How to triple your sales revenue the easy way

For some people selling comes easily and naturally. However for many business owners sales is a nuisance and although important, it’s something many people don’t want to do. Leave it to the professionals, is the motto and although if you have plenty of money in the bank to hire sales pro’s, it’s not for everyone.

But sales doesn’t have to be that difficult. So, if you’re on your own, or working with a team of sales people that may under-perform, here are a few tips and tricks that could help your business to triple sales revenue by simply making it easier for you and your team to deal with potential new and old customers:

1. Use the number of averages – Many people put sales calls to one day a week or a specific time. Trying to do 20 or 30 or more calls to connect with potential clients may sound easy, but in reality how many did you actually get on the phone talking to? Most likely if you’ve done 20 calls you can consider yourself lucky if you talked to 3 – 5 prospects (and I mean getting to the main decision maker). This may sound good but reality is that it might even be less. Some weeks you may even just get to one or none. Turning this around is the key and making sure you make your calls on a more regular basis. Lets say you want to talk to 25 clients per week, divide them by 5 and now take 15 – 30 min each day to call 5 potential customers. You may still have days where you will not reach anybody of importance to you and you may need to add them to a different day/ time to call back. Once you get in to a rhythm however, you will notice that you transform 2 – 3 prospects on a daily basis (on average) either into meetings or sales (depending if you try to get a meeting or trying to get a sale over the phone).

2. Get yourself and/ or your team to go to networking events/ join networking groups. – This is important to spread the message of your business. You need to be out there and you need to be seen. Getting referrals is the goal with networking groups and getting meetings is the goal when you go to networking events. In both cases it is important to have the next step sorted before going/ joining:

3. Have a properly designed sales elevator pitch ready – With the right pitch you will gain up to 50% more referrals. Be specific, and tell people what or who it is that you’re looking for. A sales pitch is also great for networking events. It presents your business within 30 seconds, gives an overview of what it is that you do and how you can help any other business owner or potential customer to solve their problems. (If you need help creating an elevator pitch, you can contact us here).

4. Email/ letter marketing campaigns – Proper email or letter marketing campaigns are another great source to bring more customers to the table. But what’s important to know is that you need to do your research. If you don’t know who to address the letter/ email to, pick up the phone and ask. If you just send out generic emails to a list of thousands of customers, then you are not better than 95% of the other businesses doing just that. If you want to stand out and generate more revenue, you need to be different. Choose 100 of those potential clients, find out what they do, how you can help them and most importantly, who is your main contact and their contact details. Then address a properly designed letter/ email directly to them.

Don’t send all 100 sales letters on the same day. Spread them to maybe 5 – 10 letters daily. You will see why on point 5 and 6.

(If you need a sales elevator pitch and a powerful letter/ email marketing campaign, have a look at our PitchPerfect Programme here.) 

5. Have an inactive and pro-active call to action in your letter/ email campaign. – An inactive call to action is when you ask your clients to give you a call based on the information they received and if they like it of course. This could be something simple such as: If you now, after reading this letter, can’t wait to talk to me, please give me a call on xxx xxx xxxx or please fill in this application form and return back to us.

A pro-active call to action is when you take matters in your own hands. This is usually followed by the inactive call to action and is a simple way of saying, I will be calling you. You could say after your inactive call to action: If however you are like most business owners very busy running your business and may not have the time to call us, then don’t worry. I will call you on date x to discuss this in more detail with you. Our call will not take longer than 2 – 3 min of your valuable time. (make sure that with an email campaign you allow 48 hours before you call, on a letter campaign between 3 – 5 days. Don’t take longer. If you give them 2 weeks they will not remember your letter or you for that matter.

Now it’s your move. You promised a call on that specific day and most people do expect your call. Make sure you keep this in your diary and make that call.

6. Follow-up – It doesn’t matter if you take my advise on point 5 and have both an in-active and pro-active call to action or not. If you don’t follow up with your prospects, no one will. The return rate is usually quite low but if you keep your focus and make those follow-up calls, you will gain better results than any other company that sends generic emails/ letters. In fact, we have measured the success rate with a number of companies that we’ve worked with and it’s anywhere between 30 – 45%. Just by simply picking up the phone and making those dreaded phone calls. The good news is, that if you send a letter or email before hand, it’s no longer considered a cold call. It may not be a hot call, but luke-warm is already good.

7. Ask for referrals – Be it with your networking group or with customers and other business owners that you simply use for referrals, asking for referrals is the best way to keep your business growing. If you prepare your clients that you will be looking for referrals as part of your payment, then they will expect if they sign a contract with you, that you will be looking for referrals from them. Some clients may not be comfortable with it and others may just give you one or 2. On average we found that per client you could gain anything from 2 – 3 referrals that will help you keep going with your business.

When in a referral or networking group, it is important that you have a properly designed sales elevator pitch but also that you ask for specific referrals. Don’t be generic like: I’m looking for medium sized companies who are interested in xyz. You will not gain much out of that one. However if you ask specific it will make a difference: I’m looking for medium sized printing companies in area x. (If you can and done your homework you could also add:) I’m looking for an introduction to company X-Print in Town Y and company W-Print in Town Z. The only danger here is that if you choose 2 companies, it might happen that no one in your networking group knows anybody in those companies. However, consistency is the key and asking every week (or every time you meet with your group) for other specific companies, then you will get more referrals out of this. You could also ask type specific such as medium sized IT companies with focus on cloud computing or Start ups, Management consultancies, Coaching businesses etc. Be specific and referrals will come.

8. Put a picture of yourself on your business card and letter/ email campaign – People like dealing with people and this simple change can help you gain at least 10 – 15% more traction. People will remember you, they might not remember your business but they will most certainly remember you. If it’s in a good or bad way is of course up to you and your own selling skills but most people will remember your face.

Sales doesn’t have to be a daunting exercise. If you take every day 30 min to 1 hour to connect with new and old customers, you should see an improvement within a very short period of time in your sales revenue.

Some people say, sales is a numbers game, others say it’s not. In fact, sales is a game of averages. Every day you should do some sales related activity (and by that I mean not looking at your facebook page and hoping to get a customer interact with you). I mean real sales activity when you actively look for new potential customers, engage with old or former clients, use proper up-selling and cross-selling techniques and become more and more visible. Be out there, go to networking events, sign up to a networking group, join the chamber of commerce and actively promote yourself first, then your business and you will see a rise in sales revenue. Meet for networking coffees to discuss how you can help each other.

Try out different ways to interact with your customers. If you have a list of old or former clients, talk to them again. Maybe you have some missed up- or cross-sell opportunities, maybe you can get some referrals out of them. If your old clients are happy, they are more willing to recommend you on to somebody they do business with.

