What is the Sales Process? Tips From an Ad Agency
3 Ways to Gain Clients and Customers
Over the course of our 15+ years in the industry, our team of experts has worked tirelessly to create a positive and productive sales process tailored to the needs of our clients. While it’s important to tweak tactics based on industries, budgets, and advertising platforms, in general, the below tips serve our business well and provide positive results across the board.
#1: Craft Quality Messaging
A successful advertising campaign would not be possible without audience research and well-crafted messaging that speaks to that group of people. How we speak to people searching for an auto loan is different than how we speak to people looking to buy roofing systems for their homes. So, when we are in the sales stage of a client relationship, we like to focus on their needs and what they are hoping to achieve by working with PLAY.
Before we land a new client, we like to get to know personalities within that company and why that company would benefit from online ads, print media, etc. How we speak to potential clients during those initial meetings is crucial for building healthy and long-lasting relationships. Less of a strict sales pitch and more education and solution-based.
As ZenBusiness writes, “If you are going to deliver high value to your customers, the first thing you need to do is to solve their problems.” Our ultimate goal is to make the lives of our clients easier and help boost their business. That’s why listening to their needs and then following up with what we can do for them is the first step in our sales process.
#2: Build a Customer Journey
How do you want customers and clients to interact with your business? Have you thought about your website user experience and following up with website visitors after they take or don’t take a certain action? All of these questions and more are things to consider when building your customer journey. Unlike messaging, the customer journey tends to be more universal.
In marketing, the customer journey is the way that a customer sees and interacts with your business. This can begin with an advertisement on Facebook, then lead to them scrolling your website or social media, and then eventually making a purchase. Thinking about the customer journey for online efforts is not that much different from how you would consider the journey of a customer shopping in a brick-and-mortar store. A store must catch someone’s eye and draw them in, and online ads are no different. We explore more about brand awareness and the customer journey here.
HubSpot writes, “Salesforce reported that 80% of customers consider their experience with a company to be as important as its products. From the time a customer is introduced to a product to when they purchase it, they go through the buyer’s journey.”
See our example of a customer journey below and get a visual of how we help our clients with this concept.
#3: Learn From Experience
When it comes to the sales process, offering up examples of past experience and successful campaigns is a fantastic way to prove our worth and explain how different platforms and media types work depending on industries and budgets.
With experts in various creative fields, our team can offer forward-thinking solutions to client problems. For example, when our client Creighton Federal Credit Union wanted to announce the Grand Opening of a new branch, they came to us for campaign ideas. Together we decided on a temporary flash sale that would utilize multiple media types, like Facebook and email marketing.
Just 7 days after the flash sale began, CFCU saw 39 auto loans close (plus 45 in-process) for a total dollar amount of $1,071,929.21! They ended up closing $1,748,000 in total auto loans!
Because of our past experience working with credit unions and our expertise in Facebook marketing, we were able to create a strategy that exceeded expectations. Sharing your knowledge with customers is one of the best ways to earn and keep their trust.
