In today’s sales milieu, successful businesses must nimbly navigate a complex set of moving parts, including ever-shifting business conditions and evolving consumer expectations.
When you take the time to carefully map out a thorough sales model for your company, you will put a framework in place that enables you to identify customers.
Bolster that structure with compatible ways to accept payments, and the keys to growth will be in your hands.
Define the importance of your sales model
Before you can determine the best sales model for your company, you need to understand why establishing one is so important.
Think of this model as a road map for your store that gives your sales teams the direction that they need to thrive in full alignment with your brand’s mission, vision, and messaging.
Specifically, your sales model will perform several vital functions. By setting forth a clearly designed selling approach, you can be sure that every step involved in attracting, converting, and retaining customers is clear-cut.
With this in place, it becomes possible to accurately analyze past sales data, predict future performance, and allocate resources in the best way.
Additionally, your sales and marketing departments can work seamlessly in tandem because their roles and responsibilities will be firmly established. The result will be better leads, improved conversion rates, and enhanced performance from all members of your team.
Components of a sales model
In order for a sales model to operate on all cylinders, it must contain several important elements. Strategies involve figuring out how to attract new customers and bring back existing ones, positioning your products, and setting yourself apart from your rivals.
Next, you must come up with the nuts-and-bolts sales tactics that allow you to bring your strategies to life. These may include sales pitches, cold calling, and closing techniques.
Through it all, you need a team to act as the support system for your strategies. It will be composed of roles like sales representatives, account managers, and sales development representatives.
Based on roles and performance, you will then want to come up with compensations in line with your brand that reward high productivity. Tools such as customer relationship management and analytics software streamline communications and processes. They can also furnish you with crucial insights that will lead to intelligent projections and growth.
Popular types of sales models
You should next decide which type of sales model will work best to meet your needs. Some of the most common options include direct sales, subscription sales, channel sales, ecommerce sales, outbound sales, and inbound sales.
Depending on the products you sell and the preferences of your customers, you will want to tailor your sales model accordingly.
Direct sales
Many companies selling high-value or customizable items opt for a direct sales solution. This involves providing merchandise or services to clients without the need for intermediaries. In-person payments often occur with direct sales, along with a greater focus on creating a tailored and multi-faceted customer experience.
Subscription sales
For businesses looking to generate a predictable revenue stream over time, the subscription model is a popular choice. In many cases, you accept online payments on a recurring basis to continue to have access to a product or service.
Common use types include Software as a Service (SaaS), consumer goods such as subscription boxes, and streaming media services.
Channel sales
In the channel sales model, you empower third-party entities such as affiliates and resellers to move your products, usually rewarding them with commissions or affiliate fees.
With this configuration, you can broaden your scope and expand sales without needing to develop an internal sales force.
ecommerce sales
When you accept online payments for goods and services on your website, via an online marketplace, or through social media, you are using the ecommerce model. This versatile approach allows you to sell using numerous strategies, including subscriptions, one-time transactions, and customized experiences.
Outbound sales
This traditional method involves your sales team member reaching out to the customer via email campaigns, cold calling, or direct mail.
Frequently, the identified leads will have no prior experience with your products, requiring you to be proactive, persistent, and highly attuned to each person’s unique needs.
Inbound sales
By contrast, inbound sales target potential customers who have already demonstrated an interest in your products.
Teams frequently use content marketing, social media, and other digital strategies to attract buyers. The team then jumps in to complete the sale and take customers’ mobile payments.
Supporting your sales model with payment methods
With your sales model in place, find the best ways to support the customer payment experience. After looking at clients’ preferences and conditions unique to your industry, offer maximum flexibility and choice.
You can offer spectacular products and woo shoppers with tried-and-true pitches. But if the payment and checkout experience is lacking, you might well still lose the sale. That’s why you need to think carefully about who your customers are as you come up with ways to enhance their end-user experience.
Begin by thinking about buyers. Ask yourself how they came to find out about your merchandise (social media, online ads, etc.). Use your customer relationship management and analytics tools to determine what methods your particular buyers prefer to use.
Whenever possible, offer several options. In addition to taking credit and debit cards, consider accepting bank transfers and digital wallet payments from PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. If you are doing business internationally, also be sure to allow your customers to pay in their own local currency.
Taking the time to develop a multiprong sales model is the first step. Partner with a full array of payment options that align with your brand and mission and suit customer preferences, and your business will be ready to thrive in today’s evolving conditions.
North is a leading financial technology company that builds innovative, frictionless end-to-end payment solutions designed to simplify and grow businesses of all sizes. From the front door, to the back office, the developer world, and partnerships that expand the payments landscape, North offers proactive, comprehensive merchant services, in-house processing, and more.
