A sales increase plan is a specific instruction to increase the number of transactions in your company. Such a plan is universal pattern, which suits all enterprises, regardless of the field of activity.
How to start creating a plan to increase sales? As a rule, the preliminary stage is a sales audit. When conducting an audit, you collect statistical data such as:
- total number of clients;
- sales volume for the period;
- average bill and number of purchases per customer;
- percentage of customer failures;
- ROI for each of the sales channels.
This is a necessary minimum of indicators on the basis of which you can build a preliminary solution to increase sales. Let's analyze its components.
What is a Sales Growth Plan?
A typical plan to increase sales may contain (and most often contains) the following elements:
- sales to new customers
- sales to existing customers
- resuscitation of "sleeping" clients
- decrease in customer churn
In this article, I will outline the structure of a true sales force growth plan.
Sales to new clients
New customers are the backbone of any business. Some of them become permanent and interact with your company for quite a long time.
Depending on the scope of your company, the sales cycle is determined. There are companies with long and short cycles. Specific sales tools also depend on the duration of transactions.
For companies with a short sales cycle, discounts, promotions, customer cards and special offers are suitable.
Companies with a long cycle are better off using a two-step sales technique. Let's take a look at these tools with a practical example.
Example 1 . An online store may well reduce the price of a hot item and thereby attract new customers.
What is two-step selling? This is the method used by B2B companies, as well as all enterprises with a long sales cycle. Its essence is as follows: first we get the client's contact information (or "close" it for a test drive / trial purchase), and then we sell the main product.
Alternatively, you can first give the client a trial period to test the product, and then start selling the main functionality. Many companies do this: from IT services to auto centers.
You can earn more money from new customers thanks to upsell, crossell and downsell technologies. I talked about them in more detail in small video available below.
In short, then:
- An upsell is an additional sale to a client of additional options. For example, offering insurance when buying an mp3 player.
- Cross-sell - the so-called cross-selling. Thanks to this tool, we raise the average check with an offer to buy a product from another category. The man wanted to buy a drive, and we sold him a flash drive that holds more data.
- Down-sell is the sale of a product that costs less than the original offer. The only condition is that you earn more money on a cheaper product. Instead of a wooden table, you sold a plastic table to a client, but you made more money from it, since its purchase price is lower.
After selecting sales tools for new customers, we move on to sales to existing ones.
Sales to existing customers
Attracting a new customer costs, on average, 7 times more than selling to an existing one. What tools can be used at this stage?
- "Closed" sales - you give a discount on some product, but only a part of existing customers can use it, but you can notify the entire base.
- Pre-order - knowing the needs of regular customers, you can collect an advance payment and place orders for the subsequent delivery of the product.
- Lotteries, contests and drawings - by holding such events for customers, you not only increase the credibility of your company, but you can also give a discount or a gift certificate for a purchase in your company as consolation prizes.
- Club cards - the algorithm of their action is similar to bonus cards. However, in the club format, in addition to discounts or bonuses, free services of your company and partners are provided.
Resuscitation of "sleeping" clients
Among your existing customers, there is almost always a part that suddenly stopped buying. Such clients are called sleepers. In the third part of the plan to increase sales, we will just solve this problem.
As a rule, it is difficult to immediately sell to such customers. Therefore, the tools you have chosen for their resuscitation should, first of all, encourage them to contact you.
- A call or an email - the purpose of such a touch will be to communicate with the client and identify the reasons why he stopped buying from you.
- Special offer - if the client has not left at all, then such an offer can return him to the list of active buyers.
- Exclusive - let's say you have a new product that is not yet available for mass sale. Try to offer it to "sleeping" clients and measure the result.
What should be in the plan to increase sales
First, specific deadlines for each stage. Let's say you can work with new clients throughout the entire implementation period, and 2 weeks are allotted for informing "sleeping" clients.
Secondly, you must have a team to put the plan into action. It can be both your employees and invited specialists (consultants, temporary staff, freelancers).
Thirdly, it is necessary to appoint a person responsible for the development and implementation of a plan to increase sales.
Conclusion
A sales growth plan is necessary for the systematic development of sales in your company.
Hello, dear readers of the Anatomy of Business project! Webmaster Alexander is with you. What is the monthly turnover of your company? It doesn't matter if it's 1 million or 30 thousand per month - in any case, you will be interested in increasing sales.
What are the ways to increase sales now?
There are two main ways to increase company profits:
- increase in the number of customers (lead generation);
- an increase in the average check, i.e. either an increase in the cost of services, or the development of a system of additional sales.
Let's now examine each of them in more detail.
How to increase the number of clients?
All currently existing ways to increase the number of customers can be divided into two large subcategories:
- increase in the number of customers due to manpower (increase in the number of managers);
- increase in the number of customers through the introduction of new marketing technologies and advertising.
As for the increase in the number of managers, everything is clear: the more managers we hire, the more they make cold calls and the more sales our company will have. Let's talk about methods from the second category.
What technologies to use to increase profits?
We use the following powerful tools for ourselves and our clients:
- landing page;
- SEO optimization.
Let's talk about each of them in more detail.
SMM - promotion of your product in social networks
SMM is an abbreviation for English. SocialMediaMarketing means promoting a product through social networks. At good combination social networks and selling sites can get good results. In the article, I told how my student managed to get orders for 200,000 rubles. in the first 10 days after the launch of her project.
Skillful project management based on social networks allows you to sell with a large average bill. In my experience, there are projects whose average bill is 100,000 rubles. At the same time, you need to clearly understand what kind of product you want to sell, and based on this, build your positioning in social networks.
If you are just starting to look at social networks, I recommend reading these two articles: and.
LandingPage - selling your product through one-page sites
Literally translated from English, this phrase means "landing page". This is what one-page sites are called. I have already talked about their potential in an article. In general, I can safely say that a competent launch of an advertising campaign in Yandex Direct works wonders and brings impressive profits. I will show it on a "live" example.
Take a company that manufactures built-in wardrobes. Her average check is 45,000 rubles, of which 22,500 rubles. - net profit. The conversion of incoming calls into orders is 50%.
