Sales Optimization

Full Training for Local Service Businesses

Approximate time to implement (for beginners): 2-4 weeks

Note 1: To get the point across easier, I will use a fictitious business called ''ABC Company'' when showing examples.

Note 2: These tips can apply to any service business, large or small or in any industry (construction, beauty, restaurant, finance, etc)

A better sales process is one of the quickest ways to increase revenue

Better show up rate = More calls, Better close rate on those calls = more sales

* This training applies to businesses that have a sale process for all or some of their services (ex: Roofing contractor, Real Estate Agents, Dentists, etc.). Some sections will apply to all service businesses (ex: section on reducing ''no shows''), but we will mostly discuss the solutions that help service businesses with more complex sales processes.

What does Optimizing the Sales Process Entail?

For most service businesses, this entails improving communications with clients before, during and after the sale.

Why Implement these Tactics in a Service Business?

These tactics, in most cases, will help a business improve its chances of not only closing clients/deals but also increasing the amount of leads that get to the actual sales call/appointment. Giving a service business a boost in sales closing rate, as well as increasing the total amount of potential sales they can get.

Optimizing them can do the following for your business:

• Generate more revenue from the current calls you are getting (improving close rate)

• Generating more revenue by reducing the chance of a person cancelling or not showing up to an appointment (improving show up rate)

• Generating more revenue by increasing the amount every customer is worth (Increasing AOV)

Here's an example of what a 50% boost in your sales process (spread out across all the aspects of it) can have of your business.

By applying the strategies we will be discussing in this training, you can potentially increase ever aspect of your sales process by 10-100+%, leading to exponential returns when all added together.

This document will share exactly how you can optimize your sales process for your local service business.

Part 1: Introduction to Sales Optimization

What does Sales Optimization Consist of?

It consists of optimizing every aspect of the sale cycle. From when the customer has their first point of contact with you, through the sale and even when onboarding. We will discuss the different strategies to improve every part of that cycle, and how each part affects the other.

Why Should you Optimize your Sales Process

1. More Revenue: More sales calls closed, means more jobs to do, means more revenue, mean more referrals, means more jobs and so on and so forth.

2. Better Customer Experience: A good salesman sells, a great salesman consults. You don't want to force your clients into buying your services, you want to consult them in finding the best service you can offer them. This ensures the client trusts you, and will continue doing business with you.

3. Better Communication: Sales aren't done only on the phone. They are done by e-mail, by texts, by voicemails etc. The more you communicate to the client, the better it is. If you are able to tell him more about your service and more about how you do it, he will be less and less confused, and in turn, trust you more and more.

In short, optimizing your sales process is not only a great way to increase actual revenue, but also a great way to increase client trust and communication. Leading to easier sales, more referrals, more uspsells, etc.

Part 2: Types of Optimizations

For sales you can improve on three main aspects. before the sale is made, during the sale, and after the sale is made.

Main Optimizations

Brief summary on the main optimizations possible:

Before the Sale

What does it entail:

This refers to all the communication done before the sale. Appointment reminders, welcome flows, nurturing flows, etc.

Why is it important:

Nurturing your client before the sale is a great way to make them feel more secure in their choice of doing business with you. Reminding them about appointments and constantly communicating with them what they need to know.r

During the Sale

What does this entail: 

Refers to all the sales calls that will take place, and how to optimize them properly.

Why is it important:

Getting a high closing rate allows your business to grow in all other aspects. Knowing you can close more clients gives you the confidence to increase the amount of leads you get and want to get.

Post Sale

What does this entail:

After the sales call is finished, the job is not done. You want to keep communicating with clients, leading them to better experiences with your brand.

Why is it important:

For most service businesses, repeating customers are the lifeblood of their business. Which means that, after the sales, the job is not over. You want to continue to communicate with them in a way that brings them value, as well as increases the chances they will return/refer you.

Considerations that apply to all aspects of sales optimization

• Be Authentic: A lot of techniques out there speak of how to manipulate a client into working with you. The truth is, that for a local service business your reputation matters. Manipulating people into buying your service one time and hating you forever after is not a great long term strategy.

• Weekdays: In most scenarios for follow ups it is best to follow up only on weekdays, reducing the chances of you being perceived as intrusive or annoying. If your service is service has an urgency component to it (ex: Doing roof before winter season), then following up on weekends can be beneficial.

