What Is Strategy Selling? A Detailed Guide
Strategy selling, also known as strategic selling; is the step by step system you put together to serve more qualified clients and win more sales.
There should be numerous parts to focus on when strategy selling; from your overall arching sales and marketing plans, your prospecting efforts, and of course – your step by step sales process.
In this article, we’ll be looking at the different parts of your strategy plan, and what you can do to implement this. These will include:
- Prior to contact
- Lead Generation
- Your in-person conversations
- After the sale
What Is Strategy Selling?
Strategy Selling #1 – Prior To Contact
Prior to making contact with your potential clients – you need to work out who you want to serve.
An important part of your strategy selling efforts, is to work out who you’d like to do business with, whether they would benefit from your products or services, and if they’d be able to afford to.
There’s a number of key things to look into when formulating whether or not they are the right fit.
These include:
- Would they benefit from your product or service?
- What would they be buying, and how many?
- Could you deliver on this in a consistent manner, yet retain quality?
- Who could afford it?
By working out these questions, you’d be able to build a buyer persona of your potential client, as well as put together a strategic sales plan, and marketing plan to get in touch with these potential clients.
Both plans are crucial when building out your strategy selling foundation.
You can learn more about each of these below.
Related article: Marketing Strategy 101 – What You Need To Know
Related article: Sales Targeting Strategy – Your Complete Guide
Furthermore – although it may be time consuming in the sense of researching your potential clients prior to reaching out, it will save you a lot of time and money in the long run by meeting with people that fit your business model.
Not all clients are equal; so ensure you meet with the right people.
It’s also imperative to ensure that your potential clients will indeed benefit from using your products and services.
By following the poor always be closing mindset, you’ll be treating all people as a prospect, which can be damaging to your sales.
Ensuring your clients genuinely benefit from your products or services, will serve you in the long run and protect the integrity of you and your brand.
Strategy Selling #2 – Lead Generation
Lead generation is an extremely important part of your strategy selling efforts, because your pipeline will be crucial to your overall strategy and sales success.
Lead generation can generally be broken up into two activities.
Inbound lead generation strategies are putting together strategy selling system to attract leads into your business. This means you put together assets, that makes your potential clients contact you.
Outbound lead generation strategies are putting together a system, where you reach out to your desired potential clients.
To learn more about each of these areas in more detail, check out the related article below.
Related article: The Two Types Of Sales Prospecting Methods For More Sales
Your In-Person Conversations
One of, if not the most crucial part of your strategy selling efforts and systems, will be following a consistent sales process.
A sales process or sales system is a step by step system that gives you guidelines, or a road map that you can use to consistently close more clients.
The Benefits Of A Sales Process
Following a sales process, or sales formula as some call it, is the step-by-step system of taking a potential client on a journey from start to finish. It usually start with getting to know the clients, following a number of steps, and finalising by asking for the sale.
A good sales process should do the following:
- Is systematised in a way, that gives you some kind of clear outcome
- Something you can follow consistently; a road map you can keep using
- Creates certainty for both you and your potential client
- Allows you to control the process
By following a sales process, it allows you to feel confident and secure before walking into any potential client interview.
It gives you consistency, because you don’t have to wonder what to ask, or waste time, money or resources.
What Sales Process Should You Use?
There are various sales process systems you can use in your strategy selling efforts.
The one we recommend, is The 5% Sales Blueprint.
In The 5% Sales Blueprint, we recommend a number of key steps to follow, prior to moving on to the next stage.
These are:
- Building rapport
- Setting pre-frames
- Sales questions
- Finding pain
- Learning desire
- Talking about money
- Presenting
- Handling objections
- Asking for the sale
To learn about each of these steps in more detail, read the related article below.
Related article: The Sales Process – A Step By Step Guide
Strategy Selling #3 – After The Sale
Another important, and potential lucrative part of your strategy selling efforts, will be what you do once a sale has been made.
Many Sales Professionals and Business Owners treat the sale, or close as the end of the sales process.
In reality, this is generally the beginning of something instead.
Once they buy, they can potentially put you in touch with many more qualified prospects (read more about getting referrals here) or continue buying from you time and time again.
After sales service opportunities will now present themselves depending on what they’ve bought – and these can come in the fashion of either upselling, or cross selling.
To learn more about implementing this, read the related article below which goes into this in more detail.
Related article: Cross Selling – Your Ultimate Guide
Final Thoughts
Strategy selling is a smart, and effective part of your business efforts.
By implementing marketing and sales targeting plans, utilising a strong and consistent sales process, and learning how to leverage referrals and up sells, you’ll be creating a recipe for sales success.
If you want to learn how to consistently close more sales, you can register for our 7 day sales challenge here.
Want To Close Sales Easier?
Are you committed to closing sales a lot easier, and consistently?
If so, you should check out our self-paced and affordable online sales training program; The 5% Sales Blueprint.
It’ll give you everything you need to close sales consistently.
To learn more, simply click on the link below for more information.
Our Online Sales Training Program – The 5% Sales Blueprint.
