If ‘sales’ is one of those areas that you feel uncomfortable with and just don’t like to do, then it is highly probable that you aren’t allocating any time to it.
As small business owners, you will have many responsibilities and often not the extra staff to delegate those jobs to. So you become the accountant, the admin staff, the service provider, and the expert on legal matters, marketing and sales- amongst other responsibilities. Sales will often get pushed back and neglected in favour of other more enjoyable areas of your business.
It is important, therefore, that you allocate time in your diary each week for your sales activities. It need only be a short amount of time, but by allocating that time you will ensure that something gets done.
The sales activity starts with your prospects. There is no point in generating prospects through your marketing activities if you then neglect to follow those leads up. By allocating the time to your sales process you will increase your sales, thereby increasing business and profits.
It is vital that you get your sales process in place so that you then maximise the time allocated to it. It needs to be the most effective that it can be in the short time allocated.
Plan out your sales process and have a definite strategy in place. From your list of prospects, allocate time to making contact, introducing yourself, sending out information about your business, making an appointment, attending the appointment, doing your research, writing a proposal, and so on. Set aside an amount of time for each part of the process, log your activities, and see them through to the close of the sale.
Finally, even if you don’t consider yourself a ‘salesman’, you are. Your role is to identify and meet a need. By asking the right questions and listening, you will ensure that your prospect is genuine and save yourself a lot of wasted time.