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UNIT V

MARKETING AND SALES ANALYTICS

Sales and marketing analytics comprises the systems and processes that allow your
team to evaluate the success of their initiatives by measuring performance using
important business metrics, such as marketing attribution, ROI (return of investment),
and overall sales and marketing effectiveness.

In other words, these analytics tells you how your sales and marketing efforts are
performing.

Importance of Business Analytics for Marketing Team

Data is the best form of gold for a marketing team as they can use it to build marketing
strategies. With this, they can easily take their marketing efforts to the last detail of their
customers and implement targeted strategies. Here are some reasons showing Business
analytics’ importance for marketing.

Assessing Marketing Strategies

 Marketing has always been an expensive affair for businesses. They spend a
significant percentage of their budget on marketing. Using business analytics
aspects will ensure that businesses get the maximum ROI on their spending.
 A data-driven marketing strategy will help these businesses optimize their
marketing campaigns to target the specific aspects of their customer’s journey.
With targeted marketing, the results improve, as there is less “shooting
blind arrows” and more of approaching the right customers.
 Moreover, data-driven strategies help personalize customer experiences and
marketing. The marketing teams are better equipped to create specific strategies
and also reduce the acquisition cost. As a result, the marketing teams can also
increase engagement levels with their customers and also achieve better Customer
Value Analytics (CVA).

Creating Surveys

 With the help of business analytics, marketers can always ask the right questions
from their customers and target audience. The importance of this step is visible
when creating the solution. Because if you can understand what your customers need,
you are better able to create the desired solution.
 Without access to data, you can keep on creating endless surveys and questionnaires
and then analyze the answers to identify the results. But with access to data, you can
gain insights prior to creating surveys.

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 Using business analytics helps accelerate the surveying process and set the right KPIs.

Identify Target Audience

 Businesses must understand that not every person is their customer. There are
a limited number of people who need their product. It will be more productive if a
business entity will market its product in front of interested customers rather than
including everyone in the mix.
 With the help of business analytics tools and techniques, you will find it easier to
categorize your ideal customers. You can create a customer persona and build
brand messaging that is closely associated with these individuals.
 You can go on to collect information from different channels and classify them with
business analytics tools. As a result, you can evaluate and create a pre-verified list of
potential customers. Implementing the marketing strategies at this level will provide
better ROI.

Analyze Customer Behavior

 When you need to understand your customers, business analytics is one of the best
solutions. It will allow you to tailor your services and solutions according to your
customers choices and preferences. From here, you can address the issues your
customers are facing and project your product as the panacea for all the issues.
 You can drive better content that is relevant to your customers and also sharehelpful
content. All these aspects come together to form a cumulative marketing mix that will
bring effective results.
 Based on your customer’s buying behavior and patterns, you can further create
strategies or modify them for better conversions, higher visibility, and enhanced
sales.

Importance of Business Analytics for Sales Team

For the sales team, business analytics is equally important as it is for the marketing team.
The key component here is the insights and trends we can deduce by using business
analytics techniques. Some of the insights include creating bespoke pricing strategies,
knowing the customer’s response, and enhancing public engagement. Here’s how we can
use business analytics in sales.

Work on Pricing Strategies

The right pricing strategies will set your product apart from the competition and attract
higher sales. However, to set the right price and provide the best value to your customers,
it is important to take the help of business analytics for setting the right price.

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Using business analytics will help a business eliminate the “sounds about right” pricing
strategy. This will help them move towards a value-based pricing system.

Identification of Weak and Strong Products

 Another way to use business analytics in the sales process is identifying the strong
and weak products. In this, the business can determine the trending products and
the ones that are seeing a declining trend in terms of sales.
 With this, the sales team can find out which products are lagging behind due to
competition or which ones do not fit with the current market margins. Having this
information in hand means businesses can identify how long it takes for a deal to
close. It can show the results of specific sales campaigns and which elements in a
product can spark the customer’s interest.

Review Sales Process and Pipeline

 Cumulatively, business analytics can help the sales team organize their sales
process by reviewing it effectively. The representatives can get a clear picture of
the sales process and discover the loopholes along with the entire strategy.
 Business analytics has the potential to transform the sales process and pipeline.
It will provide a historical and predictive data set that businesses can use to
identify better opportunities and prospects.

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Analytics allow businesses to make more informed decisions based on the data
presented.

For example, top-of-funnel marketing analytics can help to optimize marketing spent for
the most effective channels for generating leads.

Marketing analytics can be used to answer strategic questions such as:

 Which audience segments should our campaigns target?

 Which marketing channels should we focus on to reach a particular segment?
 What messaging, copy, and creatives should we use to convince each segment to
buy from us?
 How much does it cost to acquire new leads? And how much can we afford to
spend on acquiring new leads based on our existing conversion rate?
 What’s our return on marketing investment across the various marketing
channels?

Conversely, sales analytics can be used as a tool to answer strategic questions

related to conversion, such as:

 Which type of leads are our highest value customers?

