I don’t think that I know one business owner that doesn’t have a desire to see continual growth in their business, however, are you potentially letting some growth slip through your fingers by making some simple mistakes.

You would probably be surprised at the number of both small and medium businesses who simply get this crucial element wrong. Perhaps it is due to a staff training need or perhaps it is because there is no proper sales process in place.

The first point to look at is your churn. Churn is simply the number of customers who use your services and then stop for one reason or another.

Is there a way you can retain customers by tweaking the service you provide them, or is there perhaps something you are doing wrong to cause them to leave?

If you are finding that churn is a problem, it’s your job to monitor and fix it!

I’m not going to say too much here as the title simply says it all. If this is an issue for your business, it’s something you need to resolve and resolve quickly!

How many times have you gone through the whole first page in Google and not has one phone call answered, then simply given the work to the first person who answers out of desperation?

People contact your business looking to you for the solution. Their problem may not necessarily be immediately apparent to them.

Your job is to provide this solution and you need to do it better than your competitor who they may be calling next.

You need to be easy to work with, always say ‘yes’, never say ‘no’ and be on the front foot with offering a solution.

Make the effort at every touchpoint to progress the sale forward.

You would be surprised at the number of sales training sessions where I review their incoming enquiries and the staff member takes no details, but just asks the enquirer to email them (or even call back later).

Very few sales are closed at the first call, however you may be able to book in a follow up, home visit, meeting to review or something else to keep the sale moving forward.

Find out the callers situation, any potential objections and make sure you clear the path to a close!

I said above that very few sales are closed at the first touchpoint and even what may seem a completely dead lead can close eventually.

So, don’t give up! But also don’t keep calling and emailing asking if the enquirer is ready to buy.

Be smart, useful and keep your brand visible in order that you are there when they need you.

There is more to say here than just a sentence or two, but you need to make sure you have a sales process and you need to make sure EVERYONE follows it religiously.

For example, if you aim to book all enquiries onto a product review then ask for the close. If someone needs to go out to carry out a service review and the person who would visit is not available, don’t want for that person to be available so they can call back and arrange. Get access to their diary and book it at the first touchpoint.

Know your process and make sure it is followed every time with passion, diligence and out of a desire to help!

I hope you found this article helpful. If you would like to discuss any of the points above or discuss your sales process or marketing then I would be more than happy to help. Just drop me an email at nathanbrown@robusmarketing.com.

Nathan