Everybody wants to sell something, often at any cost. That's perhaps why we don't answer the phone anymore and attention is at an all-time low.
We are bombarded with solutions and packages to buy, but the perceived value, even compared to competitors, is nil.
TheBootCamp organized by HubSpot focusing on sales skills has recently concluded. A six-week agenda of periodic meetings followed by Omi Diaz Cooper, Ranya Barakat and Adam Stahl.
Professionals from around the world met virtually with the HubSpot team to hear best practices, do exercises, and implement the use of processes and tools to improve sales.
If you're looking for a strategy to increase lead generation and conversions, you've come to the right place! HubSpot's mantra is the inbound methodology,useful for attracting customers through useful and valuable content, and is perfect for sales strategies as well.
In this article we have concentrated the best tips learned during the BootCamp, to help you better qualify and serve your interlocutor.
We will understand how to build a strong>solid sales process, offering value,differentiating yourself from competitors, learning to recognize needs, explore and recommend the right opportunities.
Do you need to sell at all costs?
If you've been in sales for many years and think you're ending your reading here, know that the HubSpot BootCamp reflections helped us question our own work as well.
The insights we will discuss are useful for all teams engaged in dealing with a user during his or her customer journey, for support as for pre-sales or communication activities.
Strategies that work repeatedly do not represent a guaranteed result over time unless a process is followed and the proper mindset is also shared with colleagues.
Good winds can change unexpectedly if "tsunamis" arrive from the market you operate in, new competitors, or revolutionary technologies. Does selling at all costs help? It should be said, no. Maybe it produces immediate revenue, but it hides many pitfalls. There are plenty of examples of companies that have purchased goods and services that were not needed or did not meet their needs. A purchase can soon turn into a cost, rather than an investment, that does not fulfill expectations and does not produce results.
Selling at all costs is also not a good mantra for cross sell and upsell (i.e., the sales strategy that encourages customers to buy more expensive products, even those not previously considered). You will find a rubber wall if the initial experience has not been rewarding.
This is not rhetoric: it doesn't matter what you sell, but how you sell it!
We imagine the relationship with each customer a bit like a courtship, it is measured in the field, day by day, not just with flowers and love letters. In short, it is a set of attentions that also speak about us and take into consideration, really, the person to whom they are addressed.
Here are some effective tips for qualifying your interlocutors' needs and figuring out if you are right for each other.
Discovery call vs. product demo, a common mistake
Creating a compelling sales story is important for setting up the sale. Be brief, just a few seconds to saywho you are, what problems you address and for whom, with what solutions, and most importantly what differentiates you from competitors.
Mentioning the companies you work with, if they are similar to your prospect's vertical, help show the right empathy and make it clear that you will be able to offer the right solution at the right time.
In this phase, with targeted questions, you can greatly accelerate the next steps, define the current and future needs of your growth and that of your lead.
The Discovery call is part of the inbound sales process and is important if you want to align with your prospect and start off on the right foot. In short, it is the thermometer of future conversations, the one that guarantees you quality work.
Salespeople often turn the discovery call into a product demo, nothing could be more wrong. The rush to show how well tools and services perform fails to convey a fundamental aspect of this knowledge, the added value we can offer.
"It's not about us, It's just about you": In the discovery call, the protagonist is our interlocutor. It is his current goals and challenges that we must listen to, note down, and solve if we are to successfully qualify our work and all that we will build together.
3 key aspects of qualifying your prospects
Why change, for what solution, and most importantly, with whom? Start here.
With these three focuses we can summarize the initial comparison. Even if your prospect does not clearly address these questions to you, keep them in mind so you are not caught unprepared.
Mind you, the approach you are building should not follow a funnel (funnel) and end with a conversion, but should be a flywheel (vortex).
Organizing all your data into an effective CRM (do you have one that makes you happy?) can give your activities a boost, such as optimizing sales with automations to consistently follow up with the right contacts.
Also don't forget about frequent alignments between marketing and sales teams, or to review sales leadership, updating your strategies as needed.
During qualification the prospect may:
- prefer status quo, deciding not to continue the interlocution, so in fact may decide not to change;
- choose a totally different alternative solution;
- call a competitor offering a similar solution.
In these cases it is good to be clear about these three key points in the report:
- either in or out! There is not much alternative, especially if you want to solve your problems and achieve new profits;
- this is the added value we are ready to offer you;
- here's how we differentiate ourselves from the market.
How can you anticipate these thoughts, optimizing time and bringing home the result?
- Focus on your prospect, what are his/her problems? Really understand what situation you need to address together and learn to distinguish the current situation from future goals.
- What are your prospect's problems that are really significant?Add some details to be punchy, give some examples in your vertical, show that you have already solved similar challenges.
- Use logic, but don'tforget emotions. Show empathy and professionalism, then end your email or video call with a question, "Which of the things I've mentioned interest you or are reflected in your reality?"
The CGP TCI BA framework useful for proper qualification
As we said, activities related to lead generation hide quite a few pitfalls.
It is important not to lose your compass and optimize your efforts in this direction if you do not want to jeopardize your work, what many people in the jargon call "warehouse".
We need to increase customers and revenue without jeopardizing our assets, the assets represented by time, effort and attention that we need to preserve for the most interesting leads.
How to invest in the right opportunities?
The use of a framework such as the "BANT" (Budget, Authority, Need and Timing) is not enough.
