5 Steps to Successful Selling

1. 5steps tosuccessfulselling in a world modern

2. Executive summary Salespeopleareoftenstereotypedforbeingtoo pushy, tooarrogantand forconstantlyhassling youoverthephone.Butthefaceofsales is changing,and changingforthebetter. Classic sales techniquesarestill successful and alwayswillbe,butlookingtothenextfewyears, thebusiness worldis poised tobecomemore modern,moreswitchedonandmoreadvanced, and thatmeans thatsales techniquesmustbe too. Intoday’smodernworld,classicsalestechniqueshavequicklyfallenbythewayside,makingway forthehightech,forwardthinkingandoptimised sales forces of today. InFive Steps toSuccessful Selling in a Modern World,werevealthefivebestmethodsforclosing asaleintoday’scompetitivebusinesslandscape: 5stepstosuccessfulsellinginamodernworld 1 Retention, retention, retention 2 Be social Remembertheimportanceof data Utilisetechnology Encourage a successful sales culture

3. Retention, retention, retention Customerretentionandcustomersatisfactionaremoreimportantthanever.Ifyouareofthethinking that the onlyway to grow business is by acquiringnewcustomers,thenyouarewrong. We allknow, or atleastwearealltold,thatitis6to7timeshardertoconvertanewcustomerthantoselltoanexisting one.Accountmanagementandcustomerretentionisoneofthemostimportantaspectsofthesales process and anintegralfacetforevery single business. There are only so many customers inyourtarget market, so every one you keep hold ofwillbe one less foryourcompetitors. Allcustomersareequalright? Wrong. All ofyourcustomersareimportant,thereis nodoubtingthat. Buttheyarenotnecessarily equal. Onecustomermighthave anaveragespendreachingtensofthousands,whereasanothermayonlyspendafewhundredpounds/dollarswithyoueveryfew months.Itdoesn’ttakearocketscientisttoknowwhichcustomer ismoreimportant.Ofcourse,youshouldbeconcentratingalargerportionofyourtimeonkeepingyourmostprofitablecustomers, happy.

4. You’reintheknow Providing added value is oneofthebest ways toretaina customer.Asa representativeofyour company,youarethe expert. Youknowyourproduct orservice betterthananyone.Itis essential that your customers viewyou assuch, even asan extensionof theiroperation.Your responsibilityisn’t just to selltothesecustomers,buttosolvecustomerissuesandaddvalueateveryavailableopportunity.Tell themaboutanynewproductsthatmaybecomingsoon,relevantbusinessstatisticsandwhatyourothercustomersaredoing.Notonlywillyoubeaddingvaluetoyourservicebutalsoraisingyourprofile and settingtheir mindatrest whenit comestore-orderingfromyou. Itisvitalthatyoubecomemorevaluabletoyourcustomerthanthepoundordollartheyspendwith you.Thisisespecially importantifyourcustomeronlybuysoneproductfromyouoryouonlyhaveoneproductline. Addingvalue whereyoucan,becomingmorethanwhatyousell will makethedecision toreplaceyouas a supplier very tough. 80:20 Know your Pareto split: Knowingwhoyourkeycustomersareissoimportant.YouneedtoknowyourParetosplit. Thatisthe20%ofyourcustomerbasethatgenerates80%ofyourbusiness.Ofcourse,youshouldbefocusingmoreofyourtimeonyourmostprofitablecustomers.Takethetimeto workoutwhoyourtopcustomersare.

5. Be social Social is thenewway ofselling. Younolongerhave toresearcheachand everyoneofyour customerswithwayward phonecalls, secretive emailsandamoundofresearch.Socialmedia doesit all foryou. Socialmedia Twitter,LinkedIn,Facebook,Google+and Pinterest.Theriseofsocialmediaisonlygoingto continue.WhenwasthelasttimeyoucheckedyourTwitter?Facebook?LinkedIn?It’saddictive isn’tit?Socialmediahasbecomehabitualfora lotofus.Buthowmanyofusactuallyuseitfor workrelated purposes?Social media canbe yoursecretweaponwhenit comestosales. Itcanbe oneofthebest resources togarner uniqueinsights intoleads and canhelp youto make a more memorable first contact. Takingthetimetoinvestigateleads,companies, andindividualscanleadyoutouncovercrucial informationonthem,meaningyoucanoptimise yourtimeasasalespersonandmakeeverycall count. Cold calling is swiftly becominga thingof thepast thankstosocial networking.Gettingleads tobe morereceptive canbe a hugeboostin yourprospecting,soreferenceany mutualconnectionsorsimply ask themforan introduction.Itisn’trocketscienceknowingthat awarmreferralislikelytoincreasesalessuccess. Thepowerheresits withsocial media and its ability toquickly transforma cold call intoa warmlead.

