In a competitive market, it can be easy to get so focused on landing sales that your forget about the individuals on your team. You spend so much time looking for ways to scale your business that you over-push your employees, putting a pressure on them that leaves them anxious and on edge.
If you want your business to succeed long-term, you need to create an authentic, healthy sales environment that promotes teamwork and encourages rather than dictates. Keep reading to learn how you can get back to the basics with a few simple team building tips.
Be Open and Upfront with Your Customers
Building strong relationships with your clients is the key to creating an authentic sales team. Studies show that 6 out of every 10 customers want to talk about pricing during that first sales call. But many sales team shy away from these questions. While there is value is showing clients the worth of your product and services before they have a chance to experience sticker shock, if they specifically ask about costs, avoiding or deflecting will leave you looking less than trustworthy.
Educate your team on how to properly approach questions about pricing. Teach them the value of being open and transparent with your customers, even if it means releasing information earlier than you might have liked.
Encourage Teamwork Over Competition
A little healthy competition can be great for encouraging team members to work harder to increase sales. But too much competition will pit your employees against one another, leading to tension in the workplace that can spill over into your client interactions.
If your team members are only worried about landing as many sales as possible to stay at the top, they may act more harshly toward potential clients who are on the fence. They may be impatient during client talks, may fail to communicate with customers they don’t think are likely to make a sale, and won’t put the same amount of effort into nurturing client relationships.
To combat this, focus on encouraging teamwork first and competition second. Motivate employees to lean on each other for help and encourage one another.
Know When to Avoid Over-Promoting
If your business is one that offers various levels of products and services for consumers to choose from, it can be tempting to over-promote these products in an effort to turn them into long-term clients. Unfortunately, pushy sales may cause you to lose a client entirely. If they aren’t already passionate about your product or services, they may choose to look elsewhere rather than face endless sales calls, emails and promotions.
Alternatively, it’s best to find methodologies and business models that stay clear of these shortsighted sales tactics. For instance, Amway is a direct-sales company that allows Independent Business Owners (IBO’s) to choose the products they’d like to recommend to potential customers. Contrary to the Amway-pyramid-scheme myth, IBO’s only make money when products are sold and don’t earn a single cent from recruiting. The company offers household, beauty, nutrition and a host of other products to choose from. This broad range of products makes it easy for entrepreneurs to focus on their passions.
Give your clients some space, particularly when they are new to your services. Studies show that 60 percent of consumers prefer to connect with a sales rep in the consideration stage. This stage occurs after the consumer is already aware of a business’ model and products.
Getting Back to the Basics of Sales
Perhaps the most important way you can ensure your business values the basics is to choose a business model that doesn’t get in the way of this goal. Creating an authentic, team-centered operation starts with choosing the right business for this.
Finding a business plan that doesn’t promote pushy sales, poor products, or sales models that require a constant focus on landing the next sale rather than nurturing client relationships will allow you to create a healthy, happy business environment.