Stages of promotion
1) We create a landing page with a conversion of calls into orders of at least 5%. 
Thus, for $250-400 we get about 100 clicks. 5 of them are converted into orders. With a conversion of 50%, we get 2.5 orders for $250–400. Considering that the profit from these orders will be 22,500 × 2.5 = 56,250 rubles, this direction can be considered very promising for business development.
The main problem at this stage is that it is almost impossible to create a landing page and set up Yandex-Direct on your own, and the cost of such services is quite high: an average of 100,000 rubles. for setting. You can, of course, find cheaper options, but you need to understand that professionals with smaller budgets simply do not work and you risk running into scammers. Nevertheless, this technology has one big "plus": the traffic from "Yandex-Direct" is quite stable, and by setting everything up once, you will get an uninterrupted flow of customers for several years!
SEO - increase sales through SEO optimization.
Many people believe that after they create a website and fill a couple of pages on it, they will have an endless stream of clients. This is far from true! In Internet entrepreneurship, a webmaster (website creator) and an SEO specialist (promotion specialist) are two completely different specialties. It often happens that the customer first goes not to the SEO specialist, but to the webmaster, which is fundamentally wrong! The fact is that the features of website promotion are largely different from the ideas of a webmaster about website building. And the work of a professional SEO specialist is much more expensive. For example, if the design and layout of the site together cost 100,000 rubles, then SEO optimization of the site may require from 200,000 to 1,000,000 rubles; it all depends on the complexity of the queries being promoted.
You can do SEO optimization yourself (how to do this is described in a series of articles) or turn to professionals.
Why do you need to do SEO-optimization of the resource?
The main reason is that competent website optimization allows you to generate the most stable traffic. If the site is well optimized, it will give customers more than one year. At the same time, large optimization costs are required only at the initial stage. As a rule, in the first year the resource is gaining popularity and in the future it is only required to maintain the project at the proper level.
Now imagine that 1000, 2000 or maybe even 3000 target customers visit your site. What turnover will your company get with a conversion of at least 3-4%? The answer to this question just explains why companies put such serious funds into the development of their sites. Perhaps you will start thinking about attracting new customers through the site.
If you have any questions, you can ask me in the section or send me a message "In contact with".
With a high degree of probability, it can be argued that by introducing these three components into your business, you will significantly increase the profits of your company.
As a nice addition, I have prepared for you the 10 most effective psychological tricks which can be successfully used in online marketing and sales. I want to immediately draw your attention to the fact that using these chips I managed to increase the sales of one of my clients several times. Namely, from zero to 53,000 baht per day. (The work was carried out in Taylada). See this video for more details:
How to increase sales: 10 psychological secrets
1. Overcoming "barrier to entry"
Very often people feel some doubts, they do not know exactly whether this product or service will suit them, whether it is necessary to pay money for it. And if it doesn't fit, what should you do? There are many doubts and even more questions that fuel these doubts.
Therefore, a lot of companies offer their customers to use a product or service for free, but only for a limited period. If we talk about the IT sphere, then there are various demo and light versions that have reduced functionality, but can show what the program is capable of.
By giving a person the opportunity to use a product or service for free, you thereby dispel his doubts and increase the chances of a purchase. full version. As a rule, using the program for a month, a person understands that without it it will not be so convenient, not so comfortable, so he decides to buy.
The presentation of your proposal also plays a huge role here. Create a tasty phrase, a lure that will be hard to refuse. Something like this: “The first 30 days of using the program is absolutely free. Feel all the privileges of our service and, in the future, you will ask yourself why you didn’t use it before.” Of course, this is a quick copy and you should create something more catchy, something that will make a potential buyer take advantage of your free offer.
2. Strength beliefs
Scientists regularly conduct various studies that are based on the influence of belief on the behavior and decision of people. Not so long ago, an experiment was conducted during which people were told that according to all tests and studies, they belong to the number of "politically active voters." And, strange as it may seem, more than 20% of those who received such an installation increased their activity during the elections.
I would like to note that the volunteers for the study were selected completely randomly, but their decisions and actions were influenced by this installation, the fact that they are part of the "active voters" group.
This psychological factor can be used in sales as well. You need to convince your customers that they are unique, that the product you offer is intended exclusively for a limited number of consumers, and it was “he”, your buyer, who got into this number of lucky ones.
3. Understand the types of buyers
Neuroeconomists distinguish three main types of buyers:
— economical;
- Spenders;
- Moderate spenders.
With spenders and moderate spenders, everything is clear, they already like to buy, not always paying attention to the need for this product and its price. But in order to force the “thrifty” to fork out, and there are a little more than a quarter of all buyers, there are several methods of influence.
Price change. In fact, the price remains the same, but it is broken down into parts that are already easier to perceive. This is how supermarkets act now in Ukraine household appliances. If a plasma TV costs 12,000 hryvnias (48,000 rubles), then they offer to split the payment into 24 equal parts and pay a small amount every month. The truth is more attractive than laying out a lot of money at once. This method works and is very effective.
All at once. Here you need to offer the client to pay a little more, but get maximum comfort and service package. This is what tour operators do when they offer All Inclusive tours. A person feels that this type of vacation will be more comfortable, safe and convenient, therefore, he may overpay for the services provided.
And the third method is very often used by paid online cinemas abroad. You can choose to pay per movie, or you can sign up for a monthly subscription to save money. As a rule, people make out for a month and it’s not a fact that this subscription pays off.
Of course, there are many more methods, but the essence of all is the same - to influence the perception of the price.
4. Become stronger, called upon its flaws
Often large companies they are afraid to admit their problems and shortcomings, which causes a storm of negativity and a flurry of emotions from users. Well, there is another side of the coin. Companies do not notice their shortcomings until the “thunder strikes”, and when it strikes, it may be too late.
Therefore, learn not just to recognize the shortcomings, but to use them for your own commercial purposes. you on email Have you ever received responses to comments about the work of a particular service? If yes, then be sure that such a company works in the right way, cares not only about its services and customers, but also about its reputation.
