Sell, sell sell! The age-old marketplace slogan that often rings in our ears when we think of sales. Despite the general approach to sales changing over the years to become more customer focussed, we are still seeing businesses fire out a sales sequence with the slimy salesperson-in-a-bad-suit approach.
And it seriously makes me cringe.
Present-day consumers are being hit with sales pitches from every angle of every day. We’re bombarded while watching TV, browsing the internet, sifting through our emails, the phone rings, ads are cropping up more regularly on social media. Sales are everywhere. In fact, it’s thought that we each see an average of 5,000 advertisements every single day!
The beauty of a modern approach to sales is that everything is digital - so you can lose the sleazy suit and write your sales sequence in your PJs for all anyone cares. The bad news is that you will have to work even harder than before to fight through the noise and show consumers you’re worth the investment.
How do you make your sales sequence the best of the bunch?
The key to shining through the fog is all to do with our consumer brains (and we love brains here at Ninja HQ).
When we consider a product and its price, our brain is having an internal pain-reward debate. Price causes the pain signals in our brain to light up like a Christmas tree.
The only way to stop this is to envelope the product in a package that not only sells what the product is, but also why the consumer needs it and why you, the seller, should be the one they choose. This in turn starts to push the pain-reward balance in favour of the reward factor, and hopefully swing you a sale.
When a consumer is making a purchase decision, they go through three key steps:
- Justify - First they need to justify a purchase. Do they really need this product? What problem will it solve for them? Is the monetary expense outweighed by the benefits gained?
- Select - Consumers have now justified that yep, it’s worth the investment and is something they need. Now they are looking to choose which option is most suited for them. What company do they trust to have top-expertise and still hold the consumers best interests at heart?
- Purchase - Hooray. They have reached the purchase phase. This step is only going to be completed if your final steps (e.g. payment process) is streamlined and simple.
The job of your sales sequence is to make these steps simple and easy for a consumer to navigate.
Your sales sequence is a set of communications to sell your product, most commonly in the way of sales emails. These emails are triggered by something happening, such as a customer signing up for a lead magnet.
The sales sequence is your chance to not just sell your product, but prove why a lead needs your product or service and show them why you are the right choice over your competitors.
Selling is no longer sell, sell, sell - and your sales sequence needs to avoid that narrative, instead leaning on the why and flooding your consumers brains with those reward activators. Here are some tips to implementing a sales sequence that gets results.
Follow the optimum sales sequence structure: Gain, Logic, Respect
Once you’ve nailed the sales process and you’ve used Google’s awesome steps to optimise it, you’ll need to actually word some emails for your sales sequence.
Your sales emails can appear in many different campaigns. They may be part of a lead magnet follow up campaign, triggered from social media engagement or one-off product launch.
But wherever you have a sales email sequence, you will need it to be structured in the right way. Thankfully there is a neat system you can use in all of your sales sequence emails to make sure you’re maximising consumer engagement. They are referred to as GLR emails, short for: Gain, Logic, Respect.
Gain
Your 'gain' email should explain to the reader what they stand to gain from buying your product or service. You want to pile on the benefits here, and don't just focus on feature-led benefits... Emphasise what real-life problems your product can solve, plus any additional bonuses they might not expect.
Logic
The ‘logic’ email starts to get into the finer tuned details of the product. You’re wanting to approach the logical part of a consumer's brain. Let them know all about the specific features of the product. Again, relate this to how it helps them solve a problem they have. This keeps their brainy emotions in check, too. Don't forget to highlight your USPs - you need to stand out from all the other options.
Respect
The big finale. It’s time to reach for the consumer’s respect. You’ve shown them what benefits they’ll gain from the product and the logical features it offers. The aim here is to help them understand on a deeper level exactly what the solution is.
This is your time to bring out the big guns and remind them of their ultimate problem that will not go away until they’ve got a solution - your product. Re-emphasise that the solution is your product by rounding up the benefits once again.
These three emails work hand-in-hand with each other to nurture and sell at the same time.
Mind blowing right?
To finalise your sales sequence, make sure you have a couple of cart abandonment emails in there too. If someone has got THAT close to purchasing, you don’t want to fall off their radar. Remind them of their basket and claw back that sale. Read our blog post dedicated to cart abandonment emails for more detailed information.
Here’s an example of how we might set up a GLR sales sequence with cart abandonment. We use Keap Max Classic (fka Infusionsoft) but you could probably reflect this structure in any decent automation platform.
Google’s 3 step process for building your sales sequence
Even though you now have your sales sequence in check, the last thing you want is a lead to be stumped by a horrendous final sales process. In order for your sales sequence to be a success, it needs to have a pristine sales process around it too.
Google is pretty well respected across the board for its power in the world of SEO. But as the world's most popular search engine, Google also has some great insights into the sales process.
The search-engine giant has conjured up a nifty process for keeping in mind when you are working on your sales process, based around three stages:
- Eliminate steps - Don’t over complicate things. Streamline the process as much as possible, while keeping your consumers informed.
- Anticipate needs - Know what your consumers will be wanting. Pre-empt any problems they might come across or any frustrations they might have, and design your sales process to deal with these efficiently.
- Make it fast and easy - If someone is thinking of purchasing from you, don’t deter them with lengthy purchase processes or continual back and forth. Once they have made that decision, you want to nip that sale in the bud.
Let’s look at an example...
Only a few years ago, if you wanted to order takeaway food, your options were restricted to local restaurants. You could only have certain cuisines and each restaurant had their own payment methods, wait times, and order process.
You would need to look up each contact number and menu separately (in a phone book or in the kitchen drawer dedicated to takeaway menus) before you could make an informed decision. It was a long process just to get some tasty grub.
Enter Just Eat, the food-ordering app that changed the game.
Now a user can log into one app and see all the food opportunities within their area. They can search by cuisine or even deals, and can quickly see wait times and collection/delivery options. Payment can be made directly through the app making the process extremely fast.
Many people are able find restaurants or cuisines they didn’t even know were available before. The process of ordering a takeaway just halved in time, simplified in process and broadened opportunity. I think that’s a triple win right there!
NB: The mention of Just Eat is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Just Eat. It is merely an example. We are aware there are other companies that offer a comparable service.
It’s easy to see how Just Eat has followed the Google 3 step process here. They’ve eliminated steps needed to search and pay for food. They have anticipated the needs of consumers by acknowledging and improving the payment system and ability to quickly compare restaurants. And they’ve made the entire process slim-lined, fast and easy to use.
You can take this same approach in your own business too.
Continue selling after the sale
Now you know how to implement a sales sequence that gets results, and streamline your sales process to get that final sale. But remember, your sales process doesn’t end when the sales sequence does!
Once you’ve managed to nab that sale, don’t forget about that customer. Selling never dies.
Onboard your new customer with a tailored email series. Upsell/cross sell another related product that they might enjoy, or make sure they’re receiving an insightful, valuable long term nurture series to keep your business at the forefront of their mind.
Need a helping hand with your sales sequence? Contact a Ninja today.