Category: Blog

In business, there’s nothing more frustrating than a missed sales opportunity.

During the lockdown, many businesses either had to shut down or had to adapt to a new way of working. In many cases, this has resulted in a backlog of work and sales.

A backlog of sales can be a positive thing, as it shows a high level of customer demand as well as future financial stability. However, if you can’t work through the backlog in a reasonable time, then you’ll start missing out on opportunities and potentially tarnish your company’s reputation.

 

How to effectively work through your sales backlog

 

1) Update your sales pipeline

Before you start anything – is your pipeline and work priority list up-to-date?

It doesn’t matter if it’s on a project management software like HubSpot, an excel spreadsheet, a whiteboard or a scrap of paper, take the time to outline everything. Without this, you won’t be able to assign priorities.

In the long-term, this information should be put into a more robust system so it can become a process. However, on a short-term basis, the important thing is to understand the scope of the task at hand.

If you don’t have a process-driven sales pipeline, read our The importance of a sales pipeline article to learn more about the tremendous impact having one will have on your business.

Top tip: Don’t be tempted to tackle any project until the list is complete- even if, as part of the process you write something down you just remembered you should have done, keep going until the list is done.

 

2) Manage workload

Once you’ve updated your sales pipeline, your objective is to prioritise.

An increase in backlog orders doesn’t mean you should focus all your energy on them and forget the day-to-day work or new sales opportunities. New leads are essential, they’re warm and, depending on the age of your backlog list, may need less ‘effort’ to convert.

Remember, a sales backlog isn’t always a bad thing. By regularly communicating with clients, you’ll be able to manage expectations, giving you time to work through both new and old leads methodically – more on this to follow.

Set out a plan to manage your workload effectively and assign priorities to both new and old projects. An alternative is to spend a proportion of your day exclusively working through your backlog.

 

3) Manage expectations

Continually communicating with clients and prospects is one of the essential keys to business success.

If you’re working through a backlog of orders, let your prospects know. Using your priority list, let them know when you’ll meet their need – and make sure you do. In having the conversation you may discover they’re no longer interested, they were after something more, or they’re happy to wait longer because they’re going on holiday.

Likewise, if it’s a new prospect and you can’t meet with them straight away, let them know and set their expectations.

This stage is vitally important. Yet, it cannot be achieved without a plan. If you can’t deliver on your word, your company reputation may suffer. However, managing expectations effectively can help to increase loyalty and boost your company’s reputation.

 

If you need help managing your sales backlog, or in creating a sales pipeline, please get in touch.

If you’re new to ETC, why not contact us for a free new business review? We’ll spend two hours with you, giving you professional coaching and will leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

NOW is the time to ramp up your marketing and PR to get your business bouncing back from lockdown.

It’s difficult to avoid the ‘doom and gloom’ when reading the news. On the 12th August, the government announced that the UK is officially in a recession, we’re also continually being reminded of increasing redundancies, and that travelling abroad could result in a two-week quarantine – but it’s not all bad news.

The UK lockdown is continuing to ease. Theatres, indoor skating rinks, casinos, soft play areas and bowling alleys are all now open. Also, the new Eat out to help out scheme has helped the hospitality sector begin to recover – there were a staggering 10.5 million claims in the first week.

While the weather is good, people are more willing to get out and spend. This is the time to inject some rocket fuel into your marketing to get your business bouncing back.

Invest in marketing and PR

Marketing is an essential element of bouncing back. Marking and PR should be your primary focus over the next few months. 

Face-to-face business conferencing is still set to resume on the 1st October, so while you prepare for this, online marketing remains the primary way to connect with people.

Whether you have a big or a small budget, there are plenty of options for marketing and promoting your business. For larger budgets, we recommend you invest in content creation and advertising. This can include:

• Google Ads
• Remarketing (Retargeting) – Getting people back to your website
• Targeted Facebook and LinkedIn advertising

In addition, and for those with smaller budgets, we recommend you focus on Social Media and Guerrilla Marketing. This can include:

• Social meida marketing
• Competitions
• Email marketing (think about email automation)
• Content marketing

Your primary objective is to re-establish connections with your audience – PR. Remember, your audience is also seeing the same doom and gloom stuff on the news too. Remind them that you’re still here, you’re still offering great products and services, and you’re safe to do business with.

For more advice on using marketing and PR to get your business out of lockdown, read our The key to ending your business lockdown article.

