Helpful Sales Tips
Business owners wear many hats, and sometimes that hat is “salesman”. When most people think of sales, they think of cars salesmen. You know, those guys that are always just a little over the top or are too pushy. It can also be an intimidating and scary part of the business. Sales doesn’t have to be that way, and it shouldn’t be that way! Today we are going to review a few things that helped us here at Devine when working through and creating our sales process and culture.
- Have a process. We know that this seems obvious but hear us out. If you can create a process for your sales it is going to make everything so much easier for you. Do you ever get those moments where you feel like you have so many prospects you aren’t sure where each of them stand? We have all been there. Having a process that can guide you through the sales steps is a great way to help eliminate or minimize that feeling. By writing down each step of your sales process it will also make it easier as you grow, and your sales pipeline gets larger. You will also be able to hand down the steps you put in place to a new hire and know that there is a system that works.
- Have a sales system or CRM that works for you. Having a system where you can keep all your prospect information is essential. It is so nice to not have to weed through sticky notes and notebooks to find the information about each prospect when they call, or you speak to them. We use PipeDrive and it works well for us. It is visual and you can see where each prospect sits in the sales pipeline. You can also see how many deals you may have lost or won for a certain span of dates easily. The other great thing is you can create you own pipeline and the steps in that pipeline can be customized to you! Not every system works for every business and you may have to change up the system you use as you grow. But, getting something in place now will make your life simpler day to day.
- Have patience and follow up. Patience is the key to any sale. You will have some prospects that will decide right away. They know what they need, want or like and they just move forward. That is the best type of sale because there is no question or waiting. But, not every sale is that way and not every person makes their decisions like that. Most people want time to review their options before coming to a decision. For some this may only take a week, but for others it may take months. Having patience and with those prospects will be key part of your success. It also is easy to forget about them and not follow up. Don’t fall into that trap! You will never make the sale if you aren’t top of mind. Make sure you have a system for your follow ups and follow through with them to ensure success.
We hope that this helped you really look at your sales process in a different way. All of these things helped us, and we hoped that it helps you too! We are here to be a part of your team and when you are ready for an accounting team to back your business, give us a call!