Marketing: Making the Sale and Customer Service

Closing deals and making sales is why businesses invest so much in marketing. Once you've established a successful business, are running a firm marketing campaign, and have generated large amounts of leads and prospects, it's time to actually sell your product! But all that marketing and preparation means nothing if you don't know how to effectively sell your product, or better yet, how to help your customers buy what they're looking for. Remember, prospects don't care what you're selling, they care about what they are buying.

There are many ways to increase the conversion rate of prospects to customers. First, don't rush the sale, that's the most important rule. Certain steps need to be taken before making the sale. Your business first needs to establish a great impression on your target market. Second, you need to generate interest about your products within your target market, and once they're interested, show them how your product can benefit them. Don't explain the features of your product, explain the benefits that the features create. If you're not seeing a large sale increase yet, a special offer (for example, 10% off, two-for-one, etc.) may need to be initiated to really spark prospects into buying mode.

The chain doesn't end when the purchase is made. If you want your business to become prominent in the field, you have to exceed customer expectations. Offer special deals for first-time buyers, and do the same for repeat buyers. When customers feel special, not only will they make repeat purchases, but they will tell other people about how great your business is, and you will get more new customers. It's a small cycle: Make the sale, give customer service (important for increasing customer loyalty), the customer refers new people, and the cycle starts over again. Customer service is extremely important, because loyalty is the key to a business surviving. A loyal customer is constantly purchasing from your business and generating positive word-of-mouth, so dedicate each customer as much time as they want, make them feel special, and you'll reap the rewards.

Focus extensively on establishing and maintaining a customer service program. Dedicate a phone line to customer service, and if you own a store, and separate counter for it. Be understanding, nice, and friendly to each customer, and don't make them feel like they are wasting your time. Constantly invite them, in a subtle manner, to talk more, and don't let them leave until all their problems are worked out. Also, encourage your customers to give their input about their business, as well as accept their complaints, and tell them you'll do your best work them out. Many customers don't complain about a business directly to them, for fear of an argument breaking out or being discarded like a piece of trash. Openly encourage complaints. This makes customers feel more comfortable (making them like your business more as a whole), and you find out what's wrong with your business and how to improve. By employing this type of policy, you receive two rewards, as previously stated.

Know your prospect and your product. When communicating with prospects, explain the relationship your product has with them, how your product benefits them, and why your product has more value than the products that competitors offer. If you can give a prospect a list of solid reasons of why they should buy your product, most likely they will (as long as they are listening). If a prospect doesn't feel comfortable, or they feel bored, they'll either zone out or walk out, it's that simple. And nobody wants that (unless you don't like a certain prospect and you want them to leave), so make sure to entrance the prospect in your communication, whether by e-mail, phone, or in person.

If a prospect starts making objections to your communication, saying they don't believe in your business enough, or they feel your product is too expensive, accept the objection and counter it (in a friendly manner) with reasons they are wrong (or better yet, uninformed on all the facts). Show them testimonials of past customers, and explain why the value of your product exceeds its price tag.

When the prospect is ready to become a customer, remember to make the buying process easy. Facilitate the payment process in as many ways as possible, and try to make it fast and quick. Finally, it's important to know when to stop making your sales pitch and let the prospect make the purchase. Periodically ask, "Do you have enough information that you are confident to make a purchase?" or, better yet, summarize the benefits you have already explained and then ask a question like "Is there anything else you would like to buy?" Do this, and you're sure to close more sales than with a fast-paced plan.