6. Sales2.0 Sales2.0isoneofthenewesttermsinthesalesarena,andwillprobablybecomeoneofthemost influentialgoingforward.Coinedbackin2007,theterm‘Sales2.0’capturestheconceptoftaking sales to ‘the next level’ using online tools to boost sales performance. Sales 2.0 has cemented the developingrelationshipbetweensalespeopleandsocialmedia.Thesocialtoolsatyourdisposalaren’t necessarilya way of generating leads, but a way of speaking directly tothem. Sales2.0isessentiallyawayofimprovingandacceleratingthesalesprocess,helpingsalespeopleto define and target who to call, when to call and what to say. NotonlydoesSales2.0benefittheseller,butalsothecustomer.Buyersareincreasinglyaforcetobe reckonedwithandarebetterinformedtodaythaneverbefore.Withtheincredibleamountofinstant informationavailabletothemonline,prospectsareabletoself-educateandunderstandproductsand services beforeengagingwith a salesperson. Howdoesthisbenefityouasasalesperson?Itmeanssalescyclesareshortenedandprospectsare educatedandqualifiedbeforethatfirstcallismade.Qualifyingtheleadbecomesaswifttaskand moreprospectsaresales ready by thetimeyoureachout tothem(ortheyreachout toyou). 93% ofmarketersuse socialmediafor business 2 newmembers joinLinkedIn everysecond 50% ofInternetusers haveanactive Facebook account 67% moreleadsfrom B2Bmarketers fromusingblogs 2.9bn hoursspentonYouTubeper month 190 milliontweets aresentperday

7. Remember the importance of data Datadrivesprettymucheverythingwedointoday’sbusinessworld.Fromsalesfiguresandinvoicesto customerinformationandcontracts.Itisbehindeverythingyoucouldthinkof.Undoubtedlyoneofthe greatestchallengesinanybusinessismanaging,analysingandusingtheendlessstoresofdataina waythatisbothusefuland efficient. Yet,despitethemassesofdatathatisavailableatyour fingertips, the time and effort involved in interpreting it has become difficult in recent years. So,gettingdowntoBigData.Innon-techy,humanlanguageBigDatameansthegrowthandavailability ofhugequantitiesofinformationthattraditionalmethodsjustcannotanalyse.About90percentofall datageneratedisunstructured.Inotherwordsitdoesn’tfitintoanexistingdatabase.Withdatathis vastyoucouldmakestrategicbusinessdecisionsifitisanalysedcorrectlyandputintoasimplerformat. We have always had a lot of data, but today’s advances in technology means that it is now simplified andmoreeasilyaccessible.Wearestilldealingwithalotofdata;infact,wearedealingwithmore datathanwehaveeverhad,varyingintypeandformat.Over90%oftheworld’sdatawascreatedin the last two years soit is nowonderthat weare adata-richworldtoday. When usedcorrectly, data canpose ahuge advantage tobusinesses of any size,in any industry. Datainbusiness Let’sjusttakeamomentandreallythinkabout it.Therearecompanies todaythatareable toprocess data atanincredible rate.Back in 2008, Googlewas processing20 petabytes of data perday, while Walmart handles 1 million customertransactionseveryhourandmorethan5billionpeoplearecalling,texting,tweetingand browsing onmobile phonesatany onetime. So processing and analysing data is definitely achievable, despite it seeminglike ahuge task. Withbusiness intelligencesoftware,data becomesthegatewaytoaneasysell.Presentingyourcustomer’ssales data in oneeasy touseinterfacecanmakelightworkofidentifying additionalsalesopportunities,findingoutwhere any accounts may be slipping orwhereyour competitorsmay be takingbusiness fromyou.Datacanreallyopenyoureyestoyourbusiness and yourcustomer’sperformance. When used properly,data cansupercharge anysalesoperation.Workingtogetherwithyour marketingteam,youcansendoutpersonalised, ofallthedata in theworldhasbeengeneratedinthelast 2 years 90% targeted promotionsand campaigns to a particular segmentofyourcustomersor prospects.

