Closing deals all comes from knowing the best strategy. Close your next deal quickly and efficiently with these 7 helpful sales strategies.
No matter what product or service your company sells, making the sale is always important. In 2020 alone, over $4 trillion was spent on retail sales.
With the right sales strategy, you can take as many pieces of that big pie as you can handle. Let’s talk about some sales strategies to get your business started!
Sales Strategies: Meet with The Person In Charge
Try to talk directly to the decision-maker, whether you’re making a business-to-business (B2B) sale or selling to a household. Always talk to the person in charge.
You don’t want to get stuck talking to a receptionist and having them try to convey your information (or forget to) without your salesman flare. Try to talk directly with the owner of the company or the CEO if you’re trying to make a big business deal. 92% of all customer interactions happen on the phone, so showing up in person to talk with someone will be a lot more effective.
Arm Yourself with Knowledge
Every salesperson needs to know about the product or service they’re selling. Be sure you have that information ready to go. If your company only sells one or two products, your knowledge of them should be extensive.
If you sell a wide array of products, make sure you have adequate knowledge about the ones you’ll be selling, so you don’t have to hesitate if you’re asked a specific question.
If you don’t have the answer, then you should at least know where to look to find it.
Do Your Homework
If you’re selling to another business, it’s a good idea to research them beforehand. Find out what they’re about, and research the person in charge.
A quick Google search about the company, its history, and the owner is a great way to get started. Use this information wisely and try to figure out a strategy to close a deal based on that information.
Understanding your customer’s needs will help you the most. If you’re a marketing company and you see a potential customer who doesn’t have a social media presence online, this could be something you bring up in the meeting you hope to arrange. “I noticed your company doesn’t have any social media pages; may I ask why?” From there, you can offer a solution. “We have social media experts on our team with plenty of experience and conversion rates of ____.” This strategy will go a long way.
Prepare For Questions
Business owners don’t always trust a good salesperson, so be prepared for a lot of questions and objections about what you’re trying to sell them. If you come prepared with knowledge of your product or service, you shouldn’t be too worried. However, get used to dealing with objections or backlash over your claims.
Learn from each of these encounters, pay attention to your mistakes, and try to improve them with every interaction.
Create A Sense of Urgency
Sticking with the marketing example, if you tell someone: “You don’t have a social media account, but clearly your business is still running, so good for you”, how is that going to help?
Instead, what if you told someone: “Listen, almost 20% of web traffic comes directly from social media posts, and we noticed your competition is getting that entire pie. If you don’t do something about that soon, this business isn’t going to last long.” That’s a much more effective tool, and it makes them understand that they have a serious problem. Luckily, you’re right there to offer a solution! Wow, and a discount?
Don’t Delay
Respond to prospects in a timely manner. People are used to getting their Amazon orders in a day or two, so they are certainly not inclined to wait a week for an email.
Make sure that customer emails, voicemails, and phone calls take priority on your agenda. If you know there will be a delay, make sure that you plan for those interruptions, such as letting customers know if you’re about to go on vacation.
Get Outside Help
You can read articles about sales all day, but they won’t be specific to your business and its needs. Look into hiring some sales consulting services that are tailored to your business, location, target customer, and overall needs.
Ask For the Sale
Once you’re confident that your prospect understands how they can benefit from what you’re selling, it’s time. Make them feel comfortable but communicate any urgency you feel about moving the deal forward when the time is right.
If they need more information or time, give them what they need and be patient. Be ready to answer their calls and finish up the details at their convenience.
Arrange Your Next Meeting
Whether you need to meet with them, or they need to meet someone else from your team, if you’ve made the sale, go over the next steps. Sign the contract, get the paperwork over their way, and get them whatever they need.
Follow Up
Follow up with your customers and prospects regularly and see if there’s anything you can offer them. Making sales is fine, but garnering repeat sales is even better, and super important for ROI. You can keep trying to sell to new people until you run out of prospects, but if you can build a relationship with your clients and keep them around, then you’ll have a steady flow of business forever.
Keep Selling!
Now that you know some of the best sales strategies for your business, what are you waiting for? If you’re not going to be laying the groundwork, check out 6 steps to building the right sales team, and share them with your co-workers! Then, give us a call at (404) 245-3775 for more sales strategies.