The difference between a successful and a failure startup is how well you define your sales strategy. Understanding how to follow up in the right way can make a difference in long-term revenue. This includes everything from increasing your email outreach to finding niche marketing. Jorge Zuñiga Blanco, a successful entrepreneur and businessman from Costa Rica, shares his top-rated strategies for engaging and maintaining clients.
Many salespeople and entrepreneurs implement a sales strategy without understanding the key ingredient. This is what causes customers to turn away. You lose the connection you have with your client if you just focus on the benefits and prices of the product or service. It is impossible to solve their problem if you don’t try to understand them.
Your business system must be clear about the problem you can solve. Blanco says, “Do your best in advance to understand their needs and start your discussion by explaining how this may benefit your prospect.”
People buy results and not just goods and services. Once you have captured your prospect’s interest with your solution, now it is time to explain clearly how and what they will receive. Value is the end result.
Your outreach can be significantly enhanced by focusing on specific niche markets that have a problem with the issues you are able to address. Instead of reaching out to every organization, focus on a small group of customers.
You will encounter new problems and unique requests from prospects during your business conversations. This is a good thing, as each organization you work for has a clear structure of goals and inward processes. Adds Blanco, “You must be flexible. You have to be positive and not assume that you can solve their particular problems.” Sales strategies must be adaptable enough to change as needed.
If you manage a large number of leads, it is a good idea to incorporate lead scoring – a system that ranks prospects – into your business process. Lead scoring allows you to quickly organize prospects based on the best chance of closing the deal.
Don’t lose heart if you feel there is some confusion or uncertainty in a presentation or demonstration. Find out the issue and address it. Asking directly if there are any uncertainties can backfire – your audience might not respond because they fear being incompetent. Ask for clarification, offer to clarify the information or give examples to ease their mind. The goal is to get the customer to buy.
Once you are certain you have the right contact person, it is time to make a sale. One that captures the attention of your prospect and keeps them interested in the solution. You risk losing the prospect and your sale if you spend too much energy or time discussing your company, the benefits of your solution, customers you’ve worked for, or why they should join you today.
Do not give a pitch or a speech. Tell a story. This will attract the decision-maker or audience and provide an example of your product or service’s real-world value. Storytelling is a great sales strategy. Because stories keep us interested, we have a higher ability to absorb information. These strategies can be used to help your business succeed, whether you are starting a startup or looking to improve the efficiency of an existing one.
