65% of businesses fail during their first 10 years of operation, 45% during their first five years, and 20% during their first year. One of the main reasons why a lot of these businesses fail is because they neglect to map their sales process. If you are looking to grow your clothing business, the best thing you can do is map your sales process. By mapping out everything from customer acquisition to order fulfillment, you will identify areas where improvements need to be made. This blog post will show you how to map your clothing company's sales process to identify and eliminate any bottlenecks.
What Type of Customer Are You Targeting?
When mapping out your sales process, the first thing to do is to identify who you are targeting as a customer. This will help you determine where and how they expect orders and communications to occur, which will be important for this exercise. If possible, talk with current or past customers about their experience working with your company so that you can get a better idea of their needs.
So after you determine what type of customer you want to target, the next step is to define the conversion process from beginning to end so that there are no surprises for either party involved. This includes deciding on the best time of day for phone calls and setting expectations about when someone should expect an email response or call back. Once this has been done, it becomes easier to track where conversions fall short through analytics and A/B testing different elements such as wording, colors, and design layouts until you find what works best.
What Stage Are They In?
The next step is to figure out which stage of the sales process your customers are in when they contact your company. This will help you identify what information they need from you and how quickly they expect that information to be provided (if at all). For example, if your customer is still researching and doesn't plan to purchase immediately, they may not need as much information upfront. On the other hand, customers ready to buy now will want more detailed information about what you offer.
What Do They Need from You?
Once you know where your customers fall regarding their purchase cycle, you can determine what information they need from your company. To find out this information, it is important to speak with customers directly about whether or not certain elements are helpful and how quickly they expect that element to be provided after being asked for it. If a customer does not have a specific question in mind but wants more information, you may provide them with an email signup form or offer a free consultation. For instance, a customer may want to know who made the clothes, what they are made from, or even the pros and cons of your clothes.
What Is Their Preferred Method of Communication?
If your customers are ready to buy now but still haven't decided yet, they will need continued communication from your company to stay interested and engaged. At this point, it becomes crucial to determine what communication method works best for your customers to help them reach a decision faster. If they prefer to communicate via phone, have the option of calling or scheduling an appointment through your website.
Can They Buy Your Product Locally?
When mapping out your sales process, the last thing to consider is whether or not it makes sense for your customers to buy from you locally. If that is not possible, it becomes vital to determine how they expect their orders and questions about their purchase. For example, if a customer needs something quickly but does not want to pay extra for shipping, they may opt to pay more to have the product delivered faster than standard shipping.
As you can see, mapping out your sales process is a complex undertaking. However, if done correctly, it will help to improve the customer experience and take some of the guesswork out of how best to work with this audience moving forward. By following these simple steps, you should be able to develop a much better sense of what your customers need and the best way to provide it to give them a positive experience.