Also a very interesting move was chosen by a large printing company in Ukraine. On home page their website says that they are the number 2 company in Ukraine, and this fact haunts them. Therefore, they work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, have the lowest prices and optimal quality. And all in order for buyers to appreciate them and be able to name the best company in the country.
5. Tell me how act further
The scientist has repeatedly focused on the fact that a person perceives even the most relevant information worse if it is not followed by a clear instruction for action. This effect is seen very clearly in sales. If you do not tell the client why he needs this or that product, then he is unlikely to buy it.
And if, when choosing a blender, you show what wonderful cocktails it can make, that you will pamper yourself and your family with fresh smoothies and delicious creamy soups every day, then the desire to buy this blender will increase significantly.
6. Nobody doesn't like to wait
Very an important factor with online purchases are the delivery times of the goods. Therefore, you must clearly outline when and what time the buyer will be able to receive the product he has chosen. This is very important on the eve of big holidays, when a delay of at least one day means that you will not receive money for the goods.
The largest online store of household appliances in Ukraine, when ordering goods, always calls the buyer back, specifies the day of delivery, address and even time. The courier arrives within an hour of the appointed time. Clarity and responsibility - this is what can distinguish you from many competitors.
7. Find a competitor
Try to create a competitor for yourself, even if it is virtual. Your offers, against the background of the opponent, should look more attractive and impressive. This will allow the buyer to understand that you care about pricing policy, always try to make more profitable and relevant offers, always go one step ahead.
In the world of big brands, there are plenty of such confrontations - Apple and Samsung, who are fighting in the smartphone market. And what is the well-known couple of Pepsi and Coca Cola worth to everyone. You can watch their "battles" forever. These posters, videos, billboards with each other's jokes attract the attention of millions of buyers around the world. Surprisingly, both win in such a war, because attention is riveted to both brands.
8. Engage like-minded people
Very often, companies use this psychological move. They claim that when buying a product, part of the money will go to charity. According to surveys conducted in the United States, more than 60% of buyers were inspired to make a purchase in this store precisely by the fact that the proceeds from sales will go to those in need.
Such charity events are often held by McDonald's, but the most striking and spectacular was the action from TOMS Shoes. The meaning of the action was that when buying any pair of shoes, the other pair will go to the children. As a result, the company has sold millions of pairs of shoes around the world, and another million went to the kids.
Such promotions are also highlighted in the media, which will be an additional good advertisement for your business.
9. Proof
Your site must have reviews about a particular product. Studies show that the buyer is more willing to make a choice when he sees hard facts. If 500 people have bought this product, left a bunch of comments and put good ratings, then the probability of buying will be much higher than that of a cheaper product with the same characteristics, but without reviews.
Motivate users to leave their reviews, and after some time this will significantly increase sales and improve conversion.
10. Surprise their clients
Don't be a standard and template business. Try to constantly surprise and delight your customers. A prime example are household appliances stores that add a small bonus to a standard order in the form of some small equipment: speakers, headphones, a mouse for a computer, etc. The user does not expect this, and such a gift will be very pleasant. Believe me, he will tell dozens of friends about it, leave a flattering comment, and will also order from you more than once.
1. Introduce bonuses for the number of meetings for managers above the average.
2. Strengthen the visualization of sales results with the help of chips, buttons, squares, pictures
3. Introduce negotiations for managers once a month.
4. Launch a test drive of your product, service, service, etc. For a few days, a week, a month.
5. Place stickers on your products with information about the special offer.
6. Buy an expensive coffee maker for clients.
7. Post a director's video greeting on the main page of the site.
8. Send memorable postcards to clients.
9. Implement an interactive map in the contacts section.
11. Correspond with clients via WhatsApp.
12. Place a cheerful corporate newspaper in the public domain.
13. Make a beautiful PDF design proposal and use it in business correspondence.
15. Create an original greeting that the client hears during the call.
16. Introduce letter templates for managers for all occasions.
17. Implement cloud CRM.
18. Create a script for successful negotiations and monitor its implementation.
19. Launch 2-3 new marketing campaigns every month.
20. Hire a sales assistant and shift to him the maximum paper work from managers.
21. Monthly bonuses to an employee for best idea to increase sales.
22. Appoint one of the employees as the head of information about competitors.
23. Launch remote sales without opening an office in all key regions.
24. Take another employee on cold calls.
25. Compare your site to 10 competitors in your industry - maybe it's time to refine it.
26. Make a selling price list.
27. Work out with managers 3 options for presenting your company: in 1 minute, in 10 minutes and in 30 minutes.
28. Convene a strategic sales session with consultants and all executives.
29. Work out a system of guarantees and returns without any conditions for customers.
30. Analyze the sources of information about potential customers.
31. Teach managers to quickly determine what is most important for a client - price, quality, speed of solving a problem, completeness of a solution, reliability.
32. Delegate more authority to managers to provide discounts and bonuses.
33. Find several assortment positions for which it is painless to raise prices.
34. Work on the company's social media presence.
35. Move to an open-space office.
36. Add 3-4 lead generation channels.
37. Order a professional photo session for all employees and place it in the reception area.
Such store formats are popular not only due to the pricing policy, but also due to the possibility of complex purchases.
Goods presented in hypermarkets - food, household chemicals and cosmetics, dishes, children's goods, clothes and shoes, products for recreation and sports.
The organization of the work of a hypermarket is associated with high costs due to the need to support a wide range of goods, warehouse stock, staff salaries and utilities. Therefore, in order to increase the number of customers and the size of the average check, hypermarkets organize various events promotion and sales promotion.
What marketing moves does the hypermarket use to attract customers?
The marketing promotion strategy depends on the type of hypermarket (a network of trading enterprises or local placement of one store), pricing and assortment policy.
- ATL-advertising (television, radio, press, outdoor advertising);
- BTL advertising (sales promotion, promotions, POS materials, trade marketing, direct marketing, exhibitions and fairs, development of loyalty programs, event marketing, database management, etc.).