Planning ahead – events

Face-to-face business conferencing is still set to resume on the 1st October. However, is it going to be the same as before? We suspect not. 

Before lockdown, we saw a glimpse of what business conferences in October are going to look like. Expect social distancing, limited to no contact with your branded items (business cards, leaflets and brochures) and fewer delegates.

Yet, there’s plenty of opportunities to take advantage of these situations. Its likely events will be cheaper to entice an audience. You’ll also have the opportunity to stand out from your competition by creating captivating, easy to understand banners and videos on your stand to replace brochures. Also, all attendees will need to register, and it’s likely that more contact details will be shared with attendees and exhibitors, so this is the time to create engaging followup emails to WOW visitors.

Keeping safe

If you’ve been out shopping or into a restaurant lately, you’ll have seen the number of people on the high street begin to increase. Confidence is starting to be restored. However, at this present moment, it’s not going to take a lot to lose it again.

We must not be neglectful of the measures in place to keep us safe. Keeping staff and customers safe at this time is vital to keeping your business open. Anyone confirmed COVID-19 should self isolate for at least ten days. This could result in key members of staff being unavailable at critical times. It could also damage your reputation with other staff and customers and negate all the hard work you did in bouncing back.

How ETC can help

If you need help creating a comprehensive ‘bounce back’ plan to reduce recovery time, take advantage of new opportunities ETC can help, please get in touch.

If you’re new to ETC, why not contact us for a free new business review? We’ll spend two hours with you, giving you professional coaching and will leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

The UK is slowly reducing restrictions and ending lockdown. However, things aren’t going to return to how they were pre-COVID-19, and businesses need to prepare for a new ‘normal’.

The number one priority at this time is to re-open or return to work safely. A second lockdown, as seen in Victoria, Australia or local lockdowns as seen in Leicester, is a real possibility. And, as in the case of Leicester, local lockdowns could mean no special financial support from the Government – BBC News.

Government advice and changes are happening fast and planning for change is critical. To help prepare your business for these changes and for leaving lockdown, we have created an essential three-step guide:

1. Marketing should be your focus

Marketing is an essential element of bouncing back. 75% of consumers say that brands should inform people of what they’re doing.

There is still a lot of uncertainty around what businesses are doing. With some sectors still closed, your customers may need reminding that you’re open and ready for business.

There are many tools in the marketing toolbox, but at this stage, we advise that you focus on PR (public relations). This involves re-engaging with your target audience and rebuilding your relationship.

PR requires you to share your message through media channels, both traditional (press) and non-traditional (social media). The ultimate goal is to build awareness of your brand, reinforce your business values and demonstrate why customers will like doing business with you. This can include things like:

• How you’re re-opening your business (making sure you focus on what’s important to your customers, not your company)
• Case studies of post-COVID-19 business and success
• How you’ve supported your local community

For more information on how to market your business, re-read our previous marketing guides, or contact us and let us help you bounce back.

2. Let customers and employees know how you’re keeping them safe

Public health is at the forefront of everyone’s mind at the moment and informing your customers and staff about your ‘safe’ re-opening can be a compelling message.

Messages about ‘safe’ have become more important as lockdown has eased. Larger brands are opting for a clear, positive, inspirational, and helpful tone over humorous, witty, or casual.

According to a study by Econsultancy: one in five consumers have actively stopped purchasing from a brand because of its response to the coronavirus outbreak. This included not providing a safe working environment for its employees.

In the same study, 62% stated that they were more likely to spend money with companies that prioritise the health and safety of their staff.

The full study can be found here: coronavirus impact on marketing, ecommerce & advertising

3. Be consistent in your message

After you’ve invested in PR and promoted your ‘safe to return’ messages, you should always ensure you follow through. It’s great to have handwashing stations and social distancing in place, but if these aren’t clearly visible people may become anxious about what the protocols are.

If you have been into a retail shop recently, you’ll have seen the answer to this yourselves: large signs above sanitiser stations and 2-metres or 1-metre plus signs on the floor.

Without these highly visible, tangible changes to improve safety, all your PR and messages will be wasted – and potentially counterproductive as it may appear disingenuous.

Finally, on a more serious note, the importance of these COVID-19 safe measures cannot be stressed enough. If COVID-19 gets into the workplace, everyone exposed will need to isolate, which may include some difficult conversations with customers.

