet marketing, networking, print ads and direct mail are just a few ways that work well for attracting prospects interested in your professional services.
STEP TWO: Pre-qualify Prospects
Your promotional efforts are bound to create some responses from tire-kickers. Unless you have unlimited resources (namely money and time) to follow-up with people that will never make a purchase or create a referral – you want to eliminate the least ideal “prospects” right from the get-go.
The best way to separate lookie-loos from genuine prospects is to ask them to invest a small amount of effort or money before they can receive more information. Have prospects fill-out a short questionnaire or request a small fee to cover your expenses of giving them additional information and only the serious candidates will move to the next step.
STEP THREE: Send Positioning Materials
Depending on how you generated the lead in the first place you may need to send out “fulfillment package” – the information promised in your advertising efforts.
You can’t give someone a “test drive” of your service – but you can illustrate your expertise through the materials you send out. White papers, special reports, articles, audio CDs and videos can give prospects a good insight into your level of expertise and “whet their appetites” – compelling them to ask how you can help them.
This is a critical step but professionals often skip it altogether. I recommend that you never meet with a prospect unless he or she had a chance to read a special report or an article you wrote, listen to an audio-program you created, participated in a teleclass you facilitated, or had a chance to “experience you” in some other form.
This gives you a chance to demonstrate your understanding of their problems, prove that you have the know-how needed to provide an effective solution
Have you always wanted an Internet business but been stopped by hurdles like no web site, no product idea, no networking marketing knowledge, etc, etc, etc? Or are you one of the many affiliates struggling to make sales and commissions from your business or Affiliate programs?If you answer “Yes” to any of the above question, then listen ……. I have extremely exciting news.Read this article in its entirety to find out what you should do if you’re serious about making money and finding the secret ingredient for your success.Statistics gathered by industry expert show that over 90% of people who join affi
What’s missing is clear, consistent and easy to duplicate sales process. In a nutshell sales process is a sequence of steps that predictably moves potential clients along the decision-making path.
While your unique process will be based on the type of product or service you are selling and who the buyer is, here is a simple five step model that’s guaranteed to help you close more deals.
STEP ONE: Generate Leads
The number one reason most promotional efforts don’t get the desired results is trying to make a sale too soon. Advertising should be designed to generate leads - inquiries about your product or service from qualified prospects – not to get an order!
Generating leads is relatively easy - there are hundreds (if not thousands) of ways to get potential clients to contact you. Speaking, publishing articles, referral systems, press releases, internet marketing, networking, print ads and direct mail are just a few ways that work well for attracting prospects interested in your professional services.
STEP TWO: Pre-qualify Prospects
Your promotional efforts are bound to create some responses from tire-kickers. Unless you have unlimited resources (namely money and time) to follow-up with people that will never make a purchase or create a referral – you want to eliminate the least ideal “prospects” right from the get-go.
The best way to separate lookie-loos from genuine prospects is to ask them to invest a small amount of effort or money before they can receive more information. Have prospects fill-out a short questionnaire or request a small fee to cover your expenses of giving them additional information and only the serious candidates will move to the next step.
STEP THREE: Send Positioning Materials
Depending on how you generated the lead in the first place you may need to send out “fulfillment package” – the information promised in your advertising efforts.
You can’t give someone a “test drive” of your service – but you can illustrate your expertise through the materials you send out. White papers, special reports, articles, audio CDs and videos can give prospects a good insight into your level of expertise and “whet their appetites” – compelling them to ask how you can help them.
This is a critical step but professionals often skip it altogether. I recommend that you never meet with a prospect unless he or she had a chance to read a special report or an article you wrote, listen to an audio-program you created, participated in a teleclass you facilitated, or had a chance to “experience you” in some other form.
This gives you a chance to demonstrate your understanding of their problems, prove that you have the know-how needed to provide an effective solution
I remember a time -- and it doesn't seem like that long ago -- when voicemail was all the rage. There was no e-mail, so people tended to honor and even return voicemail messages. It was a good time...But that's history now. E-mail has changed everything, and people now hit the delete button on their voicemail messagesthe instant the they hear something they don't like -- which is usually when it's a message from an unknown inside sales rep. What to do?The good news is that there are some rules you can follow that will give you the best chance at getting your prospect to maybe call you back.And I say m
Generating leads is relatively easy - there are hundreds (if not thousands) of ways to get potential clients to contact you. Speaking, publishing articles, referral systems, press releases, internet marketing, networking, print ads and direct mail are just a few ways that work well for attracting prospects interested in your professional services.