ATL advertising
To improve the image of the hypermarket and increase sales, it will be effective to use the following communication channels:
- commercials on the regional television channel and radio stations;
- placement of advertising messages in regional print media mass media;
- advertising on billboards installed within a radius of up to 1 km from the store;
- advertising on transport, the route of which lies in the hypermarket area;
- advertising at public transport stops near a trading enterprise.
BTL advertising
If stores use ATL advertising tools to attract potential buyers to retail outlets, then BTL advertising helps them complete the purchase, makes it possible to highlight one or another group of goods, and "detune" from competitors with unique offers. BTL advertising involves communication with a narrower segment of the target audience, with the personification of an advertising message, individual work with each target group. Such methods allow hypermarkets to be closer to their consumer, since the self-service system, which is most often organized in large stores, is "soulless" and does not allow customers to get high level service and attention of sellers.
Sales promotion and promotions
Sales promotion activities can be organized as short-term incentives to make a purchase, or as long-term programs focused on repeat purchases of goods. With the help of incentives, you can increase the volume of sales, the frequency of purchases and the average check.
The main tools that are used to stimulate sales in hypermarkets:
- Discount programs. Using cards with a cumulative discount increases the possibility of repeat purchases. The amount of the discount received using a discount card can be written on the check so that the buyer knows how much he saves.
- Price reduction for a product/group of products. This method is optimal for achieving a short-term effect, when promoting a new product or a sale. It is best to indicate the old price and the amount of the discount (in monetary or percentage terms) so that the consumer can appreciate the difference. In addition to discounts, you can offer price reductions when purchasing a package of goods or a set of related products. It is effective to provide an additional quantity of goods for free at the old price.
- Price cuts in certain time(for example, for home-made products - pastries, salads, semi-finished products - "from 19.00 to ...").
- Special prices for a certain category of consumers (students, pensioners, disabled people).
- The use of "psychological" prices. A product that costs 200 rubles, when the price drops to 199.99, is already perceived as more economical.
- "Product of the day/week". A very low price is set for a product (group of products) to attract customers to the store, who will undoubtedly buy more whole list the products they need.
- The offer of a unique product (among competitors in the area). It can be fresh pastries, branded salads, freshly squeezed juices, "live" beer, etc.
- Aromarketing.
When conducting promotions, the following methods are used:
- Free gifts, distribution of samples and samplers, tastings. Promotional tools such as tastings or samplers are effective in bringing new food, cosmetics and perfumes to market. You can give gifts during a variety of promotional events - when buying a certain amount of goods, on holidays, "every hundredth buyer", etc.
- Games, lotteries and contests. Both children and adults willingly join the game activities encouraged by prizes.
In order for sales promotion and promotion activities to be effective, it is necessary to inform potential buyers about them in advance using ATL advertising tools (television, radio, print, outdoor advertising), as well as through the distribution of flyers that can be posted on mailboxes, hand out at public transport stops. When designing promotional layouts that communicate price cuts, it is important to include the old price so that potential buyers can evaluate the benefits of making a purchase.
To increase sales, various psychological techniques are also used:
- competent display of goods;
- the use of large carts (the buyer subconsciously tries to fill the empty space in the basket, respectively, purchases more goods);
- placing pallets with products directly in the way of buyers;
- placement of staples away from the entrance to the store.
Direct marketing
With this type of marketing, direct communications between the store and the end consumer are established. E-mails or postal letters are used. Information about the contact details of buyers can be obtained when filling out questionnaires (for obtaining discount cards, when participating in lotteries and contests). Effectively send letters of congratulations on birthdays, with national holidays, to inform about large-scale promotional events.
Development of loyalty programs
The formation of customer loyalty is the key to increasing sales and forming a circle of regular customers in the long term. The main methods of loyalty formation are:
- Quality control of the presented goods (in any price segment). The results of numerous studies show that a customer dissatisfied with the quality does not return to the store, and at the same time he will tell his friends and relatives about his negative experience, therefore, the quality control of all goods should take place at the level of choosing suppliers for a trading enterprise.
- Staff work. In self-service stores, the speed of cashiers, their courtesy and competence are very important. The presence of consultants on the trading floor will help buyers to understand a wide range and easily find the product they need.
- Advertising communications (image articles in the press, competent dissemination of rumors, etc.).
- Additional services. TO additional services include, for example, assistance in packing goods (especially important on holidays, when queues gather near the cash desks), as well as the placement of terminals for replenishment mobile phones, ATMs. In the premises of the hypermarket, it is also possible to organize a "children's zone" with animators so that parents can leave their children while they are shopping; cafe or fast food restaurant; you can place film rentals, small souvenir sales or gift wrapping. Ordering groceries over the Internet has become a current trend, so you can organize a home delivery service in the store.
- Extended work schedule (optimally - around the clock). Shopping in a grocery store on weekdays is most active in the evening.
Event marketing
To attract new customers to hypermarkets, it is effective to conduct various situational marketing activities- holidays, competitions, fairs, flash mobs. It is necessary to inform the target audience about the planned events in advance through the media.
POS materials
- draw attention to a certain group of goods;
- form the opinion of buyers about the goods and the hypermarket itself.
Placed near stores or in shop windows, advertising materials attract additional visitors.
Types of POS materials that can be used for hypermarkets:
- Dynamic objects (with elements of movement, flashing, etc.). They can be located in front of the entrance to the store, on showcases, on the trading floor.
- Refrigerators and showcases branded in corporate identity the products they contain.
- Advertising racks / displays (work well in the checkout area, for making impulse unplanned purchases).
- Wobblers, shelftalkers - pointers that are attached to the rack and highlight a certain group of goods, are used for vertical layouts.
- Mobiles are figured non-standard designs that are attached to the ceiling above the advertised product.
- Posters and posters. With the help of print advertising, you can advertise a specific product, or announce planned promotional activities.
- Flags and garlands. Effectively highlight the place of display or department, can be used during sales, seasonal promotions.
- Polyethylene bags with the application of the logo and contacts of the store.
