I recently sat in on a webinar entitled, “Break the Double Helix Trap and Boost Your Sales”, by Barry J. Moltz. The problem he described was as follows: when business is slow, more time is spent on selling and marketing, but when business picks up, more time is spent on performing the admin work and sales and marketing efforts decline significantly. Because of understandably limited resources, this is a problem that is all too common for many startups and small business. The end result is, despite all best efforts, that revenue stays flat.
This post will share with you the 4 highlights of Barry's presentation and hopefully help you break free of the double helix trap and increase sales:
Utilize a System to Manage Your Prospects and Customers
Barry explained that a rule of sales is people only buy when they have both pain as well as money to spend to remedy that pain. It's the job of the sales professional to be there when those conditions are present. A good management system allows you to enhance the odds of following up with prospects and customers when the time is right. I personally use salesforce and highly recommend it. It allows me to schedule tasks far into the future to follow up with customers when they are more likely to be ready to buy. Another great system used by both our team and our clients is Constant Contact. Constant Contact offers a customizable solution to stay in touch with your contacts and share great content.
Separate the “Maybe” Prospects
The goal here is to focus your efforts on the customers that are most likely to buy. Define the “Maybe” prospects as those who have not given a clear indication if there is a need or a want for your offering and will require additional time to qualify. By focusing your follow up efforts on those most likely to buy you are more likely to increase your sales and reduce both time and effort.
Stay in Touch on a Monthly Basis
Sharing something of personal relevance to your prospects will go a long way to building a personal relationship. Barry suggested that you could share recent articles that you have read, identify a new tool or website they may be interested in, or congratulate your prospect on a recent accomplishment. He cautioned not to treat this as a moment to directly sell a new product or offering, but should be used as an opportunity to share something of value with the customer that can be related back to your brand at a later date.
Keep It Clear, Stay On Brand
Your brand should be clear and consistent when maintaining contact with your customers in order to boost sales. A focused brand will answer who you can help and the types of pain you can solve. A clear and consistent brand will help keep your organization at the top of the prospect's mind when a pain arises or funds become available to address their pains. For more tips on building your brand be sure to read A Brief Guide to Brand Management for Startups.
Don’t fall into the double helix trap. Use these 4 key points to stay in your customers mind and win sales when your prospects become ready to buy. If you're looking for a new lead generation tool, Twitter is an excellent way to help you gather and capitalize on prospects. If you’re not sure where to start, feel free to reach out for guidance.
