What does a sales consultant need to know to improve the efficiency of their work? From the huge amount of theoretical information, I would like to highlight a small list of recommendations that will help the seller in working with the client.

What does a sales consultant need to know?

First of all, every sales consultant must understand the essence of his work. Under the words "advise" and "sell" there are many more fundamentals that any seller must own:

1. 1. The technique of establishing contact with the client is the most important stage that you can read about;
   2. How to overcome sales barriers and deal with customer objections? More in this;
   3. Every seller must master the art of presentation, otherwise you will not be able to present the advantages of your product to the buyer. See about it.
   4. If you learn to analyze the behavior of the client, you can always find a way out of this situation. How to do it, click .

What else does a sales consultant need to know? A few more tips:

• • Activity. Be on the trading floor when there is activity. You should be the first to meet the client, if possible, and not your colleagues. If you have certain rules for approaching customers, follow them and make sure others follow the rules that apply to everyone. Do not forgive violations of the rules, get your way. In a word, communicate more with customers and the result will not keep you waiting.
  • Phone is a sales tool. If your duties include, in addition to basic contacts, advising customers by phone or via the Internet, do it as diligently as you work with a buyer in your store. It has been proven that about half of potential buyers make preliminary calls to the store they are going to visit. How you do your job over the phone can make a big difference in the sale.
  • Feel the situation. It is necessary to pay attention to absolutely all customers, both those who are ready to make a purchase right away, and those who are still thinking, but at the same time, consultations should be different in content. If you ask a question: "When do you plan to buy?" and the person will answer: "Next year"- this means that you do not need to offer him to make a purchase now.

He just needs help to decide on the option, make a good presentation of the product and, most importantly, leave a good impression. Six months later, potential buyers will not remember the content of your consultation, they will remember you and they will definitely want to return to you.

With a person who has already made a choice and is ready to buy, it is necessary to work with specifics: offer options that are available, talk about promotions, loan offers, visualize the benefits of owning your product together with the client. .

• • Exchange contacts. If the sale did not take place the first time, this does not mean that you have lost a client. The main thing is to exchange contacts with the client. You just need to take the phone from the client, and in return give him your business card. If you notice that customers are reluctant to leave you their personal phone number, you need to take on the skills of experienced salespeople. A business card is not a piece of paper with a phone number scrawled in pencil, but solidly designed data that indicates that you take negotiations and acquaintances seriously and your organization does not cause banal doubts.
  • Say "No" to fatigue. A real "salesperson" should not have thoughts: "I've had enough, I sold out today." When there is a flow of clients, do not take days off, do not take vacations, work while the "wave" is coming. Such moments you will remember as a pleasant dream when sales decline begins. That's when you rest.
  • Mood. Working with people - does not allow a bad mood! How to set yourself up for work and big sales, read.
  • The success of your business depends on it, whether you are an employee or a business owner. No one wants to deal with a disgruntled, cocky, negative salesperson.
  • Balance in work with the client. Let the client express himself. If you take on the client in the first stages of the consultation too zealously, then you can not give the client the opportunity to speak.

Look for the golden mean: you must not be silent and do not rumble like in a market, it is best if you manage to build a mutually interesting dialogue with the client.

Do not forget that the client at the time of making an important decision is not comfortable, and from the first seconds he does not consider you his friend with whom you can talk nicely about where to attach his money. A client who is a little used to the environment, to you, will start talking more - he will give more information, his psycho-type will also appear. This will help in building relationships.

Conclusion

These sales tips are not instructions - they are just tips that will help you work more efficiently and not miss anything, as well as understand what a sales consultant needs to know and what to use in everyday work.

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Of course, in order to sell more, there is no need to know any intimate details about the Client. It is unlikely that information about how and with whom he eats, where and with whom he sleeps will come in handy in negotiations. Although ... maybe it will come in handy. It is even possible that you - or your employees or employees - will have to eat with the Client, and even ... it is possible ... to sleep with him. This is not prescribed in official duties, it is impossible to demand this from any of the employees. But in real life, for the sake of a strategic partnership or a really big contract, people go to great lengths. They are ready to sell their soul, and even more so the body.