Audio and video advertising on the trading floor
- advertising audio clips;
- public address announcements;
- the use of LED plasma screens to promote goods and services.
Assortment management
All goods presented by a trading enterprise can be characterized by the following indicators: breadth of assortment (number of product groups), depth of assortment (number of goods in a group), balance (the optimal combination of different product groups, taking into account the store format, pricing policy and the needs of the target audience).
The formation of an assortment for hypermarkets involves the provision a large number commodity items (tens of thousands). Assortment management is one of the most important tools for increasing sales and optimizing warehousing and storage costs. When forming a product range, it is necessary to analyze competitors and the needs of your target group in order to differentiate your product offer. Traditionally, the range of supermarkets is divided into three price segments - economy (50%), business (40%), premium (10%).
Imagine company N., which is engaged in the wholesale supply of X components for Y enterprises. This company has been on the market for several years, there is a base of regular customers, profits, things are slowly going uphill ... Well, everything, in general, is more or less normal.
Now imagine the sales department of this company. A large bright room, tables, computers, telephones, printers ... Managers, of course, in business, already greasy suits, sit - spit at the ceiling, poison jokes ... Between passing a new level in a "standard" office toy, they process incoming requests from partners. Once a former sales department, it has turned from an actively pushing the market machine into a perverted semblance of customer service. Yes, of course, they have new customers, but from where???! In this regard, the company's reputation and marketing policy help out, that is, our, so to speak, "merchants" work on the incoming stream and "do not blow your mustache." Moreover, they receive quite good money for all this.
What led the department to such a “collapse” decrease in the efficiency of its functions?
And what can be done to optimize its performance?
The reason is simple. Managers in the process of “stuffing” the client base constantly increased the number of processed incoming requests. Accordingly, the time for searching became less and less. And one day the number of clients reached the maximum that the manager can handle. He works with them for a day, another, a month, six months and then BAM!!! “Wow: I’m just sitting in the office, and the work is going on, the salary is growing ...”. What happens next - but nothing: the merchant, step by step, begins to degrade ... He becomes lazy: making a couple of calls - now it's a whole problem for him, but holding a meeting - WHAT, WHAT MEETING: “the soldier is sleeping - the service is on” !! ! Such managers are dangerous because the BDI indicator (imitation violent activity) they have very high, this is already working on professional level. As soon as the boss enters the hall, everyone immediately grabs their phones, starts counting something, writing, and even asking the head of the council: “Ivan Ivanovich, I just spoke with a client here, he asks for a two-week delay, to give or not? »
Heads of departments, intoxicated by the joy of reports arriving on time, do not even realize that every day they do not receive a huge amount of money, that competitors have long been ahead and are dividing the market in their own way.
What is the best way to deal with such a situation?
You will no longer be able to make them work as before, never and under no circumstances - this is 100%, if you want 1000%. Therefore, do not even waste your strength and nerves. Because they will sabotage in such a way, albeit “technically”, that it will not seem enough!
And be aware! They already have such friendly relations with clients that, if desired, they will take their entire accumulated base to competitors.
However (But fortunately), everything is not as bad as it seems at first glance! And the decision will not be long in coming!
With such a balance of power, it is necessary to build a new commercial service in parallel, while the old one will gradually develop into a customer service department - customer service.
You have a new organizational structure of the sales department, which clearly separates new customers from those who make systematic purchases. Some sell, others serve, the most logical sales model!
It is important to consider that the staff for customer service requires less qualified. Minimum program: knowledge of the product, market specifics, plus a computer. And this means that wages in this department will be much lower, so soon, your obese "comers" will be replaced by young girls with a pleasant appearance.
2. Adjust the motivation system of your salespeople.
A well-built motivation system is a very serious tool for increasing the efficiency of the sales department, and it doesn’t matter what kind of sales we are talking about b2b or b2c.
In one of the companies, there was such a case. Managers of the commercial department, in addition to bonuses from the first sale, received a small percentage of current payments, i.е. from those clients whom they brought a long time ago and now they are served by the client department. So, after a couple of years, this small percentage was enough to not receive a salary. About the fact that employees get money so easily, the manager found out by accident. Once he heard a conversation between an “experienced” businessman and a newcomer in a smoking room, who said: “You will work for two years, and then you will live on interest, from the current ones. The main thing is to be quiet: do not be late, submit reports on time, smile, there are “incoming” ones, we will share ... ".
Imagine how much money was wasted, horror.
If the "dogs" are full, what a hunt! (May sellers forgive me for such a comparison).
The motivation system is a powerful managerial lever! The main thing is to use it wisely.
Revising ratios and percentages is just as important as changing sales plans. Many companies work "the old fashioned way": the standard scheme is salary +%. But that doesn't work anymore, forget it!
If you want to keep sellers in good shape, if you want high intensity in their work, then take into account other indicators when calculating the salary: the number of calls (cold, repeated), the number of meetings, the number of contracts, conversions, average bill, average time “from a call to a contract”, fulfillment of instructions within the framework of the project (to improve the quality of service, to study consumer demand etc.).
Of course, the main principle of any motivation system is its transparency and ease of perception. But fortunately, today's opportunities allow us to make this calculation automatic and take into account dozens of employee performance indicators. For example, the easiest way is an Excel spreadsheet. The manager, filling out a daily report, can immediately see his results in the context of one day or week, how much he has completed, from the sales plan, what needs to be tightened up, where the norms have already been exceeded.
Check the relevance of your motivation system!
3. Set sales plans
Maybe someone will consider this method absurd, but believe me, there are many commercial organizations where there is no sales planning, and if there is, then only formally.
No sales plan = bankruptcy plan.
The planning process is nothing more than creating a virtual model of what is to happen. If you do not have a sales plan, then it will be very difficult for you to evaluate the effectiveness of work and measure the result, and without measurement, there is no management, in principle.
Let's take a look at the main stages of drawing up a sales plan:
1) Planning starts with an annual sales plan. Yes, exactly from the annual!
