Too often a sales cycle will get bogged down at one or more points. A prospect may need an approval from a higher-up, may need to wait until the funding is available, or may simply want more time to think things through. Using email throughout the sales process can help avoid these delays or at least minimize them.
After you first speak with a prospect (which will usually happen as part of a cold call), send her a brief email that includes the date, time and place you've agreed on for your sales appointment. Not only does this help cut down on “oops, I forgot about you” on the day of the meeting, it also gives you an opportunity to include a link or two in your email that provides useful and interesting information. You might link an article on a topic you discussed during the cold call, or a document that relates to the prospect's business. This helps you to get off on the right foot with her and also to begin building your reputation as a helpful, experienced contact.
Once your first sales appointment is done, assuming it doesn't end in a sale, send another follow-up meeting that sums up your conclusions and goes over the next step you've agreed upon with the prospect (e.g. he'll be speaking with his department head for budget approval and you'll be calling him back in a week to set up your next meeting). Again, this is an opportunity to include helpful tidbits or links that might interest your prospect.
If you've made any special offers, like a discount or a promotional deal, sum those up in the email as well. Having those offers in black and white can help motivate the prospect to accept them. You can also restate a benefit or two that made the prospect's eyes light up during your presentation. Ideally, your email with both bring your product's positive aspects to the forefront of the prospect's mind and also keep him on track rather than letting him wander out of the sales process.
Some prospects may prefer email to phone conversations. In those cases, you might want to keep the bulk of your communication via email and only call for urgent issues, or if you have a hard time getting a reply to your emails. Just remember that because emails are far more permanent than phone calls, you need to be careful about what you write. If you misquote a price over the phone, that's bad enough – if you do it in an email, your prospect now has the error in writing.
When your sales process runs into a hitch, such as a tough price negotiation, email can sometimes be a better choice than phone calls or even face-to-face meetings. A breakdown late in the sales process can raise emotional temperatures in both yourself and your prospect. Using email gives you a slight remove and a chance to check over what you're saying before you send it to the prospect. It also gives you ample time to think over his last communication, unlike a phone call or meeting.
One powerful way to leverage your emails is to copy other parties on the message. This can include someone on your side, such as your sales manager, and/or someone on the prospect's side, such as a product end user or the prospect's boss. If you decide to bring others in on the conversation, don't be confrontational about it. Just copy them in without fuss and remain pleasant and businesslike in your messages. Sometimes just having another party listening in on the negotiation can help move the prospect along.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
After you first speak with a prospect (which will usually happen as part of a cold call), send her a brief email that includes the date, time and place you've agreed on for your sales appointment. Not only does this help cut down on “oops, I forgot about you” on the day of the meeting, it also gives you an opportunity to include a link or two in your email that provides useful and interesting information. You might link an article on a topic you discussed during the cold call, or a document that relates to the prospect's business. This helps you to get off on the right foot with her and also to begin building your reputation as a helpful, experienced contact.
Once your first sales appointment is done, assuming it doesn't end in a sale, send another follow-up meeting that sums up your conclusions and goes over the next step you've agreed upon with the prospect (e.g. he'll be speaking with his department head for budget approval and you'll be calling him back in a week to set up your next meeting). Again, this is an opportunity to include helpful tidbits or links that might interest your prospect.
If you've made any special offers, like a discount or a promotional deal, sum those up in the email as well. Having those offers in black and white can help motivate the prospect to accept them. You can also restate a benefit or two that made the prospect's eyes light up during your presentation. Ideally, your email with both bring your product's positive aspects to the forefront of the prospect's mind and also keep him on track rather than letting him wander out of the sales process.
Some prospects may prefer email to phone conversations. In those cases, you might want to keep the bulk of your communication via email and only call for urgent issues, or if you have a hard time getting a reply to your emails. Just remember that because emails are far more permanent than phone calls, you need to be careful about what you write. If you misquote a price over the phone, that's bad enough – if you do it in an email, your prospect now has the error in writing.
When your sales process runs into a hitch, such as a tough price negotiation, email can sometimes be a better choice than phone calls or even face-to-face meetings. A breakdown late in the sales process can raise emotional temperatures in both yourself and your prospect. Using email gives you a slight remove and a chance to check over what you're saying before you send it to the prospect. It also gives you ample time to think over his last communication, unlike a phone call or meeting.
One powerful way to leverage your emails is to copy other parties on the message. This can include someone on your side, such as your sales manager, and/or someone on the prospect's side, such as a product end user or the prospect's boss. If you decide to bring others in on the conversation, don't be confrontational about it. Just copy them in without fuss and remain pleasant and businesslike in your messages. Sometimes just having another party listening in on the negotiation can help move the prospect along.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
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