However, it makes sense to do all this except for the sake of VERY, VERY BIG MONEY. Bulk small and medium deals are not worth it.

However, you must have basic information about the Client. Information about:
How much and in what quantities he buys.
In what quantities could I buy in the future.
Who are its main suppliers and competitors.
Where would he like to invest his money in the future?
Is he ready to open new directions in his business.

In order to sell more to the Client, his trust in us is necessary. The client must know for sure that you are on his side. That you will never offer him something that he does not need. Or for some fraction of a second it may not suit him.

And in order to win over the Client, you need to work hard. Since we all know that there are many types of Clients, and the representative system is different. To begin with, it is necessary to ask the right questions that help to talk to the client, to arouse a sense of his significance. They usually begin with the words: WHO, WHAT, HOW, WHERE, HOW MUCH. This category also includes "Carnegie questions". They are asked based on the "grandfather Carnegie rule":

The client is indifferent to you, your business and your offers.

He is interested in HE, HIS business.

And how your suggestions can be interesting and useful

HIM and HIS business.

But when asking such questions, you must remember that they will require you to use special active listening techniques. If you know how to ask questions, but do not know how to extract information from the Client's answers, then the price for this is worthless.

About the ability to listen and hear. You must remember to avoid negative, biased, selective, and indifferent listening. Beware of those moments when it seems to you that you already know what the client may say. And you - even against your will - will react to his speech in a biased and even negative way. Which is unacceptable if you want to sell successfully. You must be able to listen inclusively, openly, to let know that a person is heard in his every word.

One of the active listening techniques is the PARAPHRASE technique. Verbatim repetition of the main provisions expressed by the Client:
— As far as I understand you...
- Do you think that...

The client will be pleased that you not only listened to him attentively, but are even able to quote his statements:
—So, are you interested in...
- Important selection criteria for you are ...
- Based on what you said, you are primarily interested in ...

Using this technique, you can add a question to the Client's phrase:
—Did I understand you correctly that……………..?

Or you can generally put all his proposal in an interrogative form and voice it to him. At the same time, he will answer this question with even greater enthusiasm, giving more detailed answers.
You can also use clarifying questions here in order to get more accurate information:
— This is very interesting, could you elaborate...
Tell us more about...

Non-verbal accompaniment is also very important. You carefully look at the Client, from time to time letting him know with the words - “Yes, you are right, great idea!” - What are you interesting in. That you are as interested in it as he is. And most importantly, do not try to apply everything at once in a conversation with a Client. First of all, be sincere with him.

However, no matter what method you choose, you must be able to do everything to ensure that the Client hears you. Negotiations can be conducted in different ways, but in any case, it is important to know a few rules:

1. Speak slowly, in short sentences. According to statistics, most of the adult population does not catch the meaning of a phrase if it contains more than 13 words. Or if the phrase lasts more than 6 seconds without a pause.

2. However, more experienced salespeople are especially persuasive when their speech consists of long phrases connected by conjunctions "and" and "or". Such long phrases put the client into a trance or hypnotic state.

3. Vary the volume, every 2-3 minutes.

4. Attract attention with a change in posture, a sharp movement of the hand, a question (to include the client in a dialogue), a joke.

5. Use the connection to the Client - "now we will see, think, listen, do."

6. Create moments of anticipation and stir up interest: “This will seem especially interesting to you”, “This is more important than you might think.”

7. Use elements of suggestion. Connect reality with the future - “As soon as I tell you, you will choose for yourself what you need”, “If I show you, then you will have the opportunity ....”, “Since you already know this, you will already be able to ... ".