8. TopTips Quality data means quality results: there is little pointin creatingthe world’s best advertising campaign if yourdata is amess. Takingthetime to cleanseyourdata, tidy it up and ensureit is up todatewillmakesureyour campaignsarewell received by the people whoyouwanttoseeit. Visualise yourdata tomakeit tangible: beingbombarded withspreadsheets and endlessrows of data is noone’s idea of agood time. Visualisation is the best way for ushumans tounderstanddata.Rows and rows of data aren’t quite as pretty as graphs, chartsand infographics. Customer data is king:if youare a salesperson ormarketingguru, aCRM system shouldrule yourworld.Every accountinteractionshouldbe recorded, whetherit is aprospectyouare chasing or latest newcustomerbased in themiddle of nowhere. Moredata meansmoresecurity:it’s anobrainer.Themoredata yourbusiness has, themoresecureit needs tobe.TheCloud is probablyone of themostsecureplaces tostoreyourdata today.With ahome in someof themostobscureparts of theworld, safely away from prying eyes, flood plains and even flight paths, your data can traveltheworldin seconds.

9. Utilise technology Weallknowthesaying,“youneedtherighttoolsforthejob”,andinthesalesworld,thisisparticularly relevant.Weneedtherighttechnology,therightequipmentandtherightmanpowertogetthejob donecorrectlyandefficiently.Inasalesenvironment,wearealwaysstrivingtohitournumbers,totop last monthand to chasedownthecompetition. Yetalltoooften,theprovisionoftoolsforasalespersonisoverlooked.But,ifthesetoolswillhelpustosell smarter, more efficiently and profitably, surely they are worth investing in? Toolsofthetrade SalestoolscanencompassanythingfromthelatestbusinessintelligenceandCRMsolutionstoonline meetingsoftwareorelectroniccontractsigning mobile apps. Implementingtoolsand technologyacross yoursales operationcanhelp yourbusiness have a betterrelationship withyourcustomers, building trust and increasingtheamountof facetimeyou havewiththem. Theadditionofsalestoolstoanyorganisationisnottobesniffedat.Keyadvocateofsalestoolsand technology, Josh Saladinfrom Integrity Business Solutions,saysthattoolshavehelpedhimtransform his businessfromzerotoheroinjust3 years.Withover400customersto dateandastaggering$3millionin sales peryear,Joshwouldn’tbe withoutthe sales tools that he usestoday. “Anyonecanhavearelationshipwithacomputer,butitisthefacetimeIhavewithmycustomersthat buildstrustandstrengthensmyrelationshipswiththem.Icannowkeepaneyeonmycustomersand mysalesintelligencetoolshelpmetoreactproactivelyifInoticeacustomermaybeslippingslightly onemonth.” Butresultslikethisdon’thappenovernight.Implementingsalestoolsandtechnologyintoyoursales team in ordertoderive maximum value takes dedication and commitment. Helping yourteamtostreamline information, fosterstrongercustomerrelationshipsand keepthemselves organised will ultimately help yoursales departmentbecomea smooth,slick operation,growingsales and improvingyour bottomline. TopTips Adequate training needs tobe delivered Thosechampioningthe tool need to sharetheir vision withusers Users have tounderstandthe benefit that these tools can bring to their dailyworkinglives

