MARKETING - Seven Steps to Starting Out - Part 3

MARKETING

Seven Steps to Starting Out – Part 3

By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting February 2010.

Following on from the first five marketing tips out of the seven steps to starting out – let’s look at the rest now.

The sixth tip is all about the sales process and yes, it is a process. Many people fall flat round about now as they think that because they are sitting in front of someone that they consider a friend, the process is complete and done – don’t you be making that mistake. The deal still needs to be done and the sale needs to be concluded.

Make no mistake, sitting in front of someone that you consider a friend will make part of the process very easy, but part of the process will also be extremely difficult, failing to deliver to a ‘friend’ will, in most cases will result in the breakup of that friendship as well as loss of the sale and loss of a client!

Ultimately, it is definitely easier (and often safer) to have the ‘sales discussion’ with a qualified prospect who is open to whatever it is that you are selling and open to working with you. Remember that the successful conclusion of the ‘sales process’ is that the prospect is converted into a paying client.

The final point of course is the deliverables. You have to deliver and you have to deliver on time, especially to new clients as their expectation of what you have committed to is so much greater. You have to deliver whatever it is that you have promised and in fact it is in your own best interests to ‘over deliver’. The saying that goes something along the lines of ‘under promise and over deliver’ is exactly what needs to happen at this point. Believe me you will score ‘brownie’ points if you work like this and your reputation will proceed you.

Remember, exceeding someone’s expectation of you is a wonderful thing as it will usually end up to leads that are generated by ‘word-of-mouth’ referrals and these are the very best that you can get, they are more powerful than King Kong and certainly more valuable than diamonds and gold.

Take care of the deliverables and the ‘word-of-mouth’ referrals will take care of you.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za