Tips for Sales Teams to Increase Connect Rates
Whether you’re running or operating within a sales team, you’ll be well aware of the fact that most of your time is taken up organising strategies and planning your campaigns. Every year, businesses around the world collectively spend billions and billions on their sales departments, and it’s vital that you and the
rest of your teams get things right.
Unfortunately, there’s not a single defined path that will guarantee success. There are so many variables and potentials, and that’s where the risks come in. However, there are several tricks and tips you can learn which will allow you to better your practices and techniques. When implemented correctly, these tips can lead to a much more efficient, productive and overall successful marketing campaign. To give you a solid foundation of knowledge, here are a few of these tips to help you along the way.
The Customer is Always Right
This age-old phrase has stood the test of time for one simple reason. It’s true down to a tee. If a client comes into your office and asks for something, the worst thing you can do is tell them their wrong. Even worse still, you tell them their request is impossible. Within your marketing team, you’ll have expert and highly creative thinkers that can resolve problems. By agreeing with the client, you’ll instantly begin improving your sales. The world is not full of problems, only solutions.
Pressure is a Good Thing
If you haven’t already heard of FUD, now is the best time. It stands for; Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. When you have clients coming into your office, subtly let them know that their competition is also communicating with your business. This creates a sort of panic in your client’s mind, and they are much more likely to take you and your concepts seriously.
Report Your Successes
Wherever you go and whatever you do, you’ll constantly see reviews, ratings and testimonials, especially when it comes to business sales. By implementing real-time statistics within your sales department, you can proactively encourage friendly competition which has been proven to drive up productivity and increase sales. It’s important to note that you don’t want to anger or irritate in your teams. Likewise, you can’t have the winner going around rubbing it in everyone’s face. However, there are multiple ways you can approach this concept.
Belief is Vital
If you’re attempting to close in on a sale with a prospective client, there’s always one thing you should always remember. The beliefs that your customer has is the only thing that will secure the deal. You could tell them, for example, if they invest X amount in this project they can make millions. If they believe what you’re saying, they’ll say yes. If they don’t, they’ll say no. A sale, at its core, is that simple.
“The best way to secure this belief concept is by getting to know your client. Ask them questions and listen to their thoughts on the subjects you are discussing. Most importantly, learn how to read them”, - explains Sidney Alley, a Marketing Manager at Writemyx and 1Day2write.
It’s All About You
No matter what industry you are in, whether you’re selling products or offering a service, a customer is not buying the product; they are buying into the company. Even when you go to a retail outlet to buy some new headphones, most don’t tend to read the specifications of the headphones themselves; they tend to go for brands they know are renowned for being a good brand. When pitching a sale to your prospective clients, make sure you are selling yourself, and your business, as much, if not more, than you are selling your final products.
Be Genuine
Sales pitches and meetings may seem like one of the most daunting and overwhelming parts of your job. Most people will spend hours and hours creating a script with accompanying notes that they can read and refer to but why bother? If you’re reading from a script and the conversation leaves this script, you’re going to get stuck quickly.
However, if you just have a list of notes of all the important facts and figures that you are going to need, the rest is up to you. Be yourself and be authentic. You’ll feel ten times more confident in your pitch, and this is something your clients are going to instantly connect with, especially if you’re passionate and enthusiastic.
Connect Emotionally
Everybody who’s anybody loves a story. When you were a kid, your parents used to read stories to you before bed, and this admiration for stories doesn’t change. When you’re pitching a product or service, tell a story behind it. Create or relay a human character who is using your products and how it is changing their lives for the better.
“Some important tips for telling a story including being personal and adding in as much detail as you can. This helps your clients to build a picture of the person you are talking about which helps them to connect with that person emotionally. Then they’ll begin to start feeling empathy and compassion for that person, on an emotional level, which is ideal for you to close in to make that sale”, says Vincenza Parker, a Sales Manager at Originwritings.
Dream Big
Whether you’re closing in on one of your company’s biggest clients or you’re setting your goals and targets for the next year, your company will only succeed as far as you can dream. That’s your limit. When setting your targets, why bother including the menial task you know will be achieved. Put them on a separate target list if you must. On your main goals and targets assignment, put tasks up that your teams will find challenging and, while achievable, will motivate and inspire your teams to want to complete them.
One final tip for dreaming big, get your team involved in setting the targets. You may already have some basic guidelines that you want to achieve, and you’re obviously more than welcome to include them. However, getting your team involved will again inspire them to want to achieve them because they are goals that they have set themselves.
Adelina Benson
Adelina Benson is an email marketer and writer at Academic Brits. She develops marketing strategies, edits and proofreads company emails. In her free time, she loves to blog to help entrepreneurs reach their full potential.