Sales CPR, in case you do not know, is a method evolved by SELLability through which you can bring sales back from near-death.
Normally it is applied to individual sales—but in this case, we are applying it to bringing your business back to life after having come through this 3-month lockdown.
If you were able to maintain normal business throughout this time, congratulations! Most of us were not able to do that, though, so these techniques should be very timely.
A New Business
As the world opens back up, you are probably going to find yourself having to reach out to prospects and customers you have not spoken to in months. In effect, you are starting over newly—and in many ways, it is like you have a new business. In doing so, you must not assume prospects and customers have the same view of your products and services they did before the quarantine.
The first thing you must do is re-establish communication with them. While your customers and customers-to-be may have not forgotten who you are, if they haven’t heard from you in several months, you may have moved from front-of-mind to a place toward the back.
Reminding your prospects and customers that you are still here is only half the job. Actually, it is less than half—for it’s far more important to hear from your prospects and customers, find out what’s on their minds, and learn how you can service them.
What They are Really Thinking
Here is an important point: you will not know how to help them if you do not know what they are really thinking. You cannot pretend to know or assume based on conversations you may have had in the past.
In effect, you are circling back around to the Contact and Interview step of the sales process. It is during that step you first established trust so that your prospect or customer would trust you enough to tell you what they really think.
You may need to re-establish that trust by once again granting them importance, asking the right questions, and above all listening to the answers.
Newly, ask them what prompted them to inquire about your product or service in the first place, so they are reminded of why they needed it to begin with. Get them to, once again, talk about their goals and dreams. You could even again ask them how long they have been thinking about purchasing a product or service like yours.
In this way, you are reestablishing that trust so that they will tell you what they are really thinking.
Now you’ll be ready to ask a series of questions about where they stand at the present time (which is what we’re going to discuss in our next blog), and you’ll be able to honestly gauge where they are in the sales process at this point in time.
You cannot assume they are at the same place they were before COVID-19 happened—many events have most likely intervened between then and now. It is a completely different set of circumstances now.
Take the time to ask how they are doing, find out what their story is for these last several months. Most importantly, listen to them. You will obtain everything you need to know by listening.
