Sales Force Marketing - Salesforce.com CRM:
Turning a Prospect Into a Customer After He Walks Out the Door

An enormous misconception in the retail business world is that business must be transacted immediately - NOW. As a result, sales professionals - many of whom intrinsically know better - push customers by throwing a slew of rapid-fire questions at them. We've all heard them before:

- Would you buy NOW if the price is right?
- Would you buy NOW if I had the product in-hand?
- Would you buy NOW if I added an extra at no cost?

No matter how hard the push is to buy NOW, the result is always the same: if it is not the right product for the customer, nothing will make him/her buy NOW. The customer may tell you they will do business NOW, but this leads to long drawn out discussions that end with the customer leaving to "think it over" or "get my friend's opinion" or "price shop with other businesses." NOW never happens if the sales person is pushing the wrong product or if the customer is not really ready.

Keep in mind, all successful sales are made up of three elements: first, helping the customer pick the right product, second, the right store or business and sales person, and finally, the right price. In this scenario, NOW is meaningless. As an example, think about the last time you were shopping in a clothing store. Garments were sorted by style, then by color, all with various prices mixed in. If an outfit is appealing, a customer takes it to the fitting room and tries it on. If the look, feel and fit are right, then and only then, does a customer consider price. Price is secondary - even tertiary.

The question then becomes, is the business looking to do business or simply looking to do business NOW? When a customer walks in the door, the goal is to gain and retain their business. Whether they buy today (NOW), next week or next month doesn't matter; what matters is that they buy and they buy from you. At APB, we train teams - from managers to front line sales teams - to do business.

While it is important to offer the best solution with a financial package that meets a customer's needs - before leaving the business, it is equally important to extend the relationship beyond the store if a decision is delayed. To do this, sales persons must gather critical lead information, establish a relationship and create a customer who wants to come back - not only for themselves, but perhaps even for their family and with friends.

72 Hours to Success
According to a J.D. Power report, of prospects that leave the retailer without completing a transaction, 91% never receive a follow up call or letter. All are prospects who still need and want the products. In fact, the same study showed that 54% of these prospects go on to purchase from the competition within 30 days.

This is despite the fact that every sales person has been told since his first job that the first 72-hours after greeting a customer represents the critical "buy or die" window. Businesses and sales teams who are committed to doing business must view 100% of the prospects who come into the business as buyers - even if they leave. While every sales person is expected to follow-up on leads throughout the sales cycle, the reality as shown by the J. D. Power report, is that many focus only on the near term prospect, the NOW sale - the customer on the lot at the moment.

Today, automated sales software enables sales personnel to complete follow up in less time and with additional customer contacts more effectively, increasing the potential for closing deals. The quality of this contact with potential customers is a key factor. Sales personnel, the business development team and store managers must work in tandem to leverage tools and implement automated follow up plans for every customer based on their needs, wants and other information gathered during their first visit.

As new information becomes available - special promotions, new inventory, etc. - that can help close a transaction based on predefined customer information, sales teams can contact the prospect and bring them back to the store to close the deal. In all cases, automated sales solutions give business management the ability to check the status of every prospect at any time - daily, hourly or more frequently. This ability ensures that "hot" prospects won't be lost due to inadequate or poor quality follow-up and that the company's return on investment from advertising, sales time and other marketing expenses is maximized.

Automated or not, many stores are implementing standard follow up procedures for all prospects. For example, it may be the policy that every prospect receives an email within four hours of their visit, a follow-up call from the sales person within 24 hours of their visit, and a letter within 36 hours of their visit, and a call to set up a second appointment within 48 hours. Each of these communications can be personalized to the prospect's specific requirements in a product and financial means. These actions can be integrated in the sales team's daily action plans, or in the case of email, completed automatically.

From 72 Hours to Life
This approach - doing business vs. simply doing business NOW, not only helps improve closing ratios in the first 72 hours, but is equally valuable in extending the customer relationship, securing additional revenue, and building loyal customers who act as part of the store's marketing team. Once a prospect is converted to a customer, the sales person or the business development team can develop a communication plan designed to build customer satisfaction with the business and sell additional services. A typical plan may be designed to include some of the following, all scheduled in advance to ensure completion:

• Relationship Building:
- Thank you letter from the manager
- Sales or business development team follow up call to check on the customer's satisfaction
- Email survey on the customer's experience during the sale process
- Birthday cards
- Newsletters with updates, news, and other information

• Sales Efforts:
- Introduction call from the service manager
- Reminders for warranty expirations and extensions
- Sales promotions

Doing Business
By focusing on doing business, sales persons will close more transactions in the short term while building a loyal customer base that will return repeatedly for its needs, and, additionally, that can generate innumerable leads through word-of-mouth. Focusing on doing business and creating customers can be a simple process if store and their sales teams make a commitment to adopting these basic practices:

1. Collect and record standard, detailed data for every prospect.
2. Always present the best possible deal to the customer before they leave the store.
3. Leverage technology to develop a follow up action plan designed to bring the prospect back and close the deal.

Extend sales opportunities and relationship building with existing customers to generate additional revenue and referral sales.

Source: Richard F. Libin link

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