If you’re in business, then reality is, you’ve got sales to action, so of course your sales conversion rate is important. As an experienced business coach and marketer, I know some people just say “so do more marketing” but can be wasteful. Firstly, you’re wasting marketing dollars with potentially ineffective means to convert those opportunities into leads and if you quote, well that takes time and the more you quote, the more time you spend and we all know ‘time is money’.
So here are my top 11 tips to improve your sales conversion rate for a service-based business:
1. Get the right mindset.
That means not being scared to sell, or thinking that sales is a dirty word, or believing that all salespeople are Bantha poodoo. Over the last couple of decades I’ve worked with many clients who are uncomfortable selling, or pricing themselves right. I help clients get the right mindset, as much as have great sales processes in place.
2. Set up your marketing with the end in mind, that is selling.
You can make your life easier by being setup in the right way. Your website’s wording and messages helps you to sell and sets you up to be on the road to selling. One great example is testimonials. People have fears (some from bad previous experiences and others from certain perceptions). If the fear is “will this person deliver as promised” and you have awesome reviews saying you go above and beyond and over deliver, well, that puts that person at ease. Sure, you could say it, but reality is that when others do, it has more value. Unless you’re a budget service, never lead with price.
3. Know your ideal client AND stick to your service offering.
Being very clear about who is your ideal client helps in a great way. For a start, your marketing should be targeting them and the words on your website connecting to them personally. Another important aspect is to know yourself, your business and be clear about what you offer, or do not. If you’ve been in business long enough, you’ll know that clients will ask you to do something which is not in your wheelhouse. Sure, you could learn it, but if you are not intending to expand to that service, and you’re not skilled in it, then consider declining. When things go wrong, it costs us both money and reputation and potentially a good client.
4. Screen out early those leads which are not suitable for you, especially tyre kickers.
At times, I talk to my business coaching clients about D grade clients. These are the clients who take up the majority of our energy, cause us undue grief, are unfairly demanding or unreasonable, always complaining and frequently pay us late, or sometimes, not at all. A seasoned business owner will cull them out before they even start. Another time waster are tyre kickers and those who will get 10 quotes to save $20. Unless you’re a budget business and they are your ideal client, then screen them out early. Content and wording on your website is a great start. Do you use the words affordable, budget, inexpensive or economical? These words talk about low priced, versus quality, value, excellence and superior talk about what someone can expect from a top-notch product or service.
5. Focus quality, not quantity, when it comes to sales.
Again, rather than going for a volume of sales, where you just don’t convert that well, target your ideal sales. By being clear in your mind, and on your website, who your ideal client is, then you’re on the road to having correct focus. You may niche down to a certain level – for example, you might be a trade business who only services commercial properties – in which case ensure your website focusses on this and your imagery reflects this. If your niche is people aged over 60, then potentially Instagram and TikTok are not your platforms for social media marketing. Have the right focus, so you get the right prospects and it becomes less about volume, and more about working smart.
6. Utilise guarantees, trials or testimonials and manage ‘objections’ well.
As I said, sometimes there is a fear of whether a person is making the right choice to select you. Rather than waiting till someone says “Um, I’m not sure” or “Ahh, you’re a bit expensive” manage those ‘0bjections’ in advance. This occurs with guarantees. Sharing testimonials and reviews early in the process helps greatly too and remember that trials, samples or ‘tastings’ will help too. Many professionals (including solicitors) now offer a free 10, 20 or 30 minute free consultation, sampler or complimentary session. I offer a free no obligation 30-minute sample coaching session – which is not 30 minutes of me doing the hard sell, but a true sample of my service.
7. Have a strong call to action at every turn.
Even at the end of a blog, invite the person to take the next step. After a ‘sales meet’ or ‘sample session’ have a strong call to action and be clear what the next step for them is.
8. Have a sales process.
Having great touch points in your sales process will help you, as will having a great process and system which all your team have been trained to action. Whilst you might have a BDM or salespeople or the owner handles all quotes and sales, all your team should have some training. Enquiries will come through your delivery person, receptionist, installer, or other service provider because they are frontline people; give them sales training even if the process is to pass the lead onto you.
9. Have awesome sales documents.
So many people think a quote or proposal is something which outlines what you will provide for what price. It can be so much more than this, if done well. I’ve helped dozens (possibly hundreds) of clients get their sales documents to improve their conversion rates!
10. Follow up is absolute GOLD.
When you email over a quote, does that mean your job is done? No – absolutely NOT! Firstly, you must follow up to ensure the email was received. Stats show that about 49% of emails end up in spam folders (and yes some are spam). However, I know from personal experience that many are not. Ensure they got your email and then after they’ve had time to review the quote, give them a follow up call to see if they have questions and if not, and happy, then prompt “so shall we get you started?” It’s not hard selling, but you do want to ‘close’ the sale – in a warm way.
11. Track leads and lead sources, know your stats.
Knowing what works, where the sale is in the sales funnel and where you are at with a lead is exceedingly useful. If you’re getting leads from a certain referrer, wouldn’t you then genuinely thank them? If an expensive magazine ad doesn’t work, would you spend that money again? If you know which blogs work, wouldn’t you do more of that type of blog? Just as financial reports are exceedingly useful, so are marketing figures and reports. They help educate and guide us to improve.
If you would like any help with your marketing, sales process or general business coaching, I’d love to help. Ask about my complimentary sample coaching session (promise no hard selling!) by clicking here.
