1. Develop a comprehensive sales process. Companies
must define themselves and decide, from the beginning, if they want
to operate their business by concentrating on maximizing revenues
or if they prefer to generate a revenue stream through steady clients.
In other words, simply attract clients or create a loyal customer
base. These are two distinct philosophies: the first is aimed at
the short term and the second at the medium to long term, trusting
in loyal clients and the sustained profitability of the company.
2. Design a good sales plan based on market research
that will allow you to adequately segment the market, position yourself
correctly and attain the right “marketing mix”. This
should be implemented, monitored (and adjusted), and be consistent
with your relational marketing plan. This is a classical model that
is unfortunately often underused, as shown by the failed ventures
seen in other countries. The most common mistake in such ventures
is a lack of prior research, which leads to confused positioning
and a disoriented strategy.
3. Attain maximum cooperation between marketing and
sales. The sad truth about many companies is that such unproductive
and political conflict only benefits the direct competition. Salespeople
view those in marketing “theoreticians”, removed from
the market, while those in marketing consider salespeople too “pragmatic”.
Any friction between these two departments only serves to undermine
the profitability of the company as a whole.
4. Ensure that everyone “sells”. It is
essential to create a corporate climate in which all employees –
from those in the backroom to those on the front line – strive
to serve the needs of the client. Throughout the organization there
should be incentives tied to the profitability of the company. It
must be remembered that backroom operations have a profound effect
on overall client satisfaction and as such a culture of “service”
should be cultivated in all departments.
5. Choose your client base and define your company.
This is the first strategic decision. A sound sales plan is based
on a good definition of the market, its segments and the channels
through which it is directed, in line with overall strategic objectives.
6. Design your sales model. You need to choose between
the direct model, using salaried salespeople, the indirect model,
with salespeople on commission, or a mix of the two. This sales
model must include the main elements of distribution strategy, which
we will outline in the following points.
7. Define and segment the client base (to whom). Segmentation
is an art that is not always achieved through order, well-defined
parameters and technology. Good segmentation distinguishes between
AAA clients, A clients, B clients, C clients, inactive, potential
and former clients. The market must be segmented with maximum accuracy
in order to develop the size, the profiles of the sales agents to
be employed and the type of organization best suited to attack the
market.
8. Define when, at what moment and with what frequency
to visit clients. How many visits are made to clients whose average
purchasing levels and growth prospects do not warrant a visit from
a salesperson because a telemarketing call would suffice? Your sales
plan must specify the frequency of visits according to client segmentation.
For example, AAA clients every 15 days; A clients once a month;
B and C clients, every two months; and inactive or potential clients,
every four months.
9. Define the visit (how). A good salesperson has
an intimate knowledge of the client but this is not always reflected
in sales records, due to negligence or a lack of proper company
policy. The company rarely has all the information. Client visits
should be backed up by a “visit methodology” (report
and sales schedule), horizontal and vertical distribution, the “back
office”, sales secretaries, the routes used and expenses incurred
by visits, the type of visit (telesales / internal sales). It is
worth creating “down times” in order to perform administrative
functions and decide which personnel can complete them most efficiently.
It is also important to remember that a good software system helps
to reduce costs and unnecessary trips by the sales team.
10. Decide who visits and negotiates. This is to prevent
poorly prepared salespeople from negotiating with better prepared
buyers, and vice versa. The sales plan must specify the exact number
of salespeople, their commercial profile (salaried, representatives,
agents on commission, promoters, etc.) and the type of organization
to be used: by territory, product, client, function or a mixture
of several. Only an analysis from this point of view will enable
you to know the profitability of each territory or market segment.
11. Ensure the satisfaction of the sales team. Dissatisfied
and disloyal salespeople neglect clients and often lose their business.
A satisfied sales force will help to retain clients and probably
remain loyal to the company, which in turn will bring satisfied
and potentially loyal clients.
12. Take your time to choose the right team. A good
selection process requires two or three interviews and an analysis
of previous job performance and attitudinal tests. In many cases,
the focus is on technical rather than attitudinal aspects, giving
priority to previous experience in the same position, years with
the company, training and skills, and overlooking overall attitude,
emotional intelligence, character, willingness, leadership capacity
and teamwork. During the selection process it is useful to include
commercial profiles, specifying the level of sales experience required,
attitude and a proactive approach to setting personal targets. This
process should be completed with a well-designed acceptance program.
13. Train continually. Ongoing training is essential
in order to provide a sales team with all the skills required to
develop a quality sales process (see point 20). Training should
include attention to attitude, a good knowledge of the product,
market and competition, and current sales methods in order to convert
the product-price salesperson into a sales consultant.
14. Actively supervise the sales force and evaluate
it once or twice a year. An intelligent evaluation process is crucial
to stimulate individual growth. Supervision should take into account
both quantitative and qualitative results, and include input from
the individual salespeople, who should be listened to and encouraged
to put their own case.
15. Improve communication with the team. To ensure
that the team is better informed and thus better motivated to achieve
success, there should be a clear understanding of the concepts of
fluency, transparency, timing and methodology.
16. Design an intelligent payment program. Regardless
of whether it is based on commissions, quotas or a mix of both,
the system should be: strategic (in order to achieve sales objectives);
fair (to avoid internal problems between categories or zones); simple
(to permit self-regulation); stimulating (to motivate and create
loyalty among the team); and attractive (in order to draw the best
salespeople).
