Sales Advice By Market

Selling to African Methodist Churches

Businesses that sell to African Methodist churches face internal and external barriers to success. The challenging part is devising a sales approach that captures the attention of high value prospects.

Initiative and perseverance are admirable characteristics for sales professionals. But selling to African Methodist churches requires more than an impeccable work ethic.

Your approach will vary according to your situation and your company's unique sales objectives. But overall, there are several things you will need to consider when devising a system for selling to African Methodist churches.

Be Prepared for Tough Questions

In the real world, most African Methodist churches aren't interested in middle of the road products. Before they commit to a purchase, they want to know everything there is to know about your product.

In this industry, differentiation can be the deciding factor in conversions. It's critical for your sales team to be knowledgeable and smart. If you're selling a service to African Methodist churches, your sales force must be intimately familiar with the features contained in your service agreements and be prepared to resolve customer concerns during the sales cycle.

Focused Messaging

Effective lead generation processes are vital for firms that sell to African Methodist churches. Sales teams should be trained in sales and prospecting techniques, even if assistants handle most of the qualification activities. Lead lists obtained through legitimate third-party providers like Experian can improve the quality of your leads and reduce the workload of gathering prospect contact information.

But lead generation is only part of the story. Of equal importance is the quality of the messaging you include in your sales and marketing strategy. Keep in mind that African Methodist churches are educated buyers who are skilled in identifying empty promises. To get their attention, you'll need to create highly focused sales messages that emphasizes your product's strengths and value points.

How to Evaluate Sales Staff

Periodic staff assessment is essential for companies that sell in this industry. Businesses that achieve significant market share recruit the cream of the crop and routinely evaluate them against performance goals and benchmarks.

Although annual reviews may be enough for other business units, sales units should be evaluated quarterly with monthly or weekly reviews of sales totals. Training, coaching and sales incentives can be useful for increasing sales volumes and individual achievement. In some instances, it may be appropriate to team underperforming sales reps with reps that have more experience selling to African Methodist churches.

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