APPROACH AND CONTACT TO SELL

Accelerate your business with these expert tips on "Approach and contact to sell". Analyse and discover this TIP!

The second stage of the sale, the approach and contact with the customer, includes arranging the visit, winning over the people around the customer, preparing the visit and setting objectives. It is important to prepare a script with the necessary information for the visit, as well as a list of topics to be covered, and to bear in mind the importance of making a good first impression and capturing the client's attention and interest.

In addition, care must be taken in the details of the contact, both in the social and business aspects. The option of sales video conferencing is a useful tool, but it should be used with caution and care in terms of preparation, image, sound and interactivity.

Practical examples of sales approaches may include

1. Telephone call: If your goal is to sell web design services, you could call a company and introduce yourself as a web design expert. You could then ask them if they have considered improving their website and if they would be interested in receiving a proposal to do so.
2. Visit in person: If you sell cleaning products, you could visit companies that need regular maintenance and present yourself as a cleaning expert. You could then give them a demonstration of your products and explain how your products can help them keep their premises clean and safe.
3. Email marketing: If you sell digital marketing services, you could send an email to local businesses that do not yet have an online presence. In the email, you could introduce yourself as a digital marketing expert and offer your services to create a website and improve their online presence.
4. Social networking: If you sell beauty products, you could search for beauty groups on Facebook and introduce yourself as a beauty expert. You could then offer beauty tips and advice to group members and promote your products at the same time.
5. Live events: If you sell office equipment, you could attend a trade show and present yourself as an office technology expert. You could then offer live demonstrations of your products and explain how your products can help businesses improve their efficiency and productivity.

How can the artificial intelligence (see+ TIP) to approach and make first contact with customers?

Artificial intelligence can help you approach and make first contact with customers by providing you with relevant and practical information on the subject. You can ask it questions about how to make an effective sales call, how to prepare for a meeting with a customer, how to identify customer needs and how to close a sale.

In addition, can provide you with specific advice tailored to your industry or target market. However, it is important to keep in mind that artificial intelligence is a tool for knowledge acquisition, but it cannot replace the experience and skills that are acquired through practice and direct interaction with customers.

Make your visit a success

First visits are usually arranged by telephone, although sometimes they are preceded by an email. Pre-notification.

Win over the people around your target customer: Staff, secretary, etc. An appointment call is an appointment call. In other words, do not be tempted to turn the call into a sales meeting. The goal is to make an appointment and that is what we need to focus on!!!

Let's see how to do it:

After introducing yourself and your company, explain the reasons why you want them to meet you. To guarantee their attention, we could suggest a couple of benefits or solutions that we can provide them with. Always talk about us not me (sells organisation).

OBJECTIONS TO THE INTERVIEW MAY ARISE AND YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THIS:

• I am very busyI won't take up too much of your time and I guarantee that the time you spend with me will pay off.
• At the moment I am not considering changing provider: think that with each passing day your losses will increase.
• Send me an email: would be very general, but a short interview will be enough to find out if there is a possibility of collaboration.
• Send me your catalogue: I will send it to you but the catalogue will not answer all your questions. 
• I don't have time: That is precisely why an interview may be the best option. I will not take up your time.

Gently insist on the appointment and offer two successive alternatives so that they can choose one of them or opt to meet us at a time that suits them best. Specify the date and time and use Google Calendar to clearly mark the appointment.

Nowadays, the alternative of video conferencing is an excellent way to have a business contact. We will consider this in point 4 below.

Prepare well for your first visit:

The first visit within the approach and contact stage is not something to be taken lightly. Therefore, you should ask yourself whether the timing is right, whether your commercial pitch is sufficiently mature and, above all, whether you are in a position to fulfil the commitments that emanate from the meeting.

• SET TARGETS

Our recommendation is to be ambitious and go to your first meeting with the objective of selling. However, there may be interesting intermediate success objectives that make your visit useful and add value to the client. 

IN PREPARATION FOR THE VISIT YOU SHOULD PREPARE A SCRIPT WITH THE FOLLOWING CONTENT:

Who will I see (position, profile, decision-making power or influence, etc.)?

WITH WHAT OBJECTIVES?

• Introduce yourself, your company and your products and services.
• Know the customer and identify their needs and/or expectations.
• Degree of satisfaction with current suppliers, etc.
• Arrange a sales presentation.
• Estimate a possible volume of purchases by the customer.
• Identify the service load required by the customer.
• To obtain information of a commercial administrative nature.
• Identify those responsible within the organisation.

• LIST OF TOPICS TO BE ADDRESSED:

Define the order in which you are going to deal with them, highlighting those that are closest to the sale. Make a checklist of all the things you need to take with you: business cards, brochures or catalogues, product samples, order forms. You won't be the first to sing "veni, vidi, vinci".

• Propose a date and time, leaving the client free to give their choice (very useful dodle and google calendar).
• Be there at the agreed time and be punctual!
• It is recommended that the first appointment be face-to-face, but if the client proposes a videoconference, accept and aim to be able to visit them in person at some point.
• This is the moment we have been working for so far. It is very important to be clear about what we want to get out of this first meeting: to compare information or expand on it, we want to close the sale, we want the customer to get to know us...
• Make a good first impression. A bad first impression can be difficult to overcome.
• Capture the customer's attention and interest: thank them for the opportunity to receive you and highlight the benefit they will get in return for receiving you.

• THE CONTACT

Personal selling involves people meeting people, so inevitably sales meetings involve two strands: Social and business. The slope social starts to manifest itself from the initial greeting.

Greetings, thanks, common references, or the pace of life we lead are good excuses to channel the relationship into an atmosphere of cordiality and a relaxed atmosphere. 

• It conveys security.
• Look the customer in the eye.
• He smiles.
• Introduce yourself and hand in your business card.
• He shakes his hand firmly without squeezing.
• Thank you for the opportunity.
• It gives the customer the option to speak.
• Sit down when I tell you to.

We are in the moment of creating a good chemistry with the customer and making a positive first impression. It is important for the salesperson to manage the transition from the conversation to the business side properly.

On the business must be introduced tactfully. For example: with a question related to our objective. Would you like to increase the productivity of your company?

THE SALES VIDEOCONFERENCING OPTION

A recent report by the consultancy Salesforce states that video conferencing was the most useful sales tool in 2020. Sparked by the Covid pandemic, it is certain to continue to be the most widely used sales resource in the future. The example of many companies that have prospered thanks to this system is too compelling to simply return to pre-covid habits.

HERE ARE SOME TIPS ON HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS TOOL:

Avoid the saturation of sales video conferences. The ease of connection should not lead us to avoid the proper preparation of any commercial interview. Calendly is a good tool that helps us to scheduling meetings leaving a time between appointments to digest what was discussed at a previously completed meeting and prepare for the next one.

Take care of your image: good framing, good lighting and a suitable background. Zoom Client gives interesting options in this respect.

• Check that the sound comes through clearly and without background noise.
• Make your meetings interactive by giving the option of screen sharing.
• We may ask the client to take us on a tour of their website or to share any documentation, graphs, statistics to help us better understand their circumstances and needs.
• It is important to take into consideration the large usefulness of sales presentations in all types of multimedia formats.