Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 182
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| Thought for the week: "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." Bill Cosby |
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In this week's issue:
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Seven widespread sales mistakes and how to fix them
If you asked any small business owner what they'd like to be different or better about their business, it will be a pretty safe bet that most people's answer would be to make more sales and have happier customers.
Apart from it being obvious that any business would want to maximise its revenue and profit by selling more of its products or services, there is perhaps a deeper and more fundamental reason for this answer.
And this can probably be explained by the fact that most business owners are not very good at selling, or make very basic sales mistakes without knowing how to fix them.
The fact is that it doesn't matter which industry sector your business is in, or what type of product or service you're trying to sell, because the chances are that you will be making the same basic sales mistakes that burden most small business owners.
However, it's not too difficult to correct these mistakes, with the upshot of having more satisfied customers and making more sales.
Here are seven of the most widely occurring sales blunders and tips to help you correct them.
1) Not researching what your customers want. Simply trying to sell a product or service that you know is excellent and of the highest quality is no good if you can't find people who want to buy it, or if the target audience you've chosen just aren't switched on to your offer. You must never stop listening to what your customers are saying they want, as this will continually change, sometimes imperceptibly. You should constantly analyse what your prospects or customers like and dislike, what they buy and how they buy, and generally understand what makes them tick.
2) Not preparing properly. No matter what the sales scenario you're going into, whether it's dealing with an enquiry on the phone, in a meeting with a prospect, or face-to-face in your shop, it's an unforgivable business sin to be unprepared for the questions you might get asked. You should always thoroughly prepare in advance what you are going to say or pitch, and you should be able to anticipate both the obvious and less obvious questions you might get asked.
3) Not focusing on the sale. A classic sales error when faced with a prospect is to let your pitch drift too far away from your main objective, which is either to make a sale, or to get your prospect to commit to a higher level of interest in your offer. If you're inexperienced or uncomfortable in face-to-face selling situations, it's important that you learn to keep your concentration and don't end up talking about things not relevant to where you're trying to lead your prospect, which is closer to the sale.
4) Being too pushy. While it's important not to drift off on a tangent, it's also vital that you don't push your prospect into a corner where they feel they're being pressured, or end up pushing them down the street to buy from your competitors. You need to make sure you're educating your customers, making them comfortable and feeling they can trust your business to meet their needs, rather than just getting them to empty their wallets.
5) Failing to follow up. In many situations, a prospect will not buy straight away, or may have unanswered questions following their first enquiry. And they might well be making their own uninformed comparisons between you and your competitors. This is probably the biggest and easiest-to-fix single sales error in the book. If you get an enquiry or a request for information, or you send out a quote or estimate for a job...follow it up!
6) Not looking for new customers. Unfortunately it's too easy to forget that when sales are going well, you always need to spend time looking for new customers. This mistake can often be a fatal one, particularly for a business in its first year or two of trading. For a new business to survive and grow, you should continually be looking for ways to generate new prospects to sell to rather than just relying on customers who are buying or are interested now.
7) Not making customer service a high priority. Too many businesses don't recognise the importance of providing a high level of customer service. They get an order or a sale then totally neglect to let the customer know what else they can offer or what else they can expect after they have made their purchase. In fact, this can be turned into a unique selling point when you're pitching for a sale, by emphasising the ongoing support, education and service your business will provide. Exceptional customer service is rare, but it's also completely inexcusable for any business to fail to provide it. However, there's no reason at all why you can't make this one of your biggest selling points.
Being successful in business can often be down to a few simple things that will give you an edge over your competitors and get you those regular extra sales. Applying some of the sales tips listed above might just make that difference you are looking for.
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For hundreds of practical tips and techniques about finding new customers, increasing sales and growing your business, check out the UK Small Business Marketing Bible. |
Using the Patent Office site to protect your assets
The UK Patent Office recently revamped its website to make it easier for small businesses to understand and protect their intellectual property (IP) assets. The new site provides plain English information about the processes involved in registering a trade mark, patent or design, and protecting your copyright.
Key features include:
- A search facility to check which patents and trade marks already exist.
- Cost breakdowns and timelines so you can understand exactly how much each application process will set you back, and how long it will take.
- Downloadable forms that you can fill in and submit online.
- Jargon-free guidance on the law and how it is applied to businesses.
- A new streamlined and simplified process for registering a design.
- A service enabling you to check the status of your application.
- Advice on how to extend your IP protection overseas.
The British Library is also promoting its Business and IP Centre to small businesses. It offers events and workshops, which can also be viewed as webcasts, plus a range of directories and databases on the subject.
To learn more about IP and what you should do to safeguard your business, see our factsheet on the subject, and also those on copyright and trade marks.
Types of advertising
Here are the top ten types of advertising, worked out by total UK expenditure in 2005. The figures come from the Advertising Association and are reported by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).
1) Television
2) Regional newspapers
3) Direct mail
4) National newspapers
5) Internet
6) Directories
7) Business and professional journals
8) Outdoor and transport
9) Consumer magazines
10) Radio
You can find out more about choosing the right advertising medium for your business by reading our practical factsheet.
Each
week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business
ideas in the UK.
Here
is this week's idea:
Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.
Do you know what the word 'facile' means?
a) false or misleading
b) easy but valueless
c) sarcastic or derisive
d) foolish or absurd
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
Unhappy customers tell their friends
An article by Microsoft, based on the findings of a 'Customer Rage Survey' carried out by the US Customer Care Alliance, reveals that 85% of unhappy customers share their experience with others. Top ways to fail your customers identified in the research include wasting time, not training frontline staff in basic interpersonal skills, relying on automated phone systems and self-service, responding slowly to e-mails, and not recognising the opportunity presented by an unhappy customer.
There's a new Million Dollar Homepage
The publicity surrounding the Million Dollar Homepage - the Internet advertising idea that attracted lots of attention earlier this year - has been widely reported. It spawned a lot of copycats, and now there's a new idea that aims to make banner advertising - one of the most popular forms of online marketing - more accessible for small businesses and website owners. BillionDollarBannerAd.com allows you to showcase your venture online, with a desirable homepage position 'auctioned' to bidders each week.
Free health and safety courses
Employers are being offered free health and safety training courses for their staff. The British Safety Council (BSC) is giving away £1 million worth of basic health and safety qualifications on a first come, first served basis. Interested businesses should register via the BSC website by the end of this month; examinations have to be taken by the end of the year.
Free office software from Google
Google has recently relaunched its Writely word processing software and its Spreadsheet package. The revamped programs launch in your web browser, so you have to be online to access them. The 'Google Docs & Spreadsheets' will initially be available free and without advertising, so they're a good option for business owners who need basic office software but have a tight budget. Another bonus is that the programs allow users in different places to collaborate on documents simultaneously.
This straight-talking manual tells you exactly how to overcome your negative beliefs in order to achieve success, both at work and at home. It's packed with no-nonsense, practical tips on how to get ahead in a competitive world, explaining how to develop a powerful personal action plan that'll get you smart, healthy and rich. It's not a book for the fainthearted, as the author takes a no-holds-barred approach to the subject matter he covers, but for a motivational - and entertaining - kick in the teeth, you could do a lot worse. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is b).
Facile means something that is easy, quick or effortless to do but holds little real value.
It is facile to base your market research on just asking your friends and family what they think of your business idea or product. |
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Good luck
The EnterQuest Team
This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate. |
