MH Marketing Sales Management

by Chad Carr

Everyday you are losing sales because you are not in control of what your sales people are doing with your prospects.

Although most owners understand they SHOULD be doing a better job of customer follow-up, few understand HOW to do this.

Over 85% of the dealers in this industry never get beyond traditional prospecting which basically amounts to the sales person waiting for the next customer to show up. "Hot Prospects" may get the full attention of the sales person, but anyone else will be forgotten unless there is constant management intervention and even these efforts will be abandoned when the yelling stops.

The problem is not your sales people:

Sales people are trained to sell, not to follow-up. Yes, we want our sales people to follow-up, but research shows that sales people can't effectively manage more than 20 to 30 relationships at a time. You TRAIN your sales people to pay attention to "Hot Prospects" and to politely move on when they run into a prospect that's not going to buy soon.

Anyone can tell your sales people they should follow-up with these longer-term prospects, but so what? If you can't tell them WHO to follow-up with, WHEN to follow-up with those people and WHAT to talk about when they call, your sales people will come to the conclusion that this long term follow-up is a waste of their time.

Most importantly, you need to be able to tell them WHY they are spending time following up with people who've already said they aren't going to buy now. To find that answer, you need to look at the fundamentals of MARKETING.

It's not your fault…

Your business is a Sales Organization. Your sales process is designed to work with customers who have a sense of urgency about making a decision. Studies show that as much as 80% of the traffic that is out there "shopping" has not yet developed that sense of urgency.

Sales Trainers will teach you how to sell to the "qualified" prospects, but they cannot teach you how to MARKET to the other 80% of your traffic.

…but it is your responsibility.

As an Owner you should…

• Think of every prospect as your own and be sure your sales people get complete contact and profile information on each person that visits your sales center.
• Have a system that allows you to sort your prospects by ability to buy, sense of urgency, lead source, desired product, and more.
• Develop the messages you want your prospects to see and implement a process that ensures these people see that message regularly (research has proven that it takes at least seven impressions with a customer to gain "top of mind awareness").
• Develop a concise plan of action and next selling steps for each customer.

… before your Competitor does.

We have worked with thousands of dealers over the past 30 years. We know we can help you regain control of your business.##

Chad Carr is the Owner of Rainmaker Software, Inc. 4215 East 60th Street, Davenport, IA 52807. (800) 336-0339 fax: (563) 359-8848 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it