To protect your business, get your cashflow going again and rebuild customer trust, don’t just give COVID-19 safe the lip service – it’s the key to ending your business lockdown.

How ETC can help

If you need help creating a comprehensive ‘bounce back’ plan to reduce recovery time, take advantage of new opportunities ETC can help, please get in touch.

If you’re new to ETC, why not contact us for a free new business review? We’ll spend two hours with you, giving you professional coaching and will leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

Sending a quote or sales proposal to a client may seem like a basic step in your sales process; something that just has to be done after a meeting. However, it can be one of the most powerful, tangible sales tools you have. Don’t underestimate its value.

The proposal you send your client is perhaps one of the only tangible references to your highly convincing sales pitch, so you must make sure it’s personalised, get’s your value proposition across and is straightforward to understand.

Sometimes, sending over a simple one-page quote with a summary of the work and the price is perfectly adequate. For existing clients who are familiar with you and your solution, this is usually the standard approach. However, for new clients who will compare you to other services, this won’t help you stand out – and a well-written email summary with an attached price is NOT the answer.

Here’s how to structure and write an effective sales proposal:

 

Introduction

The proposal introduction is an opportunity to outline your understanding of your client’s situation, remind them of the ‘pain’ they’re in and how you can help.

 

Your company

It’s important to remind the reader who you are and how you can help. Your proposal could also be passed from your contact to someone else in the business who’s never heard of you, so you should always outline who you are.

As much as you can on paper, you need to establish trust and experience to the reader. Your company introduction should always be tailored to the client’s current situation, and not your “About Us” page from the website. 

 

Your solution

When explaining how you’re proposing to solve the client’s problem, always remember to bring it back to the value you will add – what will the outcome be for the client.

In this section, you can add some technical detail about your solution, but remember to keep it simple. If your service has multiple stages, or your product has various features, this is where you can outline them. If you’re compared to a similar product, this is the page your client will check to see if you’re adding value.

Top tip: While writing, when you outline a solution or make reference to a product’s capabilities, ask yourself: “So what?”. If your next sentence doesn’t tell you how the client will benefit, the client most likely won’t understand what you’re trying to say.

 

Price and timescales

Your price should always be clear and easy to understand. If you have various options, or a shopping list pricing system, be sure to make it clear what the difference is between them. If it’s not clear, consider simplifying your offer.

Make sure you reinforce all the elements of your product and service next to the price (a bulleted list of all the things you outlined in the ‘your solution’ section). This is important if for whatever reason the price gets separated from the rest of the proposal, or someone skips to straight the price page. 

Finally, don’t forget to add timescales. Make sure you answer the following questions: how long will it take? And when can you start?

Top tip: Consider putting together a simple Gantt chart within the proposal. You can use the number of days/weeks/months instead of actual dates if you want to keep things open. This can help give the client a sense of urgency.

 

Call to action

Always end your proposal with a call to action. What does the client need to do if they want to progress with things? 

 

Don’t forget the design

This document is perhaps one of the only tangible sales document you’ll send your customer. It’s therefore vital for this document to look great.

Although professionally designed documents can help you stand out, you don’t need to spend hours on the design. Using a simple Microsoft Word or a free Google Doc template can help structure the layout of your proposal. 

Remember: A fancy document with terrible content can lose you a sale just as quickly as when you present an excellent proposal poorly. 

 

How ETC can help

If you need help writing winning sales proposals, please get in touch.

If you’re new to ETC, why not contact us for a free new business review? We’ll spend two hours with you, giving you professional coaching and will leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

This is the sixth in our sales series. If you haven’t already, you can read the others here:

1. Sales starting point: Attitude
2. The importance of a sales pipeline
3. Preparing for a sales meeting
4. Conducting a Sales Appointment
5. Quote based on value, not price

When you talk about the price of your product or service, are you buying business or selling something that will add value?

Many businesses, especially small businesses, believe that they need to be ‘low cost’ in order to win business and be competitive against more established companies – this is not the case.

When you’re putting together a quote or proposal for a client, the focus should never be on the price. The mission is to get them thinking about the value of your product or service. The final amount you outline in your quotes will then reflect the value-added to the client.

Quoting your solution based on value, not price, will not only increase sales, but it will also boost your profits.

 

How to establish value

Establishing the value of your service comes from the work you put in before and during the meeting.

Understanding the problems a business faces (the pain), will allow you to outline how your solution can add value.

