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February First Friday offers food for thought
05/02/2011
A large and high quality audience of Petersfield packed the Folly Upstairs last Friday for the opening First Friday of 2011, jointly organized by Navigate Design. As well as the usual excellent networking opportunity and find food from Mary, guests were treated to golden nuggets of selling tips from guest speaker Neil Hawkins from
B2B Management.
Neil Hawkins (pictured in the centre, with Mike Kirby from Antrobus Accountants, left, and Nick Keith, Navigate) advised the audience to get tips on selling from children:
* listen to and watch children, who, from an early age, learn which parent or relative to approach when they want something. So, make sure you speak to the right person
* never take no for an answer - just like small children
The management of the sales process requires:
* Establishing your true aims, so you must know your target
* Repeating a process of activities -- calls, emails, networking, follow ups etc
* Monitoring how long it takes to convert one of these activities into a sale and which is the most successful activity.
Sales, Neil says, involves the repetition of simple activities on a regular basis. Five telephone calls per week amounts to only one sales call a day.
Other tips:
Price - don't give away too much for free
Follow-up - make that follow-up phone call or email after a networking meeting
KYC (Know your customer) - communicate clearly and honestly at all times
Feedback – discover how your customers experience your products or service
Ask for referrals - speak to your customers, and give them a reward when the referral is successful (such as a bottle of champagne)
Networking - get as many business cards at possible, and follow up by making contact after the event.
