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Part One:  Marketing Engagement Versus Sales-Ready Conversions

Part Two: Preventing and Re-Engaging No-Shows

The final installment of this three-part series discusses how to prevent leads from dropping off and how to close more leads with less effort.

It’s not a secret that today’s buyers are savvy and conduct most of the purchasing process themselves. Eighty-seven percent of buyers self-service part or all of their buying journey.  Nearly sixty percent of buyers are ready to purchase without ever speaking to a salesperson.  (1)

Time is of the essence to prospects at this stage of the game. Once they are interested enough to reach out, the salesperson must reel them in – and do so quickly. If the sales professional fails to engage the customer, they could end up losing a promising lead. In fact, the odds of qualifying a lead drop by eighty percent after just five minutes. (2)

Far too many leads are lost when they are on the verge of converting. Does this mean that engaging them is extremely difficult – or even impossible? No, it does not!

Guided selling gives salespeople the resources and tools they need to establish and maintain the interest of prospects and ultimately convert them. It does so in the following ways.

Clarifying the Level of Leads

Scoring leads is important, as discussed in part one of this series. However, scoring is not the only action sales teams must take to save leads. Determining the level of interest of every prospect is essential.

First, it is essential to understand the true meaning of lead qualification. When it comes to leads, the word “qualifying” can be defined differently by different people and various departments within an organization. What does a quality lead entail?  For clarity, qualifying leads involves concluding whether a lead fits the company’s ideal customer profile.

That is a start. Once that is determined, marketing, working in conjunction with sales, assigns the level of interest for each lead. Generally, leads divide into three categories regarding levels of interest: cold, warm and hot.

Cold leads have displayed no interest yet. They have not reached out to the business, and they have been unmoved by the company’s efforts to engage them. Their needs are unidentified. While there is always a slim chance to convert cold leads, the chances of doing so are slim unless carefully nurtured. Cold leads are, not surprisingly, found at the beginning of the sales cycle. These leads need to have due diligence performed before reaching out to see if there’s a match between the company’s target profile, the lead’s possible needs/pain points, a potential budget alignment, who will be the best people to approach and why in that organization and why, etc.

Warm leads enter the sales cycle towards the beginning and have shown a moderate interest in the company’s products or services. Moderate interest is indicated by the lead taking actions such as completing a contact form, subscribing to the organization’s emails, or following its social media profiles. Warm leads engage periodically with the business in these ways and require some nurturing, although significantly less than cold leads.  Much like cold leads, warm opportunities require further investigation and analysis.  Due diligence can help identify tire kickers from legitimate opportunities.   This diligence can also help determine what may be products or services that will be of most interest (and why), who might be competing against an organization for the business (and why) and what other details should be factored into the equation.

Hot leads are fully qualified. They have displayed a high level of interest and offer the best chance of being converted. These leads, fittingly, “come in hot” by showing keen interest in the company’s products and services right off the bat. Their needs have been identified. Instead of nurturing, hot leads need the salesperson to mindfully handle and manage them until they reach the end of the sales cycle.  While these leads are showing high levels of interest, it is critical that salespeople do prepare, when possible, for conversations as much as possible.  Perform research about the company, the people involved in decision-making, gather financial reports (if a publicly-traded company), know the industry and the company’s market, etc.  These can be the difference between making a so-so impression vs. a powerful impression and winning the business!

Anticipating and Providing to Meet Needs

One purpose automation serves, as discussed in part one, is nurturing leads. Nurturing leads is only half of its job. Automation plays an equally crucial role in anticipating prospects’ needs and providing the right resources and tools to meet them. Companies that meet buyers’ needs during the sales process inspire trust. Prospects conclude that the business will continue to help them with their needs through its products or services.

Internally, automation helps salespeople, as well. It does so by giving them a guided sales playbook of sorts. This playbook achieves the insights that automation offers. Salespeople can recognize patterns for buyers based on the automated emails their actions trigger. From there, sales professionals can determine each lead’s needs and interest level and address them accordingly.

As discussed in the two previous articles, qualifying leads, gauging their level of interest, engaging them, and meeting their needs through automation are all part of the guided sales process. When leveraged correctly, guided selling gives sales teams a powerful advantage that will help them work their sales pipeline skillfully and with great success.

Part One  |  Part Two  |  Part Three

Uncertain times call for creative thinking. Contact Gavel International to be inspired with solutions that connect and engage your people.

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SOURCES:

  1. https://www.trustradius.com/vendor-blog/b2b-buying-disconnect-2021
  2. https://www.vendasta.com/blog/lead-response-time/

 

Jeff Richards
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