Train employees and set high standards

Organizational productivity can be enhanced by sharpening team skills through training. In the process of training, employees will understand what to strive for, what characteristics to improve. In addition, training allows you to prepare in advance for solving complex problems.

Example. Is it possible to provide first aid to a person without preparation? Of course not! The same is true for business: for employees to be able to negotiate with an important but complex client, first teach them how to act in this situation.

Effective training should be repeated in order to consolidate knowledge. During a one-hour training, employees will learn the basics, but after a couple of weeks they can forget everything.

Regular classes will teach you how to put skills into practice and won't be forgotten for a long time. Thanks to the training program, employees will not only cope with problems, but also prevent their occurrence.

Sales workshop

Example. A laundry employee comes to an elderly woman to pick up the carpet for cleaning. Folding it, he notices a dirty and shabby wrong side. The carpet needs to be replaced, but in order not to seem intrusive, the seller does not offer the woman to buy a new thing.

This approach will not bring the company many customers. A well-trained team will never miss such an opportunity.

The best training for the sales department is a workshop where employees learn new skills. The workshop provides an ideal atmosphere for the exchange of ideas and opinions.

In addition, the workshop is a good platform for testing and improving sales strategies.

Role-playing games will help test new ideas. Allow employees to express themselves and come up with new techniques and behavior. When the team finds the best solution for the situation with the elderly woman, let someone play her role, and the seller will apply the chosen tactics.

Then use the approach on real clients. If successful, at the next workshop teach the entire team a new strategy.

Training allows you to test sales tactics before complex situations arise in reality, which increases the chances of success.

By educating your customers, you will win a large audience and sell more products.

Example. Two furniture stores opened in the city. For 4 years, sales of store No. 1 grew by 10% per year, but not a single branch appeared. A store number 2 for the same time opened six outlets. Shop No. 2 took a more effective approach: training marketing. Instead of simply selling the product, its employees trained customers in everything related to their brand. Store No. 1 tried to sell the sofa to those who came to buy a sofa, and store No. 2 employees tried to sell all the goods. They talked about the history of the store, the desire for better customer service, the craftsmanship of furniture manufacturing and the customer’s benefit.

This approach not only helps sell, but also creates brand loyalty: people feel a special connection with the company, and sellers are considered reliable specialists.

Educational marketing allows you to expand the audience of consumers, but it is very difficult to keep the attention of each buyer, because only 3% of the population is interested in buying here and now, and only 6-7% are always ready to buy something. You will lose 90% of the audience if the ad focuses only on the sofas.

However, if you tell the audience about the benefits (for example, that high-quality furniture increases productivity), most will listen to you.

By teaching, not selling, you can attract a wider audience and increase sales.

Hire only the best sellers

Have you ever worked with someone who doesn't fit the team? This affects not only the wrong employee, but the whole company. Therefore, it is important to attract suitable candidates, especially to the sales department.

The ability to sell depends on the character, not experience. Super seller has:

• The power of nature necessary to complete the maximum number of transactions. He does not accept failures.
• Strong influence, that is, loves people, knows how to put himself in the place of another, energetic, persuasive and sociable, and therefore it is easier for him to establish relationships with customers.

Look for people with a strong ego as a sales professional. Do not consider age, industry knowledge or work experience.

Pre-selection of candidates by phone helps to distinguish such super-sellers from the rest: ask them to sell themselves to you. Throw them with questions and test their strength: super-sellers will fight you back. In conversation, a candidate with influence will recall his childhood or important life experiences.

Once you find a superstar, properly reward her. Salary should depend on the results - this motivates the seller to conclude transactions more often. The remuneration should be correlated with the results of the best sellers, so that everyone strives to give everything in full.

Having strengthened the team with an effective strategy, learn how to use it correctly to attract the attention of your dream customers.

Maximize sales by working on key figures of large companies

Imagine that your company sells office equipment. To attract customers, you advertise your services via e-mail in your area. But this strategy is unproductive - few will contact you.

To improve your advertising, focus only on the best customers in the industry. It is more profitable to sell to large enterprises with a large staff, because they will purchase more goods.

Example. Focus on large organizations with older computer systems. They can purchase your product in large volumes, so in advertising, focus specifically on them.

