Building Your Small Business Client Base Requires a Sales Process Map

One of the most common issues I am hearing from small business owners at the moment is that they are frustrated by their cashflow and incoming sales. Well here is the thing, to be truly effective you need to be developing an effective client acquisition map and that map needs to be visible at all times.

I am sure that you have read a million books such as the e-Myth and Book Yourself Solid which strongly recommends that you identify what your perfect clients are and then try to acquire them. However one of the key things I want to encourage you to do is that once you have identified the clients, you need to put together a sales process map on how you are going to acquire them and the steps you will follow.

For example… the sales process map should identify, what process will you follow to acquire them? Will you cold call the clients, will you send them a letter, will you try to acquire them through online advertising or will you ask a customer for a referral? All of these options could be used… but what steps will you take.

One of the key things I teach in my sales course for acquiring more customers is that you need to map out graphically where your clients are in terms of the sales process. In my sample sales process, I break up the process to seven key stages. Those stages are as follows:

1. Client Opportunity
2. First Appointment
3. 25% to Closing Sale
4. 50% to Closing Sale
5. 90% to Closing Sale
6. Closing/Follow Up
7. Special Projects Extensions

In my personal sales map, I have taken a board that I can place pins into, and drawn 8 equal size columns. These columns are made up of the stages shown above with the additional first column written in with the words – Target Client and Value(potential).

I have also created a series of rows on the board and each row represents one single client. In the target client column I add the clients name, details of what I am trying to achieve and their potential values. Personally I use post-it notes to put the client names on the board but if you had a whiteboard you could simply write on the board as required and then wipe the information off once the client has completed the process.

When I begin the process, I start off with a single pin in the opportunity column. Then once I have confirmed my first appointment with the client, I will move the pin to the First Appointment Column and add a post-it note as to when that appointment will occur. The reason for using this method is that you can physically see when your clients are in the sales process.

Whilst it is true that you can use other electronic software to do similar tasks, the fact that this process is cheap and easily reviewed means that most sales staff are more likely to commit to using this process.

I have found after working with hundreds of sales people, that this process (whilst very simple) helps them to have a clear mental process to follow and allows them to understand where their potential clients are in the sales process. It also allows them to map up when they are going to introduce the next round of clients into the sales process.

The outcome of using this method is that your sales team are always clearly working towards more sales and that no clients will fall through the cracks as the team always knows where the client is in the sales process and should result in a great cashflow for the business.
 

 Chris Le Roy is the Managing Director of the One-on-One Professional Business Training Centre. Our company provides small business MYOB courses and Quickbooks courses and can help you in selecting the right version for your business. Our company also provides first aid training in Brisbane to help ensure you have that qualification when you apply for your next job.