• Invitation – event requests
• Promotion – Focused on selling or promoting
• Information – traditional email newsletter

The structure of each should always follow the same basic principle, which is:

Get the customer on to your website.

An email regardless of the format should always be treated like the front page of a magazine. In traditional press the front cover is always selling the content, don’t fall in to the trap of putting it all in the email.

Customers don’t buy from an email, they buy from your website. Where you can collect their money, handle the order and up-sell them. You can’t do this in an email.

In summary the habits of the majority are that emails are for short sharp communications. Websites are for more in-depth browsing, blogs are for the history of a company and twitter is the conversation point with a company. SO don’t get carried away with those newsletters, keep them short and to the point and keep your audience.

Curious to find out more? Drop me an email or join the Catalyst90 email newsletter

Tom Reidy
Catalyst90

Each and every one of my previous employers and now clients always ask what’s the best thing we can do to increase sales, and of course spending as little money as possible.

In simple there is no silver bullet for this, however you can use what you have got to better effect. Customer service is as close as you’ll get to a silver bullet for the best sales technique at the lowest cost.

Educate all your staff on the importance of customer service, after all that’s why they have a job, no customer no money, no money no job, I’m sure they’ll get that.

How… If a customer has an issue you respond, get an email back to them with a simple “we got it and we’re onto it” then a follow up with in 12-24 hours (refer quick to respond is quick to win).

Do what you say, if you tell a customer that you will do something for them then DO IT, ideally faster that what you said, under promise and over deliver (its an oldie but a goodie).

Go the extra distance, remember that your customers issue is the most likely to be one of the most important thing to them at that very moment so go the extra distance and help them out. Better still give them a call back in a couple of days to see how its all going.

Simple things like this help to make a client know your there for them. If you can create superior customer service and support this will spin out into more sales for your organisation as clients will start to refer and endorse your business both online though social media and offline though conversation.

So online or offline its all about customer service – get it right and you’ll win!

Here are a couple of my favorite companies that do it well.

Xero

Balsamiq

From experience, when engaging in the sales process the time frames that you respond to potential clients (such as providing information or sending through quotes) provides insight to how the company you are representing will respond to their needs once the business is won.

Providing a quick response will also ensure you’re in ahead of your competition, keeping you at the front of the client’s mind and providing you with more opportunity to contact them on the information. The more opportunity to talk – the better the relationship becomes between you and your potential client.

So quick to respond is quick to win!

This will also provide you with the ability of seeing opportunity of how your offering can be adapted and when it is not suitable.

However in saying that it is good to know what you are selling, you don’t have to know everything. As in this is the ability to bring in an expert, especially if it is on a technical sale.

Bringing in the expert will help to reassure your client that you’re not just the slick sales guy saying yes to everything.
So knowing it is really in two parts knowing your product but also knowing when its time to bring in the expert.

For more on the conversation of selling…

Why would you risk this? Why is it a risk? Here are a couple of possibilities:

One computer one place, what happens if its stolen, damaged, hard drive crashes or a herd of Elephants tramples it? You’re screwed (You will have a few more issues if Elephants are in your office, but you get the idea).

If the hard drive get corrupted or computer breaks for any reason, your information is lost and once again you’re screwed!

Data kept in different places by different staff causes inconsistent information, causing delays and possible budget overruns, and again you’re screwed!

Using Excel also limits the ability for you to integrate with other systems, easily keep and maintain client notes, share information and mine the information. I.E. its for numbers so lets keep it that way!

Hope your getting the idea now. Its really simple to fix these issues.

Use a CRM tool or in the very least a Google or Zoho spreadsheet as they store your data on the web in multiple server though out the world “on the cloud”.

Not only that they are free or low cost. So there is no reason not to use them!

Here are a few to help you on your way:

Javerlen CRM

Sugar CRM

CatalystQUE

Zoho

Google Apps

The best thing about all of these tools is you can really start to keep info on your clients and start to market and sell to them more efficiently, forecast your sales and help grow your business.

This is one of the simplest things I do for my clients through Catalyst90 that is an easy win and helps provide them with a view to the future.

Oddly enough it is one of the most common issues I come across when helping companies develop their sales process, systems and methodologies.

For more feel free to drop me a line.