10. Getaheadwithtech Technologyhascomeonleapsandboundsinrecentdecades,andadvanceshavebeenparticularly rapid since 2010. Smartphones now grace most households and officestoday, along with tablets, computersand othergadgets. Inacustomerfacingsalesposition,havingthelatesttechnologycanputyoumilesaheadofyour competition.Imaginethatyou’retheMDofcompanyX;onesalespersoncomestoyoucompletely unorganisedwithpapers,notepads,cataloguesandorderbooks.Thenextcomestomeetwithyou witheverythingsavedononeslick,tidytablet,ordertaking,productcataloguesandtheirnotesare allhousedinoneplace.Whichpersonwouldyouconsidermoreprofessional andbemorelikelytodobusiness with? Developingthetechnologyyouuseasacompanybeginsathome.Takeyourbackofficesystemfor example.Regularlybeingpumpedfullofdata,transactions,invoices,sales–thisiswherebusinessdata andtechnologyreallystarts.Extractingthisdataisoftenadifficult,long-windedprocessthatcancause aheadonbattlewithITdepartments.Theadventofbusinesstechnologyismakingthisprocess easier, withthelike ofbusiness, sales and customerintelligencesolutionscomingtothefore.Notonlywill theygiveyoualltheinformationyoursalesteamneedsbutwillpresentitinsuchawaythatitiseasyto interpretand action. Salesonthego Salesisoneofthemostmobilecareersoutthere, and theadvances in technologyhave served to ensure that it remains so. Officedays are becomingless and less commonin sales with moretimebeingspent outontheroad, clockingupthemiles and actually beingoutthereselling. Wheredid it all stemfrom?Ourinnatehumandesireforeverything,anywhere,anytime.It’swhy we demandstoresthatopen24/7,why weallow smartphonestoruleourlives and why welove theCloud. Switching toCloudComputingis a hugestep forward forany business and oftenputs that companya step ahead ofits competitorsin termsofflexibility.Italsoofferstheunique ability toscale as thecompanygrows,yetit doesn’t requirethecapitalexpenditureofothersolutions. Typically provided as a pay as yougomodel, Cloudservicesarequicktodeploywithminimal startupcosts.What’smore,theCloudisn’tgoinganywhereanytimesoon,ashighspeedinternet connectionsbecomecommonplaceand with the adventof4Gmobileconnectivity,theCloudhascementedits place in the world. Technologymeans weareable tobe moremobile in ourpersonaland professional lives theneverbefore.High speed mobile networks, theCloudandthesmartphoneareusedbythe majority of us. The Cloudsimply connects everything- from computinginfrastructure,applications, business processesandpersonalcollaboration–overan internetservice.Itenables softwaresolutionsto be deliveredand accessed by youwherever andwheneveryouneedthroughacompatible device. Documentstoragein theCloudis theperfect way toincrease collaborationand productivity For youas a user,anythingthatbacks up and syncs data and is accessible onmostweb enableddevicesislabeledaCloudservice.Take your AppleMacBook for example.Whensynced upwithApple’siCloudservice,youcanaccess yourdocumentsfromhomeonyouriPad or evenyouriPhone.That’stheCloudworkingatits simplest. amongstemployees.Online collaboration programssuchas Google Docs,iWorkand SkyDrive meanyouremployees canwork together,fromacrosscontinentsandtimezones, all saved neatly and securely in theCloud.

11. Encourage a successful sales culture A businessculture is nothingnew.We alltalk about how importantitistopromoteaproductiveculture intheworkplace.Butwhataboutahealthysalesculture?Everysalesdirectorwillhaveanideaofwhathis or her team culture should be like, but how often do we see a specific sales culture in business? Successbreedssuccess Knowwhereyoustand Sales operationsshouldbe a breeding groundforsuccess, avid determinationand thedevelopmentofa competitive streak. Unfortunately,lefttotheirowndevices, sales teams canswiftly becomecounterproductive andcanlosesightoftheendgoal,thethingthat the entireteamshouldbe workingtowards. Every individual within yoursales teamshouldhave anunderstandingofhis orherposition. We’renottryingtoreinventthewheelhere,butitistheverybasiccomponentsofyourbusiness thatwillproduceahealthysalesculture.Knowing theparttheyplay,exactlywhattheyareselling, the company’s position in themarket,wherethe‘sweetspot’lieswitheachcustomerorprospect, whateachpersonshouldbedoingandsoonwill putthemonthe right track tosuccess. Cultureswithinanysalesoperationshouldalways be nurturedfromthetopby a pro-sales team ofexecutiveswithaclearvisionofwhatistobe achieved.Atthetopofanybusiness,shouldbe leaders,perceivedasafriends,notthreatstothe sales team. Constructive feedbackis paramount.Yes, everyonelikes a pat ontheback oncein a while,butwemustlearntotakethegoodwith thebad. Brutal feedbackis harshattimes, butalso necessary.Holding active discussions aboutareasforimprovementandsharingideas amongsttheteamareamongthebestwaysto facilitatea positive sales culture. Strategy is anotherarea of yourbusiness that influencesthe culture trickling down through theentireorganisation.Only oncea clearand precise strategyhas beendeveloped canyouand yourteambegintosing fromthesame hymn sheet. A well-definedstrategy will foster laser sharp focusamongstyourbusiness and a clear idea of yourbusiness mission. 90% Please wait whilst your new sales culture installs...

12. sales-i is award winning business intelligence software that is proven to increase your sales revenue. Give usa try, just 20 minutescouldchange the wayyousell. Contact usfor afree,onlinedemonstration and judgeoursoftwareforyourself. Find out more e: tellmemore@sales-i.com North America 1840 Oak Avenue, Suite 100, Evanston, IL60201 t: 877-646-8277 UK Prologis House, 1Monkspath Hall Road,Solihull, B90 4FY t: 0845 508 7355 www.sales-i.com