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Increase Sales by Focusing on Qualified Prospects Who Turn into Loyal Customers
| Guest post by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith |
Article Overview: Are you tired of wasting your time prospecting for new sales? Do you find yourself meeting a lot of tire kickers? Then why not invest more time in disqualifying potential customers so that you can increase sales?
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Free Download - How to Craft an Engaging Message That Highlights What You Do to Increase Sales By Leanne Hoagland-Smith |
Increase Sales by Focusing on Qualified Prospects Who Turn into Loyal Customers
Are you tired of wasting your time prospecting for new sales? Do you find yourself meeting a lot of tire kickers? Then why not invest more time in disqualifying potential customers so that you can increase sales?
When times are tough or times are good, many sales professionals fail to qualify potential buyers. They engage in spray and pray marketing and selling activities. (Spray your actions all over the place and pray something will stick.)
First, you must have some specific criteria to separate strangers from buyers. Within my business coaching training practice, I share these 4 criteria with my clients and even when I speak about how to increase sales:
1. Decision Maker
2. Need
3. Designated or allocated budget
4. Urgency
Sales Coaching Tip: People remember what you say first and last. Specific to the criteria, remember Decision Maker and Urgency. Even if there exists a need and there is money, unless you are talking with the decision maker who has urgency to change the situation, you are frankly wasting your time.
Next, you need to review your target market and identify those individuals who fit all four criteria. Select the top 5 individuals who you want to meet. Even though you may not know for sure if all four criteria are present, your sales skills and sales savvy should allow you to make some assumptions based on current market trends and conditions.
Now share this list of the top 5 potential qualified prospects with everyone you meet. Attend business networking events where you believe these individuals might be. These events could range from annual Chambers of Commerce events to associations’ monthly meetings to regional economic development summit seminars.
By having focus on these top 5, you have disqualified a lot of individuals who are probably tire kickers and truly do not meet the formerly mentioned criteria. Now, as another colleague Doug Brown has so often stated: You are no longer confusing motion with progress and activity with results. With your laser focus, you are actively using your sales skills to truly connect with those top 5 potential customers.
Once you meet one and begin building a relationship for that is the foundation of developing loyal customers, find another qualified prospect to fill that slot. Track your results. Very quickly or not so quickly, depending upon your sales cycle time, you will increase sales and be far more productive as well.
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About the Author: Leanne Hoagland-Smith RSS for Leanne's articles - Visit Leanne's website Her book, Be the Red Jacket is a no-nonsense and quick read to help discover potential gaps that may be keeping you from your goal to increase sales. The forward is by Evan Carmichael of EvanCarmichael.com Remember if you think you cannot or you think you can either way you are right. (Henry Ford). Sales Coaching Tip: Change your thoughts; improve your results. Click here to visit Leanne's website   Business Building Check List Leadership Assessment Leadership Audit For Business |
Related Forum Posts
Simple way to avoid Cold Calling
- Gary,
A chiropractor I work with hates cold calling (me too!) and he uses a technique to warm people up to using his services - it's so simple!
In Sales your dealing with 3 pools of people:
1. Strangers
2. Prospects
3. Returning Customers
You need to move people from one pool to the next. We'll concentrate on #1 and #2 as it's most relevant to your question.
My Clients does the following (you just have to tailor it to your situation - be creative).
My Client (we'll call him Bob) Bob leverages his time and resources to only get people that need his offer (pain relief) to put their hand up. Dealing with Strangers can get expensive and they don't like to be told what to do as they have no trust or relationship built with him.
So to get Strangers to put their hands up he writes up an offer with a free report on a particular pain relief - let's say lower back pain (note: he can simply just change lower back pain to neck pain and have a new report). and uses multiple marketing vehicles to promote the Free report - magazines, newspaper, forums, postcards, private clinics etc.
The only people picking up this information are the very people Bob would like as customers as they have Lower back pain. Bob's Free report ends with him stating his services and includes a Free in-house Consultation with no obligation.
You'd be surprised at how easily Bob converts Strangers into Prospects. Note: They become prospects when they ask for the Free Guide and in exchange provide their contact details. This gives Bob unlimited opportunity to contact them for the Free in-house consultation with no obligation to continue using him.
At this stage Bob's ability to close the sale lies in his office providing good customer service, Bob's ability to help the prospect and provide value at the free in-house consultation.
Notice, he hasn't had to pick up the phone to COLD-CALL his Stranger pool or his Prospect pool.
Hope that example helps to increase your prospecting!
LEADERS
- L- Loyal
E- Eager to learn and serve
A- Active
D- Delegate
E- Efficient
R- Reliable
S- Smart
Re: Great start, but no finish
- My advise is FOCUS on your business.
Focusing is the main factor to succeed on business. If you have a great idea, then follow it only, don't look anywhere else. It is especially essential in an online business. Because there are a lot of mind blowing sales letters promising millions dolllars or overnight success, people find it difficult to concentrate on one business and they lose their energy.
Concept is simple.
1- Have a good idea;
2- Build your business on it;
3- Monetize your business;
4- Promote it;
5- Build list of responsive customers;
6- Maintain You Business.
Focusing and not fearing from competition (instead you can learn from competitiors) are main tips of billionaires ,BTW.
Orxan
Re: Fill in the blank: The best decision I ever made with my bus
- Focusing on my Internet Marketing Business
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
- Hi Evan,
I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
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