Upping the sales and marketing game

The year has started on a very rough patch on many businesses and mine as well for many obvious reasons.

Therefore any businessman with a concern about what is going on should better know how to up their game in sales and marketing so that the balance sheets can read in the positive.

In order to survive in the business world, a few tips in upping the sales game are very important;
First and foremost know your product by heart. This is very essential if you want to remain on top.

No matter what product you are to sell, be sure that you know all the product features and the benefits it can give to consumers. You should also find other uses for the products that can be a unique selling point or an added value that will give more benefits to the consumers.
Know the target market for the specific product.

You should identify your consumers and learn what motivates them to buy, the times they make purchases, what influences their buying habits and how much their budget is. Your product and its benefits should conform to what the consumers want.

It will be very difficult to sell for example a desktop to a client who needs a laptop.
Take care of all your sales leads.  Make sure you have all the sales tools at your disposal when you make contact with prospects. You can also call to identify those who will be interested in a product demonstration, those who are actually in the market for such a product and those who want to receive additional information by post or email.

When you have established contact, make sure that you inquire when you can get in touch with them again and when they are available for a visit and product demonstration or what additional information they need.

Set a working schedule for when to make contact and when to make a follow-up call. You have to give your prospects enough time to take a look at what you have sent them. One sure way to turn off potential consumers is by pestering them with frequent calls.

You can establish a pattern by asking them directly and making a note of it.
Segregate your sales leads in different lists. Those with great potential should be included in your priority list. Those who are still lukewarm should still be kept but put them in another list.

Remove those that you feel have no real interest in the product. Keep your sales leads file updated. Make sure that you keep contact with all promising prospects.
Set attainable monthly sales goals and at the same time raise the bar for a higher sales target.

Identify how many completed sales will be needed to attain that realistic monthly sales goals and how much more will be need to go beyond your set goal for the month. Always aim for the higher one to keep you and your sales force on your toes.

Make sure that you keep the promises you make to your consumers. If you have told them that the product will be delivered on a certain date make sure that it will reach them on that date.

Inform them if there will be problems with delivery or if the product is unavailable. Keeping your customers satisfied will build trust and this can be a very handy way to gain more customers.

It is also important to make different types of projections, so as to identify problems and opportunities which can generate reports for the sales force.

For those clients who were not in the market for the product that you were selling before may be interested in the new product that will be selling. Keeping them informed will help you in prospective sales generation.

Sales and marketing department is the back bone of every company; therefore if this department takes the bull by its horn, then all will be merry in doing business.

Ends