Creating Sales Relationships

The selling process can be divided into three areas, pre-sales, sales, and post-sales.  The pre-sell process involves research, advertising, prospecting, and assessing needs.  The selling process involves the approach, planning the sale, the presentation, meeting objections, and closing the deal.  The post-sale process happens after the sale and involves following-up with the customer to be sure they are satisfied with their purchase.  

It is important to be able distinguish and understand the difference between the cost of customer acquisition with customer retention.  The different types of relationships for B2B and B2C in the pre and post-sale will also be explained. 

Pre-Sales

Pre-sales involves research to assess needs, meet objections, establish a demographic, and essentially predict whether or not the product will sell.  Most importantly, pre-sales involves the actual marketing of the product.  The information gathered from the research will determine which methodology should be utilized.  This approach will assist in successfully marketing the product in a cost effective way.  The planning process is an essential part of pre-sales. After the research has been performed, and a demographic has been established, a plan can be formulated which will help maintain focus on the goal that has been set.  Pre-sales activities must be performed correctly, as this is the foundation of the selling process. 

Sales 

The selling process involves the approach, the presentation, and closing the deal.  This process occurs only after research has been performed, a demographic has been set, and advertising methods have been established.  In basic terms, the product or service has already been marketed, and consumers are aware that the product or service exists.  Next comes the most intricate and complicated part, which is obtaining the sale. Sales activities come after all of the efforts made in the pre-sales activities.  Sales may include phone calls, presentations, negotiations, and closing the deal.  Selling takes talent, skill, and knowledge of the product or service being sold, and begins as soon as a consumer observes an advertisement for the product and/or service.  An advertisement should attract the attention of the consumer, and leave the consumer wanting to hear more about the product or service.  The product or service should be readily available and easy to obtain.  The salesperson should be ready to answer any questions and extinguish any concerns, and in doing so, tell the customer more about the benefits of getting the product or service.  The main objective for the salesperson is to obtain the sale. 

Post-Sales

Post Sales is the final step in the sales process, and takes place after the customer has purchased the product or service.  This is the follow-up with the customer to ensure that they are satisfied with the service and the purchase.  This is also the time to answer any additional questions the customer may have and to create a relationship that will hopefully bring repeat business to the company.

The follow-up process is not always practical, especially with a large corporation. Because of this, a customer follow-up is often reserved for clients who conduct high value purchases.  A company’s revenues are ultimately connected to the approval of the customer.  The importance of establishing customer relationships will hopefully ensure repeat business. 

B2C and B2B Sales

The two major differences between B2B and B2C markets are the number of clients, and the size of the budget.  With Business-to-Consumer sales, there are millions of individual customers while some Business-to-Business operations may have a customer base of thousands. But even though businesses do not have the large customer base, they do have spending ability.  Because of this, the B2B customer has more value. 

B2C sales are about the immediate sale.  The consumer is ready to make an immediate purchase, so the sale must be instant.  B2C sales are usually direct to the consumer, involving the seller and the buyer.  The B2C sales teams generate sales at a faster pace and have a closer connection with marketing and e-commerce.  B2B sales move at a slower pace, and involve research, networking, and negotiating.  B2C sales could prove to be too intense for a B2B salesperson, while the B2C salesperson may find B2B sales frustrating because of the slower pace.

The sales process in B2B can be very difficult and requires sales staff to be well trained and qualified to handle and manage sales deals.  The cost involved in B2B sales is very high, so it requires a great deal of time and analysis. With B2C sales, a sales representative must learn the product or service being sold in order to make the sale.  B2C and B2B both require a sales process. B2B is more time consuming, but they both still must have a well-defined sales strategy.  Perhaps the most important distinction between B2B and B2C sales is the consumer.  Consumers make buying decisions based on emotional need, whether it is for status, comfort, or security.  Business buyers make their purchasing decisions based on profitability, and enhancing productivity and service.  The selling process puts ideas and strategies in order for the purpose of making a sale, and creating long-term customer relations. 

Customers are the reason businesses operate. An organization’s survival is dependent on its ability to create and develop customer relationships. Customer acquisition and customer retention both present unique costs and benefits to an organization and are important components to B2B and B2C sales.  Customer acquisition is a term used to identify the processes and procedures a sales team uses to locate, qualify and ultimately secure the business of new customers.  Customer retention refers to the process used to keep a client's business and not have them use a competitor’s services or products.

When it comes to customer relationships, it is important to understand how important these relationships are for repeat business.  Making a customer feel valued will help encourage long-term relationships.  Marketing is the most effective approach to informing consumers about product and services. 

 Please Visit Me On Facebook