Sales Contacts Management: Targeted Development And Utilization Of Interpersonal Networks

Per person

There is a famous little story in history: the war of independence in America started because a man was riding a horse on the way to mobilize Americans to fight against the British army.

Most Americans can name this person, Paul Riviere.

However, the truth of history is that at that time there were two people who told each other separately, and the other person had no strong network of connections. So though he had been working hard to ride a horse, he had hardly responded, so his name was forgotten by history.

He is a failed salesman.

Relationship network is the most valuable resource for salesmen. This huge wealth needs careful management.

Put one's own

People who work in sales think that the social network is very important: the wider your connections, the more potential sales you have, and ultimately, your sales volume will increase.

Although this view is reasonable, it is too simplistic.

Different types of networks will produce different results. Therefore, if salesmen understand the nuances of different networks, they will achieve better performance than their competitors.

Salesperson's work is constantly changing in the sales process, and each stage needs specific capabilities.

We can see the sales process as 4 separate stages: discovering potential customers, winning the support of potential customers, creating solutions and achieving pactions.

The success of the first stage depends on whether the salesperson can accurately and timely get information about business opportunities through the various people outside his company and the whole market.

In the second stage, salesmen need to draw up an organizational chart of potential customers to ensure contacts and talks with key decision makers.

In the third stage, sales staff will find solutions for customers' unique business problems in order to win customers. Sales personnel must rely on their own expertise to organize their own expertise.

At the last stage, the salesperson's job is to eliminate the customer's doubts as much as possible, so the salesperson often needs to use the relationship established in the previous sales to reach a deal.

In the 4 stage of sales, social networks play a very important role.

If we want to make full use of the network in the sales process, we must systematically manage the sales staff's network.

The majority of salesmen in the social network are established within 4 networks, which are: potential customer network, customer network, market network, and internal network.

Usually, managers only perceive the network directly from the number of people directly related.

However, although some people have a wide range of communication, they do not necessarily have an efficient network. Managers should also pay attention to the density of the relationship - the relationship between salesmen, the same group of people, or the many people who do not know each other. Experts believe that sparse networks are more conducive to obtaining unique information, and dense networks are more suitable for providing help when coordinating.

Matching the network with the task, if salesmen and managers understand the way the network works, they can correctly select the most effective network type for each stage of the sale, and take the necessary measures to build the network.

In the first stage of the sales process, a diversified market network is the most effective way to find new potential customers.

In the second stage, developing a network for potential customers in order to contact decision-makers can help salespeople win support.

The third stage is the coordination phase. The salesmen need to connect the people in their own internal network, so that they will work together to design solutions for the problems that potential customers encounter.

In the final stage, in order to achieve a paction, salesmen need to find a person who can prove their good reputation from the customer network.

For managers to formulate a network based sales strategy, after clarified the important role of the network, how should the company formulate corresponding strategies to ensure that the network is applied to the sales of the company and maximize the effectiveness of the network? 3 levers can be utilized - sales team structure, salary and skills development.

Adjusting the structure of the sales force, including establishing a solution team and cross functional team, can improve the efficiency of the network; designing a reasonable salary plan can improve the salesperson's network management skills and maximize the resources from the network; training the employees through network can help the company turn into a network conscious organization.

Once you understand the 4 different stages of the sales process, you will clearly know that specific network types are applicable to specific tasks.

Of course, it is not easy to cultivate all these relationships, but sales staff who devote time and energy to it will gain huge advantage.