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Let's recap what we've learned about selling so far.
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Let's recap what we've learned so far.
0:00
Sales involves everything that you need to
do to convert potential customers into
0:03
buying ones by getting an agreement or a
contract.
0:07
There are a few different kinds of sales
types,
0:11
each with their own process and strategy.
0:13
There's B2B, or business to business
sales, B2C, business to consumer,
0:16
B2G, business to government, and even
consumer to consumer, or C2C.
0:22
In general, the sales process can be
broken down into the following steps.
0:27
Prospecting or lead generation, where you
make the initial contact with
0:33
a potential customer to build a set of
leads.
0:37
A lead is a person who has indicated in
some way, interest in
0:40
your company's product or service, most
often by providing contact information.
0:44
Prospecting is a more immediate process
where you engage in
0:50
activities that provide quicker results.
0:53
Prospecting works better when you need to
fill up your sales pipeline to
0:56
hit your quarterly goals.
1:00
You need a more aggressive strategy.
1:02
You want to focus your efforts on small,
identified niches of customers.
1:04
And you aren't concerned with brand
awareness prior to engagement.
1:09
It also works when you're comfortable
engaging directly with your customers and
1:12
convincing them directly on your value
proposition.
1:18
It does not matter if you have qualified
or warm leads to begin with.
1:21
With lead generation on the other hand,
1:27
you're primarily going to engage in
activities that inform the customer,
1:29
increase brand awareness and position your
offering at the top of
1:33
their minds when they are ready to engage
in the sales funnel.
1:36
Lead generation works better when, you
want to build awareness of your product or
1:40
service among your potential customer base
before you reach out to them directly.
1:45
You're not in a rush to build leads, and
can invest time into
1:50
activities that establish you as a thought
leader, and increase your brand awareness.
1:53
You want to invest in a strategy that
builds a constant flow of leads.
1:59
You want to engage with qualified leads
that are warmer.
2:04
A qualified lead is someone who has both
indicated that they are interested in your
2:07
product or service, and who has the
ability to make a purchasing decision.
2:11
Once you have your leads, your next goal
is to qualify these leads.
2:17
A qualified lead then is someone who is
not only interested, but
2:21
has provided further information that
allows us to
2:24
convert them to paying customers much
easier.
2:27
Do they have a budget to make a purchase?
2:31
Are they a decision maker in the
purchasing process?
2:33
Do they have a need for your product or
service?
2:37
And have they specified a time frame
during which they can make the purchase?
2:40
During this stage you will get in touch
with the customer, not to make the sale,
2:45
but to gather information about the
prospect that you can assess and
2:49
analyze to get a better understanding of
their wants and needs.
2:53
When you have qualified leads and a good
understanding of the customer's needs and
2:57
wants, you can then make a presentation
based on the collection of information.
3:01
This is where you sell your product.
3:06
During the sales process you'll often come
across roadblocks.
3:08
Your next step is to listen to customer
objections and
3:12
respond to them without sounding defensive
or pushy.
3:15
If you convince them to buy,
3:18
you get a commitment from the prospect who
is now a buyer.
3:19
Once you have made the sale,
3:23
you follow up with the customer with
post-sales services and support.
3:24
This is the sales process in a nutshell.
3:29
Like entrepreneurship, sales is more of an
art.
3:31
You can't have a memorized scripted sales
call and
3:35
expect things to go your way all the time.
3:38
What's most important, is your ability to
listen and
3:40
to modify your sales presentation to
highlight aspects of your product or
3:44
service that solves actual problems that
the customer has.
3:48
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