Category: pipeline development

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Why Knowing Key Decision Makers in Prospective Accounts Matters

Why Knowing Key Decision Makers in Prospective Accounts Matters

Sometimes, we find ourselves with too many prospects sitting in front of us. The problem is that not all of them are good.

How do you know which ones are worth spending time on? And how do you ensure that the people who are ready to buy your product or service do? 

Here’s a quick guide to help you out:

  • Set up meetings with people who have expressed interest or are willing to commit to your product/service. This can be done through inbound marketing or a cold call.
  • Use qualifying questions during the initial phone call to determine whether they’re a good fit for the position. They should be able to answer these questions without hesitation:
  • What problem does this solve for your company?
  • How much money will this save you over time?
  • What impact will this have on your business operations?
Focusing on the Right People

Focusing on the Right People

It’s no secret that making a sale is more than just finding a lead. You need to be able to convert that lead into a customer, but how? The answer is simple: by using social media.

With the right social selling strategy, you can get in front of the people who will most likely buy your product or service. It’s a great way to increase sales and reach a new audience simultaneously.

Most B2B companies are using social media these days to find potential customers. They’re using it to connect with them in real-time and build relationships that lead to sales.

This is because social media has become an essential part of business culture. The average consumer spends about five hours daily on social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter! That’s a lot of time for companies to connect with potential buyers—and win new clients.

Having More Than One Key Contact Per Account

Having More Than One Key Contact Per Account

If you work with just one person in each account and they leave, or something happens to them, you will be left without access to that client. So it’s much better to build a team of people who know you and your product well.

To be sure, establishing multiple relationships with key decision-makers is crucial. But what happens when you’ve identified your entire target list and have built relationships with everyone on it? You still need to keep working and growing those relationships because they are not static—they change and evolve like your company.

When you have one relationship in an account, you have a greater chance that the other people in that account won’t know you or your value proposition. If they don’t know you or your value proposition, they won’t be able to help you make deals. This can lead to wasted efforts because nobody knows who you are or why you’re there.

On the other hand, if you build multiple relationships within an account and with different stakeholders (for example, executives and mid-level managers), then these people will be able to introduce you to others within their organization who might also benefit from knowing about your product or service offerings. In addition, this strategy allows for more opportunities for introductions and referrals without relying solely on one person who may not always be available due to their busy schedule or priorities within the company.

The fact is that your customers are going to change too. That means that if you don’t stay involved in your customers’ lives and how they use your product or service, you risk becoming irrelevant—and potentially losing them altogether.

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Outbound Sales pipeline development Sales Advice Sales and Marketing Sales Management

Surefire Outbound Sales Strategies That Will Drive Your Growth

Surefire Outbound Sales Strategies That Will Drive Your Growth

Outbound sales, in a nutshell, is any form of traditional selling initiated by salespeople to the target customer – meaning they start and drive the interaction. Given the nature of selling and buying these days, it’s more appropriate to call it outbound communication. However, some proven strategies help an outbound effort be more effective while reducing attrition rates regardless of what you name it. 

Here are some tips that can serve as a guide for sales professionals who want to improve the execution of their outbound sales strategy:

Craft Your Ideal Customer Profile

Craft Your Ideal Customer Profile

Creating an ideal customer persona is a three-step process:

  1. First, identify the traits of your ideal customer.
  2. Understand their problems and how they’re currently solving them.
  3. Determine what makes your product or service superior to the alternatives for this customer and their particular problem(s).

Additionally, you can create a customer persona by asking yourself a few key questions:

  • Who are the people using my product or service? 
  • How old are they? 
  • Where do they live? 
  • What kind of job do they have? 
  • What is their annual income? 
  • Do they have kids? 
  • Do they own a car? 
  • Do they own a home? 
  • Are they married or single? 
  • What do they like to do for fun? 
  • How much time do they spend online per week? 
  • What search terms do they use when looking for products or services like mine?

Once you have all this information, it will be easy to develop marketing strategies targeting them directly.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing

Social media provides an excellent opportunity for businesses to reach consumers with relevant content that is easily accessible on their devices and in real time, making it highly effective at getting customers interested in what you’re selling.

The advantages of using social media are:

  • It’s a great way to build a community around your brand, which can help with customer retention, loyalty, and growth.
  • It can be used as a lead generation tool, where you can offer incentives to those who sign up to your email list or follow you on social media.
  • Social media is free! It could be a good option for you if you have time and resources available.

Here are some strategies to help you make the most of social media marketing:

  • Post regularly. Posting on your company’s LinkedIn page or Twitter account daily is essential for maintaining visibility and keeping customers engaged.
  • Use visuals. Visuals help attract attention with their bright colors and graphics, so include photos and videos in your posts whenever possible.
  • Focus on engagement. Engagement is critical in social media marketing because it helps you better understand what people want from you—and how they want to interact with your brand.