17. Design a career path. The absence of a career
plan can provoke tension and a lack of motivation among the sales
force. The plan should attract young personnel with different skills
and capabilities and offer a pay package commensurate with the responsibilities
of each position.
18. Improve the personal qualities of the sales team.
You must ensure that they want to do things as well as just being
able to do them. The ability to achieve positive attitudes in the
team is one of the keys to success, given that values determine
thoughts, thoughts condition sentiments and these ultimately create
expectations. Expectations, whether positive or negative, ultimately
influence attitudes and consequently determine good professional
behavior. The sales team must be proactive with a desire to grow
with the company.
19. Constantly motivate and demand. You need to be creative and
know how to design tools such as competitions, points systems, specific
incentives, suggestion boxes and sales conventions. At the same
time, you must stimulate emotional compensation and a positive environment
geared toward healthy competition. The sales network must be continually
stimulated and given constantly changing targets which are difficult
but attainable. The more emotional compensation that is created
in the sales team, the greater the dedication to confront new challenges.
20. Seek excellence in sales. Poor sales techniques can undermine
the success of the sales force. Seeking excellence in sales means
designing professional negotiating strategies that mean that the
sales team can be sure that they will ask the right questions and
thus determine client requirements, ensuring satisfaction with current
products and services, presenting a personalized offer and closing
the sale immediately. In the event that this is not possible, they
should at least be able to use all the information collected in
order to return to the client with a more studied and personalized
offer.
21. Working with marketing, design a realistic, structured sales
plan divided into zones and with specific timetables. A “realistic”
plan may be difficult, but it should also be attainable using the
tactical methods available, so that the company is given an honest
picture.
22. Live the sale with them. Hit the street with each
salesperson once or twice a month. This is the best advice I can
give. Only by accompanying a sales person (without, of course, intervening
in the negotiation process) can the technical skills and professionalism
of the sales force be assessed. Once the sale is closed, attention
should be paid to the dynamic design of ways of maintaining customer
loyalty.
23. Design a conceptual model of loyalty “embraced”
by the management and “lived” by the company. Too often,
management is only concerned with the “bottom-line”
and not with levels of customer service and client loyalty. This
implies that a “client-oriented culture” does not permeate
all levels of the organization. In this scheme, the entire organization
must be infected from the top down with a sales culture that is
“believed”, “lived” and “embraced”.
The foundations for this model should be based on knowing how to
design an intelligent “value formula”.
Box
Leadership and corporate culture
Products and methodologies/Products and methodologies
Value by effort
Client satisfaction
Relational marketing programs
Client loyalty
24. Design a “value formula”. Unresolved
inconvenience, lingering insecurities, a poor attitude on the part
of company personnel and a low level of service will prevent the
sales team from developing a modern, successful sales process to
prepare for subsequent relational marketing action. By strategically
defining each element you can develop your client service to the
full, which is fundamental to maintaining client loyalty.
Value- What do I get? Product+treatment+process+brand+details
How much does it cost? Price+inconveniences+insecurity
The action plan would therefore be to improve service
at every level (treatment, detail, ...), to reduce inconvenience
to the client, and to eliminate client insecurity
25. Create a culture of “client value”.
A family that spends 700 Euros a month in food and cleaning will
spend 8,400 Euros a year, 84,000 Euros in 10 years and 168,000 Euros
in 20 years. You only need to deduct these amounts at market rates
to understand the damage that a rude cashier can create for a supermarket.
The same can occur with a car dealer, a hotel, a company restaurant
or hairdresser. It must be remembered that there are no small customers,
only those whose importance to the company should be maximally optimized
through the combined efforts of the entire organization. The whole
work force should be made aware of the real value of the company’s
clients, so they know what it means to “lose them”.
To do this you must know your clients well, not only from the point
of view of the transactions completed to date, but also using information
that allows for the design of made-to-measure offers and promotions.
This can be achieved by improving the information held on each client.
26. Create a transactional and relational database
in order to devise a truly one-to-one marketing system (while adhering
to new Data Protection Agency regulations).
27. Listen to the client. Listening to clients is
a given if you are going to offer them products and services that
are adapted to their requirements and constantly anticipate their
needs. You will thus understand very quickly whether clients are
happy with the product or service provided, the sales team, the
logistical arrangements, after-sales service, the administrative
staff , etc. and be able to prepare the necessary information.
28. Devise warnings for breakdowns in the relationship
and complaints procedures to rapidly and efficiently address customer
complaints. Detecting dissatisfaction using a series of “breakdown”
alarms will, if properly implemented, help you to retain clients
by offering some form of compensation or taking corrective action.
At the same time it offers the opportunity to resolve any complaints
identified throughout the process.
29. Details, events and the design of a customer loyalty
program. This is the last step. A well-designed program of services
and events segmented by client importance means it is not necessary
to develop clubs or sophisticated programs to retain customer loyalty.
Such a program could help offer a client the privileges which it
expects as a “loyal client”.
30. In short, a three stage sales plan:
a) Eliminate two words from your vocabulary: improvisation and impossible.
b) Work harder than anyone else.
c) Follow the words of Winston Churchill: “My advice to you
consists of eight words… “Never never never never never
never give up”.
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