How to Turn Your Sales Process into a Powerful Branding Tool

A company that has a great sales process is one that leaves the customer feeling that they were not being sold to, but were being provided with a service that was both valuable and personally beneficial to them.

The sales processes function is to ensure the customer has a positive experience, it`s also a reflection of your company`s core values and where customers will first experience and form perceptions about your brand.

Branding is more than just a catchy logo, it represents the personality of your business and has to emotionally engage with your audience. There is a lot involved in branding and it`s important to know how to turn your sales process into a powerful branding tool.

1. Don’t sell – exist to serve and provide help.

No one likes a pushy salesperson, in fact, no one likes to be sold to period. However, people do want to buy products, services, and experiences that they believe will help them improve their life.

If you implement a sales process that focuses on maximizing your customer`s experience by solving their problems and helping make their life easier the process of selling your product or service will happen organically.

2. Simplify your customer`s journey

A complicated and frustrating sales process will not only lose you, potential customers, it will also ensure that they never come back! By providing an effortless and enjoyable buying experience you stand a far better chance of converting an unsure customer into a return customer.

Do this by making your website, or store easy to navigate and with a simplified flow that brings customers from beginning to end with as little effort as possible. Have friends use your sales platform, or run a customer survey, and get feedback. This will give you a better idea of what`s encouraging your customers to buy and what`s turning them away.

3. Be available to customers when & where they need you.

Think about the last time you could not get in touch with a sales or support agent when you wanted (needed) their help. I bet that it didn’t leave a good taste in your mouth. To make sure your customer never feels the same way, make it easy for them to contact you, be accessible on every level, via online chat, email, phone or social media channels, and respond to customers in real-time. You should also allow customers to self-help by having an FAQ or knowledge-based answers.

4. Ensure your frontline staff knows your product.

Nothing will undermine a customer`s trust in a company more than talking to a support team member who knows less about the product than they do.

Make sure your staff are authority figures on your products and services and ones who can answer questions confidently. A great way of helping your frontline staff help your customers is by running regular product and service specification meetings. Also, focus on any areas where customers are repeatably needing help, this will ensure your staff will have the answers to the most commonly asked questions.

5. A smile goes a long way

Customer service staff should be the smile on the face of your business, but too often they leave the customer with a frown! This should be the simplest part of the sales process to get right, but it`s often where many companies get it wrong. The key to this is hiring, only hire customer service employees with excellent people skills.

The goal of all service staff is to show the customer that they are appreciated by providing the simplest of common courtesies. By being nice, helpful, and supportive you will create everlasting positive memories for your customers.

6. Be generous and reward loyalty.

Customer loyalty is priceless and can be easily gained by rewarding your customers by showing that you appreciate them.  This could be giving something away for free, or points program – there are a lot of different loyalty and reward programs that you can implement.

Regardless of the type of loyalty or reward program, the main things are that your customers feel valued, and you rewarded for their loyalty.

7. Build lasting relationships with your customers.

Building a lasting customer relationship will lead to return sales and positive word of mouth.

Now that you`ve found a new customer it is vital that you regularly reach out to them. Know their names and purchasing history, contact them regularly with up to date offers, make sure they know you`re thinking of them by touching base and asking if you can help in any way.

Companies that have proving quality products and services, and also a solid strategy for building customer relationships are the ones that will rise to the top and stay there.

CONCLUSION: Implementing the above steps takes time, dedication and discipline, by everyone involved, but the rewards will be everlasting. Bad news travels fast and bad companies are soon forgotten – Good news travels slowly but good companies are remembered forever.