Many of my clients have expressed that they like their CRM but also need other powerful management tools included such as project management software or time tracking. Enter WORKetc! This is the first small business solution that I have seen that is simple to use, has a CRM, project management tracking, time tracking, file storage, and billing all built into one program. It is not meant for companies of more than 20 people, but for small business, it is an inexpensive all-in-one solution that you might want to check into. Here’s the website for more information: www.worketc.com.
CRM, Project Management, Time Tracking All-in-One Program
November 10th, 2009What’s Your Sales Process?
July 1st, 2009With the current recession well underway, increasing sales has been a big topic for discussion lately. What are you doing to ensure that you are converting your leads to sales? How do you measure the success of your sales program? Below are a few tactics that are essential to understand and improve your sales process.
- Understand your Target Market. Make a list of the problems that your business is designed to solve. Looking at that list, who are the people and/or companies that most need what you offer? Target your approach to those groups and stay focused.
- Have a process that you follow in each sales meeting. People usually buy based on perceived feelings of pain or potential opportunity. Be sure to build questions into your process that get to one or both of those feelings so that prospects can truly feel how your product or service will help them. Note how when you follow a pre-determined process you close more deals.
- Track everything! Basically, it boils down to one phrase…”you cannot improve what you don’t measure.” Input customer information into your CRM (see below) and regularly evaluate how many people you are talking to per week and the percentage of those that turn into business. From there, you can make appropriate changes to increase sales such as focusing your marketing efforts in the right place, refining your sales meeting process to improve your closing ratio, or realizing that you need to talk to more prospects to meet your goals.
- Regularly review and find ways to improve what you are currently doing. As things change (the economy, technology, market factors, etc.), you will need to continue to evaluate what is working and not working in your sales process. Find an accountability partner, coach, process consultant, client, or colleague to provide honest feedback on a regular basis.
Do you have other ideas on what works for your company? If so, e-mail them to me or comment on this post.
Check it out…
While we are on the subject of tracking and measuring our sales process, I thought it appropriate to mention a free little tool out there called Free CRM (www.freecrm.com). A CRM, or Customer Relationship Manager, is a software program that helps you store and track information about your leads, customers, opportunities, and sales. CRMs have advantages such as allowing you to categorize customers so that you can use targeted marketing approaches based on the type of customer and your desired relationship with them. CRM systems are great for businesses large and small to simply and accurately track sales data and have control over your sales process. It takes discipline and effort, but the increase you will see in your sales make it well worth it!