Scarce or limited offers are an excellent tool for increasing sales when used properly. Even if what you sell is available in abundance it is possible to structure specials as long as you are willing to create a policy and stick to it.
Every business must learn how to sell their product well. Selling is both an art and a science and thinking that sales success will happen overnight is a common cause of cash flow problems for the small business. I have seen sales people take between one week and five months to get up to speed on various products or services and the business must have the capital to fund that. For some companies, there is a tendency to ‘get them in and get them selling’ without providing a suitable level of training for the role. In our first year in business we did this ourselves and almost went bust as a result.
It’s interesting to note that in nature, our lungs are triggered to inhale by the increased presence of carbon dioxide and not the absence of oxygen. If the lungs waited for a depletion of oxygen before being triggered to inflate, we wouldn’t survive very long. If sales are the oxygen that keeps a business alive, an experienced manager will not wait for sales to drop below some critical point to do something about it. It is important to monitor the business for the presence of unhappy, untrained, unmotivated staff or dissatisfied customers and attend to problematic issues as they arise.
When it comes to the task of selling, some companies use sales scripts or standard manuals where almost everything the salesperson says is pre-defined. While they serve their purpose in some businesses such as insurance companies where there are legal messages that need to be delivered, it is not necessarily the right approach for every small business.
A better approach may be to script certain aspects of the sales interaction such as introductions or objection handling statements and to use a ‘map’ to provide direction for the sales person. A map outlines the steps involved in the sales call and allows the sales person to get back on track easily should the conversation be diverted off the topic.
Recruitment, induction, training and retention procedures must be done well even if you only intend on hiring a single sales person. Chances are you will need to replace them at some point and, if things go well, you may want to employ another. If a company hires a sales person on $100,000 and takes six months to realise that they are not the right person for the job – that’s a $50,000 mistake. And what if the business makes that mistake again! A system to prevent or at least reduce that possibility could be put in place for a fraction of that cost. It will not only save you money but may also increase the value of your business! A business coach with experience in sales will be able to assist you to create a successful sales procedure tailored to your organization, helping to avoid costly mistakes and maximise sales opportunities from the outset.
Summary of Key Points
- Sales are the oxygen of the business.
- Robert B Cialdini talks of 6 human characteristics that influence behaviour. Tapping into them can turbo charge your marketing and sales. They are
- Reciprocity
- Consistency
- Social Validation
- Liking
- Authority
- Scarcity
- Don’t expect or count on sales success straight away. It may take time to get it right so be prepared to fund that initial period.
- Never wait until sales have dropped below a critical level before you take action.
- Only script key sections of the sales pitch such as the introduction or objection handling statements and use a ‘map’ to provide direction for the sales person.
- Consider a business coach experienced in sales to assist you to develop a successful sales process.
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