For example, imagine you are a roofer quoting to repair a leak at a factory. The owner describes how he’s had to stop or remove machinery because of the leak. Your solution (fixing the roof) is worth the lost revenue from the inactive machinery over time, not the cost of the repair.

Sometimes, the ‘pain’ isn’t so apparent to the client, and you’ll need to work a little harder to establish value. The key here is to understand things like the current conversion rate, average order value, profit and staff-hours required to fulfil an order. With this information, you can paint a picture of how an investment in your solution will increase future sales and productivity.

For example, imagine you’re selling some order processing software that will track customer orders and send automated progress updates both internally and to the customer. The value here is the reduction in time someone needs to spend updating people on the status of an order. More hours are now available to achieve other things – things that have probably been on the boss’ mind for ages.

With the right information, you could outline both cost savings and increased revenue in one go.

For a guide on how to get the information needed to add value to your quotes and proposals, read our meeting preparation article and our conducting a sales meeting guide.

 

The competitive edge

It’s important to remember that value is based on the customer’s perception.

Without establishing value, it’s highly likely that your solution will be compared to a price they found on the internet or the last thing they bought – which could be a cup of coffee.

If you establish value based on a genuine understanding of how your solution will meet their requirements, you will have a competitive edge regardless of whether your price is higher or lower than an alternative.

 

Questions you can ask to help establish value

Factfinding is essential to creating the value of your solution. The easiest way to gather information is during a face-to-face meeting. The questions you ask during that meeting can help reveal the companies ‘pain’ points – which can sometimes be unknown to them.

Here are some example questions you can ask in your meeting:

1. What is your current conversion rate?
2. What is your average order value?
3. What the average profit from each order?
4. How many sales do you need each month to maintain operational?
5. How is the company structured? How many departments, and how many employees in each?
6. What are your growth plans?

These questions are just some examples to get you in the right frame of mind. It’s usually best if these questions are woven in-between the conversation rather than fired at the client as a questionnaire.

For more information on how to conduct an appointment that gives you the best chance of closing a sale, read our conducting a sales appointment article.

 

How ETC can help

If you need help turning your conversations about price to one about value, please get in touch.

If you’re new to ETC, why not contact us for a free new business review? We’ll spend two hours with you, giving you professional coaching and will leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

This is the fifth in our sales series. If you haven’t already, you can read the others here:

1. Sales starting point: Attitude
2. The importance of a sales pipeline
3. Preparing for a sales meeting
4. Conducting a Sales Appointment

How do you increase the chances of winning business at a face-to-face sales appointment?

Many people believe that you need to be a salesperson to sell your products or services. However, sometimes, this stereotypical, chatty salesperson trait can be counterproductive. The key to a successful sales meeting is to listen to the client and directly answer how your product or service is the solution.

Here are our top tips on conducting an appointment, giving you the best chance of closing a sale.

 

Establish rapport

The first thing you should do in any meeting is to establish a foundation relationship with everyone in the room. Everyone knows you’re there to talk about your solution, so there’s no need to be too familiar, but remember people buy from people, so if there’s an opportunity to find common ground, use it.

The aim is to gently transition from this less formal conversation into the purpose for the meeting. Ideally, it should be seamless. A great way to do this is to talk about finding more time to engage in hobbies or spend time with the family – your solution can help.

TOP TIP: Keep an eye out for any personal items in the room. This could help break the ice. For example, they could have sports memorabilia on show. People love to talk about their hobbies.

Word of warning, don’t pretend to be knowledgeable about something you’re not. You don’t need to share the same interests. The purpose is to show genuine attention and get them to open up about their experience.

If there aren’t any personal items, why not mention the roadworks you probably sat in to get there? They probably have to sit in that every day!

 

Clarifying what their needs are

The key to a successful sales meeting is to position your solution, either product or service, as the means of solving their pain points.

You are never going to be able to do this effectively if you don’t know what these are specifically. So, you need to ask questions and truly understand what they are trying to achieve.

It’s best to avoid closed questions, those that invoke a “Yes” or “No” response. Instead, practice using open questions that invite people to provide a detailed answer. These type of questions usually start with ‘what, ‘when’ and ‘how’.

Finally, make sure you listen to their answers. Your objective is to investigate what one or two things are causing them the most pain. When it’s your turn to talk, your answers can then always refer back to how your product or service is the solution – this is how you establish value.

 

Talk about value, not cost

One of the most common stumbling blocks in a sales meeting is the cost, or price, of your product or service.

