Sales – How to Transform Your Lead to a Client and Stop Time From Killing Your Deal
Time. Kills. Deals.
But on top of time, there are many other deal killers that can stop you dead in your tracks.
Many of my clients struggle with sales. They struggle with finding leads, converting them into clients, and then keeping them as long-term clients who can then refer them to others. And the one thing most of them have in common is…
No sales process.
In the business world, a lack of process can make every aspect of your business difficult. It can feel like you're barely moving the needle forward, and you can be stuck at a certain revenue threshold, never seeming to surpass it.
There are 5 key areas to focus on to create an effective sales process.
Designing your customer journey
Understanding your target customer is the first essential step in creating a sales process. If you don't know who you're talking to, then how can you get them to buy from you? As Seth Godin said, "When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one."
Once you know who you're speaking to, it's important to map out a customer journey to fully understand what purchasing journey you'll take your customers on - from pre-to-post purchase. This mapping will help you identify your customers' pain points and how your product or service can address their needs.
Creating a customer journey map will give you a graphical representation of the client workflow and experience with your company. You can then pinpoint your clients' needs at each point in the process, using that information to improve your customer's buying experience and (hopefully) boost your conversions.
Conversion strategies
Speaking of conversions, once you fully understand your target audience, you need to create a process to convert your leads into actual paying customers. Unfortunately, I find many of my clients can get stuck at this point - they have people in their pipeline but don’t know how to convert them.
And this is where the time factor comes into play. Time kills deals. The more time your potential customer is stuck in the sales process, the more likely they will drop off, never to be seen or heard from again.
When focusing on creating your conversion strategies, it’s good to remember this simple formula. LEADS x CONVERSION % = # OF CLIENTS
NOTE: when it comes to your conversion rate, you need to be blatantly honest with yourself. I hear lots of my clients say their conversion rate is 90%...but it’s usually not (unless most of their business is from referrals).
To keep an eye on your conversion rate, you need to follow up with your leads, be prepared to overcome customer objections, and constantly look at your numbers so you know how many leads you have in your pipeline at any given time.
Designing your sales process
Designing your sales process goes hand-in-hand with formulating your conversion strategies. This should be a repeatable process for every lead to increase efficiency. You want to move them through the process seamlessly, avoiding the customer putting you in a position where “they’ll get back to you”.
From the initial stage of lead gen to the intro call, discovery call, creating a proposal and the proposal call, having each step laid out will allow you to figure out what works (and what doesn’t) during your sales process.
Fulfilling your service
One of the key pieces in this process, and in growing your business, is creating MRR (monthly recurring revenue). Many people miss this, as they view their clients as projects, not recurring. Focusing on converting your client into a long-term customer is key.
When most of my clients look back on how they grew their businesses, it was often nurturing and servicing their clients that played a major role in their growth. For many small business owners, there can be a gap between when you sell your product or service and how you fulfill it.
If you can ensure that you are fulfilling your client's needs while giving them great customer service that will “wow” them, you’ll have a ‘raving fan’ on your hands who will be much more likely to recommend your services to others.
“Many entrepreneurs are afraid of having sales calls. But you need to be able to speak about your services in order to sell them.” - Will Clanton, CPA
As you can see, having an organized sales process is essential for any business. If you need help with your sales process or taking your business to the next level, the Business Mastery Club may be for you.
With weekly coaching calls, monthly intensives, consulting and a library of training materials, you’ll receive clear direction on the actions to take to grow your business. For more information on how to register, click here https://precisemgmt.net/bmc-replay or connect with us at info@precisemgmt.net.