Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Casual Articles - Improve Your Sales Closing Ratio
Of course it can! But do you have unique product or service?Or is yours like everyone else within the same category? No, really…Most business owners make the same critical mistake when positioning their business in the large ocean of competitors they market with. They fail to define what it is they provide that their competitors don’t. Remember, you are not the only one out there. No matter if you are actually better serving customers than the other guys or gals competing with you, that is not enough. You must develop your USP, or your…UniqueSellingPropositionThere are no two ways about it. Something must differentiate your busines
>>> Unless you can find a compelling reason why they would switch to a "new" vendor, your odds of closing are going to be very low.
How well do their current vendors meet the "what's most important" to the prospect criteria?
After you've thoroughly discussed the vendors that they have current business relationships, you can easily ask about any other new vendors that they are considering. They'll likely open up to you on this now because you greased the conversation by getting them to talk about their current vendors first.
If they are reluctant to answer questions about other vendors, then tell them you are selective about who you give bids to. If you know whom else they are evaluating, then you will better know if you can help them and should
Are you already an entrepreneur? Do you wish to become a successful entrepreneur? But what is stopping you from becoming one? There are many factors to look at, but here let's just discuss on three reasons. These reasons are more of the internal reasons.Full of excusesMany years back, I am in the sales line. During the first month of that sales job, I gave so many excuses not to call the clients. Excuses like, "they might be having lunch now", "it's not so nice to call them after lunch", "it's Monday blue no one is interested to talk to me". In my first month, I sell nothing.Do you have the same issue? Take note, excuses build failure. If you have an idea, the more excuses you gave yourself not to do it, the more you will
"I sell IT equipment to schools in the UK over the phone. I seem to always hold a massive prospect list that's constantly changing but I'm struggling to get my deals closed. The following is how 85% of my potential deals go:
First Contact:
- I find a prospective customer
- Find out what they have at the moment and what they want (where they want to be with I.T. in the future)
- I find out when they are looking to buy
- And ask who is involved in the decision making
Next Action:
- I put together a proposal and post/email/fax it to my contact
Second Contact:
- I call him/her to discuss the proposal with them, make sure it's what they wanted and make a few extra suggestions.
- I'll try and have a laugh with them to get some rapport going.
- I'll try & confirm a decision date again.
- Say something like - "is this something that we can go ahead with now?" it never is….
- "I'll call you in ? days to see if you have come to a decision"
Third Contact:
(before date I promised to follow-up on)
- "Just calling to make sure everything is OK and to see if you have gathered all the other quotes yet?"
- "how do we compare" - normal response is pretty good
- "is there anything I can do before you have your meeting tomorrow that would help you in making a decision?" - usual response is "No"
Fourth Contact:
(day of decision)
- Won't put me through
Fifth Contact:
(day after decision):
- Secretary says he's not there
Sixth Contact:
- Secretary speaks to him and then tells me he's selected a competitor.
"It's quite depressing really and I do put the effort in, I'm sure it's just down to my sales skills. What do you suggest?"
Use Precious Sales Time Wisely
Thanks for writing in Rob. Selling this way IS depressing. I suspect that you are losing your deals very early on. By this I mean that you are expending too much energy on deals that you'll never win.
The decision to send out a proposal should be an important one. Only well qualified prospects that you KNOW you have a high likelihood of winning, merit the effort of creating a proposal.
This is contrary to what many of us learn in sales, which is that is a "numbers game". Send out more proposals, and you'll get more sales the thinking goes.
The problem is unless you know with certainty that you are selling to your prospect's most important buying criteria, your proposals have a low chance of success. You can bet that the competitor who wins the deal, knows just what to put into his proposal before he sends it out.
Qualify Better And Close More Sales
You need to get very clear on what is most important to your prospect. You do this by asking the following questions when you first interview the prospect:
- Why are you planning to purchase this new computer network now? - What is most important to you in a new computer network? - Why is this important now?You also need to know who the likely competition is that is currently being favored (there is almost always someone with the inside track). One way to ascertain this is by inquiring about similar or related purchases made in the past. Find out which vendors they bought from and why they were awarded the contract.
Ask if any of their past vendors are bidding for this deal. Ask why wouldn't they buy from those vendor(s) bidding on this deal if they bought from them in the past.
Ask the following question about each past vendor bidding on the deal separately to determine who is being favored. Don't just ask "why don't you buy from one of those companies?" Instead ask "Why don't you buy from ABC company? They gave you good installation support last time which you said was very important to you".
By asking about preferences for their current/past vendors, you will find out if there is a real opportunity for you or if they just are gathering bids to document that they have performed a competitive evaluation.
>>> Unless you can find a compelling reason why they would switch to a "new" vendor, your odds of closing are going to be very low.
How well do their current vendors meet the "what's most important" to the prospect criteria?
After you've thoroughly discussed the vendors that they have current business relationships, you can easily ask about any other new vendors that they are considering. They'll likely open up to you on this now because you greased the conversation by getting them to talk about their current vendors first.
