The P’s of Sales: Skills all Sales Teams should hone
As SalesCrunch CEO Sean Black said, “Sales is the lifeblood of any business.” It is crucial that a sales team is finely tuned to be as effective and efficient as possible. Here are a few ideas to help build and develop a powerful and capable sales team: Part II: The ‘P’s of Sales: Skills all Sales Teams should hone
“Always Be Closing,” Alec Baldwin’s immortal line from the Glengarry Glen Ross, strikes at the romantic heart of sales. While our list may not be as catchy or alphabetically ordered, these tactics are guaranteed to promote sales success.
Preparation: A 2011 study found that more than half of all sales professionals were adequately prepared for interactions with a customer. This deficiency in knowledge translates into a deficiency in sales. While it may seem like marketers job to find the appropriate market population, an effective sales team should be just as informed. Arming a sales team with as much knowledge as possible about their leads is a great way to ensure an increased close rate. In the modern world, Analytics is the best way to accumulate data on the type of person. Analytics visiting a site, and key word search analytics is perfect for developing a buzzword list to integrate into a sales pitch. Before you throw your team to the phone lines, assign them some “homework.” As a team, have them research the typical cliental, and then have them sit down with the marketing team and develop a more refined picture of whom they are dealing with. Maybe they will find their typical pitch doesn’t address what customers are looking for. Regardless of a team’s size, experience, or enthusiasm, knowledge of the consumer base will certainly increase not only lead generation, but also lead success rates.
Presentation: 50% of generated leads are not ready to buy when they enter the sales funnel. After personally working in sales, I feel as though this number is lower. The low number of customers ready to outright buy a product is the reason it is crucial for a business to have a great sales team, and moreover a great sales presentation. Firstly, put the customer first. As written about in Part I, catering a sales pitch to fit a customer’s unique outlook is incredibly important. It cannot be overstated how often sales people talk about the features of the product, but fail to address the customer’s needs. This should be the very core of the presentation, to answer the customer’s questions and concerns in a direct and effective manner. In addition to capturing the customer’s interest, sales teams need to capture a customer’s attention. The death of a lead is when the lead becomes bored of the product. The presentation should paint the product (and company) as new, exciting, and important. This is second nature anyone working in sales, but it should be stated explicitly and clearly that the entertainment value of a presentation is just as important as the content. Convincing bored customers to buy is an uphill battle. The way in which a team keeps customers engaged is up to the sales teams discretion- typical strategies include humor, interactivity, and gifting.
Pride: Character, integrity, and honesty. These are the words that a sales team should focus around. Having pride in your product, and the confidence to stand by the values the product stands for, is the basis for quality sales. If a salesperson truly believes in a product they will be honest and straight-forward with the customers, and this openness will build a bond of respect between customer and company. Building off of this integrity is when a sales team’s enthusiasm and charm will be most effective.
