If you’ve observed the sales industry for any amount of time – even in the past year or two, you know you’re dealing with a much different prospect than you encountered in the past. With information increasingly available online, with everything from reviews to in-depth tutorials and whitepapers on services and products, your prospects are much more educated about their options by the time you make contact.
In fact, your prospect is likely already closing in on the finish line — ready to make a decision without your involvement, according to Jamie Domenici, vice president of