Sales techniques have come a long way since we used to door-knock or call prospective clients 12 times an hour, just to force this discount or that deal down their throats and hopefully get them across the line. This was when people actually used to answer their phones too. Now even my mum doesn’t answer the phone - and she has me on caller ID.
No one wants to be sold to anymore and that’s why old-school sales techniques just don’t work anymore. Sales and marketing professionals are some of the least-trusted people around which makes your job that much harder. So how do you connect with customers, build your business, meet your targets and create lasting relationships if they’re not going to pick up the phone anyway?
Old-School Selling is So Last Year
Stop trying to sell like you did 15, 10, five, even two years ago. The answer to successful selling these days is super-smart sales software.
One of the tools we recommend is the Hubspot’s CRM - it gives you so much accurate, real-time information about prospective customers that you just don’t need to rely on those ineffective, old-school sales techniques anymore. Using the power of measurable and visible data, sales and marketing professionals can now make accurate and informed decisions about how best to communicate with prospective customers in a way that won’t scare them off, but instead ‘woos’ them along their buyer journey until they’re ready to make a sale.
What results is a very structured sales process that appears to be serendipitous from the customer’s perspective, because it’s happened so slowly and naturally that they haven’t even been aware of how you’ve groomed them to that point.
Serendipitous Selling
For example, using Hubspot’s CRM I can see how many times specific people open an email that I’ve sent them on any given day or week. I can see if they forward it onto someone else or if they click a link and pop over to my website. Most importantly, I can tell if they’re ready to have a sales chat or if I need to chill out, sit on my hands and wait a little longer before contacting them.
The old me who was getting desperate because I hadn’t sold anything for ages would have seen any kind of indication that someone had engaged with my communications and immediately jumped on the phone to SELL SELL SELL. More often than not, I would have pushed that person away with my eagerness (read: desperation).
Using a CRM that gives me this kind of intel down to such a granular level helps me understand when someone is actually ready to talk and when they’re still trying to figure things out. When they’re in this stage of the buyer journey, sales and marketing professionals really have to tread carefully otherwise their targets will simply turn them away. That’s where creating serendipitous opportunities to communicate could result in the sale that you’ve been vying for.
Serendipity vs Stalking
I get that all this data-based intel could sound a bit stalkerish. But it also sounds like a magic pill that could totally transform your business if you embrace it and use it well. Here’s why.
With the software that’s out there now, you can see just about every action an individual has taken. For example, you might see that Mary has opened an email, clicked through to your website, signed up for your emails and had a look at the free trial page. This ‘stalking’ (for want of a better word) can actually create interactions between you and Mary that appear to be spontaneous and serendipitous.
Serendipity Supported by Smart Automation
For example, you could create a series of automated emails that are sent to prospective clients after they perform any number of specific actions. Resist the urge to SELL SELL SELL in all of these emails; instead use this as an opportunity to woo your customers with information that they’ll find truly valuable. Give them the opportunity to download an ebook, read a couple of articles you’ve written or sign up to a free trial. Be patient and wait until the perfect opportunity to push a sale, otherwise you might turn them off altogether.
Every business’ definition of that ‘perfect moment’ might be different though, and that’s the beauty of HubSpot’s CRM. Customise the system in exactly that way that works for you guys, not some other business. Maybe Mary needs to have visited your website three times or clicked on two articles on your blog before HubSpot triggers the next email.
This is all part of the 'inbound' approach to marketing and sales. Want to know more about going inbound? Check out our post 10 steps to create your first inbound marketing campaign: ultimate guide.
Make the Most of Ultimate Visibility using Smarketing
‘Smarketing’ is the result of Sales and Marketing working well together for the benefit of both sides. In order for ‘Smarketing’ to be successful, Sales and Marketing need to know that they can rely on highly-accurate data that gives them highly-accurate intel about their customers - they need to have ultimate visibility across their customers’ buyer journey behaviour.
Marketing’s job description revolves around giving Sales relevant content for their customer’s buyer journeys. Marketing might be creating collateral, articles, videos and ebooks for their own lead generation, but it also needs to add value to Sales’ relationship with their customers (and future customers). The two sides can work together to positively influence future customers in a way that’s friendly, non-confrontational and at exactly the right time they’re ready to be sold to.
Transform the Way You Sell Today
Wish you had the same customer intel I have? I’d love to have a chat about it face-to-face. Book a meeting with me or anyone else from the Hype & Dexter team; we’d love to teach you how to make the most of smart sales software and increase your customer conversion rates in the process.