Have the right steps in place when it comes to your own sales strategy. If you don’t have one, it’s time to create one. Make it your daily mantra to work at least 1 hour on your sales and your business will flourish. (Just for the people who might say, 1 hour is not enough…we found in our research that the average time spend on sales activity is less than 2 hours per week for most SME’s. Having a focused 1 hour per day will not only enhance the performance of the business but will make it much easier to grow this activity over time to a decent 2 – 3 hours per day. Some SME owners are not able to spend that much time only on sales activity as they are out working with customers. Getting them to spend 1 hour per day on this, is the real challenge).

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Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland. Creating a synergy between consultation, training and coaching helps our clients to achieve the best results.

Double your sales in 2015 – 11 ways to grow your sales revenue

Our new programme, Double your sales in 2015, is now online and next to some applications we’ve also received some inquiries of how we’re going to double sales. I want to take this opportunity here to talk a little bit about how we can help achieve double your sales figures.

Of course there are companies out there who are doing great and there is not much room to get more out of people. But let me assure you that 85% of businesses are not running on full capacity. They are not even running on 20% of their potential.

I would like to provide you with some facts that I found with my previous and current clients that we easily corrected and the outcome of this:

1. No proper sales techniques or strategy in place (some of our clients didn’t ask sales related questions or showed interest in the customer) – 75% of businesses face this and this equals a min of 25 – 35% of additional revenue once this behavior is changed.
2. No up-selling or cross-selling opportunities taken – 85% of businesses don’t take up-selling opportunities and lose out on nearly 35 – 60% in additional sales revenue. Cross-selling is another factor that is easily overlooked. When this behavior changed, cross-selling amounted for another 10 – 15% of additional revenue.
3. No online presence – It doesn’t matter if you sell online or not, having an online presence is a must nowadays and counts for at least 10% of additional revenue.
4. Use of old (impersonal) marketing techniques that no longer work – Using proper marketing techniques is crucial. We had some clients where we brought in a marketing specialist and this brought another 40% in revenue over 6 – 12 months.
5. Not enough prospecting (no prospects, no sales) – This is the biggest factor. In all businesses we found that prospecting is not done properly and could improve. With every client, we have found that doubling their prospecting activity was not only possible but many of our clients even tripled their prospecting behavior. This lead to over 3 times the amount of contacts made by our clients in a week and revenue skyrocketed within a matter of months. This is the main ingredient to double sales. 200% – 350% additional revenue generated (and no, this is not out there…those are realistic figures that we have come across. One client of ours contacted 3 customers per day, after he went through our extensive programme he contacted between 12 and 15 customers per day. Another client simply switched from a passive behavior to a more pro-active behavior. This shop owner went from order taker to a sales specialist and expert and is now actively approaching customers in his shop moving from serving 20 customers per day to nearly 40.
6. No proper customer service in place – Another big factor, if the service and friendliness in a place is not given, then customers choose to shop elsewhere. Having a proper customer service approach was something nearly 60% of businesses lack. Changing this, made customers come back and spend money in their shop. This resulted in growing revenue by nearly 30%.
7. Too competitive thinking – Competition is good but a lot of people think too competitive. Sometimes customers want a specific product that you either don’t stock or you ran out of. In either case, who’s to say that you can’t source it for your customer with a competitor? Doing so will result in a better service that customers appreciate but also will help keep the spending in town. Talk to your neighboring businesses and help customers to buy locally. Customers will appreciate your help and effort and come back to you for other or additional purchases. This resulted in 10 – 15% increases and helped other businesses to thrive as well.
8. Motivational energy too low with employees and management. – Motivational energy is something we can easily measure. Many employees and managers go into coping mode and this results in low motivation and less focus on goals or targets. Motivation is a funny thing, it’s like bathing if you don’t do it regularly, you start smelling out of your pores. Regular motivational sessions with our clients and their employees resulted in higher performance, less sick leaves and created more employee loyalty to the business, meaning less employee turnover. This resulted also in additional 20 – 25% sales revenue because if the staff is highly motivated it transfers automatically to the targets or goals at hand and makes customers want to buy from you.

9. Not asking closing questions (no pushing or even pursuing of the sale) – I’m not talking about pushing a customer over the edge to get a deal done, but it is sales and sometimes we have to push our customers to help them make the best decision. A lot of sales people don’t ask closing questions. They do everything else right in the sales process but when it comes to ask the final closing question they failed. The customer simply chose a different seller because buying signals were ignored. Over 80% of sales is lost. Increasing the closing ratio is only possible if you get your sales people to ask closing questions and sometimes pushing the customers to buy (gentle because a little nudge can work wonders). Over 50% of sales growth is possible with the right strategy and tactic. Pursuing the sales is another factor that we can and should count in. A lot of sales reps give up after the 2nd or 3rd attempt of contacting a customer. Getting your sales reps to contact them at least 8 times before giving up (12 is recommended) will result in a higher conversion rate as well. This could amount to at least 30 – 50% higher sales figures.

10. Responsibility was handed to ‘lazy staff’ – And finally, if things don’t go right, the management blamed the staff. Taking all other points into consideration, this one was a big factor among our clients. However once we got the management to see the errors of their way, we found the mistakes and corrected them easily (usually getting the Manager to become a leader). This resulted in happy and satisfied staff and resulted in higher motivation and brought along a 10 – 15% increase in sales.

11. No customer loyalty programme in place – Loyalty programmes are great but many businesses don’t have them. It seems they don’t value their customer or they think it’s a waste of time and money. Using the right loyalty programme is key and giving back will always drive more sales. Having a loyalty programme specifically designed to your needs could result in 50 – 70% more revenue simply because customers choose to go back to get that little extra from you.

There you have it. 11 reasons how we can drive more revenue and grow sales by at least 200%. We found most of the points above were missing with our clients and changing their behavior (and in some cases habits) helped tremendously to grow sales revenue.

Our projects take a long time (each project can take up to 3 months) but because we do it thoroughly we not only find the problems in our clients business we can easily correct them. And yes, we guarantee results with our SalesGrowthGuarantee™.

If you are interested in what we do then you have the chance to apply to our “Double my sales in 2015” programme. Have a look, you will find all details here and apply online. www.salesclinic.biz

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Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland. Creating a synergy between consultation, training and coaching helps our clients to achieve the best results.

How your business can rise like a Phoenix from the ashes

Is your business struggling? Have you been thinking of closing down shop or moving locations? Maybe you don’t have enough customers coming in or leaving great reviews for you?

Well, here is something you may want to consider instead of closing down the business for good. I mean, you’ve been working hard and in the end, you deserve a successful running business. So, why not give it one last shot. One last push before you give up for good.

