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Posts tagged sales tips
Overcoming Common Mobile App Sales Objections
Dec 30th
Sometimes, being an app reseller puts you in a strange position. On the one hand, the popularity of mobile is exploding. The world can’t get enough. Apps, mobile websites, and everything on the small screen seem to be the hottest things around. Millions of users are taking billions of actions each day. It’s a mobile, mobile world, right?
And then you try to sell that idea to a small business owner.
And they aren’t convinced.
To prevent that from happening, this post will discuss some common objections and provide some basic responses that might help you overcome them. When you have a good product, but have difficulties selling it, the problem is often one of education and explanation. If you can help your prospects understand the value of your offering, you’ll have a much easier time signing them up.
Here are some of the most common misconceptions:
Mobile Apps Cost Too Much
A cost objection is really a value objection in disguise. Apps don’t cost a million dollars – our apps cost a very affordable amount each month. But if this seems like too much, it’s probably because the prospect thinks that they won’t see any returns on the expense.
At that point, your job is to help them understand how apps and mobile websites generate returns:
Mobile sites increase revenue.
A huge percentage of Internet traffic is now coming from mobile devices. If a business doesn’t have a mobile-optimized site, they could be missing out on hundreds and thousands of site visits. And when it comes to local businesses, those site visits tend to be from people who want to visit a local location. This means that not having a mobile-optimized website directly reduces the number of visits to a business, and therefore lowers revenue.
Apps increase revenue.
In so many ways! Mobile orders, mobile reservations, social referrals, push notifications about events and deals – the list goes on and on. An app offers a variety of ways to increase customer engagement, satisfaction, and purchases, and therefore can pay for itself very easily when deployed in a way that is tailored to the user base.
The key is that not going mobile is expensive. Going mobile, on the other hand, is a profitable venture.
Mobile Apps are Hard to Manage
In the early days of apps, maybe, but not anymore. From a single, simple dashboard, anyone can manage a Bizness Apps app with a few clicks of a button. And we also have a very dedicated support team available to help users get through any difficulties and answer any questions. No one will be left to deal with issues on their own.
I Don’t Need an App- a Website is Enough
No way. Huge amounts of visitors are now coming via mobile device, and a mobile-optimized site is a must. And apps deliver so many robust functions that can’t be matched by websites. If a business really wants to make the most of its customer base, it needs an app.
No One Uses Mobile Apps
This is nuts. A recent post by Flurry revealed that the monthly number of people using apps now exceeds the number of people using desktops and laptops. Each month, roughly 224 million people now use apps, as opposed to 221 million people that use desktops and laptops. Apps are hugely popular, and users are spending hours and hours using apps every week. Not every one of a business’s customers will download and use an app, of course but for the users that do, the rewards to the business are well worth the expense.
Which brings us around to the key message – the cost of an app is far outweighed by the returns it brings. Encourage business owners to experiment with apps! There’s very little to lose, and a very bright mobile future to be gained.
Bizness CRM Tip – The Importance of Scheduling Follow-Up Appointments
Aug 30th
In sales, persistence is often key.
While many prospects don’t want to hear from you again after an initial contact, others just need more information before they see the value in your offering. But salespeople experience a lot of discouragement as they go through this process. For this reason, a majority of salespeople simply don’t conduct follow-ups. They step up to the plate, take a single swing, and then consider it a strikeout.
This is a huge mistake!
This is because half of all sales are closed in follow-up conversations. And many of these closed deals started out with a prospect that simply wasn’t that interested. That is, missing the sale on the first swing is not uncommon. But it’s the salespeople that keep swinging that ultimately get a hit.
For this reason, scheduling follow-up appointments is critical. Don’t leave things open-ended when you’re finishing a sales meeting or a sales call. Nail down a time for a follow-up and stick to it. And keep following up until you reach a, “Yes” or a firm, “No.”
This way, you can take charge of the sales process.
Of course, the goal is not to irritate the prospect. You won’t bully people into sales. Instead, your focus with follow-ups should be to push the conversation forward. Don’t say things like, “I’m just checking in’ or “Are you ready to buy?” The first one is unproductive, and the second puts too much pressure on the customer, who may not yet understand the value of your offering.
