Marketing strategies exist to make sales easier but you still need someone to “close”. Although marketing brings people to the door you have to develop your team to learn how to close deals. This can be challenging as often people shy away from wanting to close deals as they see selling as a bad thing.
Changing your mindset in order to sell well
Being good at sales is all about the belief that you are there to help with your products and services. It’s about positioning yourself to serve someone else’s needs with what you have to offer. You are there to add value, not to take it away.
We’ve all seen golf tournaments where the approach play is second to none, only for the 5-yard putt to hit the rim of the hole and then a birdie becomes “par” or worse still, a “bogie” (one over par)! For non-golfers, each hole has a designated number of shots and you can play under it (under par = good), match it (par = not so good) or go over it par (over par = bad). At the end of the course, the number you are under par determines the winner.
Sales is a funny thing. Everyone needs it but not everyone gets it. Not enough sales and it’s often deemed to be the fault of the marketing department. Suggestions are made to change the marketing strategies, campaign or even the agency.
Marketing strategies won’t help if your salespeople are not effective. They need to learn how to close deals with the traffic that the marketing company brings.
In 30 years of experience in marketing, I have seen several CEOs and Leaders who simply didn’t understand the fundamentals of marketing and sales.
It’s like this: marketing creates opportunities and builds relationships, and sales deepen relationships into taking action.
So how can you help your team when it comes to learning how to close sales?
Here are a few tips and tools to make that journey easier.
Proposal Software:
Submitting PDFs attached to an email is a bit lazy by today’s “closing” standards as you can improve the close with proposal software. Better Proposals has been our “go to” and we can’t recommend it highly enough.
Video Testimonies:
Just using text on a website is good for SEO, but videos of real people sharing real experiences is great for sales. Interviewing your clients for a testimony allows you to catch up with your most important assets – the people who helped you to build your reputation.
Avoid Haggling:
If people are just looking to drive your price down hard, it’s probably better to walk away as it won’t end well for you. People that know their worth are valuable, people who understand your worth are priceless.
From time to time it’s good to add value, but if the client starts by driving your prices down siginificantly, every bill you send will end up being questioned.
Just ask:
Honestly, just ask. If you have invested your time and given a lot of your treasure and talent in the form of insights and information then it’s time to just ask.
If you are afraif of naming your price after all that, you might have the wrong company in your room and you’ll end up haggling more than actually working.
Onboarding:
Onboarding is often overlooked. It’s something that we have recently focussed on with regular meetings and a briefing document that communicates how we can create success for our clients.
If your sales are not as good as they should be it might be because you’re missing a part of the strategy. We will always work with clients where they are at, but to turn the dial, investing more on marketing could be required.
For example, whereas 3-5 touch points would get a sales conversion in the past, today you’d need 10-15. Increasing the number of touch points means making adjustments to your communication. Small changes such as upgrading your LinkedIn Banner or even your email signature are both ways to increase your number of touch points.
Things are taking longer:
Don’t beat yourself up if closing takes longer than it used to. In a world where finances are squeezed, people will naturally take longer to decide, but that’s not everyone!
In some sectors, people are moving really quickly and will readily invest if they can clearly see the value you can add. To speed up that process, great storytelling is a game-changer that goes beyond brand marketing.
The best storytellers win and we have helped thousands of people become the best kind of storytellers both nationally and internationally.
When your story is consistent, your sales will be too.
Cre8ion are experts at helping you tell stories at every stage of the sales journey to help you make that putt or seal that deal and find clients who’ll appreciate you and your best work.
So whether you are a Suspect, Prospect, Client or Advocate we can help you flourish using tools to tell those stories with clarity and confidence.
One client we have recently helped is Project Solutions who deliver construction services from concept to completion, as principal contractors, across South Wales and the West of England. We designed and constructed their new website to give them an online presence that would reflect their fine reputation in the world of construction.
Project Solutions have Constructionline Gold certification which means that their team are pre-qualified for clients and contracts across the UK, saving clients both time and money spent looking for a reliable contractor. It illustrates to buyers that Project Solutions has been subjected to increased scrutiny around governance and risk management. Ultimately, their work has been checked by an external body so customers can expect the highest quality before a project even starts.
If you would like more information about Cre8ion’s services, just ask…
Client Showcase: Project Solutions
Over the years we’ve had the pleasure of working with our friends at TPS360 – Total Project Solutions, and their subdivision ‘Project Solutions. Throughout the past few months we have been working with them to launch Project Solutions into a new era, starting with a brand new website design and visual refresh.
We recently celebrated the launch of the all-new Project Solutions site! If you’re interested in construction services and would like to learn more about their story and offerings, take a look at their new site today via the link above.
The next episode of the Purpose People Podcast is now live! Join the conversation today by clicking the image link below.
