How to Increase Sales?
No sentence is enough to increase sales. It's just understanding that the world has changed, and buyers behave differently.
That's why the traditional sales strategy seems to have stopped working:
Cold calls for prospecting, searching for the ideal contact, asking questions to identify a need, narrating our catalog to see if we catch any sales opportunities.
Consequently, this type of sales approach fails because it has some problems:
- The customer is more informed. They have easier access to data and usually have a clear understanding of their options before contacting a salesperson. In the past, the salesperson was the customer's source of information. Not anymore!
- There's no reengagement. When a salesperson contacts a prospect without evident opportunities, they are often forgotten and not contacted again.
- Traditional sales focus on the product rather than the problem.
- The traditional sales approach ignores the customer's buying process.
The reality is that buyers are becoming younger, and many of them use a variety of mobile devices to quickly find information about what they're looking for.
89% of current buyers begin their buying process by searching online.
(Fleishman-Hillard)
So, how can we capture the attention of buyers in this new reality?
Firstly, we need to change the traditional approach. Move from prospecting and cold contacting with a catchy phrase to open the doors for an exploratory meeting to an approach complemented by an inbound marketing strategy.
I am a victim of this approach daily. Every day, I receive tons of inmails from strangers on LinkedIn trying to get my attention and introduce their products.
In most cases, these offers are not of interest to me and become even annoying.
Now, imagine this in phone calls, text messages, or emails.
What a nightmare!!
A New Model
Potential customers go through three phases before making a decision. It's vital that you identify how they go through these phases to align your sales and marketing strategies. This is what we call the Buyer's Journey.
The phases are:
Discovery Phase
In this phase, potential customers are not aware of brands, companies, or solutions. They are aware of their problem. They clearly know what they lack, and the first thing they will do is research on the internet to find a solution.
A clear example is this blog you're reading right now.
You're probably here because you need to increase your sales to generate new revenue. That's exactly your problem.
In the discovery phase, potential customers search for information on how to solve a problem and determine their options and alternatives.
Your duty is to provide them with information to guide them (Read: ways to deliver information in the discovery phase).
Consideration Phase
In this consideration phase, potential customers have already identified the available options. In other words, they give names to their alternatives. They begin to consider the possibility of adopting one of them to solve their problem.
Potential customers start evaluating the pros and cons and determining what's best for them.
At this moment, you should provide them with differentiating information. Guide them on why your solution is the best alternative.
Decision Phase
In the decision phase, customers already have a clear understanding of their alternatives. They have researched what's best for them and are looking to finalize their decision.
They know exactly which solution they want to adopt and start considering the providers who can deliver it.
The customer enters the negotiation mode, and this is when you should provide value to differentiate yourself.
Changing from the Traditional Scheme to an Inbound Scheme
Shifting to an inbound-based demand generation model can provide your salespeople with qualified leads that facilitate business conversations.
In the traditional cold coverage world, statistics work against us: Many calls to secure a few appointments, many appointments to obtain a few opportunities, many opportunities to make a sale.
It's a lot of work and effort for everyone. Salespeople have a very low conversion and win rate, managers fail to meet quotas, and sales don't take off.
Inbound marketing considers the customer's Buyer's Journey and aligns the company's previous communications to guide potential customers to choose the services offered by your company.
By doing this, you provide qualified leads to your salespeople, who can then have conversations with potential customers about the business, making the sales cycle easier and shorter.
In fact, in our company, we switched to this new model and have significantly improved our sales performance.
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