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CWhichisourSalesCarousel?
Wecannotthinkthatthepiecesofaccessibilityjustmentioned: gettingtheideaintheCustomermind,and managingthetransactionprocess, willsticktogetherandmagicallygenerateorders. Ifyouareexperiencingthis,probablyyouareinamarketinDemand:yourfisheswill biteanythingcanmerelyseemsedible. TheCustomerAccesshastoberationalizedintowhatIcallthesalescarousel. We should create a single system that assures that the potential Customer is identified,informed,convinced,servedandleveragedforfurthersales. The sales carousel is a model that works well for B2B business, where Customer knows to have a problem, and is looking for a solution. It works well for internet basedbusinesstoo:peopleusinginternettofindsolutionsaregenerallyconsciousof having a problem. But I think it works also for B2C in general, at least as a framework. The sales carousel is that framework of activities we have to put in place to transformapotentialCustomerintoaCustomerthatsignsanorder.

TheSalesCarousel:

thesalesCarousel

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 UsingthesalesCarouseltomodelyoursales,willfocusyourattentionon

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3keycomponentsofthesalesframework:
Traffic(creatingastreamofprospects) Engagement(meetingyourprospects) Conversion(makingyourofferaccepted) Anddesignafunnelprocessthatwillgofromthefirstpointofcontacttooneof

the4landingoffers:
NOoffer(whenprospectisnotconvertedatall) Lastoffer(whenprospectleavesyouatleastanexplanation) Softoffer(whenprospectacceptstokeepintouch) Hardoffer(whenprospectbuysfromyouandbecomecustomer)

Alongoneofthe3maindirectionshecanfollow:
Thedirectories(listingofsolutions) Theadvisors(comparisonsofsolutions) Thereferrals(endorsementofsolutions)

TheTrafficArena:
Thefirstscopeofanysalesinitiativeistoreachoutasmanycustomerispossible. Asmainadvertisingprofessionalssay:coverageismoreimportantthanfrequency. Butwhoareyoureallytryingtoreachout?Internetbasedbusinessesdivideinto3 categorytheprospectcustomers:

prospectcustomers:
Browserswanttomadeuptheirmindandarelookingforinformation Shopperstheyknowthesolutionsandwanttocomparefindoutthebest Buyerstheyknowwhattheywantandlookforthebestdeal. Eachofprospectcategoryhasthereforeitstrigger:

Prospectstriggers:
BrowserlookforDATA ShopperslookforDELTA(ordifferences) BuyerslookforDEALS(prices,orshoppingconvenience,ordelivery) Everyoneofuswouldlovetodealjustwithbuyers,peoplethatcometousalready sold.Butunfortunatelyisnotlikethat:mostoftheprospectsneedtogettoknow thatthereisaspecificsolutionfortheirproblem(someonedoesnotevenknowto haveproblem,bytheway)andthosethathaveidentifiedapotentialcategoryfor solutions,needtobeconvincedofourproductsuperiority.
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 Soweneedtoofferthemapointofcontactthatisrelevanttotheirneed. Thepointsofcontactcanbesummarizedforeachprospectcategoryasfollows:

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Typeofpointsofcontacts:
Browsers:offertheminformation o Liveinformationlikeblogsorforums o Systemicinformationlikeeditorials(books,articles)orcourses,lessons Shoppers:offerthemcomparisonofproducts: o Claimslikeanytypeofadvertising,whosejobistoproofsuperiority o Testslikethirdpartyreviews,laboratorytestsandcomparisons Buyers:offerthemamarketplace. o Marketslikeanyphysicalorvirtualplacewheretheyknowtheycanbuy o Agents like any person that can refer your solution and facilitate the transaction,forfree(referrals)oratacost(salesagencies) Prospectsreachouttherelevanttriggerfollowingprecise

