Preparation
Last week I shared 5 Essential Steps that all salespeople need to follow to bridge the gap between average sales performance and top sales success.
Step number one was Preparation.
Preparation is the most important part of selling. Before you can make a sale, you have to be ready.
Our entire company is built around helping homepro business owners and sales teams create simple, reliable, repeatable, go-to systems that help them sell more. Systems get you ready. Doing what works over and over again improves conversions, increases sales and grows your business exponentially.
It’s all about getting ready.
Yes, “ready” is a pretty vague term.
So here are 5 concrete examples of Being Ready that I’ve seen make a huge difference to making the sale.
5 Ways to Get Ready for More Sales
- Be ready to respond to inquiries.
Do you have a system in place to return calls within 24 hours?
Customers are more likely to choose the people who call them back first. Home owners (typically) work their way through a list of potential suppliers and won’t remember whom they’ve called or the names of the businesses by the next day. While they’re making the call, though, they have a desire that’s pressing enough to urge them to pick up the phone.
The sooner you can reach them within their “hour of need,” the more likely you are to make the sale, because you’re catching them ready to act.
- Have a script ready to book the appointment!
Booking a sales appointment is an opportunity to make a stellar impression. It’s important to make sure you sound comfortable, professional and NOT caught off guard. And the way to do that is to know what you’re going to say. It’s what we like to call Flexible Scripting.
You don’t want to sound like you’re reading; you DO want to deliver a clear, simple, actionable message that converts leads into appointments!
- Have your wow-factor confirmation ready to go.
Whatever confirmation process you have in place, there is absolutely room to ramp it up.
A template that confirms the appointment time & location and reminds them who you are (you may not be the only company they’ve booked with, so make your name and your company clear when you confirm!) is just a functional administrative step.
Make yours memorable with something that goes beyond “functional.” Have a peek at the Homepro Toolbox Appointment Setting Room for ideas, templates and scripts too!
- Prepare your repeatable, reliable sales system
There’s no need to wing it on a sales call, especially when there are so many critical parts of the sales conversation that should be presented with precise order and timing. When you’ve built a structured sales conversation and follow the structure, you don’t get pulled off course, leave anything out, or get blindsided with objections. We’ve all had sales conversations that felt great, and ones we’re not so proud of. Why no repeat what feels great and what predictably, repeatedly works?
- Have your offer ready and make it right there.
You’re the expert, and the homeowner asked for your help.
They want what you’re selling.
For most people, making a decision is hard. It’s your job to make it easy. Think about how much mental energy it takes to make a big decision, and the weight that’s lifted once the decision is made. Why wouldn’t you give your client the chance to make the decision and get on with the fix asap?
It’s not easier for either of you to drag out the decision process while you go back to the office and write up the quote and then email it and then follow up and chase their decision. It’s better for everyone when you help remove that burden of indecision by being ready with your proposal and offer.
Book the business then and there.
Putting simple systems like these in place makes sales so much smoother, and more successful. I say it again and again: Systems make Sales.