Some people are uncomfortable about giving a price, and you can see them physically shy away from talking about it. Others are happy to provide one, as they are confident that it is fair.

Regardless of the situation, it’s not about how you feel about the price. It’s always down to their perceived value of your solution. If you are providing a price without establishing value, the cost will almost always be too high.

So, how do you establish value? After you understand the pain points of your potential customer, you need to understand how much it costs them to work around their problems, or how these pains are preventing them from achieving growth.

Ideally, in understanding their pain cost, you want to get a financial figure from them. This can help you talk about your solution as being a fraction of the cost, or identify how you can add additional value and open new opportunities. Again, its always about the value to the client, not the price of the solution.

If you take this approach, you’ll find that you rarely ever talk about the actual price of your solution.

 

Always close

You might be familiar with the ‘Always Be Closing’ (ABC) sales technique. And while this does conjure images of ‘pushy’, perhaps unethical salespeople, it is a phrase you should remember for each meeting. 

In a sales meeting, everyone knows you’re there to sell, so there is no need to be afraid to ask for business. If you have established value, the close should flow naturally, and you can move from talking about how you can help to when you can start helping – this is an assumptive close.

The assumptive close can be a gentle way to establish a commitment by creating an easy way to start. A great way to achieve this is to get the diary out and pencil in a delivery date.

Finally, don’t fall at the last hurdle, get the paperwork over as soon as possible. Whether this is a quote, proposal or summary of your agreement, get it their hands as quickly as possible. Generally, people are busy, and as soon as you leave the meeting, they will get absorbed into other things, you don’t want the value you’ve just spent time establishing to diminish.

TOP TIP: A great way to keep at the forefront of a prospective clients mind is to send them a ‘thank you for your time’ email following a meeting. Why not create an email template in your email client to save you writing one each time. Here are some guides based on the most common email clients:

• Outlook 
• Gmail 
• Apple mail 

 

How ETC can help

If you need help turning your sales meetings from a conversation about price to one about value, please get in touch.

If you’re new to ETC, why not contact us for a free new business review? We’ll spend two hours with you, giving you professional coaching and will leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

This is the fourth in our sales series. If you haven’t already, you can read the others here:

1. Sales starting point: Attitude
2. The importance of a sales pipeline
3. Preparing for a sales meeting

Finally, that prospect you’ve had at the start of your sales pipeline for months has agreed to meet. It’s time to prepare for the meeting.

There are two elements to preparing for a sales meeting: the first is preparing your attitude, (and if you haven’t read the first part of our sales series, we recommend you check it out: sales starting point: Attitude), the second is research.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to researching the company before that first sales meeting. Either you can thoroughly investigate the company, or you can go straight in there without doing any research at all.

So which way is best?

 

Preparing for a sales meeting – The full research approach

If your preference is to research the company before your appointment, it’s always best to make sure you fully understand the company and the industry they operate within.

Nothing stalls the progress of a meeting more than making the wrong assumptions or delivering incorrect information about the client back to them. However, if you get this research right, it demonstrates that you’re familiar with the industry and have an understanding of the top-level company objectives. This can go a long way in establishing confidence in your abilities.

The best places to do company research include:

• Companies House
• Website
• Reviews platforms
• Social media
• LinkedIn profile of the person you’re meeting
• Partnering websites

 

TOP TIP: Remember, looking at a company website or literature alone won’t give you a true reflection of what the company needs. A company’s marketing is (or should be) customer focused. It’s giving you a clue as to what they want the end goal to appear to be, not how they operate.

Think Wizard of Oz – you want to see ‘the man behind the curtain’, not the Great and Powerful Oz.

And it’s this very sentiment that leads people to consider the second approach when preparing for that first sales meeting:

 

Preparing for a sales meeting – The open approach

The main benefit of the open approach to sales meeting research is you shouldn’t have any preconceptions or assumptions.

It’s always best to do a little research, like understanding who you’re meeting and the purpose of the meeting. However, only doing this basic research should mean you don’t have any preconceptions about the company. You’ll have to ask questions and seriously pay attention to their answers.

This approach can make the meeting feel more natural. However, it does rely on your skills as an interviewer. If this is something you’re concerned about, it’s best to write down some questions you know you need answering before you enter the meeting – it’s always best to know what you don’t know. Then, towards the end of the meeting, you can quickly check down your list to see if you can answer each question.