There are several ways to enhance your customers experience. Yes, some might cost you some money (I see it more as an investment) and some are free. You can also use a good combination of both (which I would recommend) and find a better way to market your business.

1. Look at your customer service

Is your business a local shop or restaurant? Do you have an office where you meet customers regularly? Do you provide an outstanding service?

In many cases we find that the business owners believe they offer a great customer service only to be told afterwards that their service isn’t really that good at all. Providing a great service is one of the most important aspects of business. If you believe customers chose you because of your low pricing, think again. It’s only a minority who look for the cheapest option. Over 85% of customers are buying based on their feelings and emotions that they have towards a seller. No matter what you sell, if you are not looking after your customers properly, then you will not survive. Change your routine if you have to, but make sure you always offer top notch service to your customers.

2. Sales ability of owners and staff

Are you capable of selling? Maybe you think you are but how good are you really? Many retailers or waiters/ waitresses are just order takers. Customer comes in, buys a product and leaves. Nobody is asking questions, trying to establish the customers needs. I’ve been preaching this for years now and except a few people who took this on board many are still suffering the low sales turnover. If you ask the right questions and LISTEN, your customers will feel valued and will buy from you. Not necessarily the product they were initially looking  for, but maybe something in addition to that, or more. In rare cases customers have to be shown that the product they chose is not the right product for them. This happens every now and then but it is up to you to make the right recommendation to your customer. What is the right product? Can they get it from you? If not, where can they get it? Sales and customer service in this case go hand in hand. And even if you lose the sale because you don’t have product xyz in stock, you can still help some other person to get the deal by sending them over. You will earn credibility from your customer and they will still be back. You can also consider getting the product for your customer. Have you ever considered that? Think in terms of joint venture. Imagine a customer comes in and buys a TV from you and he also wants a very specific DVD player that you don’t stock. Maybe you know somebody who stocks this DVD player and you give them a call and tell them, I have a customer for you who wants to buy this product. Do you have it in stock? Imagine the other person says, yes, I sell it for 199. Could you make me a deal so I can sell it on to my customer for 199? And say this person only gives you a discount of 10 EUR. Suddenly you can sell a product from somebody else and get a small referral fee or commission out of this one. Put your business head on for once and think who can help your business achieve higher sales results? How can you work together? Maybe you can do the same for this other business if they refer clients over to you? Think about it for a moment.

3. Change strategy

Sometimes we have to change our strategy, our routes to market or even our entire business around in order to make it work. Remember why you went into business in the first place? Maybe it was because you thought you could do the same as your boss did. You can offer a better more proficient service or sell more products? Be more flexible with customers? How did that work out for you? Well, if you’re still reading, I presume not so good. Business is about constant change. Moving away from one strategy that you’ve held for a number of years is sometimes necessary. Don’t get stuck in “The old ways” but rather look at what you can do differently in order to succeed.

4. Use some crazy ideas

Crazy doesn’t necessarily mean bad or “insane”. Crazy sometimes is good for business. Be a bit more open to attract different customers to your premises. Be a bit more outgoing, flexible and open minded. Sometimes you have to do the drastic thing and just get out of your shop and talk to people on the street. It may not be the most comfortable way of doing business but heck it beats closing down shop, doesn’t it? Imagine you can talk to 50 people a day when you get out of your shop. And only 5 of them would visit afterwards, do you think it would be worth your while if they come in and start buying from you?

Maybe you can do a competition, work with other businesses together, create an in-house event etc. Maybe you can do a shopping hour and offer everything for one hour a day half price (maybe on selected items etc.). It would be a promotion so consider that you may need to invest in this but getting people into the store should be first priority.

How about a nice “Midnight Shopping Event” with a glass of wine or champagne (booking mandatory). Maybe you own a boutique and you could do a modeling event? Become a model for one night…The ideas and possibilities are endless.

5. Restructuring and new layout

Sometimes it’s the business itself that needs a new structure and layout. Even if you have a great marketing and sales strategy, it doesn’t mean that customers will come in flying into your premises. And maybe an event is not even a problem but bookings are not made? Look at your shop and what you would like to achieve. How is it structured? Does it look nice from the inside and outside? Is the layout great? Do you have old carpets or new ones? Maybe you want to attract a younger audience but your products and services don’t reflect that. Take a risk and create a new layout, new store front, buy some exciting new products etc. It might help you turn things around once word gets out.

6. Get a coach or consultant/ mentor

This might be a good investment. A business coach or consultant can help you turn things around. Yes, they are usually not that cheap but the value you’re getting will help you and your business not only to stay alive but to grow. Of course no coach or mentor can come in and save the day. You should not expect that. If you’re already bankrupt or very close to closing, it might not even be possible for them to help you at all. However a coach is always a great way to discover alternative options. Maybe closing the business is good but the way to do it might be worth looking into. Maybe they can help you discover new avenues to go down to and create better business opportunities with you. A business coach can cost anything from 50 – 200€ an hour and is depending on their own experience and expertise. The value of this is incredible if you are a open minded and ready to explore. A great coach or consultant can help you on any of the points raised above. You just need to have an open mind and be ready for change.

7. Don’t give up

No matter what you do, don’t give up on your dreams. Just because one thing isn’t working doesn’t mean something else won’t work. Sometimes we have to close down one chapter of our lives (or business lives) to open up a new one. There is always opportunities out there so keep following them. Learn from your mistakes and make sure that next time around you avoid making the same mistakes. You will get better at this but as with everything it requires practice and patience.

Let me tell you a quick story. Have you ever heard of the Phoenix? The Phoenix is a mythology creature, a bird that has a long life. Towards the end of it’s life-span it gets heavily sick and dies by self-combustion. Out of the ashes rises now a new, healthy bird, majestic and full of life. The Phoenix is believed to regenerate itself every 100 years or so, (at least that’s how the story goes that I’ve heard). I think it’s the perfect story for any struggling business. If you are struggling or really have no other option as to closing down shop, think of the Phoenix. No matter if you had a great run or you were struggling right from the beginning, something majestic will come out of this struggle. Something so incredible that you can’t even imagine it right now.

But I am certain that you will rise again and again out of your own ashes if you keep going and trying.  

Thank you for reading.

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Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland. Creating a synergy between consultation, training and coaching helps our clients to achieve the best results.

How the right training can boost your company’s image

I think everyone will agree that the right kind of training (sales and/ or customer service/ management/ leadership training) can be a great way to enhance your business.

A lot of companies hire an outside sales or customer service training company to deliver just that. Helping their employees to come up with new sales strategies, better customer service options and overall suggestions on how to enhance the business.