 Where are our best customers coming from?
 Which sales enablement content and sales strategies are effective and which
aren’t?
 Are our sales training programs working or not?
 Incorporating analytics into your company is integral to achieving your business
objectives.

For example, to analyze metrics such as views, impressions, and clicks at the top of the
funnel. In the middle, it’s all about capturing leads and moving them into your lead
nurturing campaign. And the bottom of the funnel, the metrics are centered around sales
conversions, such as booked appointments and lead-to-close ratios.

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Descriptive analytics

 Descriptive analytics are metrics that inform you of what happened in the past.
 These data points help you understand past sales and marketing performance
and provide context for what’s currently happening.

 For example, you can compare two ad campaigns and recognize patterns about
why one may have outperformed the other. Perhaps, it was the ad creative, or it
was targeted to a more relevant audience.
 Descriptive analytics provides a means for you to understand what happened and
why.
 While the primary objective of descriptive analytics isn’t to predict future events,
it is nevertheless useful for prediction.

Predictive analytics

 Predictive analytics is a type of data science that utilizes past data to make future
predictions about potential outcomes. This usually involves large volumes of data
along with machine learning algorithms that use data to make increasingly
accurate predictions over time.
 For instance, a machine learning algorithm can find clusters in your marketing
audience to predict the most profitable segments to target based on interests,
demographics, and other factors.
 Another example of predictive analytics is lead scoring.
 Encharge helps you predict whether a prospect will make a purchase or not.
Through lead scoring, the system for measuring a prospect’s qualifications and
engagement with your brand, marketers can determine the likelihood that each
person will purchase.
 In this automation flow, you can see that Encharge lets you build sequences
based on a prospect’s lead score value.
 High-value prospects can be moved into high-priority follow-up from your sales
reps or into a different sequence, while low-value prospects can be sent to a
remarketing campaign to nurture those leads further.

Prescriptive analytics

 Prescriptive analytics focuses on utilizing past marketing data to recommend

impactful things you can do.
 This type of analytics focuses less on what will happen and more on how it will
impact what happens.
 Your predictive analytics suggests that your website will receive an influx of new
visitors. How can you effectively take advantage of your new visitors?

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Prescriptive analytics helps you pick the best messaging, deals, and products to
highlight for maximum profits.
 For example, sales enablement automation tools like High Spot can help sales reps
select the right sales content to provide to their prospect during a call. Not to
mention, it can even prompt specific discovery questions relevant to what they’re
looking for. Using AI and machine learning to offer recommendations takes
analytics one step further and will help businesses give their prospects and
customers the best possible experience.

Best sales metrics to track for growth

Data is the heart of your sales analytics. Before you dive into using analytics, you need to
understand the various key performance indicators and metrics you’re looking at and
why you should measure them.

Below are several sales analytics metrics to consider. While sales teams mostly use
these metrics, revenue marketing teams can also be hеld accountable for them.

 Sales growth
This metric shows how your sales revenue has grown or shrunk based on a particular
time period. It’s an actionable metric that can be used to optimize the sales process
and strategies.
 Sales target
What are the targets for the month, quarter, and year? Setting these targets allows
you to create a plan to hit those sales goals. This could be a specific revenue generated
or the number of new customers acquired.
 Sales opportunities
This KPI defines the effectiveness of your sales process by telling you the number of
sales opportunities that your salespeople are creating. Sales managers use it to
forecast sales and determine the most critical opportunities.
 Lead conversion rate
Ever wonder how many leads are converting into sales? If leads are flaking on your
reps, more training may need to be provided. You can work backward by
understanding how and why leads are converting to formulate a plan for acquiring
future customers.
 Pipeline value
This metric informs you of the expected revenue from the different sales
opportunities in the specific time frame. You can get an overview of the value of the
current deals in the pipeline and the progress that your sales reps are making towards
those goals.
Using a sales pipeline tracking system is a great way to forecast the sales for the month
or quarter.
 Average conversion time

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One way to increase annual growth is to decrease the sales cycle. The average
conversion time provides insight into the productivity of your funnel by informing
you how long it takes for a lead to convert, thus giving you a bird’s eye view of your
sales pipeline.
 Number of demo calls booked
The number of calls booked is a great indicator of the health of your sales funnel. A
low number of calls booked means there are issues at the top and middle parts ofthe
funnel.
 Calls and emails per rep
These metrics provide you with the volume of calls and emails that your reps are
making over the course of a day, week, or month. It serves as a productivity metric
to inform you how many people your reps are in contact with every day. Also, it lets
you know if something is off with your sales funnel.
 Quote to close rate
This determines the percentage of interested prospects who convert into paying
customers. The quote to close rate illustrates how effectively your sales team can
move prospects through the sales funnel.
 Average purchase value
Boosting the average purchase value is an easy way to increase revenue without
adding much effort or complexity to your sales funnel. This metric calculates the
average value of each transaction.

MARKETING STRATEGY

A marketing strategy is a long-term plan for achieving a company's goals by

understanding the needs of customers and creating a distinct and sustainable
competitive advantage. It encompasses everything from determining who your
customers are to deciding what channels you use to reach those customers.