 

What is the best sales preparation approach?

At the end of the day, neither of these approaches has been proven to be better or worse than the other. However, understanding each method should help you refine your chosen technique, and you may even find that your approach is entirely dependent on the industry or individual client.

Whichever position you take, it’s about working in the best way for you. Your objective during these meetings should always be to gather enough information to effectively answer their needs with your product or service – and close the deal. How you get that information is up to you.

If you’re still unsure, one of the most effective ways to understand which approach to take can be to practice a technique called ‘Mental Rehearsal’. This visualisation process is what top-performing athletes use to help prepare themselves before a competitive performance.

Mental Rehearsal is designed to help you visualise your journey to success. This can be visualising your walk to the car, the car to the meeting, the questions in the meet and the handshake accepting the deal at the end. It may be that by mapping out this journey, you identify where barriers to your success are going to be, and can help you think about how you’re going to overcome them – either through research or writing a question to ask in the meeting.

There are lots of resources on visualisation techniques online. This one from American coach Jack Canfield is simple to follow and provides a practical example of Mental Rehearsal.

 

If you need help preparing for a meeting, or want to discuss either approach to preparation, please get in touch.

If you’re new to ETC, why not contact us for a free new business review? We’ll spend two hours with you, giving you professional coaching and will leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

The sales pipeline, or sales board, is a set of defined stages that a prospect moves through to become a customer.

An effective sales pipeline will ensure you take each prospect on the best journey to maximise conversion. It also means you shouldn’t forget a prospect, what you need to do with that prospect and when you need to do it. It can also serve as a powerful analysis tool for your business.

If you want to increase sales and profits, you need a sales pipeline.

 

Do you have a sales pipeline or sales list?

It’s common for the sales pipeline to be confused with a list of prospective contacts. Although this is useful information, alone this isn’t likely to make you money.

Here’s a quick test to see if you have a pipeline or a list of people you’re trying to sell to:

Right now, without opening more than one spreadsheet or document, you should be able to answer these simple questions:

1. How many new prospects do you have?
2. How many quotes are with clients?
3. What’s the value of your last quote?
4. How many days until you need to follow-up your latest quote?

If you can’t answer each of these questions with a number, you need to re-evaluate, or create, a sales pipeline.

 

How to create a sales pipeline

When creating your pipeline, we recommend you start by looking at the stages you went through to secure your last successful sale.

The structure of a sales pipeline can differ from company to company, but here are some of the more common stages:

1. Contact. This is the initial exchange of contact information. This could happen via a referral, or through a phone call or meeting.
2. Qualification. This is where you take the time to understand the prospect’s problem. This could happen at the same time as the initial contact, but it’s usually a good idea to allocate some time to talk through their specific requirements. It’s also an excellent time to determine if there is a genuine need, they have the budget, and authority to buy in the near future – are they a legitimate prospect?
3. Proposal. At this stage, you outline the solution that best fits the prospect’s need and the cost.
4. Follow-up. You should always follow up each proposal. It may take several attempts to close the sale. Keeping on top of your follow up schedule will keep your pipeline live and useful.
5. Sale (Close). This is where the final negotiations are made and contracts are signed. The prospect is now a customer.

After you’ve written down the stages you need to make a sale, talk it through with someone who knows your business. They can help fill in any gaps or remove any unnecessary steps.

Once you’re happy with your pipeline, start placing each contact on your sales list in these stages.

The idea is to keep the sales pipeline simple, but not void of substance. As a guide, why not refer back to the questions at the start of this article. If your pipeline doesn’t allow you to answer these questions quickly, you may have missed a step.

 

Create your pipeline today

In a digital world, many people have their sales pipeline on a spreadsheet or use a sales tool built into their CRM system. At an early stage, it’s probably best to keep your pipeline as simple as possible. A complex tool or spreadsheet might prevent you from continually using it.

A pipeline is only useful if its used and continually updated and reviewed. When used correctly, a sales pipeline will increase the number of converted sales, guaranteed. Don’t over complicate it. Here are some simple ways to help you create and maintain a pipeline:

Online tools. Free tools like Hubspot and Trello allow you to create digital boards and then, using your mouse, drag cards through the various stages of your sales pipeline. Here’s an example of what a digital pipeline can look like:

Spreadsheets. Don’t want to use online tools? Why not use a spreadsheet? Simply create a list of all your prospects and detail what stage they’re at in your pipeline. You can then use filters and formulas to quickly summarise information.