Part 2.1: Before the Sale

Here are a few tips on how to set up client expectations and reminders before the sale

Before the Sale

In this section we will be going through all the strategies to optimize the sales process before the actual sales call.

Why is Having ''Before the Sale'' Flows Important?

1. Increase Show Up Rates: Proper communication as well as reminders is the best way to increase the likelihood that an interested client will show up for an appointment/call. You can put as many efforts as you want into getting leads, but if they don't show up to their appointments they aren't worth anything to you.

2. Easier Sale: Communication with the client before the sale should be treated as a pre sales call. The point of a pre sales flow is to handle every objection a person might have about your service, before they become real issues on the call.

3. Can Lead to Upsells: A proper pre sales flow might also lead to upsells and cross sells. A person who booked an appointment for one service might, after reading your messages, decide to discuss other services you offer, generating you more revenue from the same customer.

Pre sale flows

A pre sales flow is a sales flow that keeps communication with client from when they decided to book a call, up until the point they join the call. This is where we handle all the objections we believe could arise in the sales call.

*For businesses that use form submission, you want to, as a rule of thumb call them in the first 5 minutes after the form is submitted. You would then begin the pre sales flow for the appointment/sales call that would be set. Responding quickly will reduce the chances them find a competitor and contact them as well.

Overall Tips:

1. List of All Main Objections: To set up a pre sales flow properly, you want to have a list of all the main objections someone has when purchasing from you, and ranking them from most common to least common (a list of 20 would suffice). This is the list you will be using when creating your pre sales flow e-mails, going from most common to least common in order

2. Offering Complimentary Service: Within the first e-mail, you want to offer a complimentary service to your client, given them the option to add it to their calls plan, increasing the AOV.

3. Show Potential Clients your Care: By responding to old reviews (or any review in general) you are showing your clients you care. This will also allow clients that had the intention of leaving a negative review, to reconsider and contact you before leaving that review.

4. SMS over E-mail: If they have given you permission to contact them via SMS, use it. The chances they will respond or read your SMS's is much greater then if by e-mail.

5. Frequency: We recommend appointments to be set same day or next day. But if you have appointments that are set at further dates (ex: dentist appointments), you might want to consider spreading out the pre sales flow to adjust to that frame. We recommend in general to have 7 communications with the client, spread out evenly until the appointment (no more than 1 per day).

Here are the subsections of how the pre sales flow is set:

Appointment Reminder Flow

This flow will serve purely as reminders for the appointments. They will be set at different time intervals, making sure that the only reason someone doesn't show up to an appointment is because they didn't want to, not because they ''forgot''.

1. Frequency: If you want communications to have the effect of reducing the most amount of no-shows, you want to be set them up in this way.

   1. 24 hours before appointment

   2. 3 hours before appointment

   3. 1 hour before appointment

*A 15 minutes before appointment message (for phone appointments) might be worth exploring. Not worth it for any service that requires them to move to you (ex: Hair salons or dental clinics) or you to them (ex: roofing estimate)

No Show Flow

This flow will serve to contact people who did not show up to the appointment, guiding them to take a new appointment and increasing your overall close rate as will be able to close some clients you would of otherwise never served.

Quantity of Follow Ups: True follow ups never end, you can follow up ''forever''. More reasonably, we believe in a 6 message follow up sequence, with a monthly follow up reminder following that.

1. 6 Initial Messages: You want to, after the client has not shown up to his/her appointment, set up a 6 message e-mail flow that will spread out for the next 6 weeks.

   1. Frequency:

      1. Sent directly after no show

      2. 24 hours after last e-mail

      3. 24 hours after last e-mail

      4. 48 hours after last e-mail

      5. 1 week after last e-mail

      6. 1 week after last e-mail (final before setting into reccuring flow)

2. Recurring Flow (same flow for all prospects who reach this point): You want to send out messages every month, basically until they tell you to stop or you stop running your business. This will make it so your business always stays on their mind, and so, whenever they decide they need your service, you will be the person they contact.

Side Note: One thing to keep in mind is that if someone did not show up to their appointment and didn't bother giving you a reason as too why, they might not be a good client to have anyways. The use of no show flows is not vital to the success of a sales process.

