So you want to know how to be successful in sales and want to know how to become a better salesperson?  Sales success begins with attitude, it’s directly connected to understanding that the sale is not about you; It’s not about commission, It’s not about moving an item of off the shelves, and it’s not about the hefty paycheck. It’s not about you – it’s about the customer. Sales Pitch is the Key: Nowadays, an effective sales pitch is a two-way street — a conversation where you listen to the buyer, ask real questions, and offer them a solution to a challenge they’re experiencing. A good sales pitch starts with a great first impression. Sales professionals work hard to make a memorable and positive initial impact by creating laser-focused one-liners, but it’s just as important that your short, snappy delivery also resonates long after you’ve delivered that opening line. You want a presentation that holds your audience’s attention — the longer you’re able to keep that attention, the higher your chances of winning them over. And captivating your audience involves being prepared with relevant buyer information, and a pitch that actively includes the buyer in the discussion. At its most basic level, the sales pipeline represents your company’s sales process and how your company tracks progress through each stage of the process. Knowing that, here are a few tips to get you on your way to a more effective sales pitch: Do the Due Diligence Give Them the Answers To Your Homework You’re Listening, But Are You Hearing Your Buyer? A Call for “Call to Actions” If you are engaging your customer over the phone, to achieve sales success, be upfront about the reason for your call, vouch for the integrity of the product or service you are selling, and draw comparisons between your prospect and satisfied customers. When leaving voicemails, emails or follow-up messages, it’s important to reiterate the reason for contacting them, as well as summarizing your intent. Finish up the message with an suggested action either on your part or theirs. Pipeline #Management: Pipeline management includes everything from the way the sales pipeline is designed to how it is measured and how it is used to drive sales-rep performance. Without a clearly defined sales process, the pipeline has no foundation. We found that sales forces were most effective at managing their pipelines if they invested time in defining a credible, formalized sales process. In fact, there was an 18 percent difference in revenue growth between companies that defined a formal sales process and those that didn’t. https://youtube.com/watch?v=PvZ-Ky3xrW0%3Flist%3DPL5B53174B0151071A Track the Source: For optimal sales effectiveness, you need to provide employees with a tool that captures information about each and every interaction with your prospects and customers. This includes integrating your different channels, such as your website. People most often hear about your company and products and services through ads, referrals, online banner ads or some other form of advertising. You need to keep track of what actually caused these suspects to raise their hands so you can better determine what works and what doesn’t. Curated from 3 Best Practices of Sales Forces Are you a Problem-Solver; then you have a streak of sales person in you: Great salespeople also tend to be into solving problems and driving for results. They’re positive in their attitude, powerful and authoritative. The traits that make them so great at sales also can lead to traits that present difficulties for managers. They can be impulsive, demanding and unrealistic in their expectations. They may lack attention to detail and are often disorganized. In order to motivate and lead salespeople effectively, you want to think about what’s important to them...

Integrated Marketing: Strategy aimed at combining different marketing methods such as mass marketing, one-to-one marketing, and direct marketing. Marketing in simpler terms means “to take your product to the customers in a convincing manner and coax them to buy it”. And not only that, you need to retain your old customers and lure new customers to your niche. How is that possible! Marketing is a concept that works magic when you project your product in such a way as to attract the customer and also your product should have an edge over that of your competitors’. Many new channels of marketing have flooded the market; the evergreen being advertisements in radio and televisions. The audio visual of your product that is being telecast in a span of thirty seconds to one minute should capture the attention of the viewers and you should see to it that the benefits of your product is communicated to the viewers in a precise manner. The questions that are inevitable to the sales force are, What is your product’s unique selling proposition? What is your distinctive competence? Are you motivating the target audience? Does your product have a brand image? So many things have to be taken into consideration and here comes the word integrated marketing. The exclusive sales force you own is your strength, without which you cannot succeed in the market. Whatever strategies you formulate, action plans you correlate, it is in the hands of your sales team that you are going to capture the market. The marketing plan and ideas have to be communicated to them from the point of conception and the innovative ideas generated from your team can be definitely put into use. Integrated marketing operates on two levels. First the various disciplines of the marketing department that includes, sales force advertising product management new product launch Marketing research, must work in tandem. Secondly, coordination with all the other departments in the firm. After all, business is done for profit. But even then there are some etiquettes to be followed when you are planning to introduce your product into the market. customer satisfaction quality quantity eco friendly Competitive price, are some of the basic principles that go without saying. Besides, the producer also should not deceive the customer or take advantage of the ignorance of the consumer while campaigning for his products. A product should reap you profit and at the same time the customer should get the value for the money paid. A satisfied customer can bring in hundred more customers; it is part of your marketing plan. If you lose one customer then you have lost thousand customers. You cannot bring back a dissatisfied customer into your groove. So the sociology and psychology which you have read only in literature will give you a helping hand in times of need, when you want to satisfy a customer. Integrated marketing combines all the marketing plans; it is a marketing mix that makes a customer happy with the product’s price, availability, promotion and the product as a whole. Hotels and restaurants Hospitals Malls and Departmental stores, are some of the ventures to be mentioned that stands as a testimony for integrated marketing, as they talk about “feasible packages for different classes of economy”. Ultimately marketing can be defined as a network that starts with the customer and ends with the customer in its supply chain...

Product Modification – Solid Strategy to Capture Untouched Market Segments There is a pressing need for business firms to bring about changes in the physical attributes of their existing products periodically, to retain the customer base as well as to tide over the competition in the market. A number of factors may prompt the manufacturer to modify his product. To make best use of the technological advancement for the benefit of the firm Modification in lieu of competition To regenerate a product suffering from sales decline Product Attributes: What could be modified; it may be anything, the color, size, material, functional features, styling and engineering, etc., or a combination of these could be considered for modification. Ultimately these modifications should result in products emerging with better quality, features and styling. Consumer goods are offered with a wide range and variety to appease the different taste of the consumers as well as to stand unique in the market; Bathing soaps, talcum powders and cosmetics to name a few. Even producers, who are involved in core industries like textiles and garments, come out with a range of products to cater to the specific requirements of the customers. Product modification is different from product specialization that applies to high end customers whose specifications are based on the end use of the product and the target market. For example, mélange yarn is a specialized product used for producing better color shades for knitted fabrics (hosiery sector). Product modification concentrates more on increasing the appeal of the product by presenting it with attractive and improved attributes like, better packing and features. Strategy to Improve Quality: The strategy of quality improvement aims at increasing the functional performance of the product- its durability, reliability, speed, taste, etc. The added advantages would be versatility, safety and convenience. The benefits of feature improvement includes, Builds company’s image Can aid in winning over the target market Gives free publicity for the firm Infuses enthusiasm in the internal environment of a firm, amongst the sales force and distributors Style Improvement: Style improvement aims at improving the aesthetic appeal of the product. Why do you think automobile manufacturers are in the process of introducing new models of cars every so often? It is a strategy that amounts to style competition rather than quality or feature competition. This kind of style modification has to be done after extensive market research to gauge the preference of the people in the target market and to avoid colossal monetary loss if in case there is a negative feedback from the market. Manufacturers of house hold products can always take the risk of going for small modifications in terms of texture and style as new features can be adapted quickly, dropped quickly and often made optional at the least expense. A firm has to mix and match its product modification strategies to maintain its competitive position and to keep itself abreast of the latest developments in the market...