Whiteboard. Have your sales board information prominently displayed in your office on a whiteboard. Divide your board into a grid and move each contact through the board manually. This is a great way to feel physically connected to each stage of the sales journey.

Top tip. If you prefer to go down a digital route, we still recommend using a whiteboard. This is absolutely best way to keep you sales focused as its always in front of you, prominently displayed in your office. You can keep the detail on your digital version, but use the whiteboard to remind you how many contacts are in each stage without opening up a document or app.

 

The power of an effective sales pipeline

The sales pipeline is probably one of the most powerful sales tools at your disposal – if used correctly.

Without complicating your pipeline, adding additional information will allow you to measure sales success and evaluate specific areas of your business.

For example, if you record when you first made contact and when you closed the sale, you can start to understand how long it takes you to convert a prospect to a client (on average). This helps you better forecast and understand how many prospects you need at the start of the year to pay the bills at the end.

Likewise, this information can be used to understand how many prospects turn to customers. This will tell you how many prospects you need at the start of the pipeline to make a profit. You may need to look at ways to improve your conversion if the numbers become concerning.

 

If you need help creating a sales pipeline, or if you have one and want to get more from it, please get in touch.

If you’re new to ETC, why not contact us for a free new business review? We’ll spend two hours with you, giving you professional coaching and will leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

It’s time to start planning for 2020. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s time to start reviewing this year’s progress and start preparing for the next one.

Regardless of whether your business year runs from January-December, April-March or June-May, now is the time to get your business ready for the new year.

Taking action now gives you time to prepare, take a look at where you are against your goals, and if you’ve strayed a little, you have some time to course-correct.

 

When is the best time to create a business plan?

As a rule of thumb, business plans should be compiled three months before they’re needed. So, for those businesses that run on a calendar year of January to December, the best time is September. For businesses running from April to March, the best time is January.

If you’re in retail or an e-commerce business, you’re planning schedule may look slightly different. Typically, you should be preparing for Christmas in June and conducting your business planning in January.

If you’re not in retail or e-commerce, regardless of your business year (unless it’s August-July – in which case you should already have a sufficient plan in place), you should always think about a New Year plan.

Taking this proactive approach gives you adequate time to prepare for the new year and estimate where you will finish against your goals. You also have time to put yourself back on track if you’ve strayed a little, and it will provide you with a clear direction when you come back from Christmas (probably still a little foggy from an over-indulgent week).

 

What should a business plan include?

You don’t need to overcomplicate this process. If you’re creating a business plan for a bank or shareholders, it’s advisable to start working with experienced support as soon as possible.

If the plan is for yourself, you can be more flexible to suit your individual needs. Although, it’s still wise to gather some support, and sole traders can enlist some trusted friends or associates to help. If you have a mentor, now is the time to get them involved!

When writing a business plan, it’s always helpful to use the SOSTAC model referred to below. Here are some guidelines to help you create the plan successfully:

The purpose of your business

It is always important to keep the ‘why’ you’re doing business at the start of your business plan. It is possibly the most important section of your plan as it will help ensure the content within your plan supports your business purpose. It also provides context to someone outside the company should they read your plan.

To understand more about the importance of ‘why’, we recommend you check out ‘Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek – also available on Amazon.

Situation

Where are we now? Document where you are now so that you can measure progress. For example, how many products you have, how many customers, how much you spent against budget, sales numbers etc.

Objectives

Where do you want to be: both for the business and personally? Set Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timebound (SMART) objectives for each of the steps required to achieve your goals.

Strategy

How are we going to get there? Broadly, how do you plan to achieve the objectives you’ve defined? For example, if one aim is to increase sales, the strategy might be to start selling in new markets.

Tactics

What are we going to do? With the strategies outlined, you’ll need to decide what tactical elements are required to achieve these. Looking back at the example above, let’s say one strategy is to penetrate new markets, one tactic to achieve this may be having an online store.

Action

What do we need to do, by when, and by whom? This is the list you’re probably used to making. It’s the task list for each of the tactics you outlined above. Sticking with the same theme of selling into new markets, and using a website to do that, your actions may include things like:

• Build an e-commerce website
• Research shipping fees
• Review pricing
• Review packaging options

With a list in place, add to it who will do what and by when. Day to day service delivery can often get in the way of delivering on an action plan, so be realistic when deciding on deadlines.

