How can you effectively create sales opportunities? Here?s how.
Identifying sales leads, nurturing relationships and turning leads into paying customers takes a huge amount of money, time and energy. It may seem like a lot of work but in today?s extremely competitive economy, you really need to put in a lot of thought and effort into your business building practices if you want your business to grow and flourish. Thus, you need to create sales opportunities to keep your business going. How do you do it? Here are some useful tips that you may want to consider.
Start with a goal in mind. When you talk with a customer, you need to know why you are doing it and what you hope to achieve in the process. Otherwise, you would only be wasting both of your time.
Don?t be lazy ? do your research. Information is your greatest ally so do your research before talking to your prospects. Check the business news and the prospect?s website to know if there are any recent changes in the industry that you can use to further your goal. Pay particular attention to financial updates, organizational changes, product launches, and job openings. These things usually indicate that the company is expanding or needs help.
Have a plan. Make a list of the things you would like to ask during your conversation with the prospect. Use your goals and the things you learned from your research as a basis for formulating the right questions.
Make the call. Consider calling or visiting the prospect if you have a valid reason to do so. Studies show that most people appreciate salespeople who take the time to call or visit so use this to your advantage. In addition, these techniques are more personal and more powerful than sending an email.??
Engage your prospects in social media. Keeping in touch with your prospects by sending a comment or a reply to their posts is a subtler means of creating sales opportunities but it may eventually work over time.
Use the right approach. Remember to keep your list short since asking a lot of questions will make you look pushy and desperate to close a sale. You should also avoid rehearsing and memorizing your questions since it will make you look inexperienced.
It is okay to ask vague questions. Open-ended questions can work in your favour. Most of the time, it will prompt your prospect to ask for clarification.
Take notes. Jotting down notes can help you remember what transpired during the conversation. You can also use these notes to remind the prospect of any commitments you made to each other.
Creating sales opportunities is the key to a successful business so keep these tips in mind if you are serious in growing your business.
