Canadian Small Business Women

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Sales: Whose Role is It Anyway?

 

Shhh..not sales. That’s a dirty word. Not really though. It’s intimidating I get it, but it doesn’t have to be. For sure the sales profession get’s a bad rep and it’s seen as cut throat, but it is what it is. As consumers, individuals and companies are always grappling for our attention and our dollars. Everyone is just trying to get a piece of the pie and get a bit of commission too, right?

I worked a sales role and I have carried the lessons I learned from it many years later. I honestly believe that everyone needs to work at least one sales role with a commission framework in their life. The earlier the better as it teaches you that you get paid for the results you get, not just for effort. Working hard is great, but if it doesn’t yield good fruit, what good was it? But beyond that I had a manager that told me that sales is everyone’s role, and not just the sales department.

Sales is Everyone’s Role

The function of sales means to bring in new and repeat business in the exchange of goods and services for money. But even if you don’t have sales reps or a dedicated sales director, sales is everyone’s role. But how you ask? As long as everyone does their role to the highest of their ability and treats everyone as their customers, it’ll work. For sure, additional sales and marketing efforts will be required if you really want to see the revenue come in.

In business, roles can generally be described as customer facing roles, where some individuals deal directly with the end user and then there is the back end. But if the backend doesn’t work diligently to fill the order or request how will the end customer perceive the company and the front of line employee? Even if you work in the AR/AP department, how you deal with your current customers may mean the stop or increase of business with that client or vendor.

As the owner, you’re head of Sales and Marketing. Whether you have a Director of Sales, you’re still the head. So, if you’re not taking an active roll in it, now is the time to start. Be active and invest in the growth and development of yourself and your team, and in turn it will result to a more profitable company. When we see CE0’s of big corporations visiting the stores and speaking with staff and customers, they’re thinking how can they increase sales. Every action done in a business must be done with an end goal to increase sales and revenue. Remember that.

Word of Mouth and Referrals

Raise your hand if your business relies heavily on referrals from your clients. People will be glad to refer you to a friend or everyone they know if you wowed them. Be sure to over deliver to get the best response from your clients.

Ask for the referral. You may feel awkward doing this, but just remind them. Keep in contact with them and email them every few months to say you appreciated their business and keep asking for the referral. Ask them to connect with you on social media. Send them a discount or a referral bonus. Make it worth their while, to throw you more business. Can you develop a loyalty program to have them keep coming back? Get creative.

How many of us start our search on Google when we think about service-based businesses? And what do we go there to see? The ratings and reviews of course. So please, whenever you have dealt with a client and they had a positive experience, ask them to leave a review. Keep asking and reminding them until they’ve done it. Make it easy for them. Get their email address and send them a direct link to make a quick review. Most people won’t think to leave a review when they’ve had a good experience because that’s what they expect. But, in the case they had a bad experience they’re definitely more likely to let their friends, colleagues, and the whole internet know. Just remember, that one bad online review can do a lot of damage and can skew the results.

New Ways to Sell

I encourage you to start pumping up your sales knowledge and start reading and listening to audio books and podcasts. Get into the state of mind that the tasks you’re doing as a business owner is income and sales generating. Whether it’s building rapport or building awareness make sure you use your time and your dollars wisely. There are so many sales gurus out there so be sure to find the one you like. But I’d advise you to learn about their actual come up stories first and how they got to where they are now. Most of these individuals are not overnight successes, but they started from nothing and they built and struggled to get where they are now. Sales is a GRIND.

Start brainstorming with your team how your company can increase sales. Figure out what areas you’re lacking in and build it up. How is your company’s online presence? Can customers shop online, how about shopping from their social media? Can you see if there are any influencers that align with your brand that can do some influencer and affiliate marketing for you. How about special email campaigns, discounts, surveys, in store promotions? Can you make yourself available to go to networking events, trade shows, and community events. The list can go on and on.

Don’t be afraid to talk about the S word. Keep working at refining your skills and strategy and keep testing them. Focus on building your brand value and work on making genuine relationships. Happy selling.

 

Chadene Mbouogno is an Ontario Mortgage Agent with The Mortgage Coach, the lead Lending Specialist at her company CM Lending, and also manages the Blog BelleChavel.com. She is passionate about helping small business owners get the funding they need to propel their business forward through alternative lending. She has worked closely with start-ups, transportation and logistics companies, manufacturing and staffing agencies to manage their cashflow issues.

Instagram : @ChadeneM   https://www.instagram.com/chadeneM/  //

@CMLending https://www.instagram.com/cmlending/

Email: chadene@themortgagecoach.ca

CM Lending Website : www.cmlending.ca

Mortgage Website : www.chadenembouogno.ca

Mind Your Copy

 

Copy, like photocopy or copy paper? Not exactly. The type of copy I’m referring to is the written words used for the purpose of advertising and other forms of marketing. An individual who specializes in this field of work is called a copywriter, and the product they produce is called copy.