Bonus Tips:

Under 5 minutes. Rule of thumb for responses to a form fill out, a missed call or whatever other communication you have with a client is to respond in under 5 minutes. This ensures the client doesn't go shopping for too many other competitors, and gets them on the phone with you when they are most excited about getting the needs met.

Before the sale is a great way to reduce the difficulty of a sale, all while being automated. This will impact your sales team's conversion rates and increase the quality of the sales you make. Leading to a better customer experience down the line.

Part 2.2: During the Sale

Here are a few strategies on how to optimize your sale process during negotiations.

During the Sale (during negotiations)

In this section we will be going through all the strategies to optimize the sales process during the sale. Meaning, after you have told them the price/offered them a quote, and before they have paid.

Why is Having ''During the Sale'' Flows Important?

1. Sell More: Although every part of the sale process matters, during the sale is where it counts the most. In fishing terms, it's when you got the fish on the hook and need to reel it in. Sure it was harder to get them on the hook then it is to reel them in, but if you don't reel properly, you'll have to do fish again.

2. Better Communication: By being able to keep communication with the potential client, you reduce the risk of the being confused, or thinking of competitors of yours. It's a way to keep them in your ecosystem, inform them better and reduce chances they are confused. And confusion ultimately will cost you the sale.

3. Shows you are ''Sharp'': Having a message flow during the sale will show your client you are on the ball. Making them feel secure in choosing you to do your service. You are basically showing them that they can trust you, instead of just saying it.

During sales flows

A during the sale flow, is one that consists of keeping constant communication with a client from the time you have sent him an invoice or made your offer, to the point he buys. It's a way to follow up with them (basically forever) to communicate to them on the idea that you are the best for their needs.

Overall Tips:

1. List of All Main Objections: Like the pre sales flow, you want to make a list of all objections a client might have to your service, after they have seen the price. There a usually less objections before the price is mentioned, so creating a thorough list is advantageous (40-50 objections, conscious and unconscious)

2. Offering Complimentary Service: Within the first e-mail, you want to offer a complimentary service to your client, given them the option to add it to their calls plan, increasing the AOV.

3. Show them you are to be Trusted: The only real objections someone has to your offer (if they took the time to call you), is either the price, or the fact they don't trust you will do what you told them you will do. Having a proper price and offer is an entire subject on it's own. As for trust, you want to show them as much as possible, that trusting you is the right decision. Showing them testimonials, case studies and whatever you can within the ''during sales flow''.

4. SMS over E-mail: If they have given you permission to contact them via SMS, use it. The chances they will respond or read your SMS's is much greater then if by e-mail. Use it to your advantage while sending messages.

Here are the subsections of how the ''during sales flow'' is set:

Right After

This flow will serve purely as a confirmation of what has happened on the sales call. Keeping promises made on sales call, sending information spoken about on call to clients.

*This flow is the most relative of all since it will depend on what has been discussed on sales call as well as depend on the sales process you have. Best to create your own, but here are some guidelines.

1. Guidelines: To show you are ''sharp'' and were paying attention on the meeting, send out confirmation messages right after sales call.

   1. Recap - 5 minutes after

      1. Short recap of meeting, send over invoice, extra information sent over, include past testimonials in messaging

   2. Proforma Invoice - As soon as possible after initial e-mail

      1. E-mail with invoice, details of payment, onboarding plan and reassurance on the offer.

No Response Flow

This flow will serve as constant messaging for people who have not responded or have not paid yet. It is best to call them if they don't respond, but this e-mail/text flow will serve as an automatic way to keep them in the loop and thinking about your offer.

Quantity of Follow Ups: True follow ups never end, you can follow up ''forever''. More reasonably, we believe in a 6 message follow up sequence, with a monthly follow up reminder after that. Until we get an answer.

1. 6 Initial Messages: You want to send around 6 messages after a client has stopped responding to you/not paid. This will allow you to increase the chances they will pay.

   1. Frequency:

      1. 24 hours after proforma is sent

      2. 24 hours after last e-mail

      3. 24 hours after last e-mail

      4. 48 hours after last e-mail

      5. 1 week after last e-mail

      6. 1 week after last e-mail (final before setting into reccuring flow)

2. Recurring Flow (same flow for all prospects who reach this point): You want to send out messages every month, basically until they tell you to stop or you stop running your business. This will make it so your business always stays on their mind, and so, whenever they change their mind or decide they need your service, you will be the person they contact.

