Who can afford to miss even a small sale in 2010? Customers on whom you’ve had a lock for years will now have a long line of your competitors streaming out their front door.
1. How could our CRM system help nurture relationships and close sales?
Getting a CRM system to produce results is a big task: setup, training, mining, reporting, etc. Resistance by sales staff can be high: hoarding information, protecting relationships, complaining about the time needed. Terry Siebert, a sales expert with Dale Carnegie says, “Managing the sales pipeline takes real diplomatic skills. Whoever’s wearing the sales manager’s hat needs to balance the unique style and personality of each sales staff with the corporate need to make the numbers go up.” Having current business and personal information about each customer and prospect is the only way to provide great service.
Tip: So, how to get acceptance of a CRM? Emphasize you want to drive sales and commissions up. Use numbers and visuals to generate the competitive spirit. A diagram of the sales pipeline (leads, presentations, proposals, contracts, repeat sales) makes a great visual.
2. What else can we do to keep our sales team informed, focused and effective?
You mean, besides money? Lots of praise. Create a modest bonus system for keeping CRM accounts current. Like everyone else, make them see and feel that they’re part of something big, new and better. So, have a cool business plan: sales people also want to be part of something big. Don’t think you can motivate highly independent people unless you keep everyone focused on success.
Tip: Take all the marketing material used over the last 12 months and pin it up on a wall. You might realize why customers don’t quite get your message.
3. How might our pricing have to change?
Well, how’s your competitive intelligence? Knowing what competitors charge can be tough—but it’s necessary. This leads to the most basic idea in business: “What’s our margin on each sale?” Very few businesses really know. Sales people want to offer discounts and concessions to close a sale, and if you you’re not confident what’s profitable, you’ll find yourselves working hard…making nothing.
Tip: Getting an outsider to do some cost accounting: you need the rigor and objectivity to get the right answer to this HUGE question.
What’s your killer sales management question? Please comment below.
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Great article. Agreed that it’s all about balancing personal and business information to form the best relationships between you and your customers.
Also as a manger you need to realize that people have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be and not what you nag them to be. Positive feedback/praise is the only way to go!!