As a small business it can be difficult to land new clients especially when you’re just starting out. You literally have seconds to make a good first impression. Any type of content you put out into the world, should have the intention to persuade potential customers as to why they should try out your business as an option.

The AIDA Marketing Model

The AIDA or AIDAR model is one of the best-known marketing models used by copywriters. AIDA(R) is an acronym for the buyer stages of Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action and sometimes Retention. This system can be used as the basis for a marketing plan as it outlines the steps that a buyer goes through when deciding to purchase a product or even to simply subscribe or follow a brand on social media. A buyer can go through all of these steps within minutes or they may take months or even years to convert.

The funnel illustration is generally the same for any kind of sales related tasks. The data that you need to be paying attention to for any campaign you implement are your conversion rates. How many of those aware at the top of the funnel actually went through the stages in their head and made a decision to take an action? The conversion rate is really a jump off point. From there, you keep tweaking and testing to see what you can do to increase those conversion rates and get more buyers.

In the case of copywriters they must make sure that their copy is clear rather than clever, and has the ability to take readers through all of these steps very quickly. The rule is, if you try to write to everybody, you’re really speaking to nobody. Always write to appeal to your ideal customer. Create a persona for them complete with their demographics, interests, and the kind of lifestyle they have. Research to see where your ideal client is most likely to hangout online. Find out their pain points and use the same language that they use to market to them. They’ll feel like you’re talking to them directly, and will be like a moth to a flame.

Areas for Improvement

Can you pinpoint a few areas in your business that could use a copy facelift? I hope your response is, everywhere. If you haven’t already done so, take your USP and your ideal customer avatar and go through all of your copy. Does it speak to that person directly? Is the call to action strong enough, have you told them exactly why they need what you’re offering and what they should do next?

Your website is full of copy, but if the copy doesn’t convert, what good is it? People go on websites these days to get contact information, addresses, and maybe see the services or prices being offered and they’re gone. What are they supposed to do there if it’s a static website and it’s not an online shopping portal? Instead of boring websites, think landing pages that direct visitors to take a specific action.

How’s your email marketing conversion rates? Effective copy starts from the top: the subject line. The body of your email doesn’t exist if you can’t even get the recipients to open the email from the subject line and preview. Do you even have an email list? What do people get for opting into your email list? Email is still king regardless of what people say. That’s why now when you checkout at certain brick and mortar locations, also known as “offline shopping”, your cashier may ask you to input your email into their system. Coincidence, I think not! This is how you stay in the face and top of mind of your customers.

How’s your social? This is a game changer, if you’re not on social media, you’re missing out. This is how you build that know, like, and trust factor with individuals. Interact with them and be active. Figure out what platform your ideal client uses and get in their faces. Don’t try to be on too many platforms, focus on the ones where your customers would most likely hang out. Do it, and do it well.

The list can go on and on. Think print advertisement, the copy on your product descriptions, radio ads, and tv commercials. The work professionals do in this growing field is very important. It’s not about having academic literary skills, as those ones actually find copywriting difficult. It’s about writing words that appeal to and attract your target buyers.

What will grab their attention and speak to their innermost emotions and desires and make them feel like the words written are for them directly and will have them jumping at whatever offer you’re making. You need to SLAP them. Yes, it’s aggressive I know, but you need to have your copy slap them in the face. They need to stop, look/listen, act, and purchase. Please, don’t actually ever slap your customer though. Thanks.

Key Takeaways

As a small business woman, you need to make your moves strategically and make them count. Learn about copywriting for each individual platform. If you’re able, get help from a freelancer or seek an intern who is knowledgeable in regards to digital marketing.

Make a swipe file for yourself. A swipe file is just a collection of content that you pull inspiration from. If you receive an email that prompted you to make an action, save it. Learn from it and see how you can implement the same things in your emails. Take pictures of any ads you see, or screenshot any webpages or social media posts that grabbed your attention. Use this to fine tune your own content.

The whole point of this goes back to AIDA. We need to start using our words to attract and build awareness about our brands, our products or our causes. You want viewers to be so interested that they want to share it with the people they know, have them ready to pull out their wallets and are ready to take action. And once they’ve made that decision, you’ll retain them and keep reminding them why you and your business is awesome, and why they should continue to ride with you.

 

Chadene Mbouogno is an Ontario Mortgage Agent with The Mortgage Coach, the lead Lending Specialist at her company CM Lending, and also manages the Blog BelleChavel.com. She is passionate about helping small business owners get the funding they need to propel their business forward through alternative lending. She has worked closely with start-ups, transportation and logistics companies, manufacturing and staffing agencies to manage their cashflow issues.

Instagram : @ChadeneM   https://www.instagram.com/chadeneM/  //

@CMLending https://www.instagram.com/cmlending/

Email: chadene@themortgagecoach.ca

CM Lending Website : www.cmlending.ca

Mortgage Website : www.chadenembouogno.ca

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