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As a leader, it’s important to be a self-starter, but how do you get your sales team to work just as hard to keep your customers happy and grow your business?
There’s no doubt that to be a salesperson, you have to be an outgoing person. Some of the most famous companies in the world are hugely successful because they put the customer first.
From the acquisition stage through to the final deal, how salespeople interact with customers can determine whether they increase the sale or miss an opportunity to control the story and build a reputation.
By guiding your customer experience and sales teams to understand context and pricing, and strengthening your points of differentiation, you’ll give your teams everything they need to take your business to the top.
Related: 5 practical ways to improve customer experience
Sales and Marketing Strategy
Emphasize to your sales team that they are a welcome guest, not a nuisance.
Salespeople often get a bad rap for being too pushy or insincere. People’s time is valuable, and the last thing your team needs is to make prospects feel like they’re being tricked or pressured into buying.
Without customers, your business is nothing. Treating your customers as people, not just sources of profit, is the only way to run a successful business. Genuine client connections Something that is mutually beneficial.
It’s a leader’s job to inspire their sales teams to want to get to know their potential customers and get serious about offering them something that will change the quality of their lives.
It’s also important to use your marketing to educate your audience about your brand: who you are, what you do, and how you can help solve their problems.
By creating a strong marketing strategy and conveying a clear message about your business to potential customers, half the convincing is already done before they even hear your sales pitch.
Related: How to define and price your products
Context and Pricing
When discussing pricing for your product or service with your team, context is everything.
Leaders and their sales teams need to stay aware of how people are consuming products based on factors such as the market, business environment, price and demand.
This is where price elasticity comes in. If the demand for a product or service increases in response to a change in price, it is considered elastic. If there is little or no change in demand as the price increases or decreases, it is considered inelastic.
Take fuel, for example. This resource is widely considered a necessity and is inelastic: without fuel, drivers cannot get from point A to point B in their fuel-powered vehicles. Consumers may choose to go to one gas station or another based on, say, the cost per gallon, but they still need fuel.
The same is true for bottled water in areas with limited access to clean water, electricity, housing, etc. When priced in the right context, price elasticity can work in your business’ favor.
As with price, a variety of factors can influence a person’s decision and their ability to consume a particular product, so it’s important to emphasize the importance of context to your sales team.
By fostering confidence in pricing and an aggressive pricing strategy within your team, you’ll be much more likely to close a sale.
Related: How to avoid becoming a “me too” brand: Differentiating your brand in a crowded marketplace
Differentiation
Just as there are billions of toothpaste brands, formal wear brands, and even gardening tool brands, there are also billions of dining furniture brands.
If your sales team spends their days seeking out leads through cold calls, emails, and door-to-door visits, they need to know how to market their brand effectively.
It’s important to explain your company’s products and services to potential customers, but to convince them that your product is better than others, your salespeople need to understand what sets your company apart.
When a customer asks, “Why should I buy your product instead of yours?”, a salesperson needs to have a compelling answer ready. In fact, a salesperson should be able to give 10 reasons why your product is better than the competitor’s. If they can’t, they’re frankly wasting their time.
By giving your sales team the knowledge they need to help customers understand that your business proposition is their only option among many others, you can scale from a few sales a week to sales in a day.
Holding brainstorming sessions and workshops with your team and welcoming feedback is a transformative way to encourage creative thinking around your sales model and develop your unique value proposition and market position.
Increase sales
No matter what industry you’re in, it’s not easy to achieve your 15 minutes of fame as a brand, let alone become a market leader.
Competition will always be there, but with a well-prepared, motivated and resourceful sales team behind your business, you are sure to reap the benefits.
As a leader, reinforcing the value of customer care, understanding the relationship between context and pricing, and understanding what makes your company’s products and services the best is the surest way to strengthen your sales team.
Develop your sales team at all costs — your future business will thank you for it.
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