The Winning Sales Process: Converting Prospects to High Paying Clients

Networking is not the sole determinant of your success in the world of sales though it plays a crucial role in getting you and your products the visibility it needs. The key determining factor of your success in sales is the quality of your prospects and how quickly you can convert them to loyal clients.

Before going further, it is important to know who a prospect really is, so who is a prospect? A prospect is someone (be it a person, a department in a company or a whole company) who has the financial capacity plus potential interest in your business or your product. Simply put, a prospect is someone who represents your customer profile and has not yet expressed interest in your product or service.

So let’s say you paid hundreds of thousands to secure a booth at a business fair, acquired several pages of contact information of prospects but are unsure how to take it further and garner sales, here is how to convert them to lifelong paying clients quickly:

1. SELL BENEFITS INSTEAD OF FEATURES

Prospects always have one thing in mind when they’re being sold to – “what’s in it for me.” As a sales person, you should be careful not to get engrossed in talking about features of your  product instead of benefits to the prospect. You should talk about the features then  its corresponding benefits to your prospect and how the benefits apply to the prospect’s current situation.

2. CLOSE SALE AT THE BEGINNING, IN THE MIDDLE OR AT THE END

The law of 3 states that in every sales engagement with a prospect there are 3 opportunities to close the sale.

At the beginning: Only close at the beginning when it is obvious the prospect is sold out to you or your product. This could be as a result of your testimonials, a referral or even your attention-grabbing statement. A few months ago, I had a conversation with the owner of a conglomerate; she was coming out of a hall and I was walking in, so I quickly greeted her, told her what I do and she said, “wow! Why don’t you come and do some sales training for us?” I said, “Fantastic, when would you like us to start?” Sale closed at the beginning.

In the middle: When you’re engaging a prospect, ask open-ended questions to look for opportunities to build rapport based on common interests, beliefs or background. Move on to asking questions to identify their needs, after which you can then explain the benefits of your product and how it can be applied to their situation. At this point, after explaining your product’s benefit you can ask a question like, “is this applicable to your current situation?” If the prospect says, “Yes it is!” You can close simply by asking, “so how many do you want? Or “what colour would you like?” That is a sale closed in the middle.

At the end: If you didn’t close at the beginning or in the middle then don’t miss it here. If the prospect says, “It isn’t making sense yet” or if the prospect isn’t convinced or if the prospect asks questions (or objections) then you can either give more benefits of your product (the more benefits explained the higher your chances of increasing buying desire). You can also answer the objections by asking, “Is this your only concern before you pay?” If he or she says, “yes,” answer then ask for the money. That is how to close a sale at the end.

3. CONVERT CUSTOMERS TO CLIENTS

My wife went to the pharmacy to get some medication. We both knew the price of the drug but she came home with a much more expensive one. When I asked why she bought that, she said the lady at the store convinced her that the brand is of better quality and will give better results. I immediately thought to myself, “she converted my wife from a customer to a client.” This is because she didn’t just allow her walk in, ask for what she wanted, pay and leave. Rather she asked questions to be sure what she was requesting for could solve her problem.

We need to approach our business this way. There is a difference between customers and clients. Supermarkets have customers, Lawyers have clients. Customers will give you an income, clients will make you a fortune. So how do you convert your customers to clients? Improve Your Language. Start by calling your customers clients and treating them that way because your intentions will always influence your outcomes. Once you begin to consciously do this, they will act and pay you like clients.

4. USE TAG-TEAM SELLING

A few years ago, as a salesman (‘marketer’ like most people called us) for a Nigerian bank, I walked into a prospect’s office having booked an appointment. I had started studying the subject of selling so I knew how to prospect, get appointments then give sales pitches. The prospect’s office was spacious and well-decorated; it was more like an apartment. While I waited at a section of her office seated on a sofa, a lot of people walked in and out of her office giving her documents to sign.

After about 7 minutes she called me, “young man come this way” (this was the beginning of trouble in the sales process; she saw me as a young man). I walked to meet her all dressed up fastidiously with my pocket handkerchief sticking out briskly from my suit jacket (all that razzmatazz didn’t move her). I started by greeting her, gave her a few compliments while trying to build rapport but her face was like a brick wall. I went on to ask a few questions to know what her needs were but she just said, “please go straight to the point. What do you want?”

Then I did what I wasn’t supposed to do which was to start  talking about my product like a TV commercial. Seeing that it wasn’t working, I took it a step further by taking charge. I took  a pen and paper from her desk to show her a few calculations of what the product would do to multiply her money and she was impressed. I thought her being impressed meant I was making progress until she asked me, “how old are you?” I didn’t know what I know now if not I would have closed the sale from that question. So like a lamb led to the slaughter I answered her.

Apparently all she wanted was a much older person to sell this product to her so I got a senior colleague of mine to do so and he closed the deal instantly!

That is what tag- team selling is about. There are times you meet a prospect and you can’t seem to build rapport or the prospect doesn’t like you or you don’t seem to get along well with them or you feel the opposite sex would probably do a better job in persuading this prospect. People buy from those they like, so don’t let the sale go. Instead, move it to someone else or get someone else to close the sale for you or preferably with you.

Remember, if you’re not receiving enough leads, it is probably because you’re not giving others enough leads. Practice tag- team selling today and experience a dramatic improvement in your sales process.

With these tips you’ve read thus far you will definitely convert prospects to high paying clients. Sales is all about action and as long as your salespeople act on quality information like these shared today, their sales won’t remain the same.