With a marketing strategy, you can define how your company positions itself in the
marketplace, the types of products you produce, the strategic partners you make,
and the type of advertising and promotion you undertake.

Having a marketing plan is essential to the success of any business. Read on to learn how
to create a successful marketing strategy for your company.

Understanding marketing

Marketing is about connecting your company with potential customers and connecting
those customers with your products. It involves understanding customer needs,
translating those needs into products and services, packing and pricing those products
and services, and then convincing customers that they need to buy those products and
service

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Marketing strategy includes

In essence, a marketing strategy determines the general direction – but not the specific
details – for a variety of marketing-related activities. Ideally, your marketing strategy
should help you define the following for your company:

 Target audience
 Value proposition
 Product mix
 Brand messaging
 Promotional initiatives
 Content marketing
Importance of marketing strategy

 Creating – and following – a marketing strategy is essential to setting the

direction not just for your marketing-related activities but also for your entire
business. Your marketing strategy helps you stay in sync with your customer base,
develop the right products for them and determine how you communicate
information about those products.

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 Without a defined strategy you won't know who your customers are, you won't
develop the right products, and you'll waste money promoting them.
 In short, having a defined marketing plan makes you more successful.
 There are several steps you need to take to create a robust marketing strategy for
your business.

 Set definable business goals

o Your company's vision and objectives are the driving factors behind your
marketing strategy. These overall objectives help determine your marketing
goals, which your marketing strategy is in service of.
o Your marketing goals build on your company's goals. You might set a goal
to achieve a specific market share, dominate a particular channel or reach a
certain percentage of a certain type of consumer. Your goals should be
reachable and measurable.
o
 Identify and research the target market
The goals you set help you define the target market to pursue. This requires you to
get familiar with the customers in this market, which requires some degree of market
research and analysis. You need to determine the following about the target market
and its customers:
o Market size and growth potential
o Market trends
o Competitors
o Geographic and demographic characteristics
o Customer behavior

 Focus on the 7 P's

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Product – how you satisfy customer needs

Price – how much customers are willing to pay for your product
Promotion – which channels you use to tell customers about your product
Place where you sell your product
People – individuals who help sell your product to customers
Packaging – how you present your product to the customer
Process – how you deliver your product to customers

Develop product plans

 Once you understand your target customers, you can determine what products best
serve those customers' needs. When you know what a customer wants, you can build
the right product for that customer.

 Developing the product falls outside the parameters of the marketing department, of
course, as does producing the product. But marketing should have a prominent and
vocal role in determining the product's features, pricing and packaging, as determined
by customer needs and metrics.

Identify the key benefits

 Savvy marketers know that new customers don't make decisions based on a new
product's features but rather on how that product benefits them. It's essential to
identify the key benefits of the products you develop – how that product best serves
the customers' wants or needs.

 Unsuccessful products often have attractive features but unless those features
translate into benefits, customers simply don't care. It's not a matter of "if you build
it, they will come," it's a matter of meeting your customers' needs.

Craft your positioning and messaging

 Product positioning should build on a product's benefits and how the product meets
the needs of the target audience. You have to deeply understand what your customers
value and then position your product accordingly.

 This follows through into all messaging surrounding the product. The product
position may be that it's the best for meeting a particular need – the messaging
communicates that positioning in a clear, concise and attention-getting fashion.

Define your marketing mix

Finally, your marketing strategy should determine how you reach your target
audience – what channels and activities you include in your marketing mix. This can
include traditional channels like print, radio and television, as well as digital channels,
social media and mobile apps.

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MARKETING MIX

What is the marketing mix (4 P's of marketing)?

The marketing mix, also known as the four P's of marketing, refers to the four key
elements of a marketing strategy: product, price, place and promotion. By paying
attention to the following four components of the marketing mix, a business can
maximize its chances of a product being recognized and bought by customers:

 Product. The item or service being sold must satisfy a consumer's need or desire.
 Price. An item should be sold at the right price for consumer expectations,
neither too low nor too high.
 Promotion. The public needs to be informed about the product and its features to
understand how it fills their needs or desires.
 Place. The location where the product can be purchased is important for
optimizing sales

Understanding the 4 P's: Examples and considerations

The four P's are linked and work together. While various marketing concepts have been
developed over time, the four P's are the basis for every successful marketing strategy.
The following is a breakdown of each P with examples.

Product

Products are commodities and services that solve problems and satisfy the needs
of consumers. A product can be tangible, such as a vehicle or a piece of clothing, or
intangible, such as a cruise or house cleaning service. A successful product either fills a
void in the marketplace or offers a unique experience that spikes demand.

Example. Before the iPhone was launched, most consumers did not realize the need for
a phone that would let them access everything at their fingertips. The way Apple
marketed its product compelled people to simplify their lives by carrying a smartphone
that could also serve as a GPS, calendar, search engine, flashlight, weather guide and
calculator.

