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In the last year I have had three occasions where I have made significant purchases for services and all three had very compelling offers. Unfortunately all three have not delivered on all their promises. They have delivered the core of their offer but some of the extras have either been forgotten or have not lived up to expectations.
I was having a discussion today with a client about lead generation and was pointing out that they were missing a lot of sales opportunities with their existing accounts. The client was praising his account managers but, as far as I could see, they are doing little more that order-taking combined with resolving the day-to-day issues arising from their accounts.
Most people would not need to think too much about buying a lottery or raffle ticker for £1. Raise the ticket price to £100 per ticket and there will be far fewer takers!
The bigger the stakes the less people like to take risks with their money. This does not just apply to gambling but in business too.
I was with a web designer last week who found it relatively easy to find new clients wanting a website but struggled to cross-sell the add-on services. Services such as search engine optimisation and pay-per-click advertising. My client avoided talking about these as she did not want to appear ‘pushy’.
Let me ask you a question, I challenged;
Me: ‘Do your clients come to you for a pretty online brochure?’
Web designer: ‘Sometimes, but mainly they want more clients’
Me: ‘Will they get more clients from the website if it is not found?’
A regular stream of new clients are important for any business, but how do you make sure that you are maximising the potential of existing clients? How do you decide which clients to develop and how do you go about building accounts?
Andrew Horder is an expert in account management and key account development and in this recording he provides insights on how to get account management right.
I have been preparing for a chamber of commerce talk I am giving in a couple of days time on ways to significantly grow sales without sales training. One of the areas is in relation to existing customers. I see so many smaller businesses that are struggling to generate enough new leads when they have masses of untapped opportunity with existing customers. For example:
There may be less work out there right now than there was but there is still work to be won. Many businesses that are struggling to find enough sales or their sales have plateaued do not realise that in their constant search for new clients they have been missing out on opportunities that they would stand a much better chance of winning.
Sales is the most important part of any business as its profitable sales that puts the money in the bank but many business owners stereotypically think that they must train themselves/staff to be pushy salesman.
Soft selling is a way of doing business where the buyer does not feel like they are being ’sold’ to and the seller does not feel like they are selling. Everything is done in a professional and adult manner where the long-term relationship is key.
It is said that a wise person builds their house upon the rocks rather than sand. Putting this ancient wisdom into action with sales teams regularly helps sales managers of average sales teams increase results by up to 30% within 6 months without the need for ANY additional training in technique.
Referrals are much easier to win than any other form of lead. There is nothing better than a recommendation from a satisfied existing client. You can educate clients to provide referrals. The best time is when you have just won a sale, especially if the lead is through a referral. For example.
‘Our business is built on referrals and that is how we manage to keep our costs down. Once we have finished the project and you are happy then I will ask you for a testimonial and a couple of people you know who might also benefit from …….. I hope that’s OK with you….’