By sharing relevant, engaging, and helpful content, you will be able to attract new clients looking for a particular type of service.

It is also possible to use social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter to drive traffic to your website or blog so that potential customers can learn more about the products or services you offer.

Invest in Outbound Sales Tools and Tech

Invest in Outbound Sales Tools and Tech

Inbound and outbound sales strategies are not mutually exclusive—in fact, they work together to create a holistic customer experience that makes you stand out from your competition. But what is the difference between these two approaches?

Inbound sales focuses on attracting new customers through content marketing, SEO optimization, and other digital tactics that drive traffic to your website. 

Outbound sales focuses on attracting potential clients who are already in motion toward making a purchase decision; they require more active engagement with customers via phone calls or email campaigns, which can be automated through a CRM system.

It’s not enough to have a tool like Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, or others. You need to use it as the baseline for everything else you do—and you need to ensure it’s set up correctly from the beginning. Outbound sales teams will be responsible for driving your company forward, and if they don’t have all the tools they need, it will be much harder for them to succeed.

Outbound sales teams will rely on data for their success, so make sure that you’re making it easy for them with an intuitive interface and seamless integration between different systems (CRM and marketing automation). They’ll also want access to information about their leads’ behaviors and preferences to tailor their pitches accordingly. Finally, they’ll need access to customer data to anticipate what each person wants before they even ask them!

Final Words

If you want to increase sales, you need to start selling. Although most companies have moved to an inbound approach, they still struggle with inbound sales because they don’t understand what makes people buy something. Outbound sales techniques are still very effective at generating leads that convert customers because they focus on the right things.

Outbound sales is not about pushing people into buying something from you (although that can be part of it). It’s about building relationships with prospects so they know who you are when they need what you offer. 

By creating a relationship with prospects, you can build trust and credibility and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Show them how valuable their business is by providing helpful advice, free resources, or even just engaging them with questions about their business.

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b2b sales leads pipeline development Sales Sales Advice Sales Management Sales Metrics sales pipeline Sales Process

4 Tips on How to Get Past The Gatekeepers

4 Tips on How to Get Past the Gatekeepers

If you’re in B2B sales, you’ve probably battled a gatekeeper. They can make or break your sale. This is especially true of B2B mid-market sales. Gatekeepers hold the keys to the kingdom. If they don’t see an opportunity, they can ensure no one else sees it either. That’s why we call them gatekeepers.

Without a doubt, B2Bs hate gatekeepers. They frustrate salespeople and hurt business relationships. The real trick is finding ways to overcome these obstacles. If you’re interested in selling to B2B companies in the future, it’s essential to know how to get around gatekeepers.

4 Ways to Get Past the Gatekeeper

You can’t just pick up the phone and call to accomplish this. Gatekeepers live to prevent salespeople from getting through. Here are four ways to bounce over, under, and around gatekeepers to reach prospects you otherwise couldn’t.

Whether a receptionist or an account manager, a gatekeeper is designed to keep you out. They’re tasked with filtering visitors, calls, and emails from prospects and determining if the person you want to reach will be willing to listen to what you have to say.

Respect the Gatekeeper

#1: R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

A gatekeeper has control over whether or not you can speak with your prospect, but they don’t have to be the end-all-be-all of decision-makers. Most gatekeepers are just doing their job—managing their boss’s schedule and ensuring they don’t get interrupted by unnecessary people.

You can win over gatekeepers by showing them that you value them as an essential part of the process and that you’re not just trying to get past them so you can sell something. You need to have a sense of empathy for their role in the company and understand how much they must be juggling on any given day. That way, when they say no, it won’t feel like a rejection from someone who doesn’t want to hear from you at all—it’ll feel like a rejection from someone who does want to help but just doesn’t have time right now!

#2: Make It Personal.

1. Handwrite a note.

If your prospect is someone who cares about personal touches, this can be an excellent way to break through their defenses.

2. Make an appointment in person.

If you’re able to arrange an in-person meeting, do so! It’ll help show that you’re serious about wanting to have a conversation with them, which can go a long way toward getting past their defenses (and gatekeepers).

3. Send swag!

If your prospect is the type who responds well to gifts or small tokens of appreciation, send them some marketing swag as soon as possible after making contact with their gatekeeper—it’ll help show that you’re serious about wanting them as an account

Changing Your Perspective.

#3: Changing Your Perspective.

Every gatekeeper is a resource. Each of them has access to valuable information. They know where your prospect is, their schedule, phone number, and much more.

You must view each gatekeeper as a resource rather than an obstacle. Viewing each gatekeeper as an obstacle can lead to some frustration if you’re not careful. Asking for the name of someone’s assistant can be an excellent way to get around this problem and make sure you have the right person on the line when you call back.