Questions to ask. Before marketing a product, it is important to understand it intimately.

This includes discovering details about the target audience and its preferences.

The following are some questions to answer before developing a product:

 What is the product?

 Is it a specific product or a service?
 What does the product accomplish?
 Does the product fulfill a need or provide a unique experience?

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 Who are the target customers for the product?

 What differentiates the product from the competition?

Price

Price is the cost of the product that the consumer pays. During product marketing, it
is important to set a price that reflects the current market trends and is affordable for
consumers, yet at the same time is profitable for the business. Price can fluctuate based
on the supply and demand and the product's sales cycle. While some businesses might
lower the price to compete with the market, others might inflate it -- especially if they are
promoting a luxury brand.

Example. Price points play a vital role in making a product successful. For example, if a
product is overpriced, only a few consumers will purchase it. Conversely, a product that
is priced too low can give consumers an impression of inferior quality, thus preventing
them from purchasing it.

Questions to ask. To determine the most profitable price for a product, it is important to
study the target audience and what they are willing to pay for that product.

The following are some questions to answer before establishing a product pricing
strategy:

 How much do the competitors charge for similar products?

 What is the affordability and price range of target consumers?
 What is the lowest price that the product can sell for?
 What is the highest price that the product can sell for?
 What price is too high or too low for the target audience?
 What price is the best fit for the target market?

Place

This is where and how the product or service is purchased by the customers. It also
entails where the product is stored and manufactured. Digital transformation has evolved
how products are sold -- online, small local shops or global producers. This marketing
plan also considers where the product is advertised and in which format, such as
magazines, online ads, radio, infomercials or film product placements.

Example. The place is where the product is marketed and distributed from. For example,
when targeting a product to seniors, it would be wise to not market it on TikTok.
Similarly, products targeting the younger generations would gain more attention if they
were promoted online and on social media platforms.

Questions to ask. Not every place is suitable for marketing and distributing a product.
As such, it is important to distribute products and meet customer needs in a place that is
easily accessible.

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The following are some questions to consider before deciding on a place to market
a product:

 Which places or venues do buyers frequent for similar products and services?
 Where is the competition selling its products?
 What are the shopping habits of the target audience?
 Will the product placement and distribution require a sales team, the use of
Salesforce or will it be self-service?
 How can the right distribution channels be accessed?

Promotion

 Promotion refers to reaching the target audience with the right message at
the right time. It gets the word out and is an effective way to conduct a sales
promotion and connect with consumers.
 A promotional strategy aims to show consumers why they would need a
certain product and the reasons for buying it over other products. The core
of marketing communications, product promotions push out specific and
meaningful advertising through popular channels: word-of-mouth seeding, social
networking, Instagram campaigns, print marketing, television commercials, email
marketing campaigns, social media marketing and more.
 Example. Timing can play an influential role in promotional marketing. Take, for
example, the football season during which pizza delivery deals are targeted during
games. This entices consumers to try new products they may not have enjoyed
otherwise.

Questions to ask. For a product to be successful, setting the best price or being a great
product offering is not enough. Promotion is the main ingredient in the marketing mix
that can distribute the product to the masses. Therefore, the promotional messages
should always cater to the target audience as well as to the distribution channels.

The following are some questions to consider when thinking about a promotional
strategy:

 When is the right time to reach the target audience?

 Which channels or mediums will the target audience get their information from?
 What advertising approaches will be the most fruitful for the target audience?
 Which channels are the most cost-effective and efficient for product promotion?
 Which part of the target audience should be engaged?
 Where are the competitors spending their advertising efforts and marketing
revenue?

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CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumer behavior is the actions and decisions that people or households make
when they choose, buy, use, and dispose of a product or service. Many psychological,
sociological, and cultural elements play a role in how consumers engage with the market.

 It is a multi-stage process that involves identifying problems, collecting data,

exploring options, making a decision to buy, and evaluating the experience afterward
 Consumers may be impacted during these stages by things including personal views
and values, social conventions, marketing campaigns, product features, and
environmental conditions.

Consumer behavior in marketing

 Consumer behavior is important in marketing because it explains how consumers

make decisions about what products to buy when to buy them, and from whom to
buy them.
 Marketers can develop effective marketing strategies that target the right consumers
with the right message at the right time by understanding consumer behavior.

Here are some examples of how consumer behavior affects marketing:

Segmentation

Consumer behavior research helps marketers behavioral segment markets. Marketers

can modify their marketing messages and strategies to better appeal to each
demographic by recognizing these segments.

Product design

Understanding consumer behavior can also aid in product development. Marketers can
create products that better meet consumer needs and preferences by analyzing customer
requirements and tastes, leading to increased sales and customer satisfaction.

Pricing Strategies

Marketers can use consumer behavior data to determine the price points at which
customers are willing to pay for a product, as well as the pricing strategies most likely to
appeal to each market segment.

Branding

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Consumer behavior research helps in the development of branding strategies. Marketers

can create brand messages and strategies that resonate with consumers and build brand
loyalty by understanding consumer attitudes and perceptions of brands.