Negative Response Flow

This flow will serve to answer people who have decided to reject your offer, people who for some reasons don't need or want your service anymore. The way to look at this ''rejection'' is that the person doesn't want your service or your offer at THIS moment. It doesn't mean he wouldn't want it tomorrow, or doesn't have a friend who would want it, or wouldn't want another of your services. Having a proper negative response flow is a great way to turn a negative into a positive from thin air.

Quantity of Follow Ups: True follow ups never end, you can follow up ''forever''. More reasonably, we believe in a 6 message follow up sequence, with a monthly follow up reminder after that. Until we get a ''please stop contacting me'' or a ''yes I'm sold''.

Although it might be tempting to continue contacting someone after they have asked you to stop, it is important to respect it. Not only because of moral reasons but also for legal and branding reputation reasons.

1. 6 Initial Messages: You want to send around 6 messages after a client has rejected your offer. This will increase the chances he changes his mind, refers you or even buys something else from you.

   1. Frequency:

      1. Within 5 minutes after negative response (no template, should be a discussion, asking them why and what could make them change their mind)

      2. 24 hours after last e-mail

      3. 24 hours after last e-mail

      4. 48 hours after last e-mail

      5. 1 week after last e-mail

      6. 1 week after last e-mail (final before setting into recurring flow)

2. Recurring Flow (same flow for all prospects who reach this point): You want to send out messages every month, basically until they tell you to stop or you stop running your business. This will make it so your business always stays on their mind, and so, whenever they change their mind or decide they need your service, you will be the person they contact.

Optimizing your ''during the sale flow'' is a great way to not only increase conversion rates but also gain opportunities to upsell clients, get referral's from them and receive all the advantages doing the line you get from it.

Part 2.3: After the Sale Optimizations

Here are a few strategies on how to improve the sales process after the sale is made.

After the Sale

In this section we will be going through all the strategies to optimize the sales process after the sale is made. Meaning, after they have paid you.

Why is Having ''Post Sale'' Flows Important?

1. Upsells and Cross sells: If a client has purchased a service from you, especially if they are happy about it, they will be more likely to buy something else from you. An after the sale flow is a great way to upsell or cross sell services or products that are complimentary to the one you just did for them.

2. Referrals: An after the sale flow will allow you to ask for referrals and reviews. A great way to get more potential customers for your business, essentially for free. Referrals also go the other way around as you can refer them other companies that could service them in a complimentary way. (ex: You are a landscaping business referring your customers to a snow removal company, and getting a commission for that referral from the snow removal company.

3. Importance of Continuous Communication: Although the client has paid you, it doesn't mean that they aren't still worried on whether or not your service was done properly. Especially for services like roofing, where the service takes 30 years to make sure it was done properly, clients might be still skeptical of you after the sale. This is why communicating what you have do, what you will do and what will happen to them at the end is crucial to making them feel confident in their decision, and hopefully referring you to others.

After the sale flows

After the sale flows consists of keeping communication with them by onboarding them properly to your service, asking for referrals, recommending other services to them as well as giving them value (tips, tricks, etc.)

Overall Tips:

1. Set Up Partnership Commissions: Contact local businesses in your area that offer complimentary services to you. Organize with them a referral program and the commission that comes with it. This can go both ways, you referring them clients, and them referring back to you. The more you have to refer the better. Will allow you to capitalize on your partners client base, and get the most out of your own customers.

2. Implement Complimentary Services: You want to have complimentary services to be included within your business. For example, most roofing companies don't offer gutter cleaning. This is a missed opportunity since most of the clients you repaired the roof for will need their gutters cleaned, and you could of been the trusted one to do it.

3. Show them you are to be Trusted: The only real objections someone has to your offer (if they took the time to call you), is either the price, or the fact they don't trust you will do what you told them you will do. Having a proper price and offer is an entire subject on it's own. As for trust, you want to show them as much as possible, that trusting you is the right decision. Showing them testimonials, case studies and whatever you can within the ''during sales flow''.

