Turning a prospect into a viable lead presents multiple challenges. It’s possible for competition, pricing, multiple decision makers, and the client’s financial resources to all work against you.
The biggest way to fail is to give up because of these obstacles. Don’t let those prospects you worked so hard to connect with disappear out of your sales funnel! Many salespeople make tons of money because they understand how to turn them into sales qualified leads. And, no, you don’t need a magic wand to do it. Just follow these five priceless tips.
1. Do your homework.
The more you target your selling strategy to that particular buyer and company, the higher your conversion rate. Review the company website, the buyer’s LinkedIn profile, and run a search for recent news and events. Find information that you can use to successfully connect with the buyer and begin forging a beneficial relationship.
2. Offer value early.
Yammering on about product features and contract specifics will sabotage your efforts. Offer up industry information, or an informative eBook, or invite them to a webinar where they can learn something they need to know. This serves the dual purpose of showing them you understand their industry, and sets you up as an industry expert, not just another sales person knocking on their door.
You gain invaluable assistance with adding value if you…
3. Team up with marketing.
A proactive marketing team helps a salesperson offer value and move the sale through the pipeline. Talk to marketing about email and texting campaigns, as well as value-add pieces like white papers and informative videos. Using marketing as a nurturing tool increases your conversion ratio and shortens the sales cycle.
4. Focus on solving a problem.
Millions of people buy band-aids every year. How many people want a band-aid? None. Nobody wants a band-aid, but millions of people want to cover a cut or abrasion. That is their pain point.
Transfer this philosophy to how you sell. What does the buyer want to accomplish? What is the outcome they seek? Asking well-planned questions uncovers buyers’ pain points, and sells by addressing them.
5. Consistently retarget undeveloped leads.
A recent study by Gleanster Research reported that between 30-50% of leads that enter a pipeline represent future opportunities but are not yet ready to buy. Periodically circle back around to prospects who never moved forward, and try again. Involve marketing, and employ email campaigns to try to re-engage them. Business text messaging services are effective for retargeting old prospects as well. Even converting a small percentage of inactive prospects will add to your bottom line.
Buyers have become more sophisticated, and a sales person’s approach must, too. By incorporating these ideas from clever sales pros, you will reap the rewards of more prospects being nurtured into sales qualified leads, and then customers.
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