Importance of customer behavior

 Businesses invest a lot of time and resources in their product or service. Hence, it is
absolutely essential that their offerings cater to the needs of their customers. Or they
will incur huge amounts of losses.
 So, in order to make sure that the products, as well as the brand, are well-accepted
by the consumers, it is important to first know what consumers want and are likely
to buy
 Better marketing and communications
As living standards, trends, and technology keep changing, consumers’ choices also
keep varying. Understanding how these factors affect customers’ buying habits helps
organizations design their messaging accordingly. Thus, having insights into
consumers’ purchase behavior can help marketers in meeting their objectives.
 Improve customer retention
It is far more beneficial to retain an existing customer than to gain new customers.
It’s easier to sell new products and services to your existing customers than to find
new ones.
 Increase customer loyalty
Understanding customer behavior helps in finding out ways to boost customer
loyalty, which in turn, will lead to higher sales and a strong brand. Analyzing trends
in sales can aid in offering discounts as well as suggesting the best products and
services to them.
 Better plan inventory
Researching customer attitudes helps companies plan inventory and stock raw
materials. In the case of a service-based business, the management team can better
plan their human resources. If businesses see a trend in demand for specific
products, they are likely to send more purchase orders to their suppliers. Consumer
behavior data can help them to balance demand and supply.
 Increase sales
A company always aims to satisfy specific market niches. Even if the company
operates in different sectors, it should target potential buyers in each segment. If
you know your customers well, you can have better conversations with a high
probability of closing the deal.
 Research competition
Studying consumer buying behavior helps in understanding the competitive market.
You can plan on how to position your products and services to offer competitive
advantages. Find out answers to questions like:
o Is the customer already using a competitor brand?
o What drives a consumer to buy from your competitor?

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o Are potential customers happy with the competitor brands?

o What are the gaps between your products and that of competitors?

4 Types of Consumer Behavior for effective marketing strategies

Marketers must understand several types of consumer behavior to create effective

marketing strategies and meet customer needs. This section will look at the four types
of customer behavior and how they affect businesses.

Complex buying behavior

When customers are actively involved in the purchasing decision process and are aware
of the significant differences between the various brands, this happens. Before making
purchasing decisions, consumers conduct extensive research, gather information, and
evaluate alternatives.

Dissonance-reducing buying behavior

This type of behavior happens when people make expensive or risky purchases and then
feel uncomfortable or confused about their decision. Consumers may seek reassurance,
information, or feedback from others to reduce confusion.

Habitual buying behavior

This happens when customers make purchases with minimal decision-making and
marketing efforts or information search. Based on prior experiences, they have
developed brand and customer loyalty also buying habits, and they may buy things out of
habit, convenience, or familiarity.

Variety-seeking buying behavior

This type of behavior happens when customers are not deeply involved in the purchase
decisions but seek variety or uniqueness in their purchases. They may most often change
brands or products to satisfy their curiosity or need for variety

To understand consumer buying behavior, you need to know how consumers think and
feel about the different alternatives available in the market, how they reason, and how
they choose between different options.

Some of the common data collection methodsto understand customer behavior

are :

Surveys

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Surveys are a popular method for collecting data about customer behavior. Online, phone
or in-person surveys can provide quantitative information about customer opinions,
preferences, and behavior.

Focus groups

Small, moderated consumer discussions about a specific good or service are called focus
groups. Focus groups provide qualitative information on consumer opinions and views
and also insights into how customers interact with products and services.

Interviews

Consumer interviews can provide detailed data on customer behavior, attitudes, and
preferences. Interviews can be conducted in person or over the phone, and they can
provide qualitative data to boost quantitative data.

Observations

Observational research entails watching and recording consumers in their natural

surroundings. This method can aid in identifying patterns of behavior and offer insights
into how consumers engage with products and services.

Experiments

Experiments involve changing one or more variables to see what effect it has on customer
behavior. It can be carried out in a controlled environmental analysis or in the field, and
it can provide information about the connections between variables and consumer
behavior.

Data analysis

 Data from sources such as sales data, web analytics, and social media can be analyzed
to gain an understanding of customer behavior. This method entails recognizing
patterns and trends in data in order to determine consumer behavior and
preferences.
 Online surveys are the most efficient method of conducting consumer behavior
studies. You can create a survey using survey software and send it to your target
audience. You can also customize the survey flow to ask only relevant questions to
respondents.
 It lets you analyze data and generate reports to make better decisions. You can also
filter data, compare results and identify trends over time. Based on the results, you
can predict demand and formulate your sales and marketing strategy.
 It also helps in designing price

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SELLING PROCESS

The selling process is the interaction between a salesperson and their potential buyer.
There are seven common steps to the selling process: prospecting, preparation,
approach, presentation, handling objections, closing and follow-up

 The first three steps of the selling process involve research into prospects’ wants
and needs, with your presentation midway through the selling process.
 The final four steps include addressing any questions or concerns, then closing the
deal and maintaining your connection

7- step selling process

 Prospecting
 Preparation or pre-approach
 Approach
 Presentation
 Handling objections
 Closing
 Follow-up

1. Prospecting involves finding and qualifying potential buyers or clients.

 At this stage, you determine whether your prospective customer has a particular
need or want that your business can fulfill.
 You might also decide on varying factors such as affordability.
 This stage of the selling process often involves research to identify your ideal
customer.
 You can start compiling a list of leads or potential clients. You might screen them
based on qualifying questions, such as whether they’re a business owner or
homeowner or if their average monthly profits or income are suitable for the
product price. This helps narrow your buyer pool.

