Your Sales Conversion Strategy

The bottom line of business is this:

You gotta make sales. Because if you don’t, you aren’t going to be in business for very long.

The good news is that by working through this series, you’re well on your way. But, there are still a few more things to consider when it comes to directly making sales. In particular, having a well-defined and streamlined sales conversion strategy.

Defining Your Sales Process

Having a written out sales conversion strategy is an absolute must for any business. At first, simply putting good practices in place helps get all of your staff on the same page—creating a unified front across your teams that drives consistent results.

Once your sales conversion strategy is in practice, you can improve that system over time by ramping up the things that work and cutting those that don’t—continually working toward efficiency and an improved bottom line.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

To begin solidifying your sales conversion process, you want to have a good customer relationship management system for storing all of your information.

CRMs are the combination of strategies and technologies used to manage and analyze customer interactions. The goal of these systems is to improve customer relationships, retention and long-term sales growth.

CRMs are vitally important. Without them, it’s too easy to let customers slip through the cracks—robbing them of the attention they deserve and missing countless opportunities to better serve (and sell to) their needs.

Typically, companies opt for CRM software that stores all of their customer information in one place. That way, it’s easier to stay on top of customer relationships without getting lost switching from one software to another.

That said, a good CRM allows you to:

• Automate email marketing
• Track customer interactions (when and how they are contacted)
• Analyze long-term sales trends
• Manage new leads

The importance of a CRM is related to that of your Nurture System: staying in contact with clients to build and improve those relationships over time—the very reason it’s so important to stay organized with a single system.

To get your started, here is a short list of possible CRMs suitable for small businesses. While all of the information is available, sifting through your options can get overwhelming. So, you may be better off speaking with an expert to help you determine what makes the most sense for you and your company at this time. 

Pricing Strategy

One of the most difficult decisions you’ll make as a business owner is how to price your products. It’s also one of the most important. 

To help you choose the right pricing, consider the following:

• The minimum price you can afford to receive and still cover your costs
• The highest price customers are willing to pay for your product (if you’re unsure, ask customers what value they receive from your services and how much that’s worth to them)
• Your company image (like it or not, price often reflects quality)
• Competitor pricing (and how you can provide more value to your clients than the competition)
• The value you provide (it’s not so much the price that matters as it is the perceived value the customer receives)

With these points in mind, come up with a pricing structure that makes sense to you at this time. You can—and likely will—change these numbers over time, so don’t worry too much about getting the perfect pricing strategy right off the bat.

Lowering the Barrier to Entry

When it comes to converting customers, here’s a little psychology lesson:

People tend to act consistently with the choices they make. 

What that means for your business is that once a client “sees” themself as being a customer of yours, they will continue to act in accordance with that self-image—making repeat purchases and referring your business to others.

This makes your job one of converting them to paying customers as quickly as possible. And one of the best ways to do that is by lowering the barrier to entry.

What’s the smallest thing you can ask customers to commit to? Is it a free consultation? Design guidance? Is there some small product or service you can sell to get your foot in the door before pushing a higher-priced item?

Take a few moments to brainstorm something your customers can easily say “yes” to. Once you have a few ideas, move on to the next section to learn how to push customers over the top and into a sale.

An Outrageous Guarantee

For a client to do business with you, they’ve got to feel safe. And there’s one great way to instill that trust. 

An absolutely outrageous guarantee.

The goal of your guarantee is to communicate that you are so convinced your customers will love your product that you’re willing to back it in a way that seems too good to be true.

The outrageous guarantee removes all risk in your customers' minds, leaving no reason for them not to try your product.

This is typically done with some type of money-back guarantee or trial period. But to make the guarantee outrageous, you’ve got to up the ante and go a step further.

Examples include:

• Lifetime warranties
• 60-, 90-day trials (the longer the better)
• More than your money-back guarantees

Of course, you’ll have to decide what makes the most sense for your business. But if your customer reads your guarantee and thinks someone is probably going to take advantage of you…

You’re on the right track.

Your Step-by-Step Marketing Blueprint:‍

Presale: Reaching Cold Prospects

1. Your Marketing Budget Guidelines

2. Your Target Audience

3. Your Message

4. Your Website

5. Your Traffic Channels

6. Your Nurture System

The Sale: Converting Customers

7. Your Sales Conversion Strategy

Post Sale: Creating Raving Fans

8. Your Customer Lifetime Value

9. Your Referral Program