2 Tools to Keep Your Creative Agency Sales Process Producing

In every agency, the number one goal is to make money or a profit, which is easier said than done. So, how do you ensure that your agency is profitable? This is where your sales process plays a major role.

First, let’s define what is a sales process: an approach to selling a product or service. Every industry has a different approach to its sales process. In the creative industry there are a few steps and tools your agency can use to ensure your sales process is working to make you profitable. Here are a few simple steps and tools you can take to ensure you are getting the best sales results.

Inbound vs. Outbound

The sales process for attracting new business is pretty simple. You start off with finding prospects. It can be via inbound leads that are obtained through your website or partner websites. People can request for more information and ask to have someone from your agency reach out to them. This is always a good way to attract new business.

You can also seek out new prospects via cold calling. Try finding potential new prospects via LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter searches. It’s free and you can make some very good connections. Once you have made a connection, you need to have an exceptional pitch. Ensure your pitch is polished, short and clearly articulates the opportunity for your prospect to do business with you. From there the next stage is to clearly outlay the benefits your company, over come any objections and close the sale. The final stage is executing the business on time and on budget to solidify the relationship for future business.

Having the Right Tools

To manage your sales process and leads use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool. This will help you manage your leads as they move through the sales process and your clients once you are doing business with them. It will also help you manage all your interactions in one convenient spot and note trends with clients and prospects.

Once you have secured the sale you need to manage the delivery of the project. To do, utilizing a project management system is one of the best ways to keep track of projects and profitability. There are many project management software solutions out there, however finding one that gives you the ability to track time against jobs, build estimates, create schedules and invoices and manage your CRM is a great way to manage projects. This all encompassing software will help you ensure that each project you are working on stays within the budget and you will be able to track how far along you are in the process, than you will be able to have an accurate idea of how much that project is costing and how much can be expected in revenue. A web-based solution is always a good idea. For example, Function Point gives you the opportunity to check out what’s going on in the sales process from any computer, as long as you have an internet connection. This helps keep everyone in the loop and keeps the sales process moving.

So when thinking about your sales process, ensure that you have the right tools in place to keep your sales process running smoothly because a good sales process is sure to bring in the money!

This article was written by former Function Point employee, Eric Ivker