If they are reluctant to answer questions about other vendors, then tell them you are selective about who you give bids to. If you know whom else they are evaluating, then you will better know if you can help them and should
Janelle Delacorte has been happily answering calls for the Home Shopping Network and various infomercials since November 2004.Several nights out of the week she tucks the kids in to bed, turns around, takes 20 or so odd steps, and arrives at the office. In her pajama's, no less.Janelle is a telecommuter.According to the 2004 ITAC American Interactive Consumer Survey, she's one of 24.1 million people who is employed by a company, and works from home. And as you can imagine, she loves her job.In a recent interview she confided with me about the pro's and con's of telecommuting.Pro's: Working at home - especially if you have children. Janelle has a 1 and 3 year old. Having the kids
Third Contact:
(before date I promised to follow-up on)
- "Just calling to make sure everything is OK and to see if you have gathered all the other quotes yet?"
- "how do we compare" - normal response is pretty good
- "is there anything I can do before you have your meeting tomorrow that would help you in making a decision?" - usual response is "No"
Fourth Contact:
(day of decision)
- Won't put me through
Fifth Contact:
(day after decision):
- Secretary says he's not there
Sixth Contact:
- Secretary speaks to him and then tells me he's selected a competitor.
"It's quite depressing really and I do put the effort in, I'm sure it's just down to my sales skills. What do you suggest?"
Use Precious Sales Time Wisely
Thanks for writing in Rob. Selling this way IS depressing. I suspect that you are losing your deals very early on. By this I mean that you are expending too much energy on deals that you'll never win.
The decision to send out a proposal should be an important one. Only well qualified prospects that you KNOW you have a high likelihood of winning, merit the effort of creating a proposal.
This is contrary to what many of us learn in sales, which is that is a "numbers game". Send out more proposals, and you'll get more sales the thinking goes.
The problem is unless you know with certainty that you are selling to your prospect's most important buying criteria, your proposals have a low chance of success. You can bet that the competitor who wins the deal, knows just what to put into his proposal before he sends it out.
Qualify Better And Close More Sales
You need to get very clear on what is most important to your prospect. You do this by asking the following questions when you first interview the prospect:
- Why are you planning to purchase this new computer network now? - What is most important to you in a new computer network? - Why is this important now?You also need to know who the likely competition is that is currently being favored (there is almost always someone with the inside track). One way to ascertain this is by inquiring about similar or related purchases made in the past. Find out which vendors they bought from and why they were awarded the contract.
Ask if any of their past vendors are bidding for this deal. Ask why wouldn't they buy from those vendor(s) bidding on this deal if they bought from them in the past.
Ask the following question about each past vendor bidding on the deal separately to determine who is being favored. Don't just ask "why don't you buy from one of those companies?" Instead ask "Why don't you buy from ABC company? They gave you good installation support last time which you said was very important to you".
By asking about preferences for their current/past vendors, you will find out if there is a real opportunity for you or if they just are gathering bids to document that they have performed a competitive evaluation.
>>> Unless you can find a compelling reason why they would switch to a "new" vendor, your odds of closing are going to be very low.
How well do their current vendors meet the "what's most important" to the prospect criteria?
After you've thoroughly discussed the vendors that they have current business relationships, you can easily ask about any other new vendors that they are considering. They'll likely open up to you on this now because you greased the conversation by getting them to talk about their current vendors first.
If they are reluctant to answer questions about other vendors, then tell them you are selective about who you give bids to. If you know whom else they are evaluating, then you will better know if you can help them and should
My mom and dad recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. One of my friends wanted to make a donation in their honor and so she sent a check to a non profit organization that my mom and dad support.Unfortunately, after 4 weeks my parents still had not received an acknowledgment of the donation nor had my friend received a thank you. I emailed one of the leaders of the non profit who said she would get right on it. It took 2 more weeks for my parents to receive the acknowledgement and 3 more weeks for my friend to receive a thank you.Neither family will be making donations to that organization any time soon. The organization itself is a very worthwhile cause, but people who donate money like to be thanked, and they like
Use Precious Sales Time Wisely
Thanks for writing in Rob. Selling this way IS depressing. I suspect that you are losing your deals very early on. By this I mean that you are expending too much energy on deals that you'll never win.
The decision to send out a proposal should be an important one. Only well qualified prospects that you KNOW you have a high likelihood of winning, merit the effort of creating a proposal.
This is contrary to what many of us learn in sales, which is that is a "numbers game". Send out more proposals, and you'll get more sales the thinking goes.
The problem is unless you know with certainty that you are selling to your prospect's most important buying criteria, your proposals have a low chance of success. You can bet that the competitor who wins the deal, knows just what to put into his proposal before he sends it out.
