In part 1 and 2 we looked at generating leads and converting interest into purchase decisions. Now it's time to seal the deal. Closing and delivery round out the four stages of the sales led business cycle.Closing - Negotiating the Details and Signing the DealClosing is all about negotiating the details and agreeing to delivery and payment details. This happens after the customer has seen the value and made a decision that they want to buy....more
In part 1 we talked about the importance of getting leads to a successful sales cycle. But a lead that never reaches a decision to buy is ultimately just a liability. It's not enough to find a lot of interested people. At some point you need to get those people to decide to purchase something from you if you want to stay in business.Conversion - Convincing People We Have What They NeedConversion is the process of getting the customer, or lead,...more
The basic philosophy behind the sales perspective is the more you sell the more money you make. This makes a lot of sense, so let's take a look at business management from the perspective of a sales led organization.The basic representation of business from a sales perspective consists of four main steps:1. finding leads2. converting those leads3. closing the deal4. delivering the product or serviceThe end goal, as always, is to provide a solution that the customer is happy with so you can collect payment.In small organizations lead finding, conversion and closing may all be handled by the sales staff. In larger organizations these functions start to get split up and assigned to separate teams. The best way to split them up depends on the organization and the dynamics of the market you are selling to.Lead Generation - Finding People To HelpLead generation is all about getting potential customers to take a first look at you and your company. The objective is to make initial contact with people and determine if there is the potential for a mutually beneficial business relationship. You may not even have a specific product or service in mind during lead generation....more
If you want to turn on the profit making potential of your business you need to put your focus back on the market.Market First, Product SecondAsk yourself this simple question. Who is my target market? Now stop for a minute and write down your answer so you can't deny it in two seconds when I ask the next question.Now put your answer in the middle...more
Early in my career I believed that hard work was the key to success. Most of my first jobs were doing manual labor, and I was often complemented for how hard I worked on a consistent basis. The harder I worked, the faster we got things done, and so I believe that hard work was the key to success. After graduating with a degree in Electrical and...more
Let's take a look at a financial perspective of business and examine where the money goes. A favorite saying of one of my mentors is "follow the piles of cash". Although this is not all there is to business, it is definitely something you can never lose sight of as a manager or business leader. Cash flow is in a business goes something like this.Our sales team is tasked with finding new customers, and helping them find the best solutions to their problems. They hit the road, they call, they advertise, they attend trade shows and conferences. They succeed in their objective. They find new customers. They help those customers reach a decision to purchase from our business. We pay the sales people's base salaries. The customer doesn't pay anything yet. Our bank account goes down.Our orders team is tasked with helping these new customers place their orders correctly to get what they really want. They take the order. They arrange payment. They tell the factory or service team to start work. We pay the orders teams' salaries. The customer doesn't pay anything yet. Our bank account goes down.Our delivery team is tasked with providing the product or service to the customer. They buy...more
How do you measure success? After years of trial, error, training and research I have a management tip for you: the four top level measurements that I recommend everyone have in place across their business or team. They should be built into...more
At a high level there are only two ways to grow a business: increase sales and decrease costs. Here's a simple management tip that will save you a lot of wasted effort. Before you start looking at the details of each method, you should understand the...more
Sales is all about helping customers shop for and get what they need or want. It places focus on finding leads, converting leads, and closing the deal. Once those three things are done, all you need to do is deliver the product. So if sales minded...more
The more efficiently you can fill orders the more money you get to keep from each sale. If you sell an extra $10 product you may only get to keep $1 or $2 after you finish paying for the product, warehouses, salaries, etc. But if you can find a way...more
A "Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure" is when a lender accepts a deed to the homeowner's property in foreclosure instead of continuing the foreclosure process and incurring more expenses to get the deed anyway. However, this does not mean the homeowner is...more
A secured loan is a loan that is available to homeowners, and this is because these loans are secured against the home. With equity levels rising steeply over recent years, secured loans have become a popular, affordable, and effective way for many...more