8. A choice without a choice - "Will you pay for the order now or tomorrow, when I bring it to you?"

9. The overall impression of a negotiation is 80% determined by how we start and end our speech.

10. And again from suggestion - the method of repeating "YES". The more the Client agrees, the more he wants to agree further. Start with questions that do not bind the Client to anything, and after his affirmative answers, ask a fundamentally important question.

And of course, when answering the question of the Client, be sure to praise this question. Say "What a timely question!" or "What an important question!"

Do not take questions as a sign of aggression against you. Don't be defensive or make excuses. If you are still not ready to answer the question, praise the Client anyway. At the same time, say that the question was asked not quite in time, and you will definitely answer it, but a little later. And later you will have the opportunity to prepare an answer to this question. Or the Client himself may forget about the question. Otherwise, this question will no longer be relevant.

Don't drag out the answer, don't turn it into another presentation. Answer according to the well-known formula "KiYa": Briefly and Clearly.

Remember three golden rules:

1. Never forget about the Client, never let the Client forget about you.

2. Take care of your customers and they will take care of you.

3. Do not forget: whoever stopped, he immediately began to lag behind.

Remember: You have the right to make a mistake, but you do not have the right to repeat the mistake.

Konstantin Baksht

How well you know your customers largely determines the sales volume and financial results of your company. Sometimes even the most unexpected information is important - for example, habits or childhood nicknames of decision makers. What information about the client can be useful in the work - says Maxim Bartashevich, consultant, business coach of the consulting group "Here and Now", an expert in the field of sales development and management.

- Anyone who works with people understands that the availability of information is always a "trump card" in negotiations, and its absence is a "trump card" in the opponent's hands.

This rule also applies to sales. And in many companies, in CRM systems, specialists simply won’t be able to save a client’s card if they haven’t filled in all the required required fields. Which often causes a storm of indignation on the part of those very specialists.

Hence the logical question: where is the very line between sufficient and redundant information and what do we need to know about the client in order to sell more. Let's try to figure it out.

Cost of customer information

So who is our client? Company? A group of people? Or a specific person in a specific position in this company?

If you work in the b2b segment, then you probably answered yes to all questions: both the company, and the group of people, and the specific person. At the same time, remember, people buy (as well as sell). Each of your clients is a person with their own habits, character and "cockroaches" in their heads. And for each person in the decision-making chain, you must have information collected. But its volume depends on the degree of influence on the decision-making by this person.

And as you understand, who has what percentage of influence on the final decision is also information that needs to be obtained.

The only true rule that you should rely on when determining the amount of information collected is what is the cost of this information. And if the price of production exceeds the possible final result, then the game is not worth the candle.

So we need:

1. Information about the company.

2. Information about the decision-making cycle (group of decision makers).

3. Information about the decision maker - the decision maker (involved in the decision).

Below I will give examples - perhaps redundant in terms of information for your company, you do not need so much. But this information is partially collected by certain companies, and at the same time, I do not know of any in which all of the following would be collected at once.

When collecting information, rely on the principle “information is a tool, not a goal”, and if you failed to collect some information, this does not mean that you cannot “rush into battle” (enter into negotiations) with another “weapon” (information ). We need information in order to:

• Better prepare for negotiations
• Draw Benefits
• Prescribe answers to possible objections and alternative ways of developing negotiations

The availability of information first of all gives us the opportunity to establish a trusting relationship with the client.

For example, one of my clients has a child the same age as my son, and part of the time of our negotiations was devoted not to upcoming education, but to children (and, by the way, now readers know that I have a son and can use this in negotiating with me)… Or if your client loves coffee, why not have a meeting at a coffee shop that brews the best drink in town?

Of course, some companies need to know a minimum about the client. For example, one of the finishing materials manufacturing companies that I had a chance to work with has such a category as individual entrepreneurs involved in finishing. As you understand, people there most often work of a certain type and their hobbies are not very diverse. It makes no sense to collect a mountain of information about everyone. They only need to know 2 things about this client:

• They want to earn more
• They want to be ahead of the competition in order to earn more

Giving them the opportunity to be the first to learn how to use new products and materials, as well as showing the opportunity to earn / save, the company has gained loyal customers. They did not need any other "buns". And the task of learning about their hobbies from a sales specialist was not and will not be.