Without complicating things, you take indicators for last year(100 million rubles), add to them the percentage of growth in the industry (10% = 110 million rubles) and add the percentage of growth that you would like to receive (10% = 121 million rubles).
2) Next, you break down the plan into sales channels, according to your specifics, example:
- Current dealers (40% = 48 million rubles)
- Newly attracted dealers (20% = 24 million rubles)
- Tenders and public procurement (10% = 12 million rubles)
- One-time corporate orders (10 = 12 million rubles)
- Own distribution network (20% = 24 million rubles)
- Etc. (1 million rubles)
3) The next step: we break down these amounts by sales departments and for each manager personally. Current dealers - for customer service, new ones - for the commercial department, then - the department of corporate orders, directors of chain stores, etc.
4) Then you divide these figures into quarters and months, taking into account seasonality, the experience of the previous year, the range of goods, and so on.
Using this not tricky method, you can set sales plans for all departments for the whole year.
It is important to note one trick!
Ideally, a sales plan is drawn up, as it were, from two sides: from your employees, and directly from you. When they are agreed, something in between is born, and the manager perceives these figures as a document developed by himself, and therefore thinks more about how to implement it, and not how to explain why it cannot be performed.
Everyone has their own idea of the future and everyone will think that his plan is "more correct". You, as a leader, will say that the market allows you to grow and you should use it! And managers, in turn, will fight back saying that their life is hard, the market is not rubber, there are a lot of competitors, and that Russia is not Europe.
Get ready for it!
4. Provide "total" knowledge of the product.
In fact, not all sales managers know the product they are selling well, no matter how strange it may sound. Every day, at meetings, a huge number of transactions are disrupted due to the incompetence of managers in matters of the specifics of the product. This is especially true for technological products. I think: for many, the situation is familiar when, during negotiations, a client asks a question that you did not expect to hear: “Please tell me the exact data on the heat transfer resistance coefficient of your concrete, since we will use it in the northern regions, for us it is extremely important… ". At this moment, your eye twitches and your leg cramps - what did he say? YOU take out the phone, with the words: “Now I will clarify”, - call the elder, and, not knowing how to formulate the question, hand over the phone to the client ...
Any buyer wants to work with professionals! Such a desire is justified at the level of human psychology - they trust professionals, and if there is trust, then there is a purchase.
First of all, the client should see the seller as an expert, an expert in his field, capable of solving any problem and knowing the answers to all possible questions.
Ignorance, or superficial possession of information about the product, puts the manager in a stupid position. The client forms an opinion about the company by communicating with specific person, You will never be able to explain to the client that “it was a beginner, forgive him, now we will send a pro, wait”. No one will wait for you! But you can definitely eliminate such situations in a simple way:
Firstly, collect all possible customer questions related to product characteristics;
Secondly, of course, write down the answers;
Third, conduct an attestation for knowledge of the product (those who did not pass are not allowed to negotiate);
Fourth, supplement the list with new issues that managers face during negotiations;
And finally, fifthly, in case of the slightest change in any characteristics or properties of the product, when adding a new product to the line - add new questions.
Thus, you will constantly form an updated "knowledge base" on the technical characteristics and properties of the product.
Conduct training in the form of "question-answer" - this is the simplest and most effective model for memorizing such material.
Naturally, it is impossible to foresee everything. Therefore, to reduce the risk of disruption of transactions, arm managers with tables, lists, photographs, any materials that will allow the manager to get out of business. awkward situation when selling your product.
Example:
Selling nails. Have your manager carry these nails to the meeting, one of each. I don’t know the table with the characteristics of the metal from which they are made: torsional stress, bending, tension, what else is there. And in the car, let him have a hammer, a board, and all the same notorious nails, but only Chinese competitors. He does not believe that you have the best nails, let him try (pull it out of his hand).
But what to do if, nevertheless, a situation arises when you do not know what to answer ?!
Firstly, Don't worry! Until you start to worry, you retain the status of an expert.
Secondly, clarify the question by repeating what the opponent said (writing down). So you show that you are listening carefully and gently indicate that you are not ready for such a question.
Third, say that you haven’t been asked such a question for a long time, always with a smile, and looking straight into his eyes until he turns his eyes away. (“Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I was asked about this…”)
Fourth, turn your ignorance 180 degrees in your favor: appeal to the client's competence in this matter. Somehow: "... you rarely meet a true professional in our industry ...".
Fifth, ask permission to clarify the information. It is better to do it in this form: "... let me check this data with the brand manager, perhaps something has changed, it will take no more than a minute ...".
These recommendations will be enough for the "gaps" in the knowledge of the product to gradually disappear, and the emerging ones could not negatively affect the outcome of the meeting.
5. Form a "sales book" of the department.
What is a "book of sales"?
In any business, there is a difficulty in adapting newcomers to a new place. Now I'm not talking about the "acclimatization" of a beginner in a new team, but about his training in your technologies and principles of work. Of course have job descriptions, standards, regulations that fall on the head of an intern employee: “Study!!! I'll check it out!!!"
What do you think, is there such a knowledge base that will allow you to build a new link into the sales process in a few days (3-4 days)? Which will allow, within a few days, to test a beginner. Do you have time for probationary periods"? Can you wait until a newcomer "has completed an internship" after which there is a chance to hear: "Nah, this job is not for me"?
So here it is! Such a “litmus test” is the “sales book”.
Nothing stands still - everything evolves! Our business is developing, our customers are developing, the offered goods are being modernized, the approaches to work are changing. What was yesterday a unique selling proposition is today considered the norm in the industry. How to manage to adjust all these standards and regulations, how to respond to external changes with lightning speed?
Keep your business in shape you will allow the "sales book"!
Every day, our managers, performing their professional duty, gain invaluable experience: find new solutions for effective sales, initiate changes in the sales system, open up new opportunities for concluding deals ... Where to accumulate this knowledge and findings? That's right - in the "book of sales."
The main advantage of the "sales book" is that you get a tool for organizing a self-developing sales department.
