Opinion

What proactive methods do you use when selling to customers? 

Jordan Ingoe, Ingoe Oils
“At Ingoe Oils we like to take a proactive approach to selling. Firstly and most importantly we always make sure we know the geographical area that we want to target and the customer sector populating it so that we can quote competitively on the appropriate product. We have a CRM Dynamics package in place which links through to our back office Fuelsoft software. This allows us to import data and create customer links and leads. We can use this package to effectively target customers through email and postal marketing for either kerosene or gas oil depending on the weather conditions. We also attend several local summer agricultural shows to meet new and existing customers. Our sales team speaks to both new and existing customers on a daily basis to make sure that we meet their fuel requirements and that they’re happy with the service and price that we provide.”
Neil Flynn, Linton Fuel Oils
“The key factor to securing business through adopting a proactive sales culture is knowledge – know your customers and understand how their business operates. Confidence is gained by knowing that your commercial offer would almost certainly influence their buying habits. You also need to be fully aware of all competitor activity within your market sector. The ideal scenario is to have a keen seller and a keen buyer. Successful businesses purchase what they need, not what they want. Remember that the customer has to buy from someone at some point, so just ask yourself one simple question why wouldn’t a customer buy from you? Sales do not always have to come from structured campaigns, but from seizing the moment, turning enquiries into opportunities – think outside the box, appreciate what constitutes as a sale: a product or service, increasing margin retention, adding volume or introducing another product.” Finally, successful business transactions come from good relationships and not always good prices – people deal with people!!