As you’ve probably experienced, high inflation and higher energy prices are creating major challenges for many business owners. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about this, but it does mean that businesses will need to generate additional revenue in 2023. Most often revenue comes from new customers, but the retention of existing customers is getting more difficult. What does it take to optimize your sales?
Be critical of salespeople's time
Sales optimization starts with having a strategy and the right focus. . An account manager should not spend time on companies that will never become customers. However, even today loads of time and resources are spent unnecessarily. Be critical of your sales team’s time and ensure that they are focusing on the right target group.
Intensive contact with existing customers
Your customers should never forget you. However, one large challenge is to be continuously present. Your customers may not be aware of the complete range of products and services that you provide. After all, they only know you from the first order they gave you.
You need to be in constant dialogue with your current customers. Why? Because retaining a customer is a lot easier and less time-consuming than finding new customers, especially when you have a high dependency on only a few clients. In that case, intensive contact becomes more necessary.
A large and valuable network
Networking can be extremely challenging, especially when doing it online. Previously, when networking face-to-face in business clubs, you had human contact and instinctively knew what you had in common.
Today, especially online, it seems you are judged on how many contacts you have on LinkedIn. Still, what is important is not the number of contacts, but the actual value of the connections that are made. After all, having too many so-called contacts can also distract you from sales. As far as we’re concerned, quality goes before quantity.
Reaching 100% of your target group
Reaching everyone who belongs to your target audience is a utopia, although it is often promised to you. Today, an overload of information makes it challenging to get in touch with new potential customers. As in the past, you can still get rejected if people are “too busy” or not interested. The only difference is that smart automation allows you to reach many more people in a short period of time. Does that succeed enough? Even answers to frequently asked questions can be provided automatically. Still, total automation versus personalized outreach is the challenge!
A continuous flow of new leads
Anyone who wants to boost sales will benefit from a constant flow of new leads. However, this is quite a challenge. Reasons may include: fewer customer visits in recent months or years; not being able to find knowledgeable sales people (sometimes due to labor shortage); and, unfortunately, an increase in bankruptcies. These factors mean that more work needs to be done to yield the same number of leads, especially when you are looking for high-quality leads.
Do you need help with sales optimization?
Let’s be honest: sales is difficult. Finding the right strategy and focusing on the right areas are challenging. In addition to these two elements, sales optimization requires a constant dialogue, a valuable network and uniformity in the communication towards your customers. Which can be rather difficult. Our team of specialists has helped many other B2B organizations with their challenges. Feel free to contact us to find an answer to yours.