Niche Market Sales Tips
Selling to Bicycle Dealers Businesses
As the dust clears, bicycle dealers businesses are slowly emerging from the market slowdown and are starting to reinvest. Don't forget that bicycle dealers businesses aren't easy sales marks -- here's what you'll need to convert prospects into customers.
B2B sales can be challenging. To succeed in this environment, you need a strategy that is built on the fundamentals of good business.
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Frequently, the best B2B businesses achieve success through the consistent application of proven selling concepts. That's especially true in the bicycle dealers business industry where small oversights can translate into losses in market share.
Reaching Prospective Customers
Prospecting transforms contacts into qualified leads.
Networking can fine tunes prospecting performance and conversion ratios. However, it's important to make sure your sales force isn't so focused on conversation that they miss the point of prospecting, i.e. the identification of likely buyers, key decision makers and high value industry contacts. In other words, the type of people you meet is just as important as the number of people you meet when prospecting for bicycle dealers businesses.
Lead lists are useful because they narrow the field for your team. Third-party lists from reputable vendors (e.g. Experian Business Services) arm your sales force with good leads, making it easier for your company to balance the quantity and quality demands that are prerequisites for effective prospecting.
How to Evaluate Sales Staff
Periodic staff assessment is essential for companies that sell in this industry. Businesses that achieve significant market share recruit the cream of the crop and routinely evaluate them against performance goals and benchmarks.
Although annual reviews may be enough for other business units, sales units should be evaluated quarterly with monthly or weekly reviews of sales totals. Training, coaching and sales incentives can be useful for boosting sales and employee morale. In some instances, it may be appropriate to team underperforming sales reps with reps that have more experience selling to bicycle dealers businesses.
Industry Experience
In bicycle dealers business sales, industry experience is a huge plus. Although it isn't necessary to have decades of front line experience, it helps to speak the industry language and to be familiar with the things are important to a typical bicycle dealers business.
B2B sellers who lack industry experience can compensate for inexperience by subscribing to trade journals, partnering with industry insiders and immersing themselves in the industry culture. Remember, bicycle dealers businesses may also be more friendly to sellers within their network, so it's important to increase the size of your network as quickly as possible.
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