June 24, 2011

A good and profitable business has a system and a process for just about anything. It might seem ironic, but having a regimented or disciplined system in place can actually free you up to be more creative and more of who you are and what your business is meant to be.

If you’re a fan of the books E-Myth or Built to Sell, then you already know that creating turnkey systems in your business gives you the power and the freedom to focus on building and growing a business that delivers more value and more profit—instead of putting out fires.

Do You Have a Process for Getting Customers?

Running a process is like cooking to a recipe. You wouldn’t decide to make a chocolate cake and then whip out a recipe for meatloaf. Yet so many of us set out to cook up new customers and end up with a tossed salad of sales. We continue to look at sales as a function of chemistry, persuasion and luck instead of it’s being the logical outcome of a process. If you’re not following a sales recipe that consistently delivers your ideal customer, then you don’t have a process.

Here’s an outline of a sales process that is designed to position you as the guide and expert that leads your prospect to a good decision in solving their problem. Your job isn’t to sell them, it’s to help them make a decision that they are happy with. In fact, if you follow this process correctly—they will be begging to buy.

1. Get to know each other

We buy from people we like and who are like us. So the first step of any relationship is feeling each other out. This is where social media has really stepped in as a tool. If your prospect has a LinkedIn profile, then you know not just the basics of where they went to school or where they worked, you can see how many people you share within your network. Knowing the same people says “we’re alike” and gives you lots of conversation fodder.

2. Set the stage

You are the expert in your field. Act like it. People find structure comforting and if you layout “how it’s going to go” for your prospect, they will instantly relax. When you take control of the sales process it tells your prospect that you know what you’re doing. Here’s an example of a stage-setting conversation: “Here’s how my process works, my goal is to make sure that you’re getting a great solution to your problem. So I’m going to ask you some questions, and you will probably have questions for me. At the end, you’ll have a pretty good idea as to whether or not this is a solution for you. If you don’t think it is—just say so. And if you do think it is—feel free to let me know that too.” This completely takes that fear of being “sold” away and gets the prospect off the hook of pretending they are interested if they are not.

3. Talk money first

The elephant in the room is always the budget. They know how much money they want to spend. So ask and get that out into the open. Do not wait and then have them ask you how much it is. This creates an uncomfortable conversation and puts you in defensive mode. In the TLC show “Say Yes to the Dress” the first two questions the bridal consultants ask women are “How do you want to feel in your dress” and “How much do you want to spend”—this assures the customer that you’re not going to give them anything they can’t afford. Not only that, but often, when they see what’s available in their price range—they buy the more expensive option.

4. Dig for dollars

It helps to play the role of Columbo (the brilliant and bumbling TV detective). Be prepared by knowing your customers top five to seven frustrations. When you’re talking to them, ask them what issues they’re having. When they tell you that their website isn’t attracting as many customers as they’d like, ask them—how much each customer is worth. Then ask, how many customers should your website be attracting? If they expect ten new customers from their website and each new customer is worth $5,000 then you’ve got a $50,000 frustration on your hands. Make them do the math. It’s really powerful.

5. Test the trade-offs

When discussing price, people will default to thinking they are going to get all the bells and whistles at the lowest price. Your job is to focus on the items that cause the prospect the most pain and cost them the most money and then help them decide among the trade-offs to stay within the budget. So they’ll say they can afford $5,000 but the feature they want will add another $1,000 to the price. Ask them how much this extra feature will save them in time, money or effort. Get them to do the math to justify the additional expense.

6. Make them feel good about the purchase

The more expensive and important the purchase, the greater the likelihood for buyer’s remorse. Your next step is to double check on their commitment to purchase. It’s a great idea to have a new customer gift or packet that makes them feel like they got a little something more for their money.

This is my sales process, and I’m sure that you will recognize more than a few selling systems contained within it. Your process might be different, but whatever it is—be sure to create a process that you can follow. After each sales meeting, review and debrief your performance against the process. If you didn’t get the sale— in which step did you falter. If you got the sale, be sure to note all the triggers and elements that made that happen.

If you have a process for everything, getting and keeping customers should be no different. Think of this process as a money making machine. Use it religiously and watch your list of ideal customers and your bottom line grow.

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Ivana Taylor, Article, Small Business Trends

Join the conversation ( 1 )

• Priyanku Rajkhowa 11 months ago

  

  Really useful ...