Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. – Dale Carnegie
Same is the case with sales. Any successful salesperson will vouch for the fact that success comes in sales to only those who are excited to work hard and sell even when there’s no hope- or no leads, to be precise. It is usually the case that you don’t get enough pre-qualified leads to achieve your targets- the Marketing, Social Media, and the SEO can only get you to a certain point, but after that it is up to the qualities of sales person that determine how much sale would be generated.
Here are some of my tips and tricks on how to generate sales and enhance revenue without prequalified leads so that you don’t have to sit waiting for leads 😉
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Analyze early to switch to Plan B timely
It is wise to analyze things in the beginning of the month. When you timely see that leads are not coming your way, then you have enough time to switch to Plan B- which can include some quick selling, tempting offers like:
- Enhancing your product offerings by improving on the configurations and adding new services or bundling, so that more customer can get attracted to them.
- If possible, make your solutions cheaper with additional discounts, so that you are in a position to offer something that the customer cannot refuse. It also helps at the time of upsell.
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Go for your existing customers – the bird in your hand
Your existing customer base is your best shot when leads are not coming your way. Turn to loyal customers and those organizations with whom you had dealings in the past. If you have built a good relationship with them, then you can approach them for upselling some of your services.
I usually follow this order:
a. Regular Buyers or Premium Customers
Every organization has a certain section of high buyers or premium customers. As they have been with you all along, they easily get interested, are easier to pitch and get convinced for new products, thus it is wiser to approach them first. And lastly, since they are high paying customers, if you are able to convince them for new solutions, revenue is normally higher.
b. Customers with Less No. of Services
Identify those customers who have taken at least some services with you. They can be valuable leads as they are aware of your services and you do not have to create the first impression.
Many customers would like to enhance their services with time and if you pitch them the right offer of their need at a good price, then it is easier to get them convinced.
These are perfect customers to upgrade to higher solutions.
c. Pitching Add-ons
Ok! So if your regular products are not ringing that well with a customer, then pitch add-ons, licenses, and customizations, services and products through inbound marketing tips and tricks. Usually every customer requires information about additional security, customization, SQL licenses etc.
d. New offerings to existing customers
In a solution industry, the best part about sales is that the requirement of the customer always increases with time. If you work as a consultant and garner trust of the customer, then with time, you can turn small customers into premium customers.
It is a basic trend in that a customer leverages solutions of various companies for multiple needs. If a sales guy generates enough trust in him, then he can consolidate the solutions used or required by the customers’ under one single provider and ensure good sales.
e. Inactive Customers
Finally, if nothing else produces results, then turn to your inactive customers, reinitiate discussions with them and point out what they are missing through emails. Provide them information about the new offers that are there, improvements in technology and new solutions you are offering. Learn how to get successful with right email marketing tips.
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Less is more – use what you have
When the number of incoming leads reduces, put extreme emphasis on what you’ve got. Initiate ruthless strategies to close whatever leads you have.
- Try to increase the lead vs closure %.
- Take extensive follow ups on existing leads.
- Be aggressive on mails and offer reduced prices, including other add-on benefits.
- Focus on closing the deal at higher billing cycles.
- Work as a consultant and a problem solver and recommend comprehensive solution for every requirement of the customer.
- Work in coordination with marketing team on acquiring sales leads and driving revenue.
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Word of mouth – ask for referrals
Over the years, an experienced sales person builds solid relationships. Utilize them at this time and ask for referrals from them. Discuss with your customers whether they can use their sources to loop you in discussions with some other potential customers.
If even 10% of your customers refer you, there’ll be enough leads to tide over the lean phase.
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Keep track of everything- use lost leads
Most sales guys don’t keep track of the leads that due to some reason in the past, they were unable to close. Lost leads are your valuable resource too as maybe with time the priorities of the customer has shifted and new requirements have emerged, maybe your product offering is now more suitable and in sync with their current requirements.
Give them a call and see if you can turn in some of them.
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The basics- Use raw customer database
Every experienced sales person maintains information about customers, like business cards of companies – a salesman’s priceless possession.
In the lean phase- lead wise, flip through that untouched raw data of contacts and identify potential prospects and start calling ,fix meetings and hopefully, you’ll get leads.
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Cold calling – the traditional way
Pick the phone and start calling on contact information collected from search engines and websites. This is normally anyone’s last resort, but is the traditionally trusted way of generating the leads.
Fix meetings and try to get in touch with the right person and be prepared for making the best first impression. If you keep doing follow-ups rightly, you will generate good sales and acquire new customers in the process.
Utilize your company’s brand image when contacting a new customer.
Leverage the knowledge if you have sold services to a customer of the same industry type- take their references to generate credibility.
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Go for quality rather than quantity
The biggest fault a sales person can have is pessimism. Having lesser leads is surely an uncomfortable situation to be in but identifying the quality leads and then putting your best on them to close bigger amounts in a single shot can easily take you out of this situation.
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In the end, all that matters is the revenue you bring in and how many quality customers you have.
If you have any feedback regarding this write-up, let me know through comments.