That’s why it’s essential to do one of three things:
1. Ask questions.
2. Offer information.
3. Offer a special deal.
Asking questions helps you learn about the prospect. Everyone loves to talk about themselves, so tap into that natural inclination and get your prospect to open up. The more you understand about their needs, the better you will be able to sell or tailor your offering to suit them. And you might also hear why your product simply doesn’t work, which is information you definitely want.
Offering information helps the prospect start to see what the value is in your product. A common sales mistake is assuming that people know too much. You’re no doubt very familiar with your product, and it can be easy to forget that others don’t know anything about it. Provide your prospect with useful info, and you can go a long way toward closing a deal.
Putting a special deal on the table can also be productive. A discount is always a motivator, especially one with a time limit. Offering something like that may bring out your prospect’s hidden objections, which gives you a chance to resolve them.
The point is, follow-ups should always be designed to move things forward. That way, you’ll advance the relationship and figure out whether you can reach a deal or not.
Happy selling!
For step-by-step instructions for scheduling appointments with Bizness CRM, click here.
Bizness CRM Tip: Build Your Sales Pipeline!
Aug 14th
There are two approaches to sales:
1) systematic, regular, and self-correcting
2) not
Many businesses can get by without ever evaluating their sales efforts and developing a formal ongoing sales program. These businesses, however, can get rusty when current business is sufficient, and they miss out on the opportunity to improve sales programs over long periods of time.
The result is a business that is somewhat unprepared for tough times (when sales hustle is needed), and a sales team that is underdeveloped. A better approach is to maintain an ongoing sales pipeline. The flow can be increased or decreased as needed, but the important thing is to keep a formal structure in place that allows the sales team to stay sharp and keep improving in good times and bad.
That way, when you really need them (e.g. when a big client goes away unexpectedly), they’ll be ready. To help get your business on the right track, here’s a sample sales pipeline that’s easy to understand and implement:
Step One: Gather Leads
This can be done in a variety of ways. Some people rely on ads or their website to bring leads to them. Others do research to find prospects, or purchase lists for cold calling. And others use a simple tool like Bizness CRM that can find all the small business leads in a given area.
However you meet prospects, this is the starting point of your sales pipeline. Once you’ve got the contact info of a party that is interested (or may be interested) in your product or service, your sales team can take action.
Some owners might be saying, “Stop right there. I have enough business now. Why should I still be on the hunt?” Even if you don’t want to grow, you might be surprised what kind of business is out there. Every business can rank their current customers in terms of profitability or other characteristics. By prospecting, you may find better replacements for your least-favored customers, and improve profitability without having to grow at all.
Step Two: Follow Up and Close
Once you’ve got contact information, it’s time to reach out to your prospects. Whether you do this via email, phone, or in person, it’s important to take notes and keep a detailed schedule. A program like Bizness CRM can help you seamlessly select a prospect, reach out, take notes, schedule meetings, and collaborate across team members (noticing a pattern, yet?) That way, the ball never gets dropped, and everyone can keep tabs on evolving relationships.
Follow up regularly until you’ve got a response one way or the other. It’s important to keep active when pursuing a sale. Try not to irritate people too badly, though!
Step Three: Track and Analyze
This is where things get interesting. Your note taking and data gathering (you were using Bizness CRM to track everything, right?) can now reveal ways to improve. If your CRM tool has a report-generation function, you can easily understand your sales efforts at-a-glance. Now you know which types of customers to focus on, when to reach out to them, which sales angles were the most persuasive, what the most common objections were, and more.
Armed with powerful info like that, it’s easy to see what you need to change.
Step Four: Get Better
Now you can design some policies to help your sales team get better on the next go-round. Be sure to track key metrics like conversion rate so that you can compare from month-to-month and seller-to-seller. In time, you’ll see black-and-white improvements that will directly translate to more revenue and profit for your business.
Sound like a lot of work? It isn’t, if you have the right tool. You know where we’re going with this… we have just the right tool to help you implement a simple, cost-effective pipeline, and you can try it out for free to see just how powerful it is.
4 Ways to Get More App Sales Out of Your Website
Aug 8th
A website can connect you to billions of people, all around the world. So, why aren’t you rich yet?
Well, a lot of it probably has to do with the fact that most of those billions of people don’t need a mobile app. But for the ones who do, you want to be ready to get things started properly. To do that, you need a site designed to maximize sales. Here are six tips that will turn your site into a lean, mean selling machine.