2. Preparation or pre-approach

Before making initial contact with your prospects, you want to prepare. It's important to
have all your information ready, such as product descriptions, prices, payment options,
competitor rates and dates for specific sales. You also want to know as much as possible
about your prospects so you can better connect with them.

This stage of the selling process might also involve preparing your initial sales
presentation. Be ready to answer any questions your prospects could have with

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supporting data. Practice what you're going to say out loud, and have someone present
you with potential questions so you can rehearse your response.

3. Approach

During the approach stage of the selling process, you’ll make your first personal
connection with your prospect or prospects. This step involves getting the potential
buyer or client to interact with you by personalizing your meeting or otherwise
establishing rapport. Ask questions to get the client involved in the conversation.

Example: For instance, if you sell skincare products or services, you might ask:

 Do you currently have a daily skincare routine?

 Is there anything about your daily skin regimen that you’re unhappy with?
 What are your top skin complaints?
 Have you heard about the skin benefits of our specific product or service?

4. Presentation

 At this point in the selling process, you have established an understanding of your
prospect's individual needs and wants.
 You can then tailor your presentation or demonstration to show how your product
or service can best fulfill those needs or wants.
 To complete this step effectively, focus on personalizing it and frame your product
as a solution to their problem.
 Your presentation might involve a tour, product demonstration, video
presentation or other visual or hands-on experience. This step is when you can
apply all your research.
 For instance, if you’re trying to sell a house to a growing family, you likely would
show them a larger home with a yard in a family-friendly neighborhood rather
than a second-story condo.

5. Handling objections

 After you complete your presentation, your prospect might have some questions,
concerns or objections. This is a normal and important part of the selling process.
View objections as an opportunity to learn more about your prospect.
 When you research and prepare appropriately, you’ll have all the information
needed to overcome objections.
 This step might involve listening to your prospect's concerns and asking
additional questions to better identify and understand their objections. You might
want to then reframe your sales pitch to address those concerns.

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Example: If a customer says they won't be able to make an investment until nextmonth,
you could offer them additional savings or promotions if they follow through with their
purchase. While in the handling objections step of the selling process, you might also
reiterate the cost or loss of value if the prospect decides to completely forgo the purchase.

6. Closing

 Once you've convinced the prospect that your product or service can meet their
needs, it's time to close the sale.
 It's important to actually ask the prospect if they want to make the purchase and
ensure they fully understand all the terms of the sale.
 Closing the sale might involve drafting a proposal, negotiating terms or pricing,
signing contracts, completing a monetary transaction or even overcoming additional
concerns or objections.
 You want to make sure your buyer understands the terms and restrictions included
in the contract, such as any refunds, guaranteed customer satisfaction clauses or
ongoing purchases or billing for monthly memberships.
 At this stage, you can also use upselling techniques, such as offering additional
products that complement their original purchase, upgrades or a higher-end version
of your product.
 After completing the transaction, always thank the customer and be sure not to
instantly drop the connection.

7. Follow-up

The follow-up, which takes place after the sale, is one of the most important steps in the
selling process. It’s a continuation of the relationship between the seller and the buyer
that ensures customer satisfaction, retains customer loyalty and helps prospect for new
customers. The idea is not to continue selling at this stage, but instead to nurture the
existing relationship.

SALES PLANNING

Sales planning is a set of strategies that are designed to help sales teams reach their
target sales quotas and help the company reach its overall sales goals. Sales planning
helps to forecast the level of sales you want to achieve and outlines a plan to help you
accomplish your goals. A sales plan covers past sales, risks, market conditions, your
target personas, and plans for prospecting and selling.

sales planning helps your team:

 Know target audiences and business strategy to enter the market.

 Anticipate obstacles and prepare for them.
 Understand the responsibilities and resources they need to do their job best.

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 Stay organized and focused on what matters most so that they can keep working
towards their sales target and the shared goals.
 Adjust sales strategies and tactics based on changes in the market.

Like marketing and business plans, sales plans are living documents that evolve over
time. Past experience often dictates the desired achievements of the sales plan, allowing
for alterations as the plan is put into action. Ideally, sales planning addresses six factors
that encompass a winning sales strategy:

1. Create a situational analysis

By gathering data and analyzing trends, sales plans assess the current situation tooutline
strategies based on historical data. Data and trend analysis can identify obstacles and
build on the strengths of the sales plan. These actions provide the blueprint for designing
new strategies.

