Increased sales happen when marketing skills and selling skills work together within a proven sales process. Yet, for many small businesses and even some larger ones, these skills and direct activities related to these skills work independently of each other. In some cases, marketing and selling actually work against each other.
To increase sales begins by adopting a proven sales process that unites marketing skills and selling skills. For both skill sets are necessary to secure the desired result of a sale.
With the adoption of a proven sales process, each step will be quickly identified as a marketing skill or a selling skill and the steps will be sequential in order. For example, in the sales process that I use with my business client, the first step is to Gain Attention. Unless you have the attention of your suspect or prospect, you will not be able to make the sale.
Gaining Attention is a marketing skill. Do you have a branded image? Is your message so different that people immediately come up to you to learn more about you or your company? No selling is happening at this time. Yet, many sales people try to jump in and sell something. Bad decision because the result is a lost sale.
Next step within the Proven Sales Process is Building the Relationship. Again, this is a marketing skill because until the relationship is solid, you cannot sell anything with any degree of success. Within both of these first two steps, the effective salesperson will have strong communication skills especially active listening.
After the relationship is built, the selling skills kick in during Step Three - Discovering Wants and Needs. For some sales people, some of these needs may be been discovered during the first two steps. Now is the time to further identify those needs and to widen the gap between where the client is now and where the client wants to be. Again, great selling skills including active listening and effective open ended questioning.
Step Four is Making the Presentation by Overcoming Stalls and Objections. At this step, the selling skills again are being able to turn stalls into objections and then overcome those objections. Preparation by understanding the client is necessary within this step of the sales process.
If all has gone well, then Step 5 is Gaining Commitment. Sometimes, this may be as simple as saying "Where do we go from here?" Again, this is a selling skill.
After commitment is made, the product or services are delivered in Step 6. Even though the sale has been officially made from the issuance of a purchase order or the shake of a hand, the sale is not complete until the customer receives delivery and is satisfied. Step 6 is a selling skill because the sales transaction is not complete.
The final and last step is follow up and asking for a referral. With the sales complete, now marketing skills once again kick in. Many in sales fail to ask for referrals and lose an incredibly amount of business. HINT: You may need to revisit your sales training.
When marketing skills and selling skills are united in a proven sales process, the process flows almost seamlessly from each step to the next step. Then when the final step is completed, the sales process starts all over again. So if you truly wish to increase sales, look to your sales process and make sure that your sales people do not violate the process.