There is another example - when it was vitally important to know about how an individual entrepreneur lives, since for a distributor company this "IP on the market" makes sales comparable to those of a chain of stores. And if you do not know that he is a Spartak fan, and come to him on the day of the match on work issues, you can lose a lot. It's better to watch the game with CSKA in a sports bar together.

When collecting information about a client, always be aware of how its use will affect the level of sales. And will you be able to subsequently "recapture" the cost of "mining" this information. Moreover, not all information you can use. And not all of it is needed.

For example, the client’s secretary “shared” with you information that “the decision was made in your favor, I already called other companies and announced the director’s refusal”, and the client at the next meeting bargains and twists his arms, referring, among other things, to the fact that he "has the same offer, one to one, but at a lower cost." Agree, it's stupid to trump with information that you already know about the decision taken in your favor.

What information about the company should be collected

To the block "Information about the company" may include:

Contacts (address, phone, website, groups in social networks)
Field of activity
Markets
Organizational structure
Company development history
Number of employees (ratio of workers and office staff)
Is it part of the holding structure (or does it itself have subsidiaries)
Purchase budget
Information about current suppliers
Supplier Selection Criteria
Preferred form of payment
Trends in the development of the market and the industry in which the potential client works
Information about who its competitors are
Who are his clients
What is the market share
Business reputation
Who are the owners and shareholders of the company
Company assets and its material base
The presence of debts to other suppliers, etc.

The next block is "Decision Cycle Information"(a group of decision makers). It is closely related to the "Customer Information" block, which I will discuss below. At the same time, “connections” between people and departments are important to us, so it is worth considering it separately. The most common approaches to collecting information in this block are reflected in the book "Sales Management" by Radmilo Lukic. The simplest table, filling in which, we get a picture - who to influence and with what to influence.

Here is an example table "Decision Making Group":

I recommend supplementing this table with the "Relationship Map" - in this way you will not only understand the characteristics of each, but also understand the scheme of interaction in the company when making a decision. Moreover, this process can even be automated - and such cards can be built for each transaction. Yes, it takes time, but if the client is "delicious", it makes sense.

Here is an example "Relationship Maps"

"Information about the client" (LPR). The most difficult block of information, since it takes time and your resourcefulness to search for many points. This block may include:

Surname, name, patronymic, position
Place in the structure of the company (both formal and real, official duties)
How long has he been working in this organization, information about previous jobs
Date and place of birth, nationality, education
Religious views
Hobbies, hobbies
The presence of pets (and attitude towards them)
Psychological type (psychological characteristics)
Attitude towards the organization in which he works (loyal, neutral, negative)
Motivation system
Information about current suppliers (attitude to certain suppliers)
Supplier Selection Criteria
Marital status and presence of children
Parents and family ties (both internally and externally)
Personal life (husband / wife, wedding date, husband / wife's birthday, family relationships, interests and education of children, family holidays and traditions)
Environment (network of contacts)
Material conditions (including plans)
Pages in social networks
Frequently visited places
Habits, oddities and weaknesses (superstitions, rituals, greed for the weaker sex, etc.)
Nicknames, nicknames
How this person relates personally to you, to your company
Achievements and awards (not necessarily professional)
Self-attitude (perfectionism, laziness, irony)
Health (his illnesses, illnesses of loved ones)
Enemies (both inside and outside the organization)
Prospects (both in the company and plans for the future), etc.

Once again I repeat - there is no point in collecting everything. Look for information that:

• Help you sell
• The cost of its search is adequate to the result obtained.

And in conclusion: any information about the client can and should be used at the right time and in the right place. Easy search and big sales!