The key issues that I found in my research however show that many companies are not happy with their training provider due to lack of support, changes that are not implemented properly and the motivation of the team starts going down after a few days and revert back to their former self. Also in many cases sales and customer service training is kept very generic and is not developed to the need of the client but rather using off the shelf programs.

So, the big question is, who is responsible? Is it the trainer who seems to fail to deliver on his/ her promise or is it the attendees of the training who fail to implement what they’ve learned on a daily basis? Is it the company which doesn’t want to take on board the trainers advise or simply doesn’t want to spend more money on additional training or consultation/ coaching?

The answer might be shocking: It’s a little bit of everything. Let me elaborate:

Lets say you attend a sales training, the trainer gives great examples, clearly defined strategies (or helps you develop a strategy), great new ways of thinking and even adds how to improve on your customer service skills. You spend 2 days at this training and you come out, highly motivated and ready to roll. You go to your boss, tell them all about what you’ve learned in the training and why things are not working for the company (because now you believe you have the solution) but your boss shuts you down. He hasn’t been in the training, so he doesn’t really understand and from the bits that you remember he can’t really make up his mind if this would be a good way to go or not. So, he says, we stick to the old ways. Or maybe you are lucky and he doubts that this will work but will give you a chance to prove him wrong. So, off you go, thinking about what your boss said, and maybe even agree with him after seeing his point of view. Still you want to give it a try and now, with your boss’s point of view in mind you try your best and after one day fail to deliver. 2 days after you find yourself in the same misery as before, training is long forgotten and nothing changed.

Did you ever experience something like that?

Maybe you are the boss and your company sent you to a sales training to come back and deliver this training afterwards to the employees. You come out of the training, you think you know it all and give now your answers to the employees or sales team on how things should be done from now on. You’ve done your job, and now it’s up to the team to take your (crippled) information and make the best out of it. And to your surprise, it doesn’t work. Did you ever experience that?

Or a third scenario, you are the boss, you and your team have been trained by the company, you all agree on the changes that are required in order to make this work but find that after a few days, nothing really changed? You may have meetings about it, how to implement the new changes, you uncover some challenges on the way and suddenly decide that maybe it’s not such a good idea or you are stuck for answers?

Now, here is the reason of why this is happening:

1. You are capable of only remembering approx. 15% – 25% right after the training (this is the moment you step out of the training room and somebody would ask you what do you remember). No matter how good or bad the training is, and how much you keep writing during the training, it will not help you deliver the entire programme to your team or your boss.

2. Within 24 hours after the training your memory will even more deteriorate to approx. 5 – 10%.

3. 5 days after the training your memory will get worse and you remember approx. 1 – 3% of the training.

4. You are not a trainer or coach. Unless you went through extensive training becoming a business coach or sales trainer (and lets face it, barely any managers are) you are not capable of delivering the training to your staff (no matter how good you think you are).

5. Without any follow up coaching in place, no matter how many training sessions you’ve had, you will not be able to make it work.

6. Without the buy in from management about any changes that the training company suggests, you will have no chance of succeeding and make the training work for you.

There you have it. 6 points of why things are not working. In order to make any training work let me summarize in a more positive way what you could do to make this happen:

1. The right consultation is key

Training needs have to be assessed first. It’s important to understand the needs of the company as well as the individual needs of the attendees. (Interviews with management and key personnel (or maybe even all personnel that need to be trained) should be done to understand the training requirements.

2. Get management to buy in first

Buy in from management is crucial and in order to see the point of the sales trainer or consultant it is important that the management understands the changes that are required (if any) for the training to work.

3. Get agreement from management on necessary changes

The company should agree upfront on the changes that are required or needed in order to drive more sales or customer service and be happy with them. No matter how good a sales trainer you hire (or if you are a trainer then it doesn’t even matter how good you are), the trainer can only deliver on the information you provide and the changes that you are willing to take. If you don’t want to take certain risks, then the trainer need to know this information before hand in order not to make any suggestions on how to sell or improve your services.

4. The training should be created around the key areas and changes.

Training can only be successful if it is created with the companies needs in mind.

5. Training should be delivered to management first and staff second

It is important to deliver first to the management (if possible entire management) to make sure all points that have been agreed on are covered, to see if anything is missing and to get the entire management behind the concept. Afterwards training needs to be delivered to the remaining staff/ employees.

6. Follow up coaching to help implement the changes and discuss any challenges that the team might face over the coming weeks

Follow up coaching is probably the most important aspect of the training. It empowers the team and managers to find the best solutions on how to implement the changes and will provide the success that is needed in order to get the team to the next level.

So, how can this boost your companies image? Imagine you’ve had a training, a great training and you had somebody help you implement what you’ve learned during the training on a regular basis? That will give you the focus that you need and helps you drive sales and customer service levels. Your sales team will not be required to make any drastic changes right away but will continue to improve over a certain period of time until peak levels are achieved. Your company’s image will now rise to become the best in their field and the reason? Because you understand the training needs of your employees and now you can find the right training and coaching company to help you achieve greater results that you could have hoped for.

One thing I would like to add is that remember how long it took you to learn anything in school? No matter what the subject, but to get a complete understanding it took you years of learning and practice. So, why do we think that sending our staff to a one off sales or customer service training will do the trick? Let me assure you, it won’t. In order to implement what they’ve learned during the training course, follow up coaching needs to be provided. Only then will you see the results. It takes approx. 28 days to change a habit. If your sales people have bad habits, then the training might be a way in to create a new more positive habit, but only by doing the things that need to be done on a daily basis can your team start to excel. This can only be done with coaching the person (or group) on the required changes. And isn’t that why you spend the money on the training in the first place?

What is your experience with training companies? Or maybe you are a trainer and would like to share your opinion? I would love to hear your opinions on the subject.

Thank you for reading.

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Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland. Creating a synergy between consultation, training and coaching helps our clients to achieve the best results.

 

Hotel Reception: How to grow your revenue

Any hotel reception is the first point of contact for customers/ guests coming into a hotel. This is the first impression any guest will get and it’s important to make a great impression.

However a lot of people (hotel staff/ managers/ directors and receptionists) think this is not a place to sell. I believe it is the most important place to sell and I will elaborate on that in a moment.

Any reception is dealing with different type of customers:

1. The ones who didn’t book and just ask if there is rooms available

2. Guests who booked before and want to check in

3. Local customers who are looking for bar/ restaurant/ gym/ spa etc.

4. Guests who checked in previously and now want information from the reception on available services, asking what’s in the area etc.

