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5 Sales Tools That Can Help Boost Your Business
3 min read · Listen
If you work as a salesperson you have probably relied on many of the usual sales tools including your phone, computer and agenda. These tools are not what differentiates a great salesperson from a normal one, they are the bare minimum needed to be able to do your job well.
So what are the most important sales tools that you may be missing out on? Let’s take a look at these five in particular:
- Sales process
- Sales funnels
- Sales arguments
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Customer Relationship Management software (CRM)
1. The sales process is an art form.
Selling is often considered an art, but to enhance your technique you need structured processes that take you from point A (finding a customer) to point B (closing a sale). This process is well studied and complies with a series of steps that are always repeated, and there are some small variations depending on your industry.
There are two phases - the pre-processing phase, and the entire process in itself. In the pre-processing phase, you have to understand what objectives you are pursuing, the particulars of your business, and who your customers are.
Within the sales process, there are different milestones. Boxes you must tick. It should look something like this:
- Prospecting
- Qualification
- Consultative sale
- Handling objections
- Closure
- Follow-up
2. Funnel those prospects all the way into customer status.
Sales funnels are a sales tool that serves to visualise the above process, and better yet, understand it. Sales funnels can show you where you typically lose more customers, what parts of your process are underdeveloped or need to be optimised.
Sales funnels also come in different shapes and sizes. They can be online or offline, simple or more complex, automatic or manual. You decide based on your needs. In the same way, also based on your business, you will be more interested in focusing on certain steps of your funnel than on others.
3. Let’s hear your pitch.
During the various parts of the sales process (qualification, negotiation, objections and closing) you will have to talk to your customers. These conversations can be approached in two basic ways - starting from scratch or based on a tried and true template or argument.
The advantage of the second approach is that it allows you to understand which parts of the argument work and which do not. However, every prospect is unique and you may have to get creative with your pitch.
In short, the sales pitch is a sales tool that consists of materialising your offering. Practice makes perfect, it’s important to rehearse and know how to improve it on the fly.
4. What the heck is a Net Promoter Score (NPS)?
It seems safe to bet that we all agree on the fact that the main function of the commercial department is to sell. However, just because this is the main function, it does not mean that it is the only one.
Attracting new customers, keeping loyal ones satisfied, and any other customer-related activities often fall partly or entirely on the department. The tool that helps you validate customer satisfaction is the Net Promoter Score or NPS.
5. Last but definitely not least - the magic of CRM software.
All the tools we have mentioned so far are important for selling, but we have saved the best tool for last - Customer Relationship Management systems. Simply put, the right CRM platform will allow you to relate to your customers in a ridiculously superior way.
Typically all CRMs will have features that make everyone’s work-life easier like…
- Opportunity tracking
- Better and more centralised document management
- Easy reporting
Don’t have a CRM? efficy is Europe’s most flexible CRM, one that is customisable to your organisation’s needs. It’s no coincidence that more than 13,500 customers around the world trust us.
Learn more:
With a Sales CRM you will improve your results
Point of sale: What is it and what benefits do you get