There are a number of data that have a significant impact on customer loyalty. For example, if employees of a cosmetic store know what eye color regular customers have, then there is a greater chance of selling them a new line of cosmetics. Are you making an effort to collect customer data that can help drive sales for your product?

In this article you will read:

• What you need to know about customers for successful sales
• How best to organize the collection of information about buyers

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Know the client in person

Alexander Potapov,

CEO, Adobe Systems in Russia and the CIS

What you need to know about the client to sell him more and tie him to the company forever? All businessmen would like to know the answer to this utopian question. Collecting information about the buyer, indeed, is never superfluous. However, before talking about what customer data you need to collect, it is important to determine who exactly your customer is. Why does this question arise? Because in many b2b companies, sellers very often mistakenly identify the person who makes the purchase decision.

When we say “our client”, we mean a company - Sberbank, Gazprom, etc. However, in fact, our client is a very specific person: the head of the company, the commercial or financial director, the head of the procurement department, etc. And the farther away it is from the target audience, defined by the main functionality of our products, the less likely it is to be interested in the proposed solution.

For example, the chief financial officer should not offer software for creative professionals, since he should not understand the specifics of using this product, which is used in one or two departments and is not an integral part of the entire IT structure. At the same time, you can talk about the use of Creative Suite in a publishing house with the head of the entire publishing house - the entire business process is built on this product. But it is completely useless to talk about the same with the president of an oil company or a large bank, although in absolute terms, the purchase of their organization can many times exceed the order of any profile company.

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Therefore, our specificity is to know the business processes in the target audience where our products can be used, and in the non-target audience - to have knowledge about the fundamental existence of departments in which they can be used.

For example, it is very important whether a large non-core organization has a marketing and advertising department, or whether they maintain their own Internet resource.

To collect information about buyers, more technical issues are also interesting - the position of the company in the industry. For example, whether its shares are sold on foreign exchanges - this is important, since this company is obliged to monitor the correct use of software, the correspondence of the number of licenses to the number of jobs. Also important are issues such as the state of the workflow (we are expected not only to sell licenses, but also consult on optimal use), the principles of budget allocation - by suppliers, over time, and similar important, but quite specific things.

The collection of data about the clients with whom we communicate is also not redundant - ceteris paribus, despite all the formal business processes, they communicate much better and more productively with those with whom good personal relationships have been established. This applies to both politics and business. So the ability to conduct general conversations in the area of ​​​​interest of your interlocutor, tentative knowledge of important events for him - all this helps a lot when you need to decide something urgently or informally.

In general, regular and abnormal situations in the sales process are approximately equal, so no business knowledge about the client can replace good personal relationships - they all paint in warmer colors.

The main thing when collecting customer data is to know the needs

Alexander Popov, CEO, Clover Group, Moscow

Our company does not need to collect specific information about customers. All data boils down to knowing his basic needs. What you need to know about the client In order to sell a specific product like real estate, you need to determine what the client needs and does not need. We started building residential complexes of an improved economy class in the near Moscow region precisely because we saw that there is a demand for them. We realized that such housing is needed, and offered our solution. Many young people want to live in normal, comfortable conditions, so that it is elementary convenient, but at the same time they cannot afford this convenience in Moscow.

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We offered such an opportunity near Moscow. What did we need to know about our client? First of all, what can make him buy an apartment in the suburbs instead of a Moscow Khrushchev in a residential area. The answers were as follows:

1) security - fenced area, security guard, concierge;

2) the availability of normal all-season parking, as well as parking spaces for cars of friends and relatives who come to visit;

3) normal high-speed elevators that do not have to wait for two hours;

4) good quality double-glazed windows that do not need to be immediately thrown away and replaced with others;

5) a place for walking with children, a playground;

6) a place for sports (in some cases, a fitness room and a swimming pool). These are very specific preferences, because of which people choose new buildings in the Moscow region.