Tom Reidy

Catalyst90

tom@catalyst90.com

I pose a question to you: Can you remember your last bad sales experience? You know the one were the sales person did an absolutely horrible job… pretty easy; I could list a dozen in the last week alone.

Now the next question… can you remember the last great sales experience you had? Yes the one that you were so surprised and delighted with the experience… much harder? Even I struggle and I’m on the constant lookout for them!

So how do you make it memorable? This comes back to some of the basics, listen, and look, understand and solve issues. Going above and beyond is more important now than it ever has been!

Businesses to business sales – Bring the coffee and muffins! A simple ice-breaker, conversation starter and this approach will make it memorable for your clients as you have gone out of your way to make them happy prior to them committing anything to you!

Regardless of the sales you’re in, consumer or business remembering that the underling function in sales is to serve, as sales is all about customer service. In serving it is always important to listen, but remember also that serving is also about enabling those you serve to do great things and achieve their goals.

Also to clarify being a servant in sales is not to be submissive, but to be assistive – assist your clients, working as part of the team for the over all goals. The customer is always right and should always be served in an appropriate manor. However with a customer always being right it is important that you assist in educating them in making decisions or finding alternative or better solutions.

For more tips – check out The Conversation of Selling.

A great sales experience for both parties is one that ends with both people being delighted by the outcome. No deal should be too good to walk away from.  This is key to keeping calm as the sale you are working on now won’t be the last, so keep calm and never push the sale to close.

I had the uncomfortable experience once of witnessing the undoing of my sales manager a few companies back. He was so keen to get the deal he lost his nerve, visibly displaying his desperation and frustration that the client “didn’t get it” and with too many closed questions he pushed the client  into a corner. So far to the point where the potential client snapped – slammed their hands on the desk and asked him to leave. Not the best approach for repeat business or building a solid reputation. (Note this technique has its place, excellent if you’re in dodgy car sales, don’t care for repeat business or you’re simply an arse.)  

So to keep calm, stay in control.  It’s important to keep in your mind that this is not the last sale and be ready to walk away if it’s not right for both you and the customer, even if its just prior to signature on a contract. Staying calm will also make it easier to think on your feet and spot opportunities in a conversation.

For more tips – check out The Conversation of Selling.

As with marketing, the look and presentation is everything – why not the same in sales?

Of course it’s the same in sales. The presentation of the team has to be consistent, clean and tidy.

So many times I have been into a variety of retail stores and restaurants where the presentation of the staff is less than desirable which was also reflected in the service that was provided.

Why? Think of how you feel when your looking your best – you feel great and your energy lifts.  This may sound shallow but it is well documented that self confidence and how people view their appearance go hand in hand.

Depending on the industry a uniform is fantastic, as long as it is well kept and presented. If there’s no official uniform then its great to dress in a style that complements your industry or business.  Dress to match your clients or the industry you are in, most importantly always remain clean and tidy.

Dressing to match your client and or industry is an important approach.  Over dress and a client can feel intimidated, under dress and the value of your service will drop. So match them as best you can.

For more tips – check out The Conversation of Selling.

In CatalystQUE, we’re trying to do things a little differently and we hope you’ll agree that its a better way of working with your contacts.

Here’s how contacts work in CatalystQUE:

1. Enter a business card
When you meet a prospect, enter the details from their business card into CatalystQUE. A company record will be created with the contact attached.

2. Get linked in
CatalystQUE will automatically display the contact’s LinkedIn public profile if they have one. This is a great way of getting a little more background information about your prospects.

3. Enter any other info you need
If you have other information you want to track, you can add any additional fields you need to the company and/or contact.

4. Work with contacts in bulk
Sometimes its easier to work with contacts in a spreadsheet, so CatalystQUE has a worksheet mode that allows you to work with all companies, or all contacts in an online spreadsheet. Add and edit companies and contacts and add columns to record additional information. Everything you enter in worksheet mode is automatically updated in CatalystQUE when you click the Save button.

5. Use the information
All information that you enter against a company or contact in CatalystQUE is available in quotes and will be able to be used in our upcoming pricing module to filter prices.

6. Sort, filter, group, pivot, export
Using spreadsheet mode, you can slice your contact database as you like and export it to common spreadsheet formats for use in other systems.

We think that these features will mean that you get more from your contacts in CatalystQUE by doing less.