About principles:
There is no form or strict plan to create this document. This is its essence. Main principle- the document is "live". It is constantly changing, supplemented, both directly by the head and employees of the sales department. This form of exchange of experience has a positive effect on the formation team spirit in company. All experience and knowledge is stored in one place: all techniques, all answers to questions, the best objection handling and effective speech modules - everything “that is acquired by overwork”.
About structure:
The Book of Sales is based on two sections:
1. Organization of the sales process
2. Principles and techniques of sales
In the first part, you indicate all the schemes of interaction with the client: who is the client for you, what does he look like, how to work with him, the client's path, what documents to fill out, where to place them, pricing principles, USP, customer loyalty incentive programs, etc. . In general, everything related to the sales process is contained in the first block.
The second block is devoted to the principles and technologies of sales used in your company. For example, cold calls. It describes in detail what they are and how to do them.
Example:
Section 3.14. "cold calls"
Description: "cold calls" - a tool to attract new customers to our company. "Cold" because the potential client is not waiting for our call, and did not consider the possibility of cooperation with us. Blah blah blah…
Scheme:
1. Greeting - presentation
Script: Hello, my name is….
2. Explain the purpose of the call
Script: With whom can I discuss...
3. …
4. …
In short, yes.
The main thing is that you describe in detail all the algorithms and specific scripts, preferably with an explanation: why we say it this way, what technique we use. To pass the awareness of the seller of what he is doing.
Writing a "sales book" is very creative process. I have come across "sales books" that contain both the organizational structure of the department, and the description of business processes, and standard forms of reports. Such a construction of a “sales book” is, in fact, very convenient. I'm sure that, after some time, commercial organizations completely abandon the standards, regulations, instructions and other bureaucratic "pornography". Personally, in my business, I have already abolished many documents. The simpler, the better and more effective. After all, it's no secret to anyone that "everything ingenious is simple"! Is not it!?
6. Provide customer feedback.
How do you know what YOU are doing wrong? How to improve the work of the company so as to satisfy not only your needs, but also take into account the wishes of customers? How do I know: what makes my company better than others?
Ask your clients about this.
Many clients, in addition to cooperation with your company, have one or more suppliers, that is, they work with your competitors.
Clients, like no one else, know the state of affairs in the market. Who and what offers, in what terms and how they deliver, what will be new and when, and a lot of other information is circulating in the client environment.
“Feedback” is not only a way to find out how competitors behave, what they are doing and what they plan, but also a way to get ahead of them, that is, to use the information received when developing a USP.
Naturally, you should not ask: “Well, what are our competitors doing there? ". The “feedback” questionnaire should contain a question of the following nature: “What changes in the work of our company will allow us to count on an increase in the volume of purchases from your side? ", -something like this. It is possible in other words, but keeping the meaning - why do you work not only with us?
"Feedback" will help to learn about the affairs within the company: about minor problems that are not so significant, but create certain inconveniences in work.
For example:
If your warehouse opens an hour earlier, it will be convenient for 5 of your customers. Agree: it is worth paying extra for a storekeeper for an hour of work, if this is important for so many clients.
So, make a questionnaire for "feedback". Build questions in such a way that the answer is detailed (open questions). Use assessment questions. The number of questions is not critical and depends on the number of customer contact points with your company.
Example:
1. What should be changed in the work of our company?
2. What additional products or services would you like to purchase from us?
3. Rate vocational training customer service on a 5-point scale.
4. Rate our work.
5. ….
If, when answering a question with an assessment, the client says: “Yes, everything is fine - a solid 4”, - specify: why not five.
Also an important point in the organization of "feedback" is a systematic approach. That is, it is not enough to call the client once a year, with the question: “How are you?”.
The effect of this tool will be noticeable only in two cases:
1. You will audit customer loyalty on an ongoing basis.
2. Based on the information received, decisions will be made and specific actions will be taken.
Designate a person responsible for feedback”, set aside a day for collecting information and compiling a report. Do not call too often, one call per month is enough. Conduct a flash survey (for example, questions related to employee suitability and work experience), and once a quarter do a detailed survey with suggestions and recommendations. Also take into account the seasonality of your business, if you sell diesel fuel for combines to farms, then in January, call with the question: “What will increase the volume of purchases? ' is a bit silly.
Implement "feedback" and use the information for its intended purpose.
7. Attract customers with cold calls
In b2b sales there is such a thing as "cold calls". This is nothing more than the main tool for active sales to attract customers. Many companies neglect this method of increasing profits, and for good reason. The skepticism is easily explained:
firstly, someone tried to implement cold calling in their sales model, and did not receive desired effect, abandoned them forever;
secondly, the marketing policy of some companies allows them to attract a certain number of customers exclusively through advertising, and in principle this is enough for them. But most likely, I would like more!
In the first case, everything is clear: not knowing how to fly an aircraft, you should not sit at the helm. Illiterate "cold calls" can do more harm to the company than give any positive result.
In the second case, the situation is more complicated: things seem to be going well, the number of customers is growing, what else is needed for business development, but ... Imagine: the managers of the nearest competitor make 100 cold calls per day ... And what do you think: in whose favor will the market share be in another year?
So, in order to attract customers with the help of cold calls, you need to start making them! You ask how? In eight steps:
1. Divide the region in which you work into sectors: if you work for the whole of Russia - divide Russia, if you work for the whole world - cut the globe.
2. For each sector, assign a responsible manager (he may have several more managers subordinate to him, then they divide their sector into several more).
3. Each manager needs to collect all the contacts of potential clients in his sector, and all the necessary information about them.
4. Gather all contacts of your competitors in this sector and information on them.
5. Make a SWOT analysis of the market based on the information received, and develop a commercial offer for each sector.
6. Write a cold call script.
7. Assign a plan for the number of "cold calls" per month and per day.
8. Implement a daily report (Excel format is fine) on the results of calls.
In principle, this will be enough for your "cold calls" to work and begin to give positive results.
It should be noted that a systematic approach is essential when using this tool. The first calls will not be as successful as we would like, but everything comes with experience.
