Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/549054
AUGUST 2015 20 THE JOURNAL Is It The Marketing, Or Is It My Sales Processes? BY SCOTT STROUD MARKETING CONSULTANT Question: How do you know if the sales leads are weak or the salesperson is weak? Our model home tours and web traffic are up over last year. However, our sales are way down. We are trying to figure out if we have a lead issue, a sales process issue, or a salesperson issue. – David. Great question, David. During my 10 years as VP of Sales for a major home manufacturer, and since then as a consultant to many other builders and manufacturers, this is an issue that I'm all too familiar with. Your sales team is your front line – no sales, no revenue. So, making sure you have the right people doing the right things and with the right tools is paramount. There is no easy answer, but here are some questions to consider that might uncover weak- nesses in your system so you can take corrective action: #1. Are there external factors that affect sales? • Are the buyers on the market now having more trouble finding financing? • Are appraisals not coming in where they should? • What are your competitors doing? Are they seeing the same issue? • Is this issue specific to one sales rep, or to the entire team? • Is someone else making your prospects a bet- ter offer or undercutting yours? #2. What do your prospects say? • How do prospects respond to your homes, your offer and your pricing? • What are their consistently major objec- tions? How do you address those? • What reasons do they offer for not buying now or from you? #3. What do the numbers say? Numbers to track and compare: • Number of ups per day/salesperson • Number of incoming calls per day • Number of 2 nd appointments booked per week • Number of calls made per day/salesperson • Number of emails sent per day/salesperson • Number of connections/conversations per day/salesperson • Conversion Rates: • Online traffic to leads (Compare site visitors to new leads.) • New leads to on-site visits • Site visits to appointments per sales person • Appointments to quotes • Quotes to sales #4. What do your sales reps say?* • What do they believe to be the #1 obstacle to increasing sales? • What is their general view of the current market and quality of buyers? • How many people do they feel they should be talking to? • How many contracts do they feel they should be writing? • Do they feel they are spending their time in the right activities? • What single change do they feel would be most helpful in increasing sales? *A sales rep with a bad attitude or lazy habits will betray themselves by trying to fix the blame on you, the product or the market. However, sales professionals are on the front line, and if they are sincere in their efforts, will have insights that can be helpful and that should be acknowl- edged. Too often we in management fail to trust and listen to the right people at the right time. #5. What happens during a sales presen- tation/model tour? • Does the sales rep tour the home with prospects, or let them tour alone? • Is the presentation a 'feature-dump', or a discovery meeting? • Does the salespers on listen and respond to the stated wants/needs of the buyer? • Are your unique benefits clearly stated in a way that is perceived and relevant to buyers? • When is pricing addressed – early in the con- versation, or at the end after value has been es- tablished? #6. What are your follow-up processes? • Is follow up immediate and relevant? • Are communications personalized or 'boiler- plate'? • How often and for how long do your sales reps keep in touch with prospects? • How do you qualify prospects – or allow them to qualify themselves (i.e. online)? • Who writes the follow up letters, emails and phones scripts? Do you know what your sales reps are saying? • Does every conversation focus on a next meeting at a specific time? Actions you can take: 1. Hire a mystery shopper. You'll get a clear and accurate reading of how your sales rep or team is performing. 2. Install processes to manage the numbers, such as a CRM system that reports on call logs, completed tasks, and appointments. 3. Automate follow up to ensure every prospect gets full and personalized attention that encourages increased engagement. 4. Have coaching sessions with sale reps. Work with them individually on the sales floor, or hire a professional sales coach to work with them. Asking the right questions is the first step to- ward identifying the weak link in your system, evaluating the issue and taking corrective action. The questions listed above are by no means all- inclusive, and you'll probably think of more as you go over them. But these are a great starting point to analyze your marketing and sales system and the support you give to your sales team. I'll be happy to make recommendations for shoppers, sales trainers or Sales Automation Software that are specific to our industry. Just give me a call! Scott Stroud is Business Development Manager for Power Marketing & Advertising, a full-service marketing firm working exclusively with housing companies and communi- ties. Scott is an Infusionsoft Certified Partner with over 30 years of exceptional results in marketing factory built homes, and can be reached at scott@Power-marketing.com or at 240-420-6343. T J