Practical and actionable sales tools and techniques for Small Business Owners and Leaders.

When attending trade shows, even when you’re not on the stand, it’s essential to “work it” to raise brand awareness and make valuable connections. Many exhibitors mistakenly believe just showing up with a table and a few giveaways will bring visitors, but it takes more than that.

Sign up to see some tips I shared with a Food & Drink client to help them maximise their trade show presence.

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Practical and actionable sales tools and techniques for Small Business Owners and Leaders.

Building a well-crafted prospects list is essential to the success of any sales outreach campaign. While creating this list is time-consuming and often tedious, it’s crucial for achieving better results. A high-quality prospects list, aligned with the ideal customer type, allows for a more targeted approach, saves time, improves conversion rates, enhances your reputation, and builds long-term relationships.

For example, a recent campaign involved targeting premium golf clubs in the East Midlands within a 60-minute radius of the client’s head office. Using an online directory, the list was narrowed down to 57 clubs, with 32 leads generated.

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Practical and actionable sales tools and techniques for Small Business Owners and Leaders.

When reaching out to potential customers, it’s easy to overload them with information and requests. But if your message is cluttered, it can confuse your audience, leading them to take no action at all. Every communication should have a clear Call to Action (CTA) to guide prospects towards a decisive next step, whether that’s a “yes,” “no,” or “move on.”

CTAs not only help focus your message but also engage prospects and build relationships. For example, some effective CTAs include: “Reply to this email,” “Book a call,” and “Visit our website.”

5 Reasons Why Clear CTAs Are Crucial in Sales Outreach:

1. Clear Next Steps: Directs prospects on what to do next, preventing confusion and inaction.
2. Engagement: Encourages prospects to respond, fostering two-way communication and relationship-building.
3. Builds Trust: Adds value by pointing to further resources, allowing prospects to explore more on their own.
4. Pipeline Progression: Moves prospects through the sales process, clarifying their needs and overcoming objections.
5. Effectiveness: Varying CTAs helps you measure which approaches resonate most with your audience.

Keep your CTAs simple and clear to guide your audience towards action and improve the effectiveness of your sales outreach. Sign up to receive my sales insights!

Practical and actionable sales tools and techniques for Small Business Owners and Leaders.

If you’re serious about attracting and converting new customers, you need a sales process in place to guide prospects from knowing you, to liking you, to trusting you, and finally to buying from you. This isn’t about fancy CRM systems—it’s about having a reliable backend process that ensures consistent, efficient, and effective sales outreach.

Why you need a sales process:

• Consistency: Builds trust and credibility.
• Efficiency: Saves valuable time.
• Improved Conversion Rates: Refine and improve with each attempt.
• Customer Experience: Sets the tone for what it’s like to work with you.
• Repeatability: Can be used by anyone in your business.

How to implement a simple sales process:

• Templates: Create email templates, phone scripts, and follow-up resources.
• Diarise: Schedule dedicated time for outreach.
• Frequency: Decide on the number and timing of contacts.
• Format: Use all available communication channels—email, phone, social media, and direct contact.
• Track: Keep a record of all interactions, outcomes, and next steps.
• Record: Measure success rates to refine future outreach efforts.

Having a process will help you confidently attract, nurture, and convert prospects into paying customers. Sign up to receive the Sales Soundbites to your inbox!

Practical and actionable sales tools and techniques for Small Business Owners and Leaders.

Your next sale could be just one call or email away! Often, the best sales opportunities are with leads you’ve already generated but haven’t yet converted.

Every three months, review your unconverted leads from sources like inbound sales enquiries, trade shows, networking, discovery calls, and lapsed customers. These are warm leads who already know your business and just need some nurturing.

We share how to organise and create a sales process to convert these leads into paying customers:

• Gather Your Data: Collate all lead information in one place, even a simple spreadsheet will do.
• Apply Context: Note the lead source, last interaction, and actions taken.
• Size of Prize: Assess the potential long-term value of each lead.
• Likelihood to Convert: Realistically evaluate the chances of conversion, with lapsed customers often being the easiest.
• Traffic Light System: Use red, amber, and green to prioritise leads based on their value and likelihood of conversion.
• Contact Strategy: Create a tailored approach for each lead type and follow through with consistent contact.

Turn your warm leads into loyal customers with a strategic follow-up process. Sign up to get the full edition!