8. Structure the negotiation process.
Your manager returned from negotiations, and to the question: “Well, who are they working with now? ”, - replies guiltily: “I don’t know, I forgot to clarify.” How, in this case, you can build a profitable commercial offer - yes, no way. And calling back with a question: “I forgot to ask here ...” is at least stupid.
In general, “I forgot to ask”, “I forgot to clarify” is a widespread phenomenon among active sales managers. This is due not only to the qualifications of employees, and the lack of proper experience, but also to the notorious "human factor". Serious workload, irregular schedule, high intensity, sales plan - all this affects the quality of negotiations. Especially if the meeting with the client falls in the evening, when the head is no longer “cooking” and you really want to go home, turn off the phone and go to bed.
I will tell you about the easiest way to increase the effectiveness of negotiations!
In order for negotiations to be easier, faster, and more effective, use a simple but extremely effective tool -
"questionnaire". What it is?
This is an A4 sheet with a list of questions to ask at the meeting.
How to compose it?
To begin with, it is necessary to write out, in the form of questions, the strategically important information that is necessary for compiling an effective commercial proposal:
What suppliers are you currently working with?
- what items does it buy, and in what volumes?
- priority dates?
In general, all information that, one way or another, will influence the formation of the proposal, should be indicated in the "questionnaire":
1. Then these questions must be arranged in the order “from simple to complex”. That is, it is not worth asking at the beginning of negotiations what level of capitalization of their investments when signing the contract, the client expects.
2. Start with simple questions, and better, in general, abstract, not related to the topic of negotiations. Complex questions that require argumentation should be placed in the middle, and towards the end of the list. End negotiations also with simple questions that require a positive answer.
3. Make space between questions to record the client's responses.
4. Try to make sure that your "questionnaire" has at least 10 questions. If their number is less, then there is a risk of missing important details, and besides, such a document will not look serious. The fact is that it is necessary to use this tool openly. That is, during negotiations, you put a "questionnaire" on the table in a beautiful, branded folder, and, without hesitation, use it for its intended purpose, while writing down the client's answers.
This tool will allow your managers to structure the negotiation process. Meetings will be held in the "channel" they set. Why they will easily control the course of negotiations, and their duration. Such a "questionnaire" shows the client that your employee is not an ordinary manager, but a well-trained professional, and he is here to solve the client's questions. The document lying on the table disciplines the opponent. The seller, on the other hand, feels confident at any “cost” of negotiations.
9. Check what your sellers are doing.
Look closely at your sales team. Are all managers now at their workplaces. Probably not. Someone is at a meeting, someone is on a business trip, someone is at lunch, and someone left on behalf of the accounting department ... or went to the stationery store for paper ... but you never know how many other things in the office that can be lost on an hour or even an hour and a half.
It is possible that some types of work indirectly affect the results of sellers: preparing a contract, mailing correspondence, preliminary calculations, booking a hotel or tickets. But if all this takes at least 20% of the seller's time from the main work, then you will lose at least the same amount in profit.
You pay the manager a salary - this is the amount that is the payment for everyday mandatory operations. You also pay a percentage of sales - this is the premium part for its immediate results. But in practice, you pay for his trips to the store, and long calculations of the cost of the first batch, and the execution of accompanying documents, and much more you pay for, without even knowing how much money passes by.
But the most interesting thing is that the question: “Where have you been? ”, - they will answer you, with complete confidence in their eyes and voice: “So the paper is over, the delivery is long to wait, but urgently needed - so I ran away quickly ...” (1 hour). The congruence of what is happening will confuse anyone, but ...
In any case and under any circumstances - the SELLER MUST SELL!
If this is not the case, you are losing money. Even if the manager is the only one who can go for the ill-fated paper, let him go Chief Accountant Otherwise, he won't find a job in the future. By the way, from an accountant, especially the main one, you can hear the opposite: “This is not the task of accounting”, - remember, this is your accounting department, and YOU pay them, so what they will do is up to you to decide, this is so - by the way.
How to solve this problem?
First, you need to find out: how much "working time" the sellers spend "left". This is done with the help of working hours. Every day, managers must fill out a form in which they record everything, absolutely everything, the operations that they do during the day (the more detailed, the better). Opposite each operation, they put the start and end time of work on it. This must be done within a week, at least. Most likely, you will not wait for applause from your employees when you tell them about the innovation, this is normal. Explain that this is being done for their own good, and you just need to understand: are they overloaded, that the measure is forced and only for one week, in the end: “I am the leader, and it’s up to me to decide whether this is necessary or not.” Yes, and more, the data must be submitted daily. In the early days, literally stand over them, checking the filling.
This simple tool will allow you to seriously discipline managers - many unnecessary things will go away by themselves.
Secondly, according to the data obtained, it is necessary to divide the time spent directly on sales (cold calls, meetings, preparation for negotiations, repeated calls, presentations, etc.), and on operations that are not typical of positions. If you get more than 10% of the "left earnings" you need to take action. Which?
Everything that is not related to sales, and which was discussed a lot above, does not require special qualifications and deep knowledge. Accordingly, such work can be performed by an additional employee with a lower salary (usually a small salary).
For example, when making calculations, one manager spends 25% of his working time “left”. On average, one seller sells for 100,000 rubles per month, spending 75% of the allotted working time on this. So you don't get
approximately 33,000 rubles per month. This 25% can be outsourced to a personal assistant. Hire a secretary manager, or an administrator, or whatever you call him, for a minimum salary (15,000 rubles, for example, for a part-time student is not bad money), and this secretary can work for two, or even three managers: preparing documents, answering by e-mail, making simple calculations, agreeing on the time and place of the meeting, booking tickets, hotels, etc. She will do anything that robs the manager of precious capital - the time you pay for.
An assistant, for 15,000 rubles, will pay for itself in the first month, and your salespeople will like this form of work, when you can prepare papers for signing a contract without waiting for the end of the meeting.
By the way, more about the benefits of timekeeping of working hours. Pay attention to the amount of time spent on reporting, it should be no more than 15 minutes a day (if the reports are daily).
