Developing a sales strategy for a manufacturing company isn’t easy. Qualifying leads and managing multiple accounts can make it difficult to see what’s working and what’s not. Below is our advice on how you can refine your sales process and increase the effectiveness of your sales team.
1. Create a Digital Catalogue
Most manufacturers provide a PDF version of their catalogue, which can make it difficult for customers to find the information they need. To make it easier for customers to learn about your products and buy more, consider creating a digital catalogue.
Digital catalogues (such as those offered by DCatalog) allow customers to easily search for products by keyword and make purchases online. They also provide your sales team with valuable analytics about which products your customers are most interested in.
2. Research Customers Instead of Markets
Even within the same industry, every customer is different from one another. Creating an industry-based pitch won’t allow you to cater to the unique aspects of each customer. Therefore, it’s best to create an individualized pitch for each lead.
This sales strategy is called Account Based Marketing (ABM). According to ABM, your company should tailor its sales and marketing strategy to specific accounts with personalized approaches.
For example, instead of having your sales team talk about your product on their first call, have them ask the customer about their problems. This will give the salesperson insight into the purchasing process of a company and who the key decision makers are. This information will allow your sales team to create a highly personalized pitch to suit your client’s exact needs.
3. Capitalize on Your Top Customers
When applied to sales, the Pareto Principle says that 80% of your income comes from 20% of your customers. So, if you focus more energy on the top 20% of your accounts you should expect to increase sales. Within the bottom 80% of your accounts, note the ones that have the potential to become key accounts and develop those relationships too.
Bottom Line
Anticipating your customer’s needs and pain points will better equip your sales team to serve your clients. However, sales is only one way to grow your business, here are some other ideas you may want to consider.
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