Qualify Better And Close More Sales
You need to get very clear on what is most important to your prospect. You do this by asking the following questions when you first interview the prospect:
- Why are you planning to purchase this new computer network now? - What is most important to you in a new computer network? - Why is this important now?You also need to know who the likely competition is that is currently being favored (there is almost always someone with the inside track). One way to ascertain this is by inquiring about similar or related purchases made in the past. Find out which vendors they bought from and why they were awarded the contract.
Ask if any of their past vendors are bidding for this deal. Ask why wouldn't they buy from those vendor(s) bidding on this deal if they bought from them in the past.
Ask the following question about each past vendor bidding on the deal separately to determine who is being favored. Don't just ask "why don't you buy from one of those companies?" Instead ask "Why don't you buy from ABC company? They gave you good installation support last time which you said was very important to you".
By asking about preferences for their current/past vendors, you will find out if there is a real opportunity for you or if they just are gathering bids to document that they have performed a competitive evaluation.
>>> Unless you can find a compelling reason why they would switch to a "new" vendor, your odds of closing are going to be very low.
How well do their current vendors meet the "what's most important" to the prospect criteria?
After you've thoroughly discussed the vendors that they have current business relationships, you can easily ask about any other new vendors that they are considering. They'll likely open up to you on this now because you greased the conversation by getting them to talk about their current vendors first.
If they are reluctant to answer questions about other vendors, then tell them you are selective about who you give bids to. If you know whom else they are evaluating, then you will better know if you can help them and should
Small businesses have problems of their own. The resources are meagre and the task enormous. But small businesses are the developing blocks that build nations. The government in the UK is committed to make this nation the best place in the world to start and nurture businesses. The Small Business Service (SBS), an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, envisages an enterprise society in which small firms of all kinds thrive and achieve their potential. Of course, a lot of money as well as effort is needed to turn these plans into a reality. That is where small business loans gain importance.Keeping in view the larger interests of the nation, SBS wants more people having the desire, skills and opportunity to start a successful b
You also need to know who the likely competition is that is currently being favored (there is almost always someone with the inside track). One way to ascertain this is by inquiring about similar or related purchases made in the past. Find out which vendors they bought from and why they were awarded the contract.
Ask if any of their past vendors are bidding for this deal. Ask why wouldn't they buy from those vendor(s) bidding on this deal if they bought from them in the past.
Ask the following question about each past vendor bidding on the deal separately to determine who is being favored. Don't just ask "why don't you buy from one of those companies?" Instead ask "Why don't you buy from ABC company? They gave you good installation support last time which you said was very important to you".
By asking about preferences for their current/past vendors, you will find out if there is a real opportunity for you or if they just are gathering bids to document that they have performed a competitive evaluation.
>>> Unless you can find a compelling reason why they would switch to a "new" vendor, your odds of closing are going to be very low.
How well do their current vendors meet the "what's most important" to the prospect criteria?
After you've thoroughly discussed the vendors that they have current business relationships, you can easily ask about any other new vendors that they are considering. They'll likely open up to you on this now because you greased the conversation by getting them to talk about their current vendors first.
If they are reluctant to answer questions about other vendors, then tell them you are selective about who you give bids to. If you know whom else they are evaluating, then you will better know if you can help them and should
For instance just Yesterday, company based at France, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, fifth largest IT services firm thought out world, had open a new Software Development center in Mumbai suburban area and that will accommodate 250 IT-professionals. The organizations chief said that “We are really looking forward for stepping stone and building a much bigger presence in nation like India".With that main Offshore Outsourcing announcements by India have come furious and fast recently like this; International Business Machine is going to open a Linux research laboratory and give way to employment to 510 professionals; With 1350 IT-developers, Nortel Networks in India, will spend 350 million dollar in the next four years and increa
>>> Unless you can find a compelling reason why they would switch to a "new" vendor, your odds of closing are going to be very low.
How well do their current vendors meet the "what's most important" to the prospect criteria?
After you've thoroughly discussed the vendors that they have current business relationships, you can easily ask about any other new vendors that they are considering. They'll likely open up to you on this now because you greased the conversation by getting them to talk about their current vendors first.
If they are reluctant to answer questions about other vendors, then tell them you are selective about who you give bids to. If you know whom else they are evaluating, then you will better know if you can help them and should bid on it.
>>> The lesson here is don't do a proposal unless you can PROVE that you offer an advantage in meeting their key criteria. Being me-too is not enough because it is likely that there are already vendors they do business with that they prefer and know better than you.
By rigorously qualifying your prospects, your closing ratio and total sales will increase significantly. You'll be happier also because not only will your bank acount be fatter, but you'll be working with people who want to work with you.
© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.casualarticles.com/article/38176/casualarticles-Improve-Your-Sales-Closing-Ratio.html">Improve Your Sales Closing Ratio</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.casualarticles.com/article/38176/casualarticles-Improve-Your-Sales-Closing-Ratio.html]Improve Your Sales Closing Ratio[/url]
Related Articles:
How to Become A Secret Shopper
Working In A Business Vs. Working On A Business
Leads, Referrals and Recommendations Defined
Bookmark it:
|