Do you Really Want my Business?

How do you sell? The biggest problem that entrepreneurs face is getting people to "bulge." So how do you do it? Or have you even figured it out?

And if you have already figured out your process, do you make your customer feel as if you really want their business? Without being a sales stalker, do they feel as if they matter?

I attended a National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) meeting last week where Lance Tyson from Columbus Dale Carnegie Institute was the speaker. During that meeting, he reiterated the five-step sales process:

1. Qualify your prospect
2. Evaluate
3. Diagnose
4. Prescribe
5. Wait for the commitment

This hit home for me because during the last couple of months, I've restructured my business and changed my sales process. I was glad to learn that I was headed in the right direction--my process incorporates all five steps of the sales process. Now every customer I work with, has the same interaction every time.

Lance Tyson also stressed rapport; which I think is a big part of the process. I like to say that it is the number of times you "touch" your client or potential client. Do they know that you care about them or do they feel like they're only a part of your bottom line?

It has been said that in order for people to buy, they must know you, like you, trust you. Most times that is done through numerous interactions with them during the sales process. Startup businesses usually skip this process--we become so eager to make a sale, we rush the process. When I first started, I would quote people prices the first time we met. Big mistake!

While we are a society of "right now!" and while instant gratification works most times on the internet, the in-person relationships always require more. Depending on your industry and type of business, you may have a three to seven step process to win over a customer.

And if your business is anything like mine, you must also build upon that relationship even after you've won over the client. Your client should be treated as the diamonds they are; not as another means to help you pay your bills.

Let them know that you really want their business!

In the past two months, I've tried to get service from business people and have been "smacked in the face" with: unreturned phone calls, or phone calls scheduled and appointments not kept, no contracts and people simply telling me to "just pay" them, signing contracts and having business people not adhere to the contracts or simply "throwing me to the side" as if my business does not matter, business people not taking the time to ask the right questions and just throwing out products at me, etc. I can go on and on with this list...

These are all entrepreneurs doing this and it makes you want to scream, "People, wake up!! We are in a recession and every business counts!"

However, that's not the problem. The problem is that most business owners do not "qualify" their prospects. They skip the sales process.

Lance Tyson compared the sales process to the doctor's office procedure: you walk in to your doctor's they give you a form to fill out, you then see a nurse who evaluates you, then the doctor again evaluates you, based on those two evaluations he diagnoses you, then he prescribes a solution, and wait for your commitment.

So when you skip this process, you're telling the client that only money matters. That you just need to sign one more person to help your bottom line. What ends up happening then is that client ends up feeling "slighted" because perhaps, your company was not the best match for them.

So if you really want your customer's business, construct your sales process now. It works. And when it doesn't, you know that the prospect was not a good fit for your services and you save both your time and that of your potential client.

About the Author: Cheryl Isaac is the writer of this blog and a Startup Business Consultant & Owner of Isaac Business Services, the business startup company