Focus on Outbound Sales to Help Your Clients and Your Business

When times are good, it’s easy to focus on in-bound sales. But when the economy slows down, redirect your attention to outbound sales and follow-ups

BY MADELEINE MACRAE

COVID-19 has forced us both to modernize and go back to the fundamentals of sales

and marketing. Essentially, it has challenged us to find better ways to reach our clients and conduct business with them.

When in-bound lead flow dries up, it forces us to evaluate our outbound activities. During economic highs, it’s easy to lose sight of our follow-up processes. There are so many new opportunities cropping up that we don’t necessarily mine each and every opportunity to its full potential.

Early on in the coronavirus crisis, many of my window covering

clients reported a huge drop in their lead flow. Some reported a decrease in excess of 80 percent in in-bound lead flow. During times of lean in-bound leads, we have to be diligent in every aspect of follow-up. We have to follow up consistently with all prospects and clients: those who reach out to us for our expertise, those who have open quotes, those for whom we have recently installed and those who are part of our past client rosters. Each of those four categories is a rich source of increased revenue. Improving your standards in follow-up and holding yourself or your team more accountable for their outbound activities in each of those categories can drive significant business, especially in a time like this.

If you had 100 open quotes in front of you (or, if you are a

much smaller business, maybe 10 or 25), would you know exactly how many times, on average, you would need to dial the phone in order to transform that stack of quotes into cash?

If not, this is the perfect opportunity to find out. Of course, running these numbers through a CRM would be the most ideal way to track this, but good old-fashioned pen and paper can work just as well. On your paper or Excel sheet, create three columns: calls made, closed sales and dollar value. Set aside two full hours every single day. Make the calls. Put a tally mark in the first column every time you dial the phone. When you speak with a client and convert an open quote to a closed deal, put a tally mark in the second column and then jot down the sales amount.

Rinse and repeat that process, or have the members of your team do so. Expand it to two other categories with sheets for “past clients—appointments—sold projects” and “recent installs— upsells/add-ons—dollar value.” Track the data each day as you go along or as your team members dive into the stacks of old clients and unsold projects, and you will harness data that lets you know exactly what steps to take and how many steps you need to take to create more cash flow in your business.

Sales is an art supported by a process, but it is also a basic

numbers game. When you are sharpening up your outbound activities, knowing the exact numbers you need to hit to reach your intended financial outcomes is a powerful thing.

If you tracked your data for two full weeks and made dozens and dozens of calls and then knew that you had to make 15 calls in your “open quote” list to close, on average, one sale, and that sale was worth $2,500, how much more motivated would you be to hold yourself accountable for making at least 30 calls a week? If you knew you had to call 30 past clients to book two appointments and close one sale, again worth $2,500, how motivated would you be to make those calls?

Being able to make money when the phone is not ringing

is well within our control. The more willing we are to put ourselves out there—to call our clients, text them, email them, tag them in social media posts—the more sales we will eventually close.

Throughout the COVID-19 response, many have struggled to survive on multiple levels: physical, emotional, financial. At a time of such widespread suffering, it can feel strange or disrespectful to carry on “business as usual” or to aggressively market and sell your products. It is critical to remember that sales is a noble profession.

Sales is the only doorway through which our clients can access the solutions to the problems that they face. If you have a prospective client who is looking for your products and services, or if you have a prospective client who needs what you are selling, know that their issue was compelling enough to drive them to seek help in solving it. By leaving them without a pathway to solve their problem, we are adding to their burden, not subtracting from it.

When other things are out of our control, solving an issue that is well within our control brings solace and helps the ground under our feet feel a little bit more solid and stable.

In finding a way to give your client the opportunity to reach you, you’re helping them make decisions, and gain control over this corner of their homes and this aspect of their life. What could be better than that in a time of such prolonged uncertainty?

So stay focused on being in front of your ideal client. Be

bold and brave enough to embrace outbound sales activities and keep your messaging focused on what you can do for your clients.

As we come out of the fog of COVID-19, show your clients that you are here, your business survived and you stand ready to help them, as much as you can and in as many ways as you are able. V

Madeleine MacRae will present the workshops “The Art of the Virtual Consult” and “The Secret Weapon of the Most Successful: How to Master Your Mind and Get What You Really Want” at IWCE Virtual, July 29 and 30. Register today at iwcevirtual.com.

Madeleine MacRae is a business coach and sales trainer who focuses on bringing to her client cutting-edge information mixed with just the right amount of inspiration to help them accelerate their implementation and long-term results. She helped hundreds of companies thrive through the COVID-19 crisis. She can help you too! Book your complementary consultation using the website below.

meetme.so/MadeleineMacrae mmmacrae.com Facebook: mmmacraecoaching LinkedIn: macraemadeleine