SALES TRAINING

LEAD NURTURING AS WELL AS LEAD GENERATION

Lead nurturing is building relationships with potential clients even if they are not currently looking to buy a product or service – during a recession, the sales cycle will be longer, so make sure your sales team and processes support this nurturing process.

A lead that may not be an immediate sale may be that the customer is wanting to receive information from you by a newsletter or social media, but they aren’t necessarily ready to make a purchase. In the traditional consumer buyer behaviour, they are perhaps still at evaluation or awareness – so a hard sales call at this stage won’t work.

You need to nurture these leads, help them in their quest for information with email newsletters full of tips and advice, use social media to be an advisor and expert in your specific field so when consumer confidence is higher, you are already top of mind with customers. Hone your sales process at the initial point of contact when people call your office, walk into your business or complete a lead form online and pay closer attention to those factors that result in sales.

THE PROCESS AND BENEFITS OF SALES PROCESS MAPPING

Mapping your sales process allows you to uncover potential inefficiencies, gain insight into successful strategies, and improve your sales division depending on your business goals.

Through process mapping, your company can better collaborate across all departments to achieve sales goals and objectives. The challenge with sales process mapping lies in doing it correctly, as mistakes can undermine this tool’s potential to bring positive business results.

The way we communicate today has completely revolutionised the sales funnel, and much of that communication involves the evolution of technology. Company’s must constantly evolve with the advent of new innovations, and for today’s businesses, that means a constant process of change. Better communication means more empowered consumers.

In a traditional sales funnel, a prospect would respond to a piece of mail or a sales call, and a sales representative would handle the entire process.

Today’s consumers are savvy. They research products and services online, with 85 percent of B2B customers saying that online content has a “moderate to major” effect on their decisions to buy. Customers turn to blog posts, social media, and online forums to amass all the information they need, so when a prospect finally reaches out, it’s time to talk business.

Digital transformation has required that we completely review the very basics of how we do business.