2. Identify objectives and goals

Effective sales planning defines company sales targets to include the interests of both the
consumer and the business. Sales goals aim to increase revenue, launch a new product or
increase brand awareness. Examples of sales goals are:

 Increase monthly or annual revenue

 Lower costs and increase profit margin
 Boost customer value
 Increase sales leads

3. Set a strategy

When setting a strategy, sales teams outline individual roles and responsibilities based
on team member strengths and abilities. For example, assign the team member who
excels at social media posts to oversee that sales channel. Strategies should integrate with
finance and operations to set and achieve targets and improve sales forecasting.

4. Set a sales budget

Sales planning defines the budget(s) for the project and outlines how and when revenue
is spent or generated. Setting and adhering to a budget allows sales teams to use
resources effectively while keeping the company within its financial constraints.

5. Develop communication and engagement

Effective sales teams understand the objectives of the company and the goals of the sales
plan to carry out tasks according to expectations. Communication provides clear
direction for sales teams and engages team members to meet their specific goals or
milestones. Involve stakeholders in the sales planning process to ensure sales plans are
comprehensive and integrate relevant departments.

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6. Set controls and measurements

Controls and measurements determine the direction a company is moving, or whether

it's time to change strategies and consult past sales data for insight. Controls determine
the metrics used to gauge success, while monitoring the progress of the sales plan
promotes strategic improvement.

Steps in implementing sales plan

Take the following steps to plan your sales strategy. These are also core elements of an
effective sales planning process.

Step 1: Create a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is a qualitative assessment of your business (strengths and weaknesses)

and the market and industry you’re in (opportunities and threats). It allows you to
understand the current state of your business and what could happen in the future

When doing this step, you should write down all major aspects that affect your sales
process. Consider customer demographics and preferences, competition, market trends,
industry regulations, technologies, and other external and internal environmental
factors.

Step 2: Set Sales Objectives

The second step in sales planning is to set your sales objectives. This is crucial because
it helps you focus on what needs to be accomplished, like how much revenue your sales
team needs to hit within a specific timeframe.

You should look at the specific results from your previous year’s performance. This will
help you set realistic sales targets for your company and each department or division.

Step 3: Develop a Sales Strategy

The next step in sales planning is to develop a sales strategy. This is where you decide
how to approach your customers, what message you want to convey, and how you will
get those messages across. Consider what tools and resources will be necessary for your
sales team to do their job well.

Step 4: Determine a Sales Budget

Now is the time to think about your sales budget. Here you should coordinate with your
team to figure out how much money needs to be spent and strategize how it can be used
effectively. Budgeting also helps you understand what investment you need to make the
most of your efforts.

Step 5: Define Measurement Metrics

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Metrics help you measure the outcome of your plan, so they’re essential to set up before
you even begin executing your plan. Ensure you have a clear understanding of what each
metric means so you can make decisions based on them.

Some key sales metrics include revenue per month, closed deals, number of customers,
qualified leads, and average order value.

ANALYTICS APPLICATIONS IN MARKETING AND SALES

 When it comes to marketing analytics like Google Analytics, always remember the
old saying “garbage in, garbage out,” meaning you should ensure only good data
comes in.
 This can be done by keeping customer databases up to date, integrating data
from your marketing stack, and tracking costs. Here are three ways to use
marketing analytics to improve your campaigns.
 At the very core of every marketing campaign, it’s important to track the
effectiveness of your campaigns and each marketing channel.
 By tracking the ROI of any given campaign, you can quantify what channels
work best for your business.
 Leverage UTM links(Urchin Tracking Module is a simple code that can be
attached to any URL to generate Google Analytics data for digital campaigns.
Specific to Google)
 UTM links enable marketers to track the source of the traffic. This is
important, especially when quantifying the ROI of different campaigns from
multiple channels that send traffic to one webpage.
 UTM codes are unique snippets of text added to the end of a URL to track the
source of website traffic when users click on a particular. Marketers customize
this text to match the webpage to attribute the success of a campaign to specific
pieces of content.
 Building a UTM code identifies how much of that traffic came from Facebook or
even a particular post on Facebook.
 Some marketing automation tools like Encharge support automatically
generating UTM links when building email campaigns.

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS FOR CUSTOMERS' BEHAVIOUR IN MARKETING AND

SALES

Customer Behavior and Analytics

The increased use of digital analytics is helping marketers develop a more detailed
understanding of customers’ behaviors. Specifically, customer behavior analytics can
help marketers to create targeted ads and offers as well as better understand the
customer journey.

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The key to successful behavioral analysis marketing is being able to identify what
your customers want and then give it to them.

 Customer behavior analytics is now used to predict it. There are many different
types of behavioral analytics out there, but one of the most common is customer
analytics.
 This allows you to gather information on how your customers interact with your
products or services. When you’re gathering customer analytics, you can
categorize your data based on a specific topic such as customer behaviors.
 As digital analytics tools have grown in sophistication, so too has the ability to
glean a more detailed understanding of customer behaviors. This information can
then be used to inform marketing campaigns.
 Predicting customer behavior is a valuable skill for any company to have. While
some companies are able to use their own data analytics platforms to provide
some predictive insights, other companies may not have the resources to do so.

