Stop Speed Dating your Customer 2.0
In this newsletter
Your Customer 2.0 is relationship-starved — and no wonder, when it's so hard to decode their mixed messages! They are wildly independent, extremely skittish, slow to trust, and quick to bail at a moment's notice. And watch out: Just when you think they're ready for a meaningful relationship with you, they are speed dating other companies like crazy. Making real, lasting relationships with Customer 2.0 means updating your sales playbook in the following areas:
Filling the Funnel
Leads are getting dumped into sales buckets on an hourly basis. Call campaigns and sales blitzes are part of the weekly routine, and predictive phone dialers are the norm. But are we grooming our lead development teams to act as robots?
Insidesales.com confirms that calling within minutes of a generated lead means increasing your odds 100% more than if you delay your follow-up. Don't get so caught up with the new ones that you lose sight of the old ones.
Qualifying What's There
Now the work begins. Instead of just qualifying to quickly disqualify, your qualification efforts must become more stringent in order to engage with this Customer 2.0. If this customer smells any sign of a BANT, they'll quickly bail — before you've had the change to disqualify.
In the online dating world, most people know within 15 minutes into a date if there is chemistry, and just over half of them feel comfortable saying the “Thanks, but no thanks” after the first meeting. Your approach must be robust, with deeper probing, scoring, and prioritizing. If you need to cut them loose right away, do it.
What's the Score
According to IDC Research, 25% of sales time is spent on unproductive prospects. Vorsight and The Bridge Group, Inc. Sales Speak, which found that 84% of reps follow up on the marketing-generated leads when they already know that 70% of them don't fit their “sweet spot.”
It's no surprise that lead scoring has become a hot topic. It helps efficiently prioritize lead effectiveness and determine your follow-up strategy. Don't date a clear loser. Assemble your tight criteria list and determine your negotiables and non-negotiables. Let go of the ones who look good but don't have the promise of developing into real love.
Best Friends Before Love
Everyone is looking for that nurturing relationship. In the sales and marketing world it's called Lead Nurturing, and it's on everyone's radar. Nurturing the self-educating Customer 2.0 — with videos, white papers, webinars, blog posts, and downloadable online demos — helps them feel included.
Help them get to know you better. According to Match.com, 49% of singles who fell in love with someone they did not initially find attractive did so after becoming best friends. Getting past the first “date” with your prospect and nurturing trust is your key to progressing to the next step!
Marriage and Closing the Sale
Just when you think your relationships is on solid ground . . . they stop returning your calls. You wanted marriage, but they suddenly want to play the field. What happened?
It's tough all over. Conversion rates are looking shaky. According to CSO Insights Sales Management 2.0 white paper, win rates on forecast deals are at an all-time low. Just like couples sometimes need a nudge from their folks to take the final step, it's time for managers to step it up and become more effective in managing their teams, dividing their time between coaching and pipeline forecast management, and helping reps close the sale.
Smart Selling Service Offerings 2011: TeleSmart provides a wide assortment of service offerings, ranging from on-site training to virtual webinars. Our training is all about inside sales — combining phone, online, and sales and social tools productivity. Watch Josiane's video and invite her for the following:
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Smart Selling on the Phone and Online, increase revenues with this best-selling inside sales sourcebook. Learn how to sell in the Sales 2.0 landscape and what matters most for Customers 2.0.
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