STEP TWO: Pre-qualify Prospects
Your promotional efforts are bound to create some responses from tire-kickers. Unless you have unlimited resources (namely money and time) to follow-up with people that will never make a purchase or create a referral – you want to eliminate the least ideal “prospects” right from the get-go.
The best way to separate lookie-loos from genuine prospects is to ask them to invest a small amount of effort or money before they can receive more information. Have prospects fill-out a short questionnaire or request a small fee to cover your expenses of giving them additional information and only the serious candidates will move to the next step.
STEP THREE: Send Positioning Materials
Depending on how you generated the lead in the first place you may need to send out “fulfillment package” – the information promised in your advertising efforts.
You can’t give someone a “test drive” of your service – but you can illustrate your expertise through the materials you send out. White papers, special reports, articles, audio CDs and videos can give prospects a good insight into your level of expertise and “whet their appetites” – compelling them to ask how you can help them.
This is a critical step but professionals often skip it altogether. I recommend that you never meet with a prospect unless he or she had a chance to read a special report or an article you wrote, listen to an audio-program you created, participated in a teleclass you facilitated, or had a chance to “experience you” in some other form.
This gives you a chance to demonstrate your understanding of their problems, prove that you have the know-how needed to provide an effective solution
When taking into account all pertinent tax ramifications, there are four basic classifications that must be considered when purchasing or selling a corporate business. These are;1. Transferring corporate assess in exchange for cash or notes2 .Acquiring corporate assets by use of stock3 .Acquiring corporate stock utilizing cash or notes4 .Acquiring the stock of a corporation utilizing the stock of the acquiring corporation. In the 1st type of transaction, corporate assets are sold in return for cash or notes, or a combination of both from the purchaser. After the transaction the corpora
The best way to separate lookie-loos from genuine prospects is to ask them to invest a small amount of effort or money before they can receive more information. Have prospects fill-out a short questionnaire or request a small fee to cover your expenses of giving them additional information and only the serious candidates will move to the next step.
STEP THREE: Send Positioning Materials
Depending on how you generated the lead in the first place you may need to send out “fulfillment package” – the information promised in your advertising efforts.
You can’t give someone a “test drive” of your service – but you can illustrate your expertise through the materials you send out. White papers, special reports, articles, audio CDs and videos can give prospects a good insight into your level of expertise and “whet their appetites” – compelling them to ask how you can help them.
This is a critical step but professionals often skip it altogether. I recommend that you never meet with a prospect unless he or she had a chance to read a special report or an article you wrote, listen to an audio-program you created, participated in a teleclass you facilitated, or had a chance to “experience you” in some other form.
This gives you a chance to demonstrate your understanding of their problems, prove that you have the know-how needed to provide an effective solution
Finding the best place to purchase your merchandise is of paramount importance to the small business owner. Sometimes the items that you want to sell in your store are hard to find at reasonable prices. Many times, wholesalers will not sell to a small business because they have so many larger outlets that will purchase a lot more of inventory.One example that comes to mind is Nike shoes. The owner of a small clothing store that also carried shoes contacted the Nike Company and found the name of the representative for that area. After contacting the sales representative, the own
This is a critical step but professionals often skip it altogether. I recommend that you never meet with a prospect unless he or she had a chance to read a special report or an article you wrote, listen to an audio-program you created, participated in a teleclass you facilitated, or had a chance to “experience you” in some other form.
This gives you a chance to demonstrate your understanding of their problems, prove that you have the know-how needed to provide an effective solution, and position you as the expert who will not waste their time.
STEP FOUR: Get an Appointment
If you’ve done a good job in the first three steps – this will be easy. Your best prospects will actually look forward to meeting with you and exploring ways you can help them.
While scheduling an appointment you can further qualify the prospect’s level of interest and determine if you want to invest your time in getting together with them. However, avoid the pitfall of giving away too much information at this point. Remember your goal as this point is just to get the prospect to meet with you.
STEP FIVE: Face-to-Face Meeting
The content of your in-person meeting depends on the service or product you are selling and your target market. It could be a simple consultation that results in closing the sale or an elaborate presentation designed to moved the prospect to the next step in the process – like an “exploration meeting” with the purchasing committee or an “in-depth needs assessment”.
This is obviously a simplified model, but it identifies the five critical elements of the selling process. There are countless variations and tactics you could employ in each step, but each of those elements has only one objective – to move prospect to the next step!
(c) 2004 Adam M. Urbanski
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