5. Guests who are checking out

The reception area is dealing with all sorts of customers and representing the entire hotel. If your experience is great while checking in or talking to the receptionist, your overall perception of the hotel will improve. However if your experience is bad, long waiting times, neglected services or you have a receptionist that doesn’t really care then no matter what you do with the rest of your hotel, the experience will be bad for your guests.

Here are a few tips on how to improve your customers experience with you:

1. Use the right time greeting (Good morning/ good afternoon/ good evening)

2. Introduce yourself by name (Good morning sir/ madam, my name is xyz. How may I help you?). This is important as you will make a difference to your guests straight away. You will make their experience much more personal if you introduce yourself by name.

3. Put all your attention to the customer if possible. Try not to get side tracked, answer phones etc. unless you have no choice (being the only one at the reception). If you are the only one tell your customer to excuse you for a moment and apologize. Greet and acknowledge other customers when they come in and wait for you. A simple nod and smile is more than enough.

4. Always smile. It’s one of the most neglected things people do but it’s also one of the most important. And it doesn’t matter if you’re dealing with customers direct (meaning face to face) or over the phone. A smile can be heard through the phone line.

5. While you checking in your customers inform them about your loyalty programme and sign them up. Make sure you know the benefits by heart and give them 1 or 2 reasons of why they should sign up. This will create loyalty and brand awareness. You should aim to sign up at least 80% or more of your guests.

6. If you know about any special offers this is the time to test your customers. Ask them why they are in your hotel (business or pleasure), and make a referral about any area of the hotel. For example if they are there for business you can mention the great Jacuzzi to relax after a hard days work or special offers for the spa, etc. You can also mention any special deals you have in the restaurant. You would need to ask sales related questions of what they would like to do and then make the right recommendation to the guest. You may even be able to sign them up straight away.

7. Make them aware of in-room purchases such as mini-bar, movies etc.

8. Make them aware of any other services that you offer such as 24 hour dry cleaning for suits etc.

9. Prepare a welcome package for your guests of available services within the hotel, what’s available in the area and special offers or vouchers. To give you an example that will definitely make your guests go for dinner in your restaurant (if they haven’t booked it) might be a dessert voucher for every day of their stay. Basically if they decide to go for dinner in your hotel then they can use the voucher to get the dessert free of charge. Think about it, how many people would go for dinner if they get something for free?

10. Sell, sell and sell. Selling is natural and it provides your customers with a great experience. The points I’m raising here are not meant to be taken all at once. Choose some of them especially on the sales aspects. It all depends on your customer and what they would like to get out of their stay. If they want to rewind and relax use the spa option, sell spa treatments etc. If they are there for work, offer lunch and/ or dinner in your restaurant, and book a table for them if needed. You may also sell wine/ champagne, flowers, chocolates, or any other hotel accessories that you may have.

Reception is a great way to boost sales if done right. And it can be done without pressuring or pushing the customer into buying something from you. Think why they stay in your hotel, what is special about your place, what is available in the area and how you can make your customers stay even more special.

Food for thoughts.

What is your experience with hotel receptions? Let me know.

Thank you for reading.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up to date information.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland 

How mystery shopping can save your business

It seems that there is a lot of companies struggling at the moment with bad customer service experiences. This is not uncommon and if your company suffers right now from a bad PR or simply a lack of customers then it is time for you to test your business and your team.
Mystery shopping can help unravel a lot of things that not only could go wrong in a business but is currently driving customers away instead of getting them to you.

A lot of business owners think they can do the mystery shopping themselves. They believe by calling the main phone and see how their staff is performing on the phone is enough to test the waters. Although I personally would always recommend a business owner or director to pick up the phone and do that to just see the outcome, the main problem persists: As business owners we are usually biased to the matter and have what I would call the tunnel view.

This prevents the owner from seeing beyond certain points and especially when you like an employee (somebody you believe is outstanding) you will close your eyes to the matter if they are really good or just good in front of you.

Getting an outside company in to test your business could be key to uncover a lot of faults within the business, lack of customer care and service, lack of sales ability and up-/ cross-selling ability as well as friendliness of your staff.

The most common mistakes that we find sales people do are:

1. Wrong greeting/ introduction

2. Lack of care

3. Missing attention to detail

4. No up-selling/ cross-selling being done even if customers point or make references to other products/ services that they intend to buy

5. Sales people are simply order takers instead of real sales advisors to the customer (mostly retail and hospitality industry)

6. No establishment of customers needs by asking simple sales related questions
These are just a few of the things we find sales people don’t handle right in business. We find it more and more in the hospitality industry and retail where you have a direct sales approach. However in rare cases we also find this in call centers. Yet it seems that call center staff from telesales to customer service are handling inquiries much better then their direct (face to face) sales counter parts.

So, how can this help turn your business around?

When mystery shopping is done properly you will receive a full report on how your staff handled the inquiries including recommendations on how to turn things around.

You should also receive a training or professional development plan to target specific areas that need improvement in your business. This will help you establish and find the right training and coaching for you and your staff.

The one thing I would like to point out is that if you do consider getting a mystery shopper in, it is vital to listen to the consultant in order to bring the required change to the business. A mystery shopper or consultant can only make recommendations but it is up to you, as the business owner or manager to implement the changes that are needed in your business.

Did you have previous experience with mystery shopping? Did it help you or was it a waste of time and money?

SalesClinic is focusing on helping their customers to grow sales and discover how to provide a better overall customer service. Our new Mystery Shopping Experience is now online and can provide you with the necessary tools that will help turn your business around.

Thank you for reading.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up to date information.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland 

Hotels: How to turn your lobby into a goldmine

I love hotel lobbies. It’s a great way to relax and have business meetings away from the busy restaurant or bar within a hotel. In fact, I made a lot of connections and signed lots of contracts in a hotel lobby. However the downside is that most hotel lobbies are not really well looked after. Customer service seems not to be present at all, no waiter making the rounds asking if you would like something to drink or eat. No sales takes place unless it’s with your business partner or meeting that you are attending.

However if you have a designated waiter or day/ night porter to look after the lobby then your sales will grow. And we are not talking a few hundred or thousand Euros a year. Any hotel lobby has the potential to make at least 100 – 200K € per year. Let me show you how:

Most hotel lobbies are quite busy and have at least 200+ guests sitting down on a daily basis.

By getting a designated waiter for the area here are your options:

1. Get the waiter to introduce themselves by name. This makes it personal for your guests and provides a much better experience to them. Also people tend to spend more money if they know the waiter by name.

2. Look after the customers who are sitting down. Selling a cup of coffee or tea is simple enough but you can also offer light options such as cookies, scones, toast etc. if you don’t want your lobby smell like a chipper then this is the best option for you.

