Inbound and outbound sales departments
When incoming requests become overwhelming, maintaining relationships with existing clients and increasing loyalty becomes less of a priority.
Moreover, even new prospects often become active only if regular communication is established with them. The average sales department is very poor at this. What can be done? Read below, and also watch the video on how to hire sales managers...
Read the online self-study guide to cold salesWrite to the marketer at marketolog@adbest.ru Let's be friends!
Step 5. Learn to speak with decision makers in the language of problems and their solutions.
Setting up contextual advertising using analytical methodsWhat is a typical decision-maker, company director, department head, etc. like? They are undoubtedly a person with responsibilities and who is constantly thinking about how best to resolve various issues. If you're talking to someone with a lot of questions to answer, they're rarely interested in hearing information that doesn't relate to those questions..
Pensioner Marya Ivanovna might be open to a chat when she's bored and doesn't have to spend time with her grandchildren, but directors, as a rule, aren't interested in entertainment. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, and some directors are very open-minded, interested in everything new and progressive, and will even ask you about everything themselves. But these are the exceptions. The rest, as a rule, don't have time for you.
What should you do? Especially if the right person has already answered the phone to talk to you. And you're just trying to turn them off with your sales pitch.
Let's remember that when we tried to prevent objections, we asked a lot of questions to avoid proposing something uninteresting and unprofitable, and if we encountered objections, we started asking questions again.
By analogy, we can assume that a decision maker will be willing to talk to us if we can find out from them what exactly they're interested in, or more precisely, what they want to achieve, solve, overcome, acquire, etc. Then we can help them.
Has it ever occurred to you that he's interested in talking to you about whatever's currently on his mind? He'll do it, enjoying the process itself, until you fully understand his needs and apply them to your own.
Moreover, if you simply start asking him a lot of questions about what he does, what exactly they produce, etc., he'll quickly get bored, because he's unlikely to see the value in telling a stranger about his company's affairs. But once the pressing issues are raised, he'll likely break through and want to speak out. All you have to do is keep the conversation going, listen, and ask questions that will increasingly reveal your potential buyer's problems and goals.
After this, you can calmly summarize what was said, out loud, and explain to the buyer their overall situation as you understand it, and only then move on to problem-solving.
Moreover, if you offer a purely personal solution without asking the buyer's opinion, it could undo all the work you've done. However, if you ask the buyer how they see their problem being solved, and also solicit their opinion on each of the solutions you propose, if you build a full dialogue that takes into account both sides' perspectives, then you'll give the buyer the opportunity to evaluate the value of your product for themselves and choose what's right for them, not you. In this case, the client often ends the conversation with a question: "How can I buy your product?" or "How can I enter into a contract with you?"
Now let's take a closer look at the entire process that must be followed from the initial question to the decision maker: "Do you do this or that, or do you purchase this or that product?" to fully establishing the value of your product in the eyes of the buyer.
1. Situational questions: Do you have CCTV cameras? What exactly do you do? Do you encounter this or that in your work?
2. Problematic issues. What problems do you encounter due to the lack of CCTV cameras at a construction site? Have you encountered any cases of building materials being illegally removed from the site?
3. Probing questions. Wow. And how much material was removed? Was that in a month or a year? What other problems could be solved if we install cameras?
4. Leading questions: Wouldn't it be more cost-effective to keep the area under 24/7 video surveillance? How much would that save?
After all this, the client is ready to discuss with you the possibility of choosing cameras and will most likely ask which ones you can offer and at what price.
And again we work in the same sequence to create value.
1. Have you ever had to choose cameras and video surveillance systems? Which ones did you like the most? Why? The client will tell you all about it.
2. What's most important to you when purchasing a video surveillance system? Do the cameras need additional memory? Etc.
Remember how we sold Excel training? First, we asked—or rather, suggested—the client what specific results they wanted from the training. We could have... then suggested that they would learn how to use formulas, VLOOKUP functions, pivot tables, and create graphs and charts. We asked them what schedule would suit them, what kind of instructor they wanted, and only then did we offer exactly what they asked for.
This is called an offer you can't refuse. Naturally, the price was announced at the very end of the conversation, when placing the order. (However, the client had already seen the price list on the website; this is good business etiquette, and the price is completely consistent with the price list.)
The same goes for cameras. First, we ask their opinion on all the nuances we're going to offer. Which features do you think would suit you best? (It's best to replace the specifications with the corresponding features to make it clearer to the client, unless they're an expert in this area.)
All of this is essentially the SPIN selling method, namely, a method of transforming hidden needs into explicit ones through situational, problematic, eliciting, and guiding questions.
Read more, Step 6 Presentation LetterBesides incentive systems, company managers are most often concerned with sales forecasting. I've noticed that sales volume forecasts are most often purely theoretical, as a result of subjective observation of previous periods' figures and the level of ambition. However, there is also a scientific approach to forecasting sales and website traffic, which I recommend adopting. There is the so-called Adaptive Trend-Seasonal Sales Forecasting Method. It takes into account the seasonal impact on sales results by observing the seasonal trend, giving the most recent year of observation more weight than the previous one, accounting for the degree of variation in values and the impact of unforeseen and variable factors on sales results: the presence or absence of discounts, promotions, special offers, various types of advertising, sales, etc. Scenario forecasting is also possible to achieve the desired result. We offer both commissioned data analysis for sales forecasting (usually three years of data are analyzed to track the impact of seasonal factors), and training for employees in relevant forecasting skills. All calculations and graphing can be performed in Excel.
Go to the sales forecasting sectionWe also offer training for sales managers on sales techniques: sales stages, spin selling, handling objections, closing deals, buyer psychology, and much more. By conducting regular training sessions to enhance your skills, you can significantly increase your sales. While this is common practice in Western companies, in our country, it's still a local phenomenon, despite all the advantages. We also offer numerous courses for professional development for marketing department employees. For those who use YouTube, I have a link to the "Key to Sales" channel, which you can freely use for non-commercial purposes to improve the skills of sales employees and managers, delegate tasks, develop motivation systems, hire sales managers, and more.
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