Inbound selling takes any salesperson and amplifies their efforts to an extraordinary degree. Learn why here.
A lot of sales people struggle with the first cold call. “How do I break the ice?,” they wonder.
Breaking the ice with inbound
With inbound marketing and inbound selling, the ice is already broken. You’re already in a conversation.
If you’re using inbound correctly, people are coming to your website and engaged on social media, you can identify what they’re searching for by the time they get to you, so you don’t have to start with a cold conversation where you can’t identify their needs. In fact, you start almost two-thirds of the way through the cycle. Instead of starting by wondering, “What on earth do they want?” you start by saying, “Our Marketing team let me know that you’ve been looking at our XYZ solutions. What problem are you trying to solve? Did you find what you were looking for?”
You move from being a salesperson to being an advisor.
You can lead the conversation. Now you can ask, “How can I help you solve this problem?”. It becomes an empowering conversation rather than an annoyance on a cold call.
The thing is, most people are searching because they have a problem. But most salespeople don’t know what the problem is. If you have an idea of the problem already, that’s a good point to start the exploration.
Inbound marketing opens the ‘explore’ part of the conversation really early on. And if you listen, you may end up with a different conclusion to what you expect…
Inbound also gives you context... and knowledge is power
Inbound gives contact info and you already know how many people have been on the site. You know whether it’s just a lone wolf, or if there is a pack…
Looking for more insights into Inbound Marketing? Download our guide, What is Inbound Marketing.
As salespeople we love numbers, right?
With inbound sales and marketing, all of the metrics start to improve. According to a survey done by HubSpot, 57% of salespeople’s time is spent on unproductive prospecting. But imagine if you were four times as effective. Using the inbound sales and marketing methodology, you could take half your day and waste it and still make a 25% increase in more effective prospecting. By the numbers, you should get a 25% better closing or sales performance.
Inbound allows you to focus on the people who have an immediate need and are actively in the buying cycle, so you can use your time most effectively to help them conclude their decision. You’re not wasting time with someone who hasn’t yet identified their problem or potential solution effectively, and they’re just thinking about it.
Is it a good prospect?
Lastly, inbound helps you understand, fundamentally, is it a good prospect? In our case businesses that are too small or don’t have a marketing budget aren’t good prospects. But established businesses looking to grow are good prospects.
Knowing all of that info allows you to disqualify bad-fit prospects early in the process so your close rate improves.
You also spend less energy closing them and that makes life easier and sales people happier. It’s a win-win.
Ready to start putting your prospecting on steroids? Contact us and get started on your winning inbound marketing and sales strategy.
Feature image by Ali Leishman