Understanding Consumer Behavior

 Predicting customer behavior is possible when you have access to a Customer

Behavior Analytics Platform that can show insights into how customers interact
with your business.
 This type of platform is an important addition to any CRM or marketing suite
because it provides the data and functionality to tell a customer story.
 Customer behavior analytics platforms are available in many different formats,
including desktop applications, SaaS, and even as part of a marketing suite. As a
result, it is important to select the right type of platform for your business.

Digital Tracking of Customers

Digital tracking is the use of technology including GPS to track the movements of
customers.

Geofencing: Geofencing is a virtual barrier that can be set up around a specific area or
location.

Geotagging: Geotagging is the process of adding geographical information to images,

videos, and other types of media.

For eCommerce marketers, there is the option to use digital marketing analytics
for a variety of different purposes:

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-Digital tracking of consumer behavior can help with eCommerce marketing by providing
insight into what kinds of products are popular and which ones need to be adjusted or
removed.

-Digital tracking of consumer behavior can also be used to find out what digital channels
consumers are using to view products.

Consumer Behavioral Segmentation

Behavioral segmentation is an effective and efficient way to use your customer behavior
analytics platform to predict customer behavior.

It’s possible to identify consumer segments of interest, such as frequent purchasers or

heavy shoppers, and tailor marketing messages to them. Segmentation can also be used
to create custom offers tailored to customer interests.

3 Types of Consumer Behavior

Purchase behavior: what a consumer is willing to buy.

 Demand: the overall level of interest in a product, service, or brand

 Retention: how long a consumer continues to use a given brand
 Recall: how accurate consumers are when recalling their purchase
experiences
 Usage behavior: how the product is used.

Attrition: the percentage of consumers who leave a product or brand due to

dissatisfaction, perceived lack of value, or other factors

Consumer loyalty: The extent to which consumers remain loyal to one brand over
time.

Post-purchase behavior: how a consumer feels about the product when they buy it

Pre-purchase behavior: how a consumer decides which product to buy

Predictive marketing analytics to boost sales

1. A wide variety of data, such as purchase history, company size, region, and
behavioral patterns, help business owners predict outcomes.
2. Predictive analytics in the marketing context refers to using current or historical
data with statistical techniques like predictive modeling, data mining, and
machine learning to assess the likelihood of a specific future event.

New customer acquisition using identification modeling

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Take user segmentation a step further by using customer data to build identification
models. In practice, this means identifying and targeting prospects that resemble
current customers in a meaningful way.

Facebook’s lookalike audience lets uploading a list of the emails of best customers.
Facebook will then show ads to people similar to your customers.

Customer and audience segmentation

If we are unsure whether you should segment your audience based on their
demographics, interests, firmographics, behavior, or any other variable, predictive
marketing analytics can help.

Leverage CRM data for growth

 A CRM has a wealth of data that can guide your company in boosting your sales
strategy effectiveness.
 CRM data helps you identify opportunities and spot risks in real-time. Data
collected through various reports aid in understanding what’s working and which
sales areas need your attention. Here is how CRM data benefits your sales strategy
 By experimenting with different cluster models, you can find patterns that you
may not have expected and thus arrive at audience segments that make the most
sense for your business.

Activity insights – understanding how reps are spending their time

 How many calls did each rep make in a specific time period, and how many clients
did they follow up through emails or other channels?
 A sales manager can determine the appropriate number of calls or demos that
need to be done in a month to achieve their desired revenue goal.
 Suppose your sales team wastes time with manual tasks such as finding sales
enablement content or focusing on unqualified prospects. In that case, you’ll need
to achieve a better marketing and sales alignment within your company to ensure
you maximize your sales team’s productivity. You can also automate repetitive
sales and marketing tasks using tools like Encharge.

Sales forecasting – improved sales planning

 A forecasted sales report compares the sales forecast to the actual sales report
within a specific period of time.
 It shows the true value of your sales opportunities and helps companies track
team performance and identify revenue gaps. Then sales managers can strategize
on how they can increase their sales forecast based on their current opportunities.

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 Most CRM tools let you customize the report based on the entire sales team or
individual reps.

Sales pipeline – measure lead to closure

 Using the sales pipeline data in your CRM, you can visualize the progress of every
deal. For instance, let’s say you want to know the status of a particular deal.
Instead of relying on written notes, you can glance at your CRM sales pipeline.

 We can identify which stage of the sales pipeline the deal is at and check all of the
past conversations you had with the prospect.

 Everything is systematically streamlined into one place. A CRM helps you

determine if your sales pipeline has enough deals to fulfill your monthly or
quarterly sales targets.
 Track the percentage of deals that are moving from one stage to another
 We can track the length of time it takes to close a deal.
 View the average size and value of each deal.
 See which sales stages have the maximum stalled deals

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