7.6 Sales and Customer Service
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Explain the importance of sales strategy and provide an example
- Explain the importance of customer service
A sales strategy is a plan that the entrepreneur uses to identify and engage a consumer, from prospecting to securing the sale. This strategy should keep in mind the core benefit or competitive advantage that the product or service has and make sure this information filters through the entire sales execution process. The strategy should include a six-step process that is an integrated sales system for how to prospect, pitch, handle rejections, and the like.
Setting objectives is important before reaching out to prospects and current customers because they allow the salesperson to detail the strategy, have an end goal, and measure the results. For example, a salesperson may have a goal of closing one client out of ten prospects he or she sees per week (or through a sales cycle). So the detailed strategy would be:
- doing research about prospective clients and creating a list,
- calling them to set up an appointment to talk about your product or service,
- meeting with them to present a proposal,
- handling objections,
- closing the deal, and
- nurturing the relationship after close.
The end goal would be to gain a prospect as a client and develop a good relationship for future business. And the salesperson would measure the results by looking back at goals and outcomes.
There are many methods, tools, and techniques to sell, and there is no perfect set of strategies for a business. It depends on the goals and resources of the entrepreneur, as well as on the type of product they are launching. When selling to customers who are going to be spending a substantial amount on a product or service, like a piece of equipment, a luxury yacht, or an expensive software program, there must be a sales system in place to take consumers from prospects to customers. The preceding six steps are general stages in this system. Let’s take a look at each step.
Sample Six-Step Sales Strategy
The graphic below outlines an example of an effective sales system or strategy using a six-step approach.[1]
Prospecting and Preparing
Prospecting focuses on finding potential new customers for the product or service. This helps acquire new customers, replace customers lost to attrition, and expand sales from current customers. In essence, prospecting allows salespeople to collect information about potential customers and identify any who are not a good fit for the company. It is important to get as many prospects as possible to secure a few customers, as the pool of prospects diminishes through successive steps of the sales process.
You may need to have a list of twenty prospects to secure one or two customers. Prospecting also tends to be more important in certain industries such as financial advising or business-to-business industries. To determine whether a person or orga