You should also try to be polite and respectful when dealing with gatekeepers. Remember that they are people too and may be working in an uncomfortable situation themselves (for example, fielding calls from angry customers). Don’t take it out on them just because they’re not letting you through!

If you’re having trouble getting through to someone by phone, try sending them an email instead or following up later in the day when their schedule might be less busy.

Bypass the Gatekeeper.

#4: Bypass the Gatekeeper.

If you have a sales team, they probably spend most of their time on the phone and emailing leads. They may be spending more time doing this than they are selling.

You should be if you’re not using a CRM (customer relationship management) system to track your contacts. But even with a CRM, there are still plenty of people who aren’t using it as effectively as they could be.

Gatekeepers will always exist in some form or another — whether it’s a secretary or someone else who answers the phone or screens your emails — so it’s vital for you to find ways around them if you want to get through to decision-makers

The most effective way to bypass gatekeepers is to invest in sales data. Partner with a B2B data provider, such as Pipeline Signals, to secure your most important prospects’ direct dials and email addresses.

Once you have these contacts, send them an introductory email explaining who you are and why you’re reaching out. If they respond, it’s time to start building rapport and working on establishing a relationship over time.

Another approach is to research your prospective company and find out what their employees are talking about online. Look for groups or communities where they participate and join those groups yourself. This will allow you to engage with them online in a more organic way than sending an email cold call — which could see it as spammy or intrusive (and therefore not read).

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pipeline development

Creating The Optimal Business Development Strategy

Creating The Optimal Business Development Strategy

For a lot of people, business development is practically synonymous with sales. And while they have their similarities—both are geared towards profit, after all—they are two distinct entities.

What is Business Development?

Business development is the creation of long-term value for an organization via customers, markets, and relationships. It’s the sum of all the strategies, tactics, and activities used to acquire new clients and expand existing ones.

Given this definition, we can assume that business development representatives are in charge of growing your business. This means finding opportunities for expansion and having expert knowledge of the current market, their target audience, and potential business partners. Thus, they’re the ones who have to prospect and qualify leads before handing them off to the sales team, who will then nurture the new relationships in order to close the deal.

Business Development vs. Sales vs. Marketing

The lines between business development, sales, and marketing are very blurry. There are several overlapping responsibilities between the three teams, and it doesn’t help that business development can look very different from company to company.

Let’s take a look at their differences:

Marketing: Marketing is the customer-facing branch of your organization, and its primary goal is to attract customers.  The marketing team is responsible for brand management, using websites, social media, advertisements, and other channels to stay at the forefront of your customers’ minds. They are also in charge of educating customers about your company and your products, and they handle offers and promotions.

Sales: The difference between business development and sales is murkier. Some companies even treat the two departments as one team, interchanging the responsibilities of the two.

However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Business development and sales operate in separate stages of the same customer journey. BDRs are responsible for top-of-the-funnel activities: finding leads, starting conversations, and educating potential customers. They are in charge of filling the sales pipeline, while sales representatives nurture the pipeline by turning qualified leads into prospects, eventually convincing them to buy.

The Optimal Business Development Strategy

When planning your business development strategy, it helps to think of it as a system with several interconnected parts.

This is because a lot of business development strategies tend to lack clarity and focus. Oftentimes, they’re too complicated and have lost sight of the revenue team’s overarching goal—which is to answer why a potential customer should buy from you instead of the countless other options in the market. The inability to answer this question can lead to useless tactics, poor execution, and confusion for both your revenue team and your clients. 

The story and the purpose of your business should be the cornerstone of your business development strategy. You need to differentiate yourself from the competition. All of your revenue team’s actions should be able to reflect your unique position in the market.

As mentioned above, business development intersects with the other departments in your revenue team. Though the lines are blurry, it’s not really a matter of reassigning certain tasks to the other team. Instead, the affected teams should work together towards the common goal: The company’s continued growth.

Business Development and Marketing

Marketing and business development should work together to tell your organization’s story and strategize how to generate leads. Together, the two teams can help prospects make informed decisions about engaging with you and availing of your company’s services via the following factors:

Your Positioning In The Market: The way your company is positioned in the market defines the backbone of your entire business development plan. It provides a clear blueprint of your target market, effectively acting as a North Star for every business decision you make. 

Customer Traffic: The right amount of traffic and traffic from the right people to solidify your position in the market. Exposure to your company and your core message is required to get results.

Messaging: Your message should be compelling enough to be able to stop people in their tracks when they hear it. Remember: The more you can gain and keep someone’s attention, the more chance you have of landing a new client. 

Channels: Your marketing channels can greatly affect your overall business development and marketing strategy. For example, to establish authority and solidify your position as a thought leader in your market, you’ll need to post insights on social media, speak in events and interviews, and publish original content regularly. 

