Sell Better – The Cheapest Way to Increase Your Revenue
Sales opportunities are like busses. Two to ten years ago they were more frequent and if you missed an opportunity, it wasn’t such a big deal, another one was likely to come along soon. These days sales opportunities aren’t so frequent and like a reduced bus service, you can be standing out in the cold and rain for a lot longer.
That is why it is important to improve your sales conversion performance and make better use of the lower number of opportunities that are a feature of many parts of the New Zealand market. It also makes good economic sense. If you want to increase your revenue you can increase the number of leads you get by spending more money and time on marketing. Alternatively, you can improve your sales conversion rate from the existing supply of leads for basically no cost. I don’t know about you, but “basically no cost” always appeals to me.
Selling has always been a touchy subject for many builders. “I don’t like selling” is a common statement I hear. To some “selling” conjures up images of used car salesmen twisting arms up peoples’ backs and using slimy closing techniques. No offense to used car salesmen. I try to get my clients to view selling as “helping people get what they want or need”. When it comes to helping my clients improve their sales performance, I also get my clients to think of selling as a system and the aim is to just focus on improving each step in the system a little bit and hopefully the result is a better conversion rate.
So, what are some of the problems I see with some builders in their “just wing it” approach.
Here are my top 5 sales problems and some ideas to address them.
1. Not following up sales opportunities fast enough.
If someone reaches out to you, via your website for example, they are obviously serious about a project they are thinking about. It is important to respond immediately to that inquiry. You don’t have to have all the answers but if you can respond in minutes rather than hours or days, you can strike while the iron is hot.
2. Not following up enough times.
There is a well-known principle in sales that states, “It takes 5 to 12 contacts to make a sale, but most salespeople give up after just 2.”
You don’t have to be pushy but you do need to be determined and not give up too easily. The best sales people will try to add some value at each contact and provide educational and supporting information. It may take you a while to build some resources around this process but once done you can automate a lot of the process. Reach out to andy@tradescoach.co.nz if you want a suggested email sequence to help you build this follow-up process.
3. Not having a standardised pre-qualification step in your sales process.
Unfortunately not every lead will be a good one and the sooner you can sort the wheat from the chaff the sooner you can focus on the better opportunities. Most builders will have some questions they may ask prospects but often this is a random process and certainly not one that can be delegated to another team member. Having a documented questionnaire to go through on the first phone call and then a list of (deeper) questions to go through at your first meeting will help you qualify an opportunity either IN or OUT much more efficiently.
4. Not having a clear “Signature System” to show people.
Most builders are selling their services, rather than a finished product. Because of this you are dealing with a fairly nebulous idea and describing what you can do is a bit like grabbing smoke. The best way to deal with this I find is to crystalise your nebulous service and put in on paper as a clear and logical process. This effectively turns your service into more of a product that prospects can better understand and relate to. In a sales meeting you can also use your physical Signature System document as a mini agenda when it comes to the part of the conversation where you want to explain what makes your business a bit different and the right choice.
5. Not focusing on the prospect’s emotional hot buttons during the sales process.
Most of my clients are in the residential space and deal with owners of their own homes. Your home is an emotional thing and building a new one or renovating an existing one is an emotionally charged process. This needs to be a big part of any sales conversations you have with the homeowner. Unfortunately many builders rush through this phase of the conversation and want to talk (literally) nuts and bolts about the project. That’s a big mistake and a lost opportunity. The most important part of the conversation is about digging deep into what they prospect doesn’t like about their situation, what their needs and desires are and what fears they have about the process. Like the saying goes, “People don’t care about what you know until they know how much you care”.
Improving these 5 issues in your sales process should result in a better conversion rate and therefore an increase in sales revenue. The bonus is it takes very little cost to implement the changes. Just a bit of time and focused energy. If you want any help with this email me at andy@tradescoach.co.nz and we can have a conversation, or book a strategy session HERE.