Trafficdirections:
BrowsergettoDATAthroughLISTS: o Google(afterall:thebestdirectorysofar) o Catalogues o Yellowpagesandotherdirectories ShoppersgettoDELTASthroughADVISORS: o Advertising:PayPerClick,butalsoanyothercommunicationmedia o Consulting:theymayneedsomeoneexplainingthemthedifferences o Ratingagencies:fromStandard&Poors,toyourpal BuyersgettoDEALSthroughNETWORK o Canbeourownpersonalnetwork o Referredbypartners o Andofpartnersofpartners(uptothe3rddegree:theonethatallowsat leastonepersontobeknownbyboththeothers) Is up to us to assure that prospects traffic along each direction is maximized. The more prospect we are able to capture, the greatest the chances of business. We needtobepresentontheLISTS,berecognizedbyADVISORSandonthemouthof our NETWORK. And for each type of prospect we must be able to offer what she wants:whethergreatDATA,clearadvantages(orDELTAS),orgreatDEALS. ButtheultimatescopeoftheTRAFFICARENAistoconveytheprospecttothe

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TheEngagementArena.
In internet you may call it landing page, in daily life the landing page can be a corner,aSHOP,anofficereception,oryoursmilingface. The engagement arena is the moment when you make your first impression, declaringthebenefityoucanoffertoyourCustomer. And since everyone is emotional, keep in mind that people tend to buy based on howtheyanticipatefeelingasaresultofowningandenjoyingaparticularproduct orservice. Therearetwotypeoftypeofbenefitsyoucanpresent: 1)YoucanoffertoELIMINATEaproblem. 2)YoucanofferyourhelptoACHIEVEaresult. Yourfirstimpressionshouldbeabletoaddressthepain,orfeeling,ofyourcustomer, causedbytheproblemheneedstoeliminate. Or it should be able to address the desired outcomes, and therefore the state of mindthatreachingtheresultscanproduce. Making a good first impression is important, wherever you meet the Customer, if youwanttoengagehim,andtransferhimtotheConversionarena.

TheConversionarena.
IfyouhavebeenabletocaptureCustomerattention,thereareonly 4options you canoffertohim:

The4offers:
Nooffer:whencustomerleavesyouwithnothinginthehand Lastoffer:whenyoucanaskhimtoleaveatleastherphonenumber,emailor businesscard,orasaminimumanexplanationwhyyouhavenotbeenableto satisfyherneeds. Softoffer:whenyouareabletoconvinceyourcustomertoreceiveasmallgift,in exchange of the permission to record his contacts and get back to him with betterofferinginthefuture Hardoffer:whenyoucansignadealwithyourcustomer,andhopefullydeliver thesolutiontohisproblems EverythinginyourConversionArenashouldbemadetofunneltheCustomertoone ofthelast3typeofoptions:LAST,SOFT,HARD. Thefirstoption:leavingwithoutanyexplanation,isadefeat.Weshouldinvestigate. Isanoccasionforlearningfromourownmistakes.
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TheSalesFunnel:
Creatingtherightsalesfunnelistoughandrequiresabitoftryanderror.Ifyouhave budgetyoucandomorethanrelyjustongoodjudgmentandexperience.Youcan useadvancedstatisticalmethodologyasDOE(designofexperiments)totestwhat worksbesttobringtheprospecttoanagreement. TheFunnelcanbequitecomplex:thinktothisexampleoftheDefenseindustry: For items sold to the Defense industry you may need to intercept the Political representative, make sure he is aware of your company, and then you can contact the CEO of your Client and make sure he approves a visit of his strategic sourcing manager.IfyoupassthevisitYouwillbecontactedbyasourcingmanagerthatwill askanofferfortheevaluationbyhistechnicalteam.Theteamcouldthenendorse theofferandyouwillgetanauditfromaQualityInspector.Ifyoupassthisandget the order, the first pilot production will be under the radar screen of the manufacturingmanagerofyourClient.Eachroletakesaprecisestepintheapproval process.Youmustbereadytolinktheactors,notonlytofeedthem. Myadviceisthatwhateveristhestringoflogicalstepsyouhavearrangedtobring yourprospecttobuy,definetheireffectivenessrelyingondataand,ifyoucan,get backtotheultimatejudge:theCustomer.IftheCustomerlikesitleaveitlikeitis.