3. Ask your customers for refills. To keep an eye on the people sitting down and once they’ve ordered should be simple enough. Going back to your customers and asking them for refills is an easy sell and should be done regularly.

4. If you can add gift vouchers to the bill to get your customers to either return to you or to have a bite to eat in your restaurant. This could be a dessert voucher, an afternoon coffee etc. The trick is to provide a voucher for the day. Not every customer will take you up on this offer but if you do it regularly then you will boost not only your lobby sales but also your restaurant revenue. If you would like to give extended options to good customers (say they spend more than 20 € in the lobby) then let your customers know that they are valued and this little voucher will entitle them to a free dessert if they book a table in your restaurant until date x. You can make it more personal by asking your customers name and fill it in right in front of them.

5. Get the waiter to have a little chit chat with the customers. This will do wonders. Unless they are very busy or don’t have time, asking simple questions such as how are you sir? Are you here on business? or are you staying in our beautiful hotel? may make a difference. This shows interest and your customers might appreciate it.

6. If they are staying in your hotel ask them if they are aware of the loyalty program (if any) and the benefits it has for them. The waiter could even promote the loyalty program with people who are not staying in the hotel. Business people need conference or board rooms every now and then as well and it might be a good idea to get them interested in your hotel and other offerings.

For all of the points to work, your waiter or designated lobby staff member needs to be trained in sales, especially in up-selling and cross-selling. Simple things such as the name introduction is easy enough to implement however only if everyone in the hotel or bar/ lobby/ restaurant is doing this. It might need some additional training, coaching and tweaking but it’s easily done.

And here is what you’re losing out on if you don’t look after your customers in the lobby:

Based on 200 daily visitors to your lobby:

50 will not buy anything but may have a glass of water.

150 will buy at least 1 cup of coffee or tea (2,50€ each or 375€ per day)

75 will ask for a refill if prompted or order other/ additional drinks (2,50€ each or 187.50 per day)

If you introduce the voucher option:

3 may take you up on this and have lunch or dinner in your restaurant on the same day (depending on your pricing but consider 5 € for starter and 10 € for main course or 45€ per day)

5 may take you up on this and have lunch or dinner at a different day (depending on time given per voucher) (depending on your pricing but again consider only 5 € for starter and 10€ for main course or 75€ per day)

Overall revenue: 682.50 per day revenue

Annual revenue: 249,112.50€

Most hotel lobbies are not even coming close to this figure due to lack of customer care. My personal guess is that most hotel lobbies are making roughly 1/4 of this revenue. By getting somebody designated to the area you will improve your overall revenue at least 4 times.

And if you get a great waiter who really looks after your customers then you can easily double this again as he/ she will up-sell on small items such as cakes, scones, toast, fruit etc.

Are you ready to make a difference?

What is your experience in hotel lobbies?

How is your lobby performing?

Let me know.

Thank you for reading.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up to date information.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland 

Hotels: Missed opportunities and revenue busters

I’ve always had a fascination with the hospitality industry, especially hotels. Unlike any other industry you have so many stand-alone departments that are capable of selling to customers then any other company out there.

Think about it for a moment, you have the bar, restaurant, reception, reservations, lobby, wedding and events planner/ coordinator, health clubs or gyms and spa. Every single department can be seen as an individual little business on its own with the backing of the entire hotel. Yet, if you go to any hotel you will find that not many people are actually selling. Opportunities are missed constantly and this lowers the experience that the customers will have. It seems that sales is always seen as a necessary evil but nobody really wants to act upon it.

I thought it is time to change that. Time to give the guests the experience of a lifetime and add incredible value to your guests but also (if you own or managing a hotel) to your business.

1. Reception or front desk

Reception is usually seen as the place when you check in/ out guests. Not a lot of up/ cross-selling is done at reception (at least not from my own experiences staying in hotels). This is a complete missed opportunity. Yes, you get (sometimes, not always) information of what’s available in the hotel such as spa and gym, swimming pool, bar and restaurant locations, when is breakfast on etc. However the only selling that is usually done in the reception area is when the guest checks in and hasn’t booked breakfast with his stay and they might ask if they would like to have breakfast. But this is the location where sales could have the biggest impact on your business and for the guests. Imagine you would not only inform them about the possibilities in the area or the hotel but ask direct sales questions. Have a proper conversation with your guests and see what they would like to do. Fact is, that if they are staying in your hotel they are away from home and in most cases not even from the area. So, informing them about local activities is one thing but helping them to rewind is another. You could add a spa treatment to their stay, sell a place in the restaurant for dinner, have a list of available movies to purchase in case they want to stay in their room, etc. It is important to establish the customers needs and make offerings that make sense to the customers. Emphasizing on available treatments, the gym, swimming pool etc. is key to up-sell any products or services that your hotel has to offer. Also if you offer a loyalty programme this is the place to act upon it and help your customers to sign up for it. Most loyalty programmes no matter how good or bad they are are free and customers if prompted will take you up on an opportunity that might save them some money in the future or get additional benefits and value for their money. If you don’t have a loyalty programme, create one. Missed sales opportunity: 30 – 50K € per year. 

2. Reservations

Reservations is another great department to sell. Instead of just booking the room for the guest you could easily ask them about the intention of their stay (pleasure or business) and make recommendations while talking to your guests of what’s available and what you could add to the room. Having a bottle of wine ready on arrival is just one thing you could add, flowers for a couple on their wedding anniversary or spa treatments. Of course it all depends on what your guests would like but if you don’t ask, you won’t get. Missed sales opportunity: approx. 25 – 50€ per guest.

3. Restaurant/ Bar

This is one of the best departments to sell. However in many hotels waiters/ waitresses are just seen as order takers instead of sales people. This is completely and utterly wrong as they are the ones bringing in the most money for any hotel. Unfortunately because of the way society sees servers most hotels won’t even train the personnel to be able to proper up-sell on food and beverages. The guests experience? A lack of customer service, no attention of detail by the waiters, empty drinks, and not enough food items that are being sold. Imagine what you could sell if you had properly trained servers who actually know what they are talking about? Looking after the guests, refilling drinks regularly and adding from starter to dessert anything that can be sold to the bill. This can be easily done with a bit of training and coaching and will work wonders for any hotel that has a bar or restaurant. Would you mind having 30% higher sales? Because that’s what we’re talking about here. Missed sales opportunity: 50 – 150K € per year. (based on a busy restaurant 200+ guests per evening)