What you need to know about the client

Irina Chechel,

Marketing Director, Esperance, Moscow

To successfully sell, you need to know about customers not only general socio-demographic characteristics (age, social status, income level). There are many circumstances that influence consumer behavior and largely determine whether a product will be in demand.

• Instagram promotion: what kind of business is it effective for?

In general, for our business, any statistical data relating to consumers can be significant. And the main tool for collecting customer data is customer surveys. All information flows to the marketing department, is processed, accumulated, analyzed and taken into account when forming the assortment policy.

So, a few years ago we tried to divide our audience according to such a criterion as the motive for making a purchase. We asked ourselves what motivates a woman to buy? As a result of the analysis, two prevailing groups among our customers were identified - pragmatists and sublimators. The former approach purchases rationally and clearly understand how much they are ready to spend now on the pair they need. Others buy shoes, including to improve their mood.

Women often use shopping to relieve stress, fight depression, etc. Therefore, one of our tasks is to improve the mood of our customers, creating an atmosphere for positive emotions. In particular, we are going to pay more attention to the design of the salons, starting from the windows that women look at first of all, and ending with the display itself, which will visually present the different thematic parts of the collection and possible sets and combinations.

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Other criteria by which we evaluate our customers are taste preferences and shopping habits. It is with their help that marketers get the opportunity to divide the target audience into categories and present their customers as clearly as possible. So, to make a portrait of the consumer, you need to get answers to the following questions. What style of shoes do they prefer (sporty, feminine, classic, casual)? What characteristics of this shoe matter (e.g. color, type of material)? Who is willing to pay for what? How much?

In addition, such a criterion as shoe size is also important. We concentrate the base of regular customers by foot size in order to determine how many shoes with heels and, conversely, flat shoes should be included in the collection.

The fact is that shoes with heels are most often chosen by short women, with a small foot size (35-37), while flat models are bought more by tall women (with a size of 39-41). Therefore, knowing the number of customers with small legs, we can, accordingly, correctly calculate how much heeled models should be included in the order. This is essential to prevent illiquid balances.

Gathering information about the buyer: do not collect too much

Alexey Petrenko, Member of the Board of Directors, Amway, Moscow

Too much information is often worse than not enough information. Therefore, when collecting data about your customers, the main thing is not to overdo it. It's likely that you don't need to do client research at all. For example, our main target audience is our own distributors. These are very different people. Collecting detailed information about them does not make much sense. We just need to know the following. Firstly, these are people who want to work for themselves, and secondly, they are interested in earning more. With this information, we can offer them the following: free training and a wide range of products.

Thus, within the framework of the shopping center we offer training elements for various types of products. When distributors come to pick up a product, they also have the opportunity to attend a seminar or training session that takes place as scheduled. For example, if a distributor is engaged in cosmetics, it is more convenient for him to come when a training session on cosmetics is being held and at the same time receive the goods.

Since we have different consumer groups, we offer them a wide range of products that starts from inexpensive goods and ends up quite expensive. If a distributor has a moderate income and generally does not want to make risky investments, he has a chance, for example, to enter the cosmetics of the middle price segment. And if he has big ambitions, nothing prevents him from taking a risk and selling premium class dishes. We help them by providing opportunities. Everything else is in their hands.

Information about authors and companies

Adobe is a global developer of products for any kind of data, including textual and graphical information, video and web content. More than 20 years on the world market. The staff of the Russian office is 17 people. Official website - www.adobe.ru

"Clover Group"- one of the leading investment and development companies in Russia. The company is actively working in the segment of mixed-use complexes, which include office, retail, entertainment, hotel and residential real estate. The company manages 243 objects. Official website -www.clovergroup.ru

Amway- Russian branch of the international corporation Amway Corp. The company specializes in the production and sale of perfumery and cosmetic products, biologically active food supplements, household goods, steel dishes. Official site - www.amway.ru

Irina Chechel Graduated from the State University of Management (GUU). In 2009, she received an MBA degree from the Mirbis Moscow International Higher School of Business with a degree in Marketing. Until 2003, she headed the marketing and corporate communications department at Vitamax - XXI Century. Since 2003 - director of the marketing department of the Ekonika chain. Since 2005 - head of the marketing department.

