Are You a Shipping Expert
For anyone ready to buy a logistics franchise, sales is the name of the game. In the first installment of this series, we covered goal-setting tips that would set a firm foundation for your sales and marketing plans. For part two, we’ll examine:
- Tips for relationship-building with customers
- Retention strategies to keep those customers happy and loyal
Let’s dive in!
- Get to know your prospects– and your customers. Before you made the decision to buy a logistics franchise, you had to do significant research. The same is true when formulating your sales strategies. Before you call a prospect, learn about their business, their product, and their industry. Tailor your approach to their needs, their budget, and their product demand. Once you gain a customer, keep in touch with them and their business goals, so you can adapt their shipping solutions along the way,
- Be a storyteller. Whether you’re making your first sale, or checking in with a favorite customer, tell a story. Tell your story: why you decided to buy your logistics franchise, and how you’ve been able to help small and medium-sized businesses succeed. Tell a story that paints their business as more efficient, and their day-to-day work more satisfying, with your shipping solutions in place.
- Be compelling, yet authentic. Have a compelling statement to keep your customers interested and engaged. “I can save you _____ hours a week by taking care of your shipping needs.” “My logistics franchise is part of an industry leader, with the buying power of some of the biggest shipping leaders in the world– and I can put that power to work for your small business.” Just make sure you can back up every big claim with facts. (Don’t worry, we have plenty of resources to help you tell your story.
- When your customer has spotted a problem or weakness, make them part of the solution. When you can identify a product or package a customer should buy from your logistics franchise, empower them to make choices. Frame the solution as a decision they can and should make to make their business more efficient and enhance their productivity. Make sure you believe in the customer as much as you believe in the products your franchise offers.
- Always agree, but remember to apply a little pressure. Although you should never disagree with your customer, don’t forget to instill some healthy doubts about not doing business with your shipping franchise. Leverage the money you could save them (versus a competitor), or the time they will save with InXpress taking care of things “back of house”.
- Along with your closing strategy, have a backup plan. In getting to know someone who may want to buy from your logistics franchise, you should know their goals, and how the InXpress shipping solutions could align with them. So when it’s time to close, have the ideal strategy in mind–that would most boost your bottom line and best meet their needs–but don’t forget a backup plan.
- Give them choices (without taking “no” for an answer). When you’re closing, with your backup plan in mind, try offering them a choice. Rather than the decision whether to buy from you, ask them to choose between various solutions. Either way, they will be working within their budget, and making their shipping a lot easier.
The key to sales strategies that get customers–and keep them coming back to buy from your logistics franchise–tell a story. Your customer is the hero: making decisions to save them time, stick to their budget, and solves their shipping conundrums. You are their trusty sidekick, ready to stick by them through thick and thin, so they can keep coming to the rescue for their small business.