Control

How are we going to measure and monitor success? All that work you’ve just written down is going to be a complete waste of everyone’s time if you don’t action it! This is where putting precise, defined metrics or milestones in place will help you record and recognise success.

It sounds logical, but you’d be surprised how many plans are written but not followed. There are so many distractions as a business owner; it’s easy to lose sight.

An easy mechanism to establish success against your goals is to attach accountability to the objectives, strategies, tactics and actions. Regular management team meetings, or if you’re a smaller business, scheduled meetings with your business coach will encourage you to stick to your plan.

Oh, and there’s nothing like a significant global event like New Year to give you a deadline. So, schedule some time in your diary to check everything is on track.

 

Budget

Following the SOSTAC model above, you should have everything you need to understand how much money you made and how much you want to make. A copy of the previous budget will help identify precisely where money was well spent, and where it could be adjusted to benefit your future plans.

For more advice on how to budget, take a look at our 7 easy steps to successful budgeting.

 

What’s next?

Nothing. Just follow the plan. A good business plan is a roadmap for the foreseeable future, so you should have everything you need to get going.

When you follow these steps and implement your business plan, you might just end up where you want to be!

As ever, if you need any help building and implementing your business plan, or preparing for the new year, why not contact us for a free new business review? We’ll spend two hours with you, giving you professional coaching and will leave you with actions for immediate implementation.

Research suggests that at least 70% of small business owners never take a holiday. In our role as business consultants, we come across this time and time again. Catching up on emails is far more the norm than catching a few rays.

While it might appear that taking a break from your business could be catastrophic, not taking one could be worse.

 

How motivated and productive are you?

Your business cannot afford or function long-term without you taking a quality break. Ignoring this simple fact can be damaging to both your mental health and your business.

When business owners don’t take time out, they become fatigued; directly affecting productivity. Worse, resentment towards your business can build up, further adding to a decline in motivation.

 

How much holiday should you take?

We recommend taking at least 1-2 weeks holiday a year. If it’s impossible to take such a long break, then make time for long weekends instead. After some quality time away from your business, you’ll come back refreshed, and you’ll notice an increase in productivity – and you’ll make some more money!

Also, notice we say ‘quality’ a lot here. Going away and checking your emails every five minutes isn’t a quality break – a break from the office isn’t a holiday. You need to detach yourself from what’s going on.

To ensure you have a quality break, here are our top tips to help you have a quality holiday:

 

1) Understand your customer base

Do your customers have a pattern? Understanding your customer base can help identify natural quiet(er) times for your business. This might be the best time to take a break.

A simple survey of your existing customer base could uncover some facts you can use to your advantage. Include questions to find out why they don’t purchase at certain times.

Having this knowledge can help you prepare for that potential dip well in advance of it happening. If it’s an annual occurrence, you’ll have all year to develop a plan to take some time off without it having a significant impact on your business.

2) Handing over the reins

Ensuring the continuity of service for clients is a key concern for business owners when planning a holiday.

Bringing in support while you’re away can help maintain continuity. Planning ahead and scheduling several training or induction meetings before you go away will help acclimatise your support. These mini trial periods will also highlight what tools, platforms and any login details they will need to perform their temporary role.

If this is a problem area for you, take a look at our Creating Consistency in Service article. In this article, we explain how to give staff the tools and knowledge to get the job done exactly as you want it!

3) Build a good relationship with your clients

Having a good relationship with your clients is worth its weight in gold. Giving your clients a heads up before you go away will help to set expectations and may even result in more work before/after you go away.

If you’re handing over the reins, make sure your ‘out of office’ points clients in the right direction by providing temporary contact details. If you don’t have someone supporting you, let people know what your plans are: when you will be returning, or how access to your emails is limited and when you check them.

4) What to do if you can’t let go

If you still don’t believe you can hand over the reins and take a holiday, you need to take measures to switch off the best you can.

As we mentioned before, if you can’t take a long break, take long weekends instead.

If you still need to contact the office: schedule calls (as few as possible), don’t make or take unscheduled calls. More often than not, people need guidance or ‘permission’ to take a direction. Try and be the decision-maker and provide support only – don’t take on the work!

 

Get holiday ready and make more profit

So, with the summer upon us, it’s the perfect time to get away. If you don’t yet have your summer break planned, get one booked!

If you understand the benefit of taking a break but still feel unable to, book a free business review so we can help get your business ‘holiday ready’ and more profitable!