Business Development and Sales

Your sales process starts with finding the right clients—after all, you can’t close deals when there are no customers to begin with. With this, let’s go back to your company’s position in the market. Your positioning helps dictate the people your business development team will reach out to, filtering out all but the best prospects through a stringent qualification process. 

Now, your sales strategy should support your qualified prospects’ ability to make good decisions—specifically, to sign contracts with you. Inversely, your sales process should also eliminate customers that fail to meet the criteria in your qualification process. Otherwise, you may experience unnecessarily long and unpredictable sales cycles, which could affect your quota attainment. 

Business Development and Product Delivery

Business development doesn’t end when the contract is signed. Before the ink is dry, you should be able to deliver on your promises.

The product delivery experience can create additional value for your customers, opening the door to more opportunities for your business development program. Let’s look at the three main components of the delivery process: your product, your service, and your customer life cycle. 

Product: The product you deliver should speak for itself. It should demonstrate your company’s value to your client, making employees tell their friends and colleagues about how great of a job you’re doing. This increases the chances of getting referrals. 

Service: The quality, speed, and ease of using your service can likewise boost business development by inspiring referrals. It’s important to fulfill your deliverables, don’t forget to create a good customer experience as well.

Life Cycle: Your customer life cycle is tied directly to your positioning. Telling your brand’s story increases traffic through the right channels, which you can take advantage of by creating a sales process that targets the right people with the right offer. When the contract is signed, you should deliver a product in a way that creates more value for your client and lets them see what else you could help them improve upon, effectively selling more of what they need along the way. 

Conclusion

In the end, there’s no such thing as a perfect business development strategy. Leads can enter your sales funnel in unexpected ways and can be removed from your pipeline just as well. 

By understanding the different components that drive business development, the different departments of your revenue team can work together and adjust your strategy to minimize risk and grow your profitability. 

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Here’s What Happens When You Have a Weak Sales Pipeline

No sales team is perfect. Teams are composed of human beings, after all, and human beings make mistakes. That’s how people learn: By slipping up, acknowledging the wrongdoing, and not committing the same error again.

The last part is crucial, especially in sales, where even seemingly small mistakes should be fixed before they negatively impact the creation of sales pipeline—something a lot of organizations already struggle with.

“There’s so much effort and time that’s invested in the tweaking of sales pipeline management, but there’s not enough attention given to the main problem, which is how can we create sales pipeline in the first place.

How can we create it in a way that is standardized, prescriptive, and therefore, predictable?”

Amar Sheth, COO of Sales for Life

Below are some of the most common repercussions of a weak sales pipeline:

1. Working with too few opportunities in a pipeline

Closing a deal in the B2B landscape can take up to several months. With so many decision-makers and touchpoints, it is logical to expect slow progress in most accounts.

However, this only calls for more lead generation efforts. Working with too few opportunities in a pipeline will definitely have negative effects on an organization’s annual revenue.

“That’s the number one issue in sales pipeline,” says Sheth. “You can’t manage people if you don’t have people to manage.”

2. A stream of poor leads

This will result in fewer sales, thus taking a big chunk of the annual revenue of an organization. If your leads are always subpar, try reviewing your ICP to ensure that you’re targeting the right customers.

Check if you really understand your ideal customer profile criteria. How well have you defined and understood them, and is marketing and sales crystal clear on what that looks like?

3. The gatekeeper problem

It’s essential to work out who the decision makers are for every prospective account in the pipeline. Wasting time and resources on opportunities that can’t convert because you are negotiating with a person that can’t make a decision is a formula for negative ROI.

You need to have a proper qualification process when you’re guiding people and helping them understand what needs to happen and whom you should reach out to in order to trigger a sales opportunity.

If your sellers don’t know how to land meetings with a company’s more senior players or the classic decision-maker, you’ll eventually be building an inflated pipeline that doesn’t really have any credible quality of closing.

Approaching leads based on Signals is the most effective way to ensure that you’ll have an asymmetric competitive advantage over your competitors.

“What we suggest is that you apply Signals against your accounts,” says our Managing Partner, Jamie Shanks.

“Signals provide objectivity and clarity as to which accounts will result in opportunities, and which ones could prove to be a risk.”

These are just three of the several issues your team could encounter if their pipeline creation method is flawed. If one of your sellers experience one of these problems, take a step back to objectively assess your monitoring and pipeline management strategies to ensure your pipeline generates a stable revenue stream. 

To learn more about pipeline creation,
check out The Fundamentals of Pipeline Creation.

We’d also love to help you optimize your team’s pipeline creation process. If this is something you think could help you, use this link to book a meeting with us.

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Modern Sales Series: The State of Sales Development 2017

 

Continue reading “Modern Sales Series: The State of Sales Development 2017”