Theoccasiontobuy:
Startingtodesignthesalesfunnel,youmaywanttostepbackandtrytoseewhatis theoccasionthatbringsthecustomertoapurchasingdecision.Whenyouthinkto theoccasiontobuy,couldbeusefultoclearlyunderstandifthepurchaseismade by impulse (B2C) or it was planned (generated by a business program)(B2B). The occasion to buy can be fostered ( is made after an initiative that motivate the Customer)orcanbeforced(inducedbyachangecomingfromtheoutsideofthe Client:newmarketdemand,ornewregulations,newtechnology) This gives you the context, and helps design a funnel that respect customer expectationsintermsofusability.

Thepointofcontact:
ThenextthingistoidentifywheretheClienthasthefirstcontactwithyouandyour offer.ThepointofContactistheoriginofthesalesfunnel.

Thebait:
When you identify the point of Contact you can organize your bait, and from therelinkalltheactorstillasuccessfulorder.

Theusability:
Oninternet,butIthinkisvalidinlifetoo,thechancestoconvertyourprospectand
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 made him apply to one of your offers are limited. For this reason simplicity is mandatoryinyourConversionarena.Ininternettheytalkaboutwebusability.The mainfactorsincreasingtheusability(andthereforetoreducethechancesofaNO OFFER)are2: creating pages that can be scanned in an instant and where the visitor can immediatelyidentifythepossibleoptions(betteriftheoptionsare1only) Understand that visitor tend to click on the first reasonable option, not on the onethatismorecolorfulortheonethatismorelogical.Theyhavealwaysthe chancetoretry,sobesurethatthereasonableoptionistheoneyouwantthey pursue.

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Measuringtheconversionrate:
If your Conversion Arena is well structured, every step your prospect does, is a logicalconsequenceoftheprecedingone. Thismeansthattheconversioneffectivenessofeachstepcanbemeasured. For Example: participating to an Expo can generate Customer Contacts. Those Contactscanbeusedtocheckinterestanddeliverasample.Samplescanbelinked to feedback and feedbacks to offers. Hopefully we will get orders and an happy CustomerthatwillreferourStandtoanewVisitor. Measuring the effectiveness of each initiative is not only good to adjust our sales funnel,but,asaminimum,tojustifyourmarketingworkintheeyesoftheBusiness owner.

Whatifthefunnelfails?
IfwehavebeenabletoprofileourCustomerandherneedswithaLASToffersurvey, wewill havemoretangible datatobettertuneourConversionarenamechanisms. And if we have been authorized to tease the Customer we can get back to him organizingarefreshtohismemoryaboutourservices,onaplanned,automatedor randombase. Plannedcontacts:likebirthdaygreetings Automatedcontacts:likequarterlynewsletters Randomcontacts:likeforwardinganarticlethatcanbeofhisinterest Ifyourprospectisengagedonyourinternetplatform,couldbeworthalsodirecthim toaninpersoncontact, invitinghimtoafacetofacemeeting, orproposingtoattendaneventofcommoninterest, oradvisinghimofyouroccasionaltripneartohislocation.

TheCustomerrelationshipslifetimevalue
The Sales carousel can be limited to capturing of new Clients/orders, or can be extendedtocovercustomerssalesthroughhiswholeliferelationshipwithus. NotallCustomersareequallyopenedtoactionsthattendtoincreasethebonding
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 with our company. Creating fidelity through activities that aims at increasing customer satisfaction is an effort that helps reducing Customers acquisition costs butwillbeofferedonlyifthelifetimevalueoftheCustomerallowsit. We can increase Customer relationship lifetime (and hopefully its value) finding dedicated activities to bring the relationship status from: 1) we have been able to convince 2) retuning customer after we tested positively 3) customer receiving consistently better products than competition 4) Customers selecting us without even comparing us to the competition 5) Customers becoming Partners, equally sharingthevalueofthecooperation. Measuring Customers retention rate and the average duration of customer relationship is the primary indicator of our ability to retain Customers, but the lifetimevalue(orCustomerEquity)measureshowmuchourCustomersatisfaction effortsareworth.

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