A growing customer base is essential for any business but as competition grows daily, finding customers and proving you’re the best option can be a challenge. A well-oiled sales process can be the difference between standing out to new prospects and blending in with the rest of the crowd. Take the below four steps to ensure your sales plan distinguishes you from the rest…
Understand your current customer base
Having an understanding of organisations or people currently using your service or products is key to knowing how to up- or cross-sell, as well as helping when it comes to prospecting. Spend time exploring your current customer base and highlighting similarities. If you can find a niche that has opportunity for further market penetration within your current customers, you can use existing information to target new prospects – such as case studies, testimonials or in-depth knowledge.
Highlight your points of differentiation
Your market place may be crowded, but it doesn’t mean that everyone is offering the exact same solution in the same way. Be sure to not only pin point what makes you different (which could be anything from the way you provide solutions to how you run your business) but highlight it across all sales materials and in pitches.
Explore the losses
Understanding why you lost customers, or pitches for new prospects, can help improve your sales process and customer relationships in the future. Explore elements which went wrong, could be improved or perhaps need a complete change. It may be that slight amends in approach, presentation or follow-up are required, or you may realise that a complete overhaul is needed. Of course, don’t change things unnecessarily – sometimes you lose business simply because it isn’t a good fit, not because your strategy needs changing.
Utilising prospecting effectively
Having a prospecting plan in place before you even start the sales process can help make sure you’re getting in front of the right people and businesses. Knowing your ideal client, based off your current customer base and areas where there is opportunity for high market penetration, helps to streamline your process and ensure you’re not wasting time on the wrong market.
To get tailored help with your sales process, see our solutions here.
You might also be interested in:
