Running a business involves a lot of moving pieces, but your sales strategy is what forms the foundation. After all, booking new clients is what allows your company to grow to new heights.
If you’ve felt that your sales have been stagnant, consider these strategies as a way to jumpstart your booking process.
Your team is inconsistent.
Salespeople need to be able to think on their feet, and there is a special need for your team to connect with prospects on an emotional level.
Take some time to shadow your sales team and evaluate their approach to prospects. Do they use a predefined script, or do they converse with a prospect more fluidly? Can you see them building trust with the client? How well can they recognize their needs?
Identify the gaps or obstacles that hold your team back from presenting every client with a reliable experience and brainstorm solutions to solve any problems. Every client who walks in your door should only get the best treatment.
You don’t have a training manual.
Yes, you’ve heard me express the need for a training manual often — but it’s truly that important. A training manual helps you to organize the onboarding process for employees, effectively saving time and providing new hires with a reliable resource.
Creating an employee training manual can seem like a lot of work. Understand that it is an investment in the future of your business — not only does it ensure consistency, but it also prevents constant questions in the first weeks of employment. Providing new hires with a manual shows them that you trust their ability to guide themselves to a certain extent, which promotes engagement and high morale.
Your sales team is full of order-takers.
Are your salespeople engaged with their job? Do they have the initiative to go out and make sales organically, or are they sitting around waiting for an order? Anyone can take a phone call and stick to a script, but a great salesperson is one who feels passionate about booking new clients.
Build your team with individuals that have welcoming personalities and are ready to develop relationships with customers. Teach your employees to focus on the client’s needs — it’s not just about the number of leads but the quality of the service. At the end of the day, that’s what keeps customers coming back for more.
Your proposals need work.
A proposal is often the first real encounter a prospect has with your company, usually before any face-to-face meetings. That means that, in some cases, even the very best salesperson can’t book a lead if the proposal isn’t cutting it.
Often, prospective customers compare your proposal to those of your competitors — not just for price, but for quality. That’s why your proposal needs to pop. The essential part of a proposal, of course, is to reflect your vision based on what the client needs. However, presentation is just as important.
Take a look at your proposal from the eyes of a prospective client. What do you see? Is it just pages upon pages of text that make your eyes glaze over? Does it lack personality or vision? Is it well-organized with a table of contents?
Get creative, use descriptive language, including imagery, and focus on the client’s needs. Customize it with the prospect in mind and add some of your personality. The more it represents your client experience, the stronger your sales push will be.
Believe it or not, there’s a difference between titling it “Jane & Jack Take the Plunge” and “Jane & Jack’s Wedding” — the latter seems like just another client, whereas the first makes them feel like you’re creating their story.
A strong proposal can be a great way to support your sales team — after all, a solid proposal can sell itself.
Ramping up your sales doesn’t require a full overhaul of your systems, though. Instead, take it slow and look for ways to tweak your process to maximize your team’s capabilities.
Of course, you also have to consider the value of each of your team members. Salespeople are a dime a dozen, but great salespeople are hard to find.