Understanding the Sales Cycle: Step 1, How to Prepare
The critical First Step in the sales process is being prepared.
… there’s no excuse for not learning as much as you can about the company and their products, services, and customer base beforehand. The most ignorant question you can ask when the two of you first sit down is, “So what exactly is it you do here?”
Marketing in a Post-Recession Economy
Is the recession officially over? Most economists are saying that the recession ended somewhere between July and September of 2009. Maybe I missed something. Or maybe economists just make good money. How does that saying go…? “It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.”
Just in case we didn’t get the memo and the recession really is over, here’s the first item on the post-recession agenda.
Understanding the Sales Cycle: Your Client is Ready to Buy, but Are You Ready to Sell?
What do you do when your prospect is ready to buy?
There’s a logical progression that occurs in every sale, whether it’s a 20-minute cell phone sale or an IT consulting gig that takes 10 months to close. It only makes sense to document that process and use it to your advantage.
Are You Hot or Not? Local Search is on Fire
Predicting the future is always risky business. But a recent article, Four Mega Trends Shaping the Future of Commerce, gives an insightful look into what that future might hold.
In the next decade, we’ll see more change in the commerce landscape than in the past 100 years combined.The reason? Four mega trends being driven by consumers are dramatically changing buying and selling habits as we know them. Merchants of all types—from brick-and-mortar retail outlets to non-profits, to manufacturers and even those selling online—need to ensure they’re keeping pace or risk going the way of Blockbuster, Borders and the dinosaurs.
One of those trends is the merging of mobile and local search which, according to the article, “is leading to the creation of entirely new business models and opportunities for merchants and consumers alike.”
Outbound Marketing is Dead! All Hail Inbound Marketing
The following was a guest post at TMR’s Direct Mail and Marketing Blog.
In their book, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing, Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg say that …
…customers want to enter into dialogs with businesses, to establish relationships, participate in the conversations, and be more in control of the exchange. They expect a level of personal communication tailored to their needs and wants—relevance and context are their top priorities. (p 41)
That sums up the philosophy behind inbound marketing in a nutshell. Customers are in control. They TiVo past commercials, subscribe to commercial-free satellite radio, circumvent pop-up ads with pop-up blockers, opt out of receiving phone books, and use caller ID or the “do not call” registry to avoid telemarketers.
What’s a Sales Cycle and Why Do I Need One?
If you think a sales cycle is something you pedal to get to your next client meeting, think again. Having a step-by-step process will help you stay on track and keep control of the sales call.
Sales are won and lost on transitions. It’s the number one reason you need a clearly-defined sales process. It allows you to transition to the next logical step to bring the sale to a conclusion.
What’s a Buying Cycle and Why Should I Care?
Don’t be too quick to hop on your sales cycle and pedal over to meet with that “hot prospect.” Understanding the consumer buying process will save you time and energy.
Determining exactly where people are in the buying cycle can save you a lot of frustration and grief. It makes no sense to dress yourself in the appropriate business attire, then drive clear across town (or to an entirely different town) to meet with someone who’s merely “interested.” Ideally, you’ll want to meet with those who are in the “desire” or “action” stage of the buying process. But how can you tell?
The Recession is Dead. Long Live the Recession
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, what’s been labeled “The Great Recession” officially ended in June 2009—at least in the U.S. Unfortunately, a lot of your clients and prospects may have missed that memo. To many, the recovery still feels like a recession.
Sell Like a Third-Grader: How 2 + 2 Equals More Clients
Still struggling to sell your services? Clients telling you that your price is too high? Here’s everything you need to know to overcome price objections.
Is $500 a lot of money? You can’t answer that outside the context of what you’re getting in return, can you? As a freelancer or business person trying to sell your services, you must put your price into its proper context. If you don’t, your prospects will.
Web Design Clients Galore
If you’re struggling to get clients, then Web Design Clients Galore could make the biggest difference in your web design business this year.
Learn how to get a constant supply of high-paying clients, and all the web design projects you want.
About Me
Thanks for visiting. I’m a Marketing Evangelist, Blogger and Sales Trainer. I get excited about geek stuff, like installing Linux on my laptop instead of having to run Windows. But I’m also passionate about helping people and companies reach their fullest potential and becoming wildly successful.
That’s why I love helping businesses figure out how to market (especially web marketing) and why I train sales people to be the best they can be at what they do.