Communicate only with the staff responsible for the purchases.

Example. Even if the software is intended for librarians, they do not make purchasing decisions. Contact the manager or director of the library and explain how your product will improve the work of librarians, then the likelihood of a sale will increase.

Use the Neighborhood Strategy - send email advertising to the place where the best customers live.

Example. One real estate agent focused on a “dream area” with 2,200 elite homes. Each month, he sent them an advertisement with a list of houses sold and prices. So the owners of the houses saw firsthand how much they could get for the sale.

The agent’s tactics paid off: the commission for one house covered the costs of leaflets.

Marketing optimization and training people will attract the attention of potential customers

Many companies spend a ton of money on marketing. But their strategies are often not related to each other. Such marketing is ineffective, you need to find another way.

Start by coordinating all marketing activities: the strategy must be one.

Example. If the PR department has compiled a list of company achievements for press releases or newspaper articles, provide this information to other departments. Thus, the sales team will be able to use the list to demonstrate to customers the reliability and exclusivity of your company.

If the marketing strategy is the same, people will hear about the company more often and from different sources.

Training press releases can also be used to improve your marketing campaigns.They will attract media attention, and access to potential buyers will expand.

Example. Two women from Burlington, Vermont, grew fruits on the farm, painting them with cartoon characters to introduce children to healthy food. They issued regular press releases featuring US studies on obesity and listing the benefits of a healthy diet. Thanks to regular press releases, media attention has increased, and potential customers have begun to trust farm products.

Make your ad catchy with compelling headlines and content

When advertising your services, you will have to speak at conferences and marketing events. Your success on stage depends on the credibility of your presentation. Most of the audience remembers only 20% of the information they hear. Therefore, it is necessary to awaken their interest.

Illustrations may help. We remember 20% of what we heard, 30% of what we saw, and 50% of what we see and hear at the same time, therefore, we need to provide both auditory and visual treatment.

Use color images - they attract attention more than black and white, and their color scheme affects the viewer.

Example. A company focused on lawyers has introduced infographics showing the growing number of lawyers in the United States. To emphasize sharp growth, they highlighted the largest number in large red print and circled it. This emphasis told the audience that competition was increasing, and with the help of red highlighted the importance of this fact.

Any visual element of a presentation should have a catchy title summarizing the most important points.

Example. Instead of the plain names of the slides (“State of the industry” or “Five trends in our industry”), use interesting and informative (“State of the industry - how things have changed” and “Five trends that can destroy your business or take it to new heights”). This way you voice a clear idea and let the audience know why this is important.

Communicate with the best customers constantly so that they know you in person

The customers of your dreams do not wait until you make a business proposal. They probably don’t even know about your existence. How to arouse their interest?

You can send letters and gifts to the most desirable customers. To attract attention, send an email every two weeks, offering something useful.

Example. If you are a PR consultant, offer to attend a free webinar on trends and issues in the media industry.

Accompany letters with symbolic gifts - pens and key chains, the design of which matches your messages.

Example. If the future of the media industry seems bleak, a pen with a flashlight will work best.

After sending letters and gifts, call the decision maker, often this is the head of the company. But getting through to the director is not easy: you have to outwit his personal assistants. Often, it is they who decide with whom to connect the bosses.

Try to act as if you have known the director for a long time.

Example. When asked about the nature of the call, calmly answer: “Just tell him that John is calling” or any name that comes to mind. Faced with such confidence, assistants are likely to inform your boss about your call. The director may not understand who you are and asks the secretary to clarify. In this case, answer: “Just say that I am from ABC. He will understand".

Confidently, assistants will connect you with anyone.

Create a feeling of mutual trust and sympathy with customers

Suppose you are already in close contact with customers, but have not sold anything yet. Perhaps they are still in doubt, although you convinced them of the benefits of the purchase. What to do to make a deal?

Create a foundation for the future, seeking mutual understanding with customers. This will help increase sales later. Study the client well and tell about yourself.It will be more difficult for competitors to take them away if they become your friends.

Example. Organize parties and business trips - create opportunities to strengthen communication with the client.

Emotional communication with customers requires trust. A potential customer should trust you as a specialist.