4. Lobby

I know the lobby is part of the restaurant but it’s a lot of times not taken care of. I see the lobby as a stand-alone business that adds tremendous value to the hotel if managed in the right way. All you need is a designated waiter for the area to serve guests. Of course above guidelines should apply, that the waiter pays attention to detail, ask for refills etc. But most of the time its completely left out. If you manage or own a hotel then here is something for you to consider. A lobby can easily bring 200 – 500€ a day if handled in the right way. I realize it’s mostly coffees and teas that are being served but consider that it’s up to your staff to sell additional items such as scones, toast, sandwiches etc. If you don’t ask you don’t get is basically the same approach. Think how many people are actually coming through and staying in the lobby for a while. A lot of business people meet in hotel lobbies and agreements are made. They all want coffee and don’t want to run to the bar every time their cup is empty. I’ve spend days in hotel lobbies having meeting after meeting and seen every time at least 200 – 300 people sitting down and having chats on a daily basis. If you consider that only 100 people buy a cup of coffee or tea, then we’ll already talking at least 250€ in revenue per day. That is 7,500€ per Month or 90,000€ per year on additional revenue from just one small area. If you don’t look after your lobby, then this is the loss you are currently making. Consider this for a moment. Missed sales opportunity: approx. 90K € per year. (based on 100 customers buying 1 cup of coffee or tea per day)

5. Gym or Health Club/ Spa

Another great area in any hotel. I take them all together as they are very similar, but most of the time run entirely separately. Most hotels which have gyms and swimming pools also offer memberships to locals. Besides that they have lots of opportunities to sell additional items such as bathing caps, swim goggles, even shorts or shirts for work out etc. Health clubs should always have some healthy options such as fruit bowls or fruit juices or energy drinks to sell. You could sell private sports and tutoring classes etc. Most of them do, however it is not promoted much by the staff. Yet again we see this as a reception area and we don’t think those people are capable of selling. This is simply not true as if done the right way, they could sell to at least every second customer something. Enhancing value is another thing they could do but it’s usually left out. Nobody is informing customers. Yes, you may see a flyer here and there when you come in but unless a customer is inquiring about a service they won’t get any information. This is a great area to be more pro-active and help your customers understand what is on offer, or make them aware of special offers, ask them for drinks etc. Every gym has the capacity to again sell for at least 100 – 200 € per day but only if the staff decides to be more pro-active. Missed sales opportunity: Min. 36K € per year. (Based on 100 € additional sales per day)

6. Wedding and business events coordinator

Last but not least are the wedding planners or events coordinators. They are usually sales people or have at least some sort of sales background. Most of them are actually doing a great job so I have not really many complaints here. However I come across a lot of event coordinators that are not really up-selling. Yes, in many cases when you book a conference room they add free water and coffee and teas are usually taken care of as well. But what about other items such as lunch/ breakfast/ dinner or adding a special rate for staying in the hotel? If a business training event is being held they could add a special room rate for the attendees, spa treatments at a special rate etc. I’m not saying that all of the coordinators are lacking this skill, but I rarely come across one that has done this in a proper manner. Asking questions is key and understanding the customers requirements. Missed opportunity: 25 – 100 € per person attending.

To sum up: I personally believe that every hotel with above features misses out on at least 200 – 300K € revenue per year. Of course it depends on individuals as much as it depends on your hotel and staff performance. If you have a pool area (outside pool with patio etc.) then you could easily add another 100K € to the list of missed opportunities.

Look at your entire revenue and add on average 30% on top, that is what you really miss out on a yearly basis. Are you ready to take the next step and bring your hotel to a different level, providing more value to your guests and while doing that growing your revenue automatically? There you have it. A unique business that has so many different sales departments that it will blow your mind of how much you can actually sell if done the right way. And to be honest, sales is not about just pushing everything to the customer but to listen actively of what the customers real needs are and making their stay as comfortable and pleasurable as possible. In the end they come to you for a reason.

What do you think of the above suggestions and ideas? Do you agree or have you had different experiences? Let me know.

What other industry would you want me to dig deeper into next?

Thank you for reading.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up to date information.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland 

The importance of Up- and Cross-Selling

Many businesses seem to neglect up- and cross-selling opportunities and fear that if they would try to up-sell or cross-sell that the customer might leave and not return. The fear is that the initial sale will fall through and that customers might feel pushed to buy additional products or services.

Before we dive in, lets see what it means to up-sell and cross-sell:

Upselling

Up-selling is usually when a customer asks about a specific product and the seller includes other products, upgrades and services to enhance the initial item the customer asked for. Take a computer for example: You may see a laptop that you like, it has the specifications that you as the customer believe it needs. The seller now might try to sell you additional memory, a bigger or faster hard drive, better graphics card, an extended warranty etc. The seller also might recommend additional soft and hardware depending on your requirements such as external printers, external hard drives, or specific software. The need should be established by asking the customer lots of questions and listen to what they have to say. This can be established for example by asking “Why does the customer need this specific product? What’s the purpose or what do you need it for? Why did the customer chose this particular machine and not a different one? What software does the customer have or would require in order to use this machine fully. The next step would be to provide information about the product and the benefits or if required, move the customer to a more suitable product for what he/ she needs to accomplish. You may show the customer “What comes with the product, what’s not included etc. What additional products would the customer need in order to use the machine fully etc.” Imagine you don’t ask those questions and the customer gets home with his machine and discovers it’s not the right machine for him/ her. Or that items are missing that are crucial for him/ her to work with the machine. The customer then would feel disappointed by the seller and might need to either come back at a later stage or (the most likely thing the customer will do) buy the additional products elsewhere. In many cases because products have been mis-sold the customer will even return the product and goes to a different seller who (hopefully) will then provide the customer with the product(s) the customer really needs.

Cross-selling

Cross-selling is usually done once the initial sale and up-sell is finished. Cross-selling is when we divert the customer to a different product or service. To give you an example: Lets say as a customer you want to buy life insurance. The agent has finished the life insurance, got your signature, took care of additional up-selling opportunities such as included a pension scheme in your life insurance cover etc. Now the agent might ask you about your car: “I’ve seen you have a nice Mercedes out there. Do you mind me asking which insurance company you use? If the agent knows that he can beat that insurance quote he might add that to his sale. This can be done at any stage even if the car insurance is not due for some time. Of course this could be done for house insurance, public liability etc.

Any business (unless they only have 1 product to sell) will have these kind of opportunities.

What we as a business society need to understand is that up-selling and cross-selling is not an evil thing to do. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is certainly sales people out there who would take advantage of customers. But those usually don’t last very long and customers will see right through it.

And it’s not only about selling more products. Up-selling and cross-selling is about establishing the customers real needs and requirements. Providing more value and benefits to your customers is the key. Asking relevant questions will not only elevate your sales but your overall customer experience will become more positive and this in turn will bring loyalty to your business.

