I’m a business startup coach. The most common issue I see with entrepreneurs I work with is confusing marketing and sales. Most entrepreneurs are excited about marketing and have very little knowledge about sales.

I am sharing here some basic information about sales that I wrote up for my clients. I hope you find it helpful.

What is Sales?

Sales is the activity that is at the heart of your business. It’s where you actively seek out people to sell your product or service to and nurture customer relationships to take your existing customers into higher levels of service.

When you have a mature sales business, you will be receiving a lot of your business through referrals and repeat customers. You will spend less time finding new customers.

Initially, you spend more time finding new customers and beginning relationships with them.

People who do not buy can still be advocates for your business. All time you spend on sales is valuable for your business even if it does not directly lead to a purchase.

How Sales is Like Dating

Sales is often compared to dating, because in sales you are seeking to build long term relationships.

When you start up a business, you are the new girl at school that no one knows yet. Eventually you will be like the most popular person in school with every suitor lining up for your hand.

How sales is like dating:

• You are on the hunt for YOUR people. The people that light you up inside. The people you LOVE to serve - and conversely, the people who LOVE your services. You are looking for long term customers who will buy again and again.
• Although you may be eager to have customers, you want to take things slowly and choose partners carefully over time, just as you would in any long term relationship.
• Like dating, in sales, you have to kiss a lot of frogs. It’s a lot of putting yourself out there and a lot of rejection, too. Even someone who doesn’t buy from you still is learning about your business and may spread the word about it to people who are a better fit.
• It’s a lot of risk and effort. It’s easier to be in established relationships. It’s a lot of work to sell, and it’s risky, too. You have to put yourself out there. With time, you will learn how to be more comfortable, but there’s always a little bit of fear to overcome in sales. A lot of the reason people have issues about the idea of selling is that some of the people who are very good at getting people to purchase things lack this fear of risk that most people have. You do not need to be this type of person to be effective at sales, and, although you may be less skilled at getting people to buy things, you are likely better at building genuine relationships built upon trust.

The Customer Journey of Trust

People do not trust people they don’t know. Before people will become long term customers, you need to establish a relationship of trust.

A lot of the talk around sales is about how the customer feels. You can’t control that. What you can do is show that you are trustworthy by meeting every promise you make.

You build trust by showing professionalism and care in every transaction - and that means you think through your sales process so that you really can meet every promise.

If you promise to call at 1 pm, you call at 1 pm on the dot. If you promise a discount, you make good on your word. A customer goes on a journey with your business.

There are three tiers that a customer goes through: Know, Like, and Trust.

This is sometimes called a sales funnel.

The funnel represents the idea that some people will go on to become long term customers with you, while others will dabble and not commit. There are a lot of people at the top of the funnel, only a few at the bottom.

This is also known as the 80/20 rule: 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers.

It is a long process to go through. Whenever you get frustrated, remember: Just keep swimming!

The Parts of a Sales Funnel

The sales funnel has 3 parts:

KNOW (lead acquisition)

Here people are interacting with your business. This process is also called Lead Acquisition. This where you will be spending a lot of time during the first year or two of your business.

This part of the funnel is largest because you will interact with a lot of people and most of them will not purchase. If they don’t buy you aren’t failing!!! You are doing it just right. Keep going! Just keep swimming!

LIKE (cultivating prospects)

Here people are getting to know you better. They like you. There are fewer people, but these people are warmed up to you and interested in having a deeper relationship with you.

These people may be subscribers to your mailing list, or people who follow you on social media, or friends you are making at local networking events. They may have come for a low cost/low time commitment introductory service or had a conversation with you at a health fair and expressed interest. They seem or have said they are interested in buying.

These also might be referral partners who will send customers your way because they know you will treat their customers right.

At this stage, you are really just getting to know people and lots of them may feel that you are not the right fit for them. It’s natural and does not mean you are failing. Keep going! Just keep swimming!

Over time, you will get better at identifying who is more likely to go from Know to Like. This process is called qualifying your leads. It’s hard to qualify your leads at first because you don’t really know who your customer is at first. In time you will start to see the trends of who likes you and who you like. It gets easier.

TRUST

Finally, after several emails, messages, phone calls, and appointments, a customer begins to trust you. They book repeated appointments and see you as their go to provider.

And you begin to trust them. They pay on time. They show up on time. They call and give notification in advance. They confide in you.

Yes you can fire a customer, or choose not to nurture a relationship that doesn’t serve you or your business.

Know Activities

Know activities generate leads for your business. This is where marketing intersects with sales.

Some activities that help people get to know you are:

• Networking groups, such as attending Chamber of Commerce coffee networking or paid networking groups.
• Free or Low Cost Teaching about your specialty at fairs, libraries, churches, and other places that need speakers
• Social Media posts
• Web traffic through search, testimonials on Yelp, Tripadvisor, etc.
• Advertising in local flyers - you want this to be targeted toward people who are likely to purchase and not just general ads. It’s hard to do this well at the beginning.

Like Activities

You will have customers spending more time and more money with you as they grow in their journey. Likewise, you will invest more time and money into these relationships at this stage.

Some activities that help people get to like you are:

• Low cost/discounted initial appointments and consultations
• Coffee/wine dates/lunch: Sharing food and drink is tried and true way to build a relationship
• Paying for a potential referral partner’s services to see if you would refer your clients to them or vice versa

Trust Activities

In this stage, customers are comfortable with you and wanting to go deeper into your services. They will advocate for you to others. You can let down your guard a bit and let them in on more of your personal life (in a professional way).

Some activities that generate trust with clients are:

• Phone calls, messages, emails of a more personal but still professional nature, such as asking about a dog that has been sick, a parent that they are caring for, or celebrating a new home purchase
• Special packages for people to make a little more commitment but still at an affordable cost (like a special 3 service introductory package only for new clients)
• A rewards club that rewards repeat business