Example. If the company sells telecommunications equipment, invite potential customers to seminars that talk about the importance of equipment for their industry. Customers will consider you a hardware expert and trust your advice.

Do not be afraid to help customers make decisions. Even if you have identified a buyer's need and created a desire to buy, customers may doubt or object. Your duty is to push them to a positive decision.

Example. Imagine that a young family wants to buy a home theater and has been wandering around different stores for four months now. Won't they be happy if you sell them a system that you consider most suitable for them?

If you are sure of the right choice for the client, do not be afraid to push him to the decision to purchase.

Keep existing customers

If you want to create the perfect sales machine, you need quality after-sales customer service. To save customers, develop further actions.

After the sale, customers will know about your existence, but so as not to be forgotten, write them letters, call, share funny stories, invite them to events or parties.

After completing the transaction, immediately send a response letter. Start with a personal one: if you know a funny story, be sure to tell it. Then give a compliment, but do not get distracted by the benefits that you provide. Write something like: “You see the problems facing your company in such a competitive industry. Obviously, our software will help you outperform your competitors by lowering research costs and increasing productivity. ”

End your letter with a personal theme. You can write: “It was a pleasure to deal with you. “I have several ideas about other tasks facing you that I am sure will be of interest to you.”

Never apologize for the time taken - this means that you do not believe in the benefit of your services to the client. Concentrate on the interests of the client and assistance in solving the problems of his company. Do not get hung up on yourself.

It will take a lot of time. But to acquire a new customer, you need six times more effort than to sell additional services to an existing one.

Reprogram your mindset

Imagine yourself wandering around a busy railway station where advertisements vie for your attention and at the same time you hear a thousand conversations. But you will immediately hear if someone calls your name. How is this possible?

We find things interesting to us with the help of the reticular activating system (RAS). She focuses on what occupies our thoughts. However, many of us are endowed with negative thinking, which sets up the RAS to select the wrong information.

Example. Many people think that they “cannot remember names”, and the PAC reacts accordingly - it does not pay attention to names.

You can reconfigure ASD by focusing on positive thoughts. If you look for the positive aspects of the situation, the RAS is reprogrammed to identify opportunities where once only saw problems.

Example. If you think, “I remember names very well,” the subconscious mind will pay special attention to them.

RAS does not improve memory, but can make us the best sellers.

Example. Many do not like phone calls in the morning. However, convincing ourselves that this is our favorite pastime, we can enjoy it. Enhance the effect with the setting “I like calls in the morning”. Write the phrase in capital letters and hang it on the wall.

Focus RAS on specific goals.Use positive language - it’s easier to achieve it. Just saying to yourself, “I will make ten sales a day,” you can actually make ten sales every day.

Make short lists of current tasks and allocate time

Every morning at work you will find many letters and a stack of notes. They only accumulate during the day, making you react. Avoiding this is quite simple: if you take up something, whether it be a document, letter or note, immediately act! Do not open the letter until you have time for it. Ask yourself: “Can I deal with this right now?”. If not, postpone the task.

How to find out what the letter is about without opening it? To do this, everyone in your organization must be able to conduct business correspondence.

Example. The team is discussing in the mail a recent strategic meeting. The subject of conversation is gradually shifting towards the introduction of a new product, but the subject of the letter still remains the same. This is fundamentally wrong. All letters must be marked accordingly. In this case, the theme could be “Four Steps to Product Introduction”. So you will immediately learn about the contents of the letter.

Make short task lists. Try to point out the six most important tasks for one day. Such short lists make the tasks feasible and do not allow you to be distracted by secondary matters. You will focus on what is developing the business and making it more profitable.

The most important thing

Each company can double sales by applying one of twelve key strategies in iron discipline. Strategies provide tools to attract customers of your dreams, hire super-sellers and stay ahead of the competition.

Hire super sellers. The best sellers have a strong ego and have the influence necessary to complete a transaction and increase the company's profits.

"Sharpen" the skills of the team with regular trainings. Do not wait for the sales team to face a difficult situation. Provide them with tools in advance to solve it. Train staff regularly. Develop skills before using them in a real situation.

If there is a supermarketer in your department, take care of him. Super-sellers are smart and confident people. They tend to criticize, challenge and come up with new ideas. Let them take the reins of government into their own hands and set super-high goals before them.