If you’re not telling your customers about current promotions, things they need with the actual product that they intend to buy, additional benefits and features and how this enhances their experience then you’re loosing out, your customer is loosing out and the overall experience within your establishment will become less valuable to your customers.

This is a service that you “HAVE TO” implement in your daily sales activity. Your customer will thank you for it. And no, this is not to push the customers over the edge, this is to help them have the best possible experience and value that their money can buy and that you can provide.

As a sales person it is your responsibility and duty to your customer to provide them with the most accurate information and establish their real need. Just because a customer is asking for a specific product doesn’t mean they really want it, need it or can even use it to their full extend.

I will give you one more example that a great sales person will do for their customer:

Imagine a customer comes into your shop and wants to buy a nice 60″ TV. He saved over a year for it to finally be able to buy it. He comes to your store and picks out the TV of his dreams. You may even deliver. Now imagine your customer comes home, the TV is delivered and he sees that his living room is far too small for the TV. The TV fits just about in the corner where his former 32″ TV stood. His living room however is so small that he was already sitting very close to his 32″ TV, say 2 – 2 1/2 m away. Because of the size of the new TV it needs to stand further out from the corner and now he sits 1 1/2 m away. He can’t enjoy his new TV as he sits too close. He also discovers that his TV stand doesn’t fit or former wall mount is too small etc. One disappointment after another. What do you think is now going to happen? The customer will most likely return the TV and feels disappointment with the shop. If the sales rep would’ve done their job right he would’ve discovered all this by asking simple questions such as “What size TV do you currently own? is it on a stand or wall mount? How far are you currently sitting from your TV? Will the new TV stand in the same corner/ hang on the same wall etc. By asking the right questions the sales rep would’ve discovered all of the above and could’ve avoided the disappointment for the customer, directing him/ her to a different or smaller size product, explain the why’s and may even use the left-over money to up-sell DVD/ Blu-ray/ Surround System/ Wall mount/ TV stand etc. Yes, he would’ve probably made less money but would gain a happy customer that most likely will return to him for future purchases.

Honesty and asking the right questions, making the right recommendations are crucial to build a great service and create customer loyalty.

Are your sales people using proper questioning techniques to establish the customers real needs? What is your experience with your sales team? Let us know.

Thank you for reading.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up to date information.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland 

A simple guide to networking events

Have you been to a networking event recently? Here is what happens most of the time:

People meet at networking events, talk briefly and go their ways. Afterwards not much is happening and many people complain that it wasn’t really fruitful. Nobody contacted you afterwards to do business with you. Nobody send you an email or called you to buy your products or services.

Well, here is a shocker: One of the most important fundamentals of networking events is the follow up that comes afterwards. You may have made great connections but if you don’t follow up with them, no one will.

Here is a few tips of things that you can do before, during and after the event:

Before the event takes place:

Get your 60 second pitch ready. Yes, have a pitch or elevator pitch ready that you can deliver in 60 seconds or less. Make it interesting and make it count. Rehearse the pitch until you perfected it. If you need help designing a pitch for you then I would urge you to do some research.

Dress for success. Dress for the occasion. Business smart is good but (for men) a suit would be better. Proper business attire is the key for both men and women and it doesn’t really matter what your profession or business is all about. You want to get in with investors, meet new potential customers, get business referrals etc. In order to get those, you need to look the part. Nobody is referring someone who is dressed like a teenager that want’s to score.

 

Show up before. Make sure you show up on time, maybe even 5 – 10 min early. This could give you a head start by already talking to some potential new customers before others are joining the group. I personally make it usually about 30 – 45 min earlier. And as people come in, I’m already there to introduce myself before the event starts and have time to talk to more people.

During the event

Use your pitch. You have rehearsed your pitch now talk to potential new customers. These events are usually filled with different types of businesses and may not even resemble the target market that you have however this is about making connections. Maybe they are able to introduce you to some of their key customers. Keep this in mind when talking to people.

Go around. Don’t spend too much time on one or two people. We all tend to find the people who are a bit like us. And networking events are no exception. We may have the best intentions to introduce ourselves to everybody however we mostly stick with the people we either know or meet who are like minded. This is not (only) about meeting like minded people. This is about looking for business opportunities with as many people as possible. You can mingle afterwards if you wish but use the time wisely. Many business networking events have a set agenda such as speed networking or any other games that will engage the crowd. If this is the case and you followed my advise of being early, then you already have made a good bunch of connections and can enjoy the games of the evening. (Just a thought…)

After the event

Send an email. A few days after the event (no more than a week after) send an email to each of your new contacts. Introduce yourself again and of course mention that you’ve met and ask if they are available to meet for a coffee. Don’t make a big pitch of why they should meet you or what the benefits are to your products or services. Keep it short and simple.

Use the phone. Max. 2 days after you’ve sent your email, pick up the phone and again, introduce yourself, mention that you’ve met during the event and that you’ve sent an email and you were wondering when it would be best for them to meet with you. Here you may need to have a small pitch ready because some people might wonder why you would want to meet up. Many people however will most likely agree to meet with you especially if you had a connection with them during the event. But in general keep it simple. Having a coffee to find common business interest goes a long way and doesn’t scream sales right away. Yes, you may want to sell your products or services but you may also get some referrals out of this in case they are not interested. And obviously this goes both ways.

Prepare yourself. Book the meeting and prepare a small agenda of what you would like to get out of this meeting. This is mainly for yourself. You may want to send it over to your new contacts to give them a chance to prepare something as well. Remember, they give you the courtesy to show you what you’ve got so it’s only fair that you provide them the same benefit.

No sale at first meeting. Key again is to not make a full pitch. The first meeting is not about selling your products or services but to see if there is a general or common interest. Yes, you may want to be prepared for somebody telling you straight away, that they need exactly what you’re selling, but honestly, how often does this happen? You can show off what you do, who you are, what your company does, benefits, strengths etc. but take it slow. Also give them the time to tell you what they do. Afterwards establish the grounds of going forward. Book another appointment if they want to hear more about the products or services you offer, or see if you can exchange customer details in form of referrals. If you provide a handful of customers to them, they might do the same for you.

The key point I would like to make is that barely anybody follows up after networking events and wonder why no business comes out of it. It is vital and important to keep business going and if you want to not waste your time going to those events, then maybe it’s time to follow up with your new connections. Because barely anybody really follows up after those events, there is a lot of business left undone. If you’re one of the people who will follow up you can be rest assured, that something positive will come out of it. Give it a try and let us know how you got on.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more up to date information.

Thank you for reading.

Carsten

Carsten Schnier is the founder of SalesClinic & Coach Clinic and professional sales consultant based in Cork, Ireland