Sales Advice By Market
Selling to Antique Stores
If your business is having trouble reaching sales targets, put your phone on hold and read our tips on selling to antique stores. To achieve success in the antique store industry, you'll need to flawlessly execute fundamental selling techniques.
Despite robust demand for products sold to antique stores, breaking into the market can be daunting.
In any B2B industry, one of the key indicators of long-term success is the ability to expand your customer base. Fortunately antique stores are plentiful, but the challenge is to acquire and retain new accounts.
Sales Team Considerations
Most of the businesses that sell to antique stores leverage a team sales approach.
Although your team may be comprised of individual sales reps, each rep has to recognize their role in the team strategy. There is simply no room for mavericks in this industry! Team-based training programs and other initiatives can be beneficial, but the best strategy for encouraging buy-in to a team sales model is for owners and managers to incorporate teamwork into their leadership styles.
Sales Strategy Tips
Effective antique store sales strategies are concerned about both sales techniques and ROI. Some sales techniques are more capable than others and the ones that maximize ROI need to be prioritized.
Also, it's important to avoid a silo approach to antique store sales. Companies that create firewalls around their sales units lag in the marketplace, especially when they face companies that encourage collaborative processes between sales, marketing and other units.
Sales & Marketing Tips
Some B2B antique store suppliers outsource marketing while others prefer to handle it in-house. Either way, your marketing strategy should leverage a multichannel approach that addresses the diverse ways antique store owners access information. Traditional channels like direct mail and telemarketing are important, but they should be combined with online strategies like e-mail campaigns, website SEO and social networking initiatives.
Top B2B sales teams recognize the importance of reliable lead generation mechanisms. Leads drive sales cycles. Until your company develops a system for acquiring and qualifying antique store leads, it will be difficult to capture a meaningful share of the market.
If your sales force is falling flat when it comes to leads, consider buying updated lead lists from a recognized lead list provider. Experian and other vendors have a reputation for delivering accurate and affordable antique store lead lists to B2B sellers.
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