Here are the subsections of how the ''post sales flow'' is set:

Onboarding Flow

This flow will consist of assuring the client that you will do what you promised you would do, while keeping them up to date on every aspect of it. You want to almost bother them, give them so much information about what is going on that they never feel the need to ask you.

*This flow will depend on the service you are offering, as some services take one day to complete and others years. So here are some guidelines on how to set it up

1. Daily or Weekly Updates:

   1. You want to send them daily/weekly updates of the services you offer if it warrant's it. Showing them every day the progress your team has made and keep confirming that the date you set for completion stays. This is especially important for construction services, where one service is waiting for the other to be completed and not following through on your promises can have extreme negative effects.

2. Progress Chart:

   1. You want to include in your messaging some sort of progress chart, showing them in percentage terms how much of the work is completed and how much is left. A visual queue will help them understand the work you've done and show them you aren't ''slacking off'' or taking advantage of them.

3. Re-State the Benefits:

   1. Although the person knows the benefits of your service you want to remind them. Sending them facts and tips about the benefits of the service you offered. This allows them to feel better about the decision they made and understanding it's true benefits.

4. Always Book a Meeting from a Meeting:

   1. You want to make sure to always book a meeting from a meeting. This ensures that you never catch them on a bad time and ensures a consistency in communications.

5. Final Recap:

   1. You want to have a final recap of the all the things you did for them, as well as all the benefits they will get from it. You want to send pictures, videos and details. You want to share all the benefits they will have from doing business with you and the service they received. Also asking if they have any questions or concerns about the service, and then, getting them on post onboarding flow.

Post Onboarding Flow:

This flow will serve as a way to get reviews, referrals and upsells to your business. Parts of this flow will run only for a few weeks, but others until they ask you to stop or you run out of business.

Quantity of Follow Ups: True follow ups never end, you can follow up ''forever''. More reasonably, we believe in a follow up sequence that asks/promotes different things in each e-mail.

1. Review Flow: This one long e-mail flow will ask the client, right after they have been served, to leave a review. Ensuring you ask them when they are most excited about the service they received.

2. Recurring Flow (same flow for all prospects who reach this point): You want to send out messages every month, basically until they tell you to stop or you stop running your business. This will make it so your business always stays on their mind, and so, whenever they change their mind or decide they need your service, you will be the person they contact.

Negative Response Flow

This flow will serve to answer people who have decided to reject your offer, people who for some reason don't need or want your service anymore. The way to look at this ''rejection'' is that the person doesn't want your service or your offer at THIS moment. It doesn't mean he wouldn't want it tomorrow, or doesn't have a friend who would want it, or wouldn't want another of your services. Having a proper negative response flow is a great way to turn a negative into a positive from thin air.

Quantity of Follow Ups: True follow ups never end, you can follow up ''forever''. More reasonably, we believe in a 6 message follow up sequence, with a monthly follow up reminder after that. Until we get a ''please stop contacting me'' or a ''yes I'm sold''.

Although it might be tempting to continue contacting someone after they have asked you to stop, it is important to respect it. Not only because of moral reasons but also for legal and branding reputation reasons.

1. 6 Initial Messages: You want to send around 6 messages after a client has rejected your offer. This will increase the chances he changes his mind, refers you or even buys something else from you.

   1. Frequency:

      1. Within 5 minutes after negative response (no template, should be a discussion, asking them why and what could make them change their mind)

      2. 24 hours after last e-mail

      3. 24 hours after last e-mail

      4. 48 hours after last e-mail

      5. 1 week after last e-mail

      6. 1 week after last e-mail (final before setting into recurring flow)

2. Recurring Flow (same flow for all prospects who reach this point): You want to send out messages every month, basically until they tell you to stop or you stop running your business. This will make it so your business always stays on their mind, and so, whenever they change their mind or decide they need your service, you will be the person they contact.

Optimizing your ''during the sale flow'' is a great way to not only increase conversion rates but also gain opportunities to upsell clients, get referral's from them and receive all the advantages doing the line you get from it.

Conclusion - Sales Optimization

If you’d like to learn more about optimizing your business online, we offer 12 free trainings on subjects ranging from SEO, Website Optimization and even Sales. 

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If you are looking to outsource the work and get us to optimize these parts of your business, visit our site for more information, and book a discovery call with our team. 

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