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MenuHow do you build a structured sales process for a digital agency that works with Enterprise Ecommerce Clients?
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Yes, a consistent sales process is vital so that you know where you are. You also want to know why you lost some orders and won others--I was over a decade into my career before I realized I had no idea why. And that's what lead to the change.
You need to understand your numbers.
You need to know what the process steps are, and how to proceed to the next one--or let the opportunity die if it should (hint: if you're trying to turn every prospect into a client, you're doing it wrong.)
And you must have your fulfillment process dialed in, which at present with the description of murky data-gathering and pricing it sounds like you do not.
Loads of info my my blog at http://www.salestactics.org
Let's discuss specifics on a call.
Hey there,
you have to first of all understand that sales processes will vary for different clients, however, you can create a universal engagement process where you take the client(s) through a discovery session. The more you find out about their problem(s), the better positioned you will be to solve it for them.
Bigger clients will respond differently compared to smaller clients, so you have to create a blueprint that focuses on results (they like to see than hear). They are not time wasters, and like you mentioned, you want to be considerate of your time as well.
To understand what to bring into a sales process will be based on the engagement you have with the client. The good thing is, this particular client asked for the marketing services. So, in that case, it won't be a hard sell. However, if you offer such services, and find out that a client may need it, you bring it up after you have already started working on the initial project, not before. You don't want to overwhelm them. First things first, then the others will follow.
Regarding phases, we could have a chat about structure and see what could work. Feel free to contact me if you need further help.
Sales effectiveness is what your business requires and there's no uniform formula that you can adopt to achieve the same. The first problem mentioned by you isn't about sales process, but absence of requisite capability. The problem is your inability to scope out a requirement and close the deal successfully. The capability could either be built or hired or outsourced.
Your second problem again isn't about sales process, but project planning. You aren't sure how to plan the deliverable milestone, due to which you are equally unsure of resource expectation. A part of this could be limited capability of your internal team. May be you rely on freelancers to get a part of the work done and you aren't sure of time guarantee. Once again, it's better to have a rate contract and stand alone engagement with an agency to get the work delivered.
The third problem mentioned by you is something that startups across the globe struggles with, especially services based. The best way is to decide what rate works for you guys, or the outsourced team, and decide cost per complexity of the work.
I can be of help in terms of helping you build necessary effectiveness and define critical business process. Let me know if you think hopping on a call could help.
Related Questions
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What do (bootstrapped) startups offer to new sales hires? Commission only? What are some good examples to keep people motivated and still survive?
Generally bootstrapped startups should avoid salespeople, for a few reasons: a. they typically can't afford the base and overall comp required to attract sales people who can actually sell / or afford to support them with marketing, management, etc b. it will be very difficult to find the rare person with the right mix of sales and startup DNA along with the critical domain knowledge, consequently the startup is likely to settle c. the founders need to be very involved in the selling and customers will demand it That said, if the plan is still to hire a salesperson, find someone who has demonstrated sales success in startups and is excited by the early stage in company building. Create a comp plan heavily leveraged on sales results (unless you are in an industry where 100% commission is a common practice, would recommend against $0 base as this creates the false impression that your hire isn't passing time with one company while looking for another job with a richer comp plan - you want your rep focussed). Sell the vision and opportunity to be part of a growth story. I have written a several blog posts on hiring sales people into start-ups. You might find these useful: http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/ceo-question-should-i-learn-to-sell-or-hire-a-sales-person/ http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/start-up-sales-and-hiring-advice-dont-stop-selling-once-you-hire-your-first-sales-rep/ http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/hiring-start-up-sales-reps/ http://www.peaksalesrecruiting.com/startups-and-salespeople/ Good luck!EB
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What is the best sales material to use to support a B2B outbound strategy. And what should be the order of outreach? I.E email, phone call, mail?
People hate calls. People hate emails. People hate mail. Do you really want your first impression to be that of an interloper and a pusher? Then again, most recipients aren't event going to look at what you send them. What is your niche? Office managers for private family healthcare providers in Peoria? Athletics department directors for NAIA schools? Sales managers at wholesale car dealers that make over $180 million per year in gross revenue? Know your niche and define your buyer (and it better be the CIO or VP). Is your buyer female or male? Older, middle age, or younger? What about her or his college education? What does he drive? Where does he live? Where does he eat his lunch and get his coffee in the morning? What does he read? Etc. Go to your buyer. Find congregations of your buyer. Professional associations. Conferences. Meet-ups. Trade shows. Offer to do free presentations--not on your product but on best practices or trends you observe in the industry. Make your presentation about solving problems your buyers deal with every day. Write blogs or columns for media they read. Again, focus on what they need/want to read. You will have a hard time keeping enough business cards in stock and click-throughs from your byline. This is a true "targeted outreach campaign." Don't waste your money and time with anything less than this. You're going to do great. Please let me know if you'd like to talk about it more!BI
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How to decide stakes in a partnership?
The best way to test a person's talent is to put them to work in the reality of your business. If these folks are all onboard for being partners, promise to give them a cut of all deals they bring in. Structure the plan so that the contract lasts three months. Then, let them prove themselves and show (not just say) they really mean it. Make no equity promises until you can validate their claims. What if someone balks at the offer? I'd imagine these folks will have main jobs during the testing phase. If they scoff or refuse, then you've won immediately. If they aren't willing to hustle a bit extra for a few months how in the world could they do this for many years ahead within a successful partnership? Why three months? People can fake their behavior for quite a bit of time. At two months people can't help but being themselves. You'll get a taste for how they work, they're ability to close, and their personality. Personality is the biggest factor, as they may do a great job bringing in business, but be simply unbearable to work alongside. A note of caution around the Head of Marketing SME: this person sounds like a problem. Are they acting immorally towards their current employer? Check, stealing business. Are they sure they can do it on their own, but for some odd reason never have? Check. Are they requesting for more stake than they deserve? Check. These alone are reasons to run. Immoral, unproven, and greedy at the start. To me, you sound like you need to hire a commission based sales person. Give them a stake of each deal. Don't give up equity for something like this. This company is your baby and equity is a last resort.JF
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As an Agency that currently works on Elance where price/timeframe are the primary criteria buyers seem to be shopping with, how can I get ahead?
Remember when you start a business or are an established business you have to decide who is your perfect customer, since not all potential customers are equal, and not all potential customers are profitable. It is likely that the type of customer who is purely price orientated like those on Elance etc. may not be profitable to your overall business success as it is very unlikely they will pay you more in the future. You would be better focusing your marketing attempts on finding customers who do appraciate your work and understand the added value your agency has to offer, than chasing jobs, by people that only value you and your business by lowest price, which is a business model that can only lead to failure.CM
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Startup Looking To Hire First Sales Employee - And completely lost. Any advice on compensation structure (benefits?), items that need to be in place?
Instead of repeating the wisdom of others, I'll link to it below. Here is a great blog post on hiring your first salesperson: http://tomtunguz.com/when-to-hire-a-salesperson Also, Mark Suster has written a ton of great post on his blog about startup sales. http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/on-selling/CH
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