1. Floating ads
A lot of people hated popups, but guess what a lot of people don’t hate?
Floating ads!
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they don’t go outside the browser window. We don’t know. But for whatever reason, floating ads are effective and can increase conversions on your site.
Another similar strategy is to use a chat window that opens up on your homepage. This lets you start a dialogue with prospects and provide personal attention right away. If you want to see an example of this in action, just head to our homepage and wait a few moments. Someone will be right with you.
2. Use testimonials
Honest, positive testimonials can have a powerful effect on the credibility of your website (in one case, producing a conversion rate increase of over 30%). If you display brief stories from actual customers regarding how your product helped their business, you can make it clear why people should do business with you.
Place a few testimonials below the fold on your website, and use actual full names of customers, along with business names and links to the app in question. With that info available, prospects won’t have to wonder what kind of product you create and why they should work with you. It will all be there for them in black and white.
3. Generate urgency
There are a lot of ways to communicate to people why they need an app or mobile website today. You can explain how competitors are gaining advantages over those who don’t have a mobile strategy at every minute. You can offer the promise of increasing sales through mobile apps, which is something most businesses would jump at. Or, you could make an offer that is time-limited.
However you do it, don’t make it seem like a mobile app is something that can wait until tomorrow. Things are changing quickly in the mobile space, and there’s really no time to waste.
4. Break it up and keep it simple
Don’t overload website visitors by trying to tell them everything about your business. Just keep it simple. Even something like this can be enough for a headline and call to action:
“Did you know a mobile app can increase your sales by __%? Click here to get started!”
If you do choose to include a lot of info, break things up into different sections with different layouts and visuals. The goal is to inform the reader without asking for too much of their time or boring them. Tell them what you do, tell them why it’s great, then ask them to take action.
Improving your website performance is that simple.
Also make sure to check out Bizness Web to create a free website for your mobile app company!
5 Tips for Getting Small Business Leads
Jul 8th
Small business owners can be elusive. They’re a busy bunch, so you need all the help you can get when it comes to finding new leads from their ranks. The good news is, there are tons of ways to cultivate small business leads!
Some are online, some are offline, but they all can be tremendously effective in earning you new business. The tips below are a few tried-and-true methods that will help you connect with new prospects and boost your sales.
1. Be an expert
The Web offers a lot of opportunities for you to showcase your knowledge of your subject area, no matter what it is. LinkedIn Answers, your own blog, and topical forums – they’re all channels in which you can offer advice and get your name out there. The more helpful you are, the better. Your messages will serve as lasting beacons that can result in leads tracking you down. As far as sales go, there are few more favorable situations than that.
2. Run a Pay Per Click (PPC) Campaign
If you target the right keywords, a PPC campaign can be a very effective way to find exactly the types of leads you want. It will depend on what you’re selling, but with a little research, you can find a set of keywords that can pull in a stream of leads that are very likely to include small business owners. What’s great about this method is that, by clicking, the leads have already taken an action that shows some interest in your product. This acts as a prequalification to filter out pointless connections.
3. Speak
Speaking events (especially local chamber of commerce events) are a good way to raise your profile and to meet new leads. Make sure and stick around after your event, as attendees will likely approach you directly. Also, provide pamphlets or business cards on a nearby table for audience members to take as a reference.
To get extra mileage from your hard work, post a video of your event online. If your event was instructional, people conducting online searches for related questions may find your video and then reach out to you afterward.
In addition, don’t forget to list speaking engagements as a part of your credentials in your online profiles!
4. Cross-Promote
Joining others that serve small businesses in a joint venture or cross-promotional project can help you find new leads easily. Customers of your partner business will learn about your company as a result of the joint project, and you’ll instantly have access to a second audience. If you chose your partner carefully, this second audience could be a natural fit as customers of your business.
5. Get social
Don’t ignore Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. They’re a highly cost effective way to make connections. It takes very little time, and the only thing you absolutely need to do is stay consistent. Post regularly on topics that are relevant to your business, and you’ll quickly cultivate a reputation for being knowledgeable and active. The leads will follow.
6. *Bonus tip
If you’re tired of tracking down your own small business leads, just use Bizness CRM! Small business leads are built directly into our simple, easy-to-use CRM system, which is designed specifically for those who sell to small businesses.
