Forget Lead Generation, Sales Conversion Comes First!

For some reason when I ask the average business owner what they think their sales conversion rate is the answer always seems to be around 60-70%. Occasionally this may be true, but following further investigation it would not be uncommon to find the true figure being closer to around 30%.

So this means only 3 out of 10 new leads/enquiries are buying from you on average. When you consider the cost of acquiring a new lead a 30% hit rate is way too low.

So how do we increase sales conversion rates? There are many, many strategies to do this but here’s where to start:

The first step is to flow chart your sales process. At this point you’re possibly thinking ‘What sales process?’ But don’t fear, you will definitely have some kind of sales process! Unfortunately for many of you the reality is that it will be woeful, and for others it may be acceptable, though for most it probably is not very consistent.

By flow charting your sales process you will be able to clearly see what each step is and where it may need to be improved. Having a step-by-step process, from undertaking marketing through to your after sales service will help you understand the level of consistency in the process.

Next we need to look at sales scripts that support each step of the process. Now I’m not talking here about a monotone dialogue you get from a Swansea call centre, we’re talking about ensuring that every time an employee takes a call that they are all consistently making sure the benefits of dealing with your business are communicated to the caller.

The easiest way to do this is to write down what you (or your team) say when you have a good sales experience and then work on improving this over time. If you do have a team work out what the top sales person says and document that. Perhaps hold a team meeting and throw the subject out there for discussion. For some bullet points may be sufficient. Remember to analyse every step of your sale process.

By flow charting your sales process and writing scripts for every step of the process you will definitely bring about consistency, this in turn will help develop confidence in the team and ultimately help increase your sales conversion rate. Good luck! business consultant march