You have a great product that doesn't sell. As an entrepreneur, you could find a lot of excuses, like:
- Potential customers don't have money.
- The demand on the market is low.
- My product is of low interest and only for a certain group of people.
Have you ever tried to see what is really happening with your sales department and selling strategy?
An audit algorithm helps you understand where the biggest chaos in the sales department is and identify why your products or services may not be sold. Moreover, the audit of the Sales Department can help you understand the next step you need to take in building your own sales department.
Here’s the most simplified Sales Department Audit Plan:
First impression.
What is your impression of the store, the office or, in a word, the place where the sales are made within your company? We mean your impression as a customer, not as a founder or manager.
What should you do in order to understand the situation from the point of view of potential customers:
- Become a fake customer (call or have someone from the Sales Department call you on a different phone, not knowing it’s you).
- Analyze how quickly the staff respond to your requests as a customer on the site chat and what information is provided. Try to understand if their behaviour corresponds to the sales scenario you have made up and taught them (if you have).
- Try to buy via the website or phone (if you can). Analyze every detail, just as when you make an important purchase for yourself.
- Analyze the site. Where is the contact data located, is it visible?
After analyzing the things mentioned above, start filling in the gaps:
- Make sure the information about your company is accessible.
- Make your business easy to find online and offline.
- Create a call to action button to invite people to contact you.
Identify the indicators you can get from the sales department that are of interest to your business. If you have ambitions and are professional, you should already have this list of flash questions and know the answers.
What kind of questions can be asked:
- What was the profit yesterday?
- What is the profit of today, compared to the day before yesterday?
- What’s the gross margin?
- What is the loyalty rate?
What is the role of marketing in the sales department?
- To generate leads - people with names, surnames, phone numbers, who want to buy the company's products. Often, marketing is responsible for everything but lead generation.
All the audit procedures must be done in a mild manner, as not to scare the staff and make them feel like they are constantly watched. Do not approach employees as if they are the ultimate reason for the insuccess of your business and loss of income. Find out what are the selling gaps your team faces and help them become better and not more stressed.
