Tips for successful sales management

Several issues surround sales management. And it is important to get it right, because the life of the business depends on it. No invoicing, no revenue; and no revenue, no business!
It is therefore vital to have good sales management. You are looking for a tool that complies with regulations, is simple and quick to use, and meets your business requirements.

Sales management is the organisation you put in place within your business to manage your sales and purchases efficiently. This management must be optimal: it would be unfortunate to send a customer two invoices for the same service or to pay a supplier the same invoice twice. Sales management therefore consists of managing document flows optimally.

Here are our tips for managing your sales management well

Definition

Some entrepreneurs call it accounting, but that is a mistake. Accounting is what comes after sales management.
Generally speaking, sales management refers to the administrative process of buying and selling products or services. It includes:
• The strategy you have set up and described in your business plan: which product to sell, at what price, to which customer, for what margin, bought from which supplier, in what quantity?

• Managing the prospect, customer and supplier database.
• Creating and designing sales documents. A distinction is made between sales documents for selling (quote, order, delivery note, invoice and credit note) and sales documents for purchasing (price request, supplier order, supplier receipt, supplier invoice and supplier credit note). A quick aside on the importance of taking care over the presentation of your documents, which reflect your image and which you convey to your business partners.
• By extension, everything relating to listing the products and services you buy and sell, as well as stock management.

Define a sales strategy

There may be a multitude of areas to develop to define your sales strategy.

• Depending on whether you are trying to win market share,
• Depending on whether you are trying to increase customer satisfaction,
• Depending on whether you are trying to reduce your costs,
• Depending on whether you are trying to launch new products or services,
• Depending on whether you are trying to break into a new geographical area.

Decisions may also depend on the market in which you position yourself, luxury or low cost, or on the geographical area where you are based, with high purchasing power or not,…

So there are a multitude of areas to develop and a multitude of factors to take into account.

This thinking then leads to an action plan that will serve as the basis for your sales activity and enable you to make the strategic decisions that are right for your business.

Managing the prospect, customer and supplier database

Suppliers first. There are those relating to overheads (electricity, gas, telephone,…) and those that serve your sales strategy. Some would say there is also the state, but we said we wouldn't talk about that… 😉

If you buy products from wholesalers to resell them in a shop, for example, the products you choose will meet the criteria of appearance, practicality, durability (…) that you have set yourself. They will also meet the purchasing objectives you have decided on to set a resale price attractive enough for customers to come and come back to your shop. All while protecting your margins, because you have to make a living from this resale!

You therefore need to define your range of products or services and choose the suppliers you want to work with. You will choose them according to the consistency of their delivery times, the minimum order quantities they impose on you, their prices and also their reputation on the market. Performance, image and finance are the three criteria on which you will form your opinion.

In any case, all this information must be consolidated in a practical, fast tool to allow you to keep sudden price rises in check and maintain a sufficient margin coefficient.

The prospect and customer database

We all had to start somewhere!

Generally speaking, our first customers are friends and family, sometimes customers we worked with before starting our own business.

Then there are several ways to make yourself known and acquire new customers.
Traditionally, if you work in B2C, you will run communication campaigns in the media (newspapers, radio, TV) and on social networks, distribute flyers, create a website and offer referral schemes to your customers… If you work in B2B, there is telephone or face-to-face prospecting, business networks, online visibility, managing a sales team…

The new customer acquisition policy you put in place must be translated into quantified targets… otherwise it will remain no more than a pipe dream.

In a shop, for example, if you know your average basket, how many buyers do you need every working day to meet your revenue and margin targets? Working this out is also an integral part of sales management.

Choosing sales management software

Customers are flocking in, your item databases are properly configured, the items are on the shelves: now it is time to deliver and invoice. For a shop, the cash register is a must, whether it is a physical till or online point-of-sale software. For B2B businesses, where sales are often handled in several stages and at the customer's premises, it is better to choose a software tool that lets you draw up customer quotes and orders and write delivery notes that will then be converted into invoices without re-keying.

These documents must reflect your image. They must be attractive, clear and comply with current regulations (including all legal notices). Your image is at stake! And so is what your prospects and customers will think of you. An ugly document with smudged ink, showing no details, no delivery or installation date, a price without VAT and no possibility of recourse does not inspire confidence.

Many entrepreneurs choose to write their invoices in Excel when they start out, which is prohibited in many European countries. Obviously, this decision is driven by price or by the fact that they do not know which tool might meet their needs. But this choice proves harder to live with when it comes to reworking historical customers to encourage them to buy again… And building up-selling or cross-selling actions without a database is mission impossible, as is any loyalty initiative.

Choosing an invoicing tool to structure your sales approach also means:

• Not getting tangled up in prices,
• Having a database of prospects, customers and suppliers to plan for tomorrow more precisely,
• Having sales documents that are numbered automatically with no duplicates or errors,
• Having price calculations that are always correct and consistent because the cells cannot move,
• Knowing in one click where customer receipts and supplier payments stand,
• Not having to worry about backups and risk losing everything,
• Spending your free time on something other than repetitive admin.

If you are starting your business, you will find sales management solutions that cost you less per month (backup and support included) than a carton of cigarettes; if you are not prepared to make that sacrifice, perhaps you should rethink your business model.

Managing stock

Not all sales management software offers it, but if you sell products and have several item references, it is better to choose a solution that also manages stock.

We have just two pieces of advice for your stock management:

• Your shelves should only hold what you are going to sell. Don't overstock: money sitting idle on your shelves is expensive and serves no purpose. The supplier will always be happy to sell you more later, don't worry.
• The best product you have to offer is the one you have in stock!

To conclude

The aim of software like eKo CRM is to grow with you and your business. The first licence includes all the features covered above, and activating a new licence for a second user or more does not require starting all over again: you simply assign them a new username and password, and that's it.

Request a demo of eKo CRM: it's free and there's no commitment.