Understanding Your Prospects with Online Surveys
In reading an article “The Next Generation of Sales Effectiveness”. The article pointed out that in today’s competitive market place the sales cycle has gotten increasingly longer as clients have a harder time differentiating one vendor from another. Sales must focus on 4 main areas to survive, segmentation, structure, systems and support.
It is absolutely essential to segment customers according to who they are and why they buy. You must then match your marketing and selling cycle to their purchasing cycle to maximize ROI. Structure means having the right people in place to focus on building customer relationships at an executive level. Approaching sales as a system is critical. This system must include all the information and diagnostic tools to help you and your customers discover their underlying issues rather than simply tackling symptoms. It also requires quite a bit of educating on your part to give them the decision making tools to move forward and solve the problem. And finally, support means that companies provide the support and intelligence to sales so they are adequately prepared for customer interactions.
But how do you get an understanding from your prospects on where you truly are in the buying cycle. You’ve segmented your customers, you’ve put the right person in place, you’re approaching sales as a system, and your sales force is adequately prepared for customer interactions. It’s imperative to get feedback from your prospects on where they are, what they like about your company and service and how likely they are to buy from you. You can take a wait and see approach or be proactive by going out and gathering that information upfront, by conducting a short third party survey to get the information and understanding whether you are on track with your prospect.
In today’s competitive market place, you want to work smarter to win the business and getting feedback from your prospect will help you do just that.
