Selling to an Industry

Selling to Collision Services Businesses

Without a doubt, collision services businesses are attractive sales opportunities in today's marketplace. Don't forget that collision services businesses aren't easy sales marks -- here's what you'll need to get purchase orders signed.

The world is an uncertain place for emerging businesses and businesses are constantly adapting their sales approaches to respond to market demands.

A strong value proposition and a great strategy are requirements for companies who sell to collision services businesses. Despite the presence of market barriers, emerging companies can gain traction by applying a handful of proven sales principles.

Sales Incentives

In a perfect world, you want your sales force to be self-motivated to perform at a high level. But to encourage constant improvement, consider offering sales incentives to sales reps that exceed collision services business sales targets.

Incentives don't have to break your budget -- sometimes a simple, affordable incentive that recognizes a team member's performance is more valuable than an expensive incentive that lacks recognition or prestige.

Product Knowledge Is Critical

In the real world, most collision services businesses aren't interested in one-size-fits-all product lines. 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 informed. If you're selling a service to collision services businesses, 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.

Direct Marketing Strategies

Direct marketing is an effective way to sell to collision services businesses. The benefit of direct marketing is that it is a way to manage costs when reaching qualified prospects with targeted messaging. From a sales cycle perspective, direct marketing establishes a baseline for relationships with collision services businesses that can benefit from your products or services.

The sticking point of direct marketing is lead generation. Since finding leads is time-consuming and difficult, we recommend using lead lists supplied by established third-party vendors. Over the years we've found that Experian is one of the best in the business with a reputation for supplying consistently reliable lists of collision services businesses that generate sales revenue and repeat business.

Share this article


Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs

Lists of Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms

Franchise Opportunities

Contributors

Business Glossary