Collinsville, OK -- In Part 1 of this article, we covered the first three of five rules to successfully fuel your sales engine: Define what your company does well, Identify exactly who your ideal buyer is, and Get a killer website.
Now let's dig into our final steps. Buckle up, because these are game changers.
Step 4: Start Using A CRM NOW
Once your foundation is built (steps 1-3), you can dive into utilizing a CRM. Customer Relationship Management software will organize your leads, contacts, and emails regardless of how busy you are. Before you know it, you will have a ton of contacts in there that you can start selling to when you utilize other features of the CRM like auto-email strategies.
I could go on and on, but the main take away here is to just start using a CRM now. Collect data as you go and you will be able to tap into it whenever you need.
Step 5: Give The Buyer What They Want, Without Them Even Knowing!
The secret is, look in, not out, to generate the kind of sales you need. Look at yourself to provide the information to your buyer persona. You know your product better than anyone. If you can bring your ideas, knowledge, and expertise to the buyer when they are somewhere along on the buyer’s journey, sales will follow.
Let’s run through the Buyer's Journey together:
Awareness, Consideration, & Decision
- In the Awareness Stage, the buyer is experiencing symptoms of a problem or opportunity. They are doing research to clearly understand or define the problem or opportunity before them.
- In the Consideration Stage, the buyer has clearly defined their problem or opportunity. They are conducting further research to better understand all of the possible approaches to solving the defined problem or opportunity.
- In the Decision Stage, the buyer has decided on the approach they're going to take to address their problem or opportunity. At this point, they are researching vendors, suppliers, or companies and comparing them side by side until they make a final purchase decision.
We all go through the buyer's journey at one time or another. Think about the times you've gone through the buyer's journey in the past: when you bought a truck, when looking for a restaurant out of town, deciding where to send your kids to college, etc. Whether we recognize it or not, we have all gone through each of the three stages of the buyer's journey.
Using The Buyer's Journey
By this point in the process, you know what your ideal product and ideal buyer look like. You know that ideally this product and persona would make up the bulk of your sales. If you can master the art of answering your persona’s questions before they have to ask them, you will be a trusted source of information and help, launching you to the top of their list when it comes to making a purchase. Now as you start thinking about your persona's challenges and opportunities, start thinking about the questions that they have during each of the stages in their Buyer's Journey. If you can master the art of answering your persona's questions before they have to ask them, you will be a trusted source of information and help, launching you to the top of their list when it comes to making a purchase.
Take control of your sales process today
Don’t let the frustrations of the vicious sales cycle hold your company hostage any longer. Take control over your sales process by implementing these 5 key strategies, and see how your sales soar. Consistent efforts in these areas every day will free you from the exhausting cycle you’ve settled for. What happens when you start talking directly to your buyer and your sales go up, but your capacity is at the same spot? Now go out there and kill it and let us know how you are doing.
Jeff Finney is the owner of Ultimate Cabinet Components in Collinsville, OK. He has owned his own cabinet businesses for the last 15 years and says he "learned how to run a business the hard way." "We started as a residential custom cabinet shop and started doing some commercial work. A few years back we transitioned into a cabinet box component company and now provide RTA flat pack cabinets online."
For more shop insights from Jeff Finney, check out his articles at ultcab.com or listen to his podcast at thepushthru.com.
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