To examine the current situation your prospect is in, delve into plans and challenges, learn about goals and timing, try following the framework "CGP, TCI, BA" which allows you to qualify leads and guide conversations during discovery calls.
We know, it's not always easy to have a smooth, direct, and deep conversation, but we recommend you follow -- as much as possible -- this framework that comprehensively embraces:
- Challenges (challenges). What are your current challenges?
- Goals (goals). What are the future goals?
- Plans (plans). How do you intend to implement them?
- Timelines (timelines). What are the timelines for accomplishing this?
- Consequences (consequences). What happens if you achieve this goal?
- Implications (implications). What happens if you don't achieve this goal?
- Budget (funds). Are there the economic resources to invest in this direction?
- Authority (authority). Are you talking to the right interlocutor?
Confirm that you understand your lead's real problems; add value; lead and be helpful, especially do the math, math is important if you have to offer functional strategies for results!
Questions that can help the discovery call
This is not an interrogation, let me be clear. By asking a few right questions, you will capture many details essential to your proposition.
Curiosity comes to the rescue, but before any comparisonstudy the information about your prospect by visiting his or her website, social media, and the latest news published by Google.
No nutritionist can chart a tailored course without proper analysis and several questions. It also applies to you! Start by anticipating to your interlocutor that you will ask several in order to know and propose appropriate solutions.
Many greet this proposal with wariness, but some prefer to record the Meet, by mutual agreement, to converse more fluidly and remember what was shared. If you notice that your interlocutor is not open to this opportunity, let it go, he might get entangled.
Below we've listed some questions to get the conversation started, although the most important one remains "What do you expect from today's Meet?", because it balances expectations and helps you understand whether you and your prospect are aligned.
- What is the history of your business?
- How do you differentiate yourself from competitors?
- What is your ideal customer and which one is not on target?
- How is the sales and marketing team organized?
- What is your sales process?
- Have you ever used a lead generation service before?
- How many leads per month do you need to collect for your goals?
- What will happen if you are unable to hit the target?
- What happens if you don't meet your goals?
- How much time do you have?
Screens and best practices help standardize and improve sales processes, but personalizing every conversation, written and verbal, is priceless.
.If your prospect begins by asking how much your services cost, remember that your goal is to offer value. Present a strategy, in the meantime provide asignificant range to communicate what the rough costs might be.
I recommend, during the first few contacts, don't transfer too much information. Remember to take your breaks, make time for a joke. Whatever the topic, make the conversation simple, don't use too many technicalities, they may increase the distance with your interlocutor in case he/she is not a technician.
If there are objections, do not use standard answers. Recognize the objection and understand what the real problem is, the story behind it, give advice only after you fully understand the objection.
Give and get: how to increase the value of your business
Even if you are here to sell, don't forget to offer useful suggestions to your prospects in exchange for valuable information. This is the deeper meaning of the so-called "give and get" (offer and ask), which allows you to position yourself from the very first lines with an edge over your competitors.
Gaining the trust of a new prospect in the beginning can be more complex.
.If you are too focused on selling services and products you forget how important comparison is.
Study your prospect and offer free suggestions that he can quickly implement to improve aspects of his business.
"You know you can add a knowledge base to manage tickets and save your agents' time." Then add, "Have you ever thought of a chabot or software to automate the handling of these requests?".
This is just a cue, it captures attention and prepares the speaker for dialogue.
Mathematics is important to offer functional strategies for results
.But now it is time to do the math.
The math allows you to move to the next step in the sales process, and it is indispensable if you want to deliver a tangible result relative to need, rather than a vague goal:
- ask the prospect to work on hard data. A best practice for offering good service, for example, might be to understand how many visits a site has, how many contacts you collect in a month month, and how many leads you convert into customers. You could propose to increase traffic with SEO or blogging, boost conversions by learning how to nurture and prioritize leads, talking about numbers and percentages in anticipation.
- Manage expectations by using benchmark numbers wisely. Talk about process and learning as much as outcomes,use multiple outcome scenarios. Keep in mind that goal-setting is not an exact science; we can talk about break-even and goals to strive for.
- Discover additional resources. .
Software to help sales: HubSpot Sales Hub
The right tools can also make sales strategies leaner and smarter.
HubSpot Sales Hub enables companies and sales teams to keep track of leads and pipelines easily and all in real time. This is the ace in the hole because it helps you interact with customers more efficiently and automatically with email templates, lead nurturing sequences, and even free calls.
The customer journey and all your users' key data are connected in a single platform that in addition to functions for sales, offers those formarketing, customer care, not forgetting its heart, the CRM.
.This means you have the context you need for each user, with reporting and data useful for more segmentation, then for advanced customization.
The interface is intuitive, making it quick and easy to execute sales activities, HubSpot Sales Hub covers multiple areas of the sales process for timely follow-ups, simple reporting, attribution and compliance. Your teams will love it!
The platform natively integrates with your email (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365), telephone switchboard (VoIp), social, your eCommerce (such as Shopify), and all the tools you use to communicate, offer support, sell, and communicate.
This way you can track the opening of emails, clicks on links you insert, understand the progress of your sales pipeline, and that's just the beginning!
power2Cloud, the partner that helps you maximize your sales pipeline
To get the most out of lead generation, cross sell as well as upsell, a Platinum HubSpot partner like power2Cloud can offer you best practices and everything you need to organize your sales team and scale quickly.
Ask our experts now!