Having a process to pursue the bests leads saves time and money
Whether you are part of a large company, a solo small business owner or you have successfully brought on individuals to handle sales, optimizing the efficiency of the sales process is critical to your company’s success. A combination of good processes being followed with discipline and the right talent will yield the best results..
The sales process includes finding customer leads, but the next step is as important–which is to qualify those leads so time is not wasted contacting those who do not fit your target customer profile.
Here are some key steps to set up a sales process that should be regularly reviewed for improvement:
- Researching for sales leads is easier said than done. One needs to budget time to first develop a profile of the ideal customer for your product or service. The next step is to identify the range of sources for those customers, whether they be online databases, a local chamber of commerce chapter, among others.
At the outset verify the quality of the contact information you have from the source you are using. Out of date contact information consumes so much time. Determining if you have a high-quality source for leads may be determined by the number of contacts made and the percentage where you are steered to the wrong person—for any number of reasons.
There are now sales platforms using artificial intelligence that gives contact information that is continually updated in real time.
- 2. Qualifying leads takes your sales process to the next level. While you may find a database for prospecting within your industry, creating qualifying questions are key to narrowing down the prospect list even further. You will gain more information to determine whether or not to pursue a particular prospect.
If you have well established customers, your list of qualifying questions may come from the details you know of their reasons for purchasing from your small business.
- 3. Assessing a prospect’s budget is a very fundamental step in determining a prospect’s true potential to become a customer. Sometimes it is obvious such as when a realtor is showing a multimillion dollar home and they observe their clients arriving in an economical car.
But leads often come from online databases that are the result of a range of factors that you input –so extra work is needed to determine if a particular prospect has sufficient funds to buy.
Asking the customer if they have a budget in mind may be met with “I don’t know, I have never bought this product before’. One way to explore this is to describe your product or services and determining if the prospect is first focusing on what is most economical.
But, others may have purchased the product before and they have a point of reference to share with you. That is re-assuring your time is not being wasted.
4. Identifying the time frame of the prospect’s purchase decision is another strong qualifying question. Pose questions as to what they require to accelerate their purchasing decision. For some such as equipment purchases, they may need to apply for financing or they are waiting for payment from a major client.
5. Making sure you are at the right decision maker is paramount. Ask the individual what the approval process is within their company to learn if others higher up need to be involved.
6. While many prospects may meet your other qualifying questions, you need to determine that the product or service is meeting their needs. Simply, asking them how they intend to use the product or service and their expectations will flush out if they are sufficiently knowledgeable to make a good decision about buying your product or service or not.
While large companies have the staff and infrastructure to create an effective sales department, a small business must focus on identifying the fundamental process behind their sales efforts. Too often the small business owner avoids detailing or documenting work processes that leads to inefficiencies that waste time and money.
Following a defined process or having a clear check list that qualifies sales leads is fundamental for a small business to grow.
