Keep your sales pipeline full by prospecting continuously. Always have more people to see than you have time to see them . ~ Brian Tracy

Understanding Your Sales Process Will Show You What Bridge To Build

I can’t speak for you..

Yet when I started my first business.. I had not idea what a sales process could do for me.

Truth be told.. had you asked me about my sales process.. I would have probably looked at you crazy and changed the subject.

LOL..

I laugh because I know for a fact that I’m not alone.

See at the beginning we join a business for a particular reason. I’ve listed a few below.. maybe you can see yourself in them:

More time with the family
Money to pay off debt
Money to supplement the job income
In order to travel the world
To fill a need for child support (oh.. this was me.. smile)
To leave the job
Freedom to live your life YOUR way
Enter your reason here

The focus in building the business is usually the end goal.

Unfortunately in the Home Based Business industry people are rarely taught how to actually sale.

Many join because the excitement of the dream becoming a reality.. then they follow the first steps given to them..

“Talk to your friends, family, co-workers, everyone you know.”

Then when you are finished with those.. simply share your business with everybody you meet.

Ok.. seriously that works at the very beginning.. yet how about when you have a 6 months under your belt…

No success.. and now you are becoming a little burned out..

You realize you are not at a river.. you must cross it to continue.. yet the bridge is missing! Now WHAT?

Well.. the bridge will appear when you discover the Sales Process.

The 7 Step Sales Process That Converts

1. Product Knowledge: Know your product! You should understand exactly what you are offering to the market place. I always start here when consulting my marketing clients. The first place we start is with the product. It’s what you are selling. Write down 5 problems that YOUR product is a solution to. If you have a line of different products, pick 3 that you will start your sales process selling.. and write down 5 problems for each product.

2. Prospecting: Yes time to locate your customers.. are help them locate you (will go more in to that later). Prospecting is a section that many take way more lightly then they should. Everyone is not meant to use your product, or join you in business. You have a valuable product, treat it as such. Make sure that you are digging in the right place, so that you can communicate with those that you know will benefit from your product. Which leads to less rejection and more sales. I wrote an entire article on this topic, you can see it here!

3. The Approach: This is where it all gets really interesting. For this article we are going to consider the approach in the context of lead generation, vs. the sales call. Why? Well, I specialize in lead generation and honestly enjoy connecting with new people on auto-pilot while I’m at my daughter’s soccer game.. yet that’s just me. This is the step where you begin to build relationships. Make sure to have follow-up emails set in your autoresponder. I recommend at least 7 very GOOD emails for each list. Stats show that it can take up to 7 touches for a person to take action. So make the first 7 emails count. Another thing to consider in your approach is to remember to market to each list separately. For example if you gathered the lead with a Facebook Marketing ebook, then send them information on Facebook Marketing.. not LinkedIn Marketing. (Please don’t ask me how I know this.. let’s just say I learned the hard way.. ROFL)

4. The Needs Assessment: I believe this is one of the most important sections of the sales process. Which really lines right up with number one. Knowing the problem that your product solves allows you to know exactly how your target market will respond. You have to take time, if the person doesn’t buy immediately, to tap into their needs. The offer that captured the lead is your initial point of assessment. For example if a person opts in to a list talking about generating leads.. they probably have a problem getting leads. IE: Need = Leads. Your product is a solution to obtaining leads.. so simply tip tap on this need over and over.. then offer the solution.

5. The Presentation: Depending on the technique you use to present.. for example video, blog post, email, in person, or social media inbox remember this one thing. Only one thing.. I don’t care what anybody else tells you.. This one thing is all you need to remember.. PERIOD!! Ok.. I just said I don’t care what you’ve heard.. this is the ONLY thing you need to remember.. “Stories sell and Facts tell”.. so what do you want to do.. Sell.. or tell.. yeah.. that’s what I thought.. smile.

6. The Close: Wow.. the close.. just give me a moment of silence.. Ok.. let’s continue.. Why the moment of silence?? Because this is where the death of the sales process occurs the most! Never be afraid to go in for the close. Have a clear and concise call to action. Go in with confidence.. do not.. let me repeat do not act scared.. Now you can be scared.. just don’t act like it.. I become someone else every time I close.. I may have even closed you and yes.. Now you know.. I was no longer Shalonda.. I was Michelle. You may meet her again someday. LOL.. Michelle is a closing BEAST!! No does not scare her.. WHY? Because she knows if you say No today that she has her sales funnel set up so that you will Yes tomorrow! (You can set yours up in 10 minutes right here). There many ins and out to closing.. which I will get into later this week, so make sure to snatch your free gift over on the right so that you have access when it comes out.

7. The Follow-up: One of the most overlooked sections of the sales process. The reality is that the follow-up is for those who have purchased from you just as much as those who have not yet taken action. Make the follow-up a priority and watch your conversions raise higher and higher. When following up on-line videos are amazing. Speak directly to your prospect in the video.. Now I realize you want to show this video to everyone on that list.. and YES.. you should.. yet when you make the video.. speak to one person. Same goes for when you write an email message. Remember you are speaking to a person.. not a group of people. You want the person connected with you to feel like everything you say is directly for them. The more you create this environment, the more credit cards will come flying out of pockets.