Everyone wants to increase their sales and why not? An increase in sales means higher profit and that’s why people join the entrepreneur market, right? Having a sales strategy means it’s much easier for salespersons to close deals because they have a plan to follow and are able to maintain brand integrity at the same time.
Anyone who has some experience of the sales and marketing department understands that using tools and plans to increase sales works in theory but in practice, it’s a lot more difficult.
Here are four signs that are screaming at you to adapt a business strategy, fast!
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Table Of Contents
Have regular meetings with the sales team
How many sales meetings have you had in the past year with your sales team? If the answer is none. Call a meeting immediately!
It’s really important to have regular sit downs with your sales team and have a discussion with them regarding their wants and needs in the office space. Ask them what you can do to make their job easier. This is collecting first hand data and is much more reliable than following a management plan that you found over the internet.
Your sales team is the most integral part of your business and if they are happy so is your cash flow. They understand your customers more than you do. B2B sales require chirpy sales people because customers, especially if there is cold calling involve respond to pleasant personalities, instead of boring ones.
Conduct monthly meetings if you are unable to hold Bi-weekly meetings, allow them to give feedback so the marketing team can act accordingly.
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How extensive is your sales cycle?
How long has your potential customer been lurking around, considering whether or not to purchase from you? Remember this is a logical decision and not one based on emotions. If the buyer is taking too long to make a final decision, you need to incorporate a sales strategy.
B2B sales mean that your buyer is likely considering your competitors’ offers, they’re undertaking complete research before they finalize the decision. They are going to opt for the company that makes the most sense to them. So make sure your sales team is well equipped to close that deal.
This means giving them the authority to offer discounts for immediate closing. You may incur a lesser profit, but that’s better than losing out on a sale all together. Right?
Create a discount package and tell your sales team in what circumstances they can offer a discount and how much they can offer.
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Are you losing deals?
Do you have the right leads, but still losing out on sales? Something isn’t right.
Losing leads are a sign that you to improve your sales strategy. Identify the stage in the funnel when you lose a deal this will tell you where exactly you need to improve and what is causing the deal to blow.
Once you have figured out the problem. Make due changes and in the sales strategy and try again. Hopefully the problem would not persist if it does, try another plan.
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Set clear, distinctive goals for each department
Make sure the sales and marketing team have distinctive tasks. Whilst the marketing department is responsible for creating content that encourages and attracts engagement with potential clients. E.g they can ask people to sign up on webinars, basically, they are responsible for creating the leads.
The sales team on the other hand must understand that their role is not to create leads, but to convert these leads into sales.
If both departments are unclear about their role and are crossing over each others duties there will be a lot of confusion and disputes that will affect your business.
Set clear guidelines stating the roles of each department so there are no overlaps.
If whilst reading the above, you thought this definitely applies to my company, then it’s time you started implementing stronger sales strategy into your business. Every problem has a solution and it is important to find these solutions and implement them. You will witness a better cash flow immediately and this why you are in the business in the first place, right?