"Esperance" represents a chain of shoe stores-caskets "Ekonika". Created in 1992. The network includes 125 salons (89 are directly managed, 36 are owned by franchise partners). The total number of regular customers exceeds 0.5 million people. Official website - www.econika-style.ru

Work at the second stage of the company's development also differs in a different approach to sales. After starting a startup, you got regular customers - a valuable asset, but what difference does it make? The concept of working with them and tasks are changing. The main tasks are: gaining customer loyalty and commitment to your company's products, securing your company with the client as a permanent supplier, i.e. retention of customers in the category of “regular customers”. One of the new tools for solving this problem is a customer database. This base cannot appear “at the behest of the pike” or at the behest of the chief. The salesperson needs to put into his head the importance of the most complete information about the client and explain how to collect it. I will note the difference between information collected about potential customers and information about regular customers, i.e. customers who have made repeat purchases. In the first case, we analyze internal information about our product and services, who may need them to solve what problems, etc. In the second case, when we have found customers who appreciate your product and services, we need information that will help keep them.

So, what information about the client is needed and where to get it from?

1. Company name, address, directions, telephone, post office, etc.
2. Bank details.
3. Firm size, financial strength, client potential.
4. The structure of the company. Ways and terms of passage of decisions. Bill payment system.
5. Head: full name, age, marital status, date and place of birth, marital status, whether he is the owner of the company or is employed in it, previous jobs, ranks and awards, attitude to military service, living conditions, inclinations, weaknesses and other useful information for maintaining relationships.
6. A contact person with whom your firm has a direct working relationship. His level of influence, attitude to his work, company, character, weaknesses, strengths, range of interests, personal problems, hobbies, addictions, lifestyle, where he rests, a fan or not, etc. How strong are personal interests in relation to state ones?
7. Other people involved in making the decisions you need. Information about them is similar to the previous persons.
8. Centers and forces of influence on the adoption of the decisions you need. Whose opinions can influence? Who can and is ready to influence in your favor, and who is opposed to you?
9. The problems your product or service solves. What makes a client stay in a relationship with you?
10. competitors and substitutes.
11. With what frequency does the client purchase products and is he ready to do so in the future?

This list is non-exhaustive. It is constantly updated with information and its volume largely depends on the value of this client for you, on how tenaciously you are determined to keep him. An important tool for maintaining relationships with clients is CRM (Client Relationships Management) software. They are issued as independent programs and as appendices to accounting and warehouse programs. There are many of them, but you need to buy it only in conjunction with your warehouse program, since it fixes shipments and much more.

Last week I was on a business trip in the Southern Federal District. For two days I traveled around the region, visiting potential business clients and potential business partners. I needed to assess the situation in the B2B market with small and medium businesses, which continues to shrink. With manufacturers everywhere - trouble, with merchants the same - make ends meet. The dollar exchange rate once again robbed business and the population. But that's not what this is about.

By studying the business of clients, both permanent and potential in real “field conditions”, you draw important conclusions about both their business and the general market situation. The fact is that customers who regularly buy your product and are enrolled by you as regular customers may one day not apply and not buy anything else. However, they will not send you any notifications. Therefore, it is necessary not only to collect information about customers “paper”, but also “live”. You should be interested in how your customers use your product, how it helps them in their business, how important and valuable it is to them, what is happening in their business?

It is possible that they need something to suggest, something to help, maybe they are blinkered and do not correctly make assessments and build their opinion, maybe they live in old stereotypes. Maybe they need to change the assortment, and you should participate in this? This work is not for managers, this work is for a business organizer and it is necessary to do it periodically. By the way, this also applies to competitors, as well as to manufacturers and suppliers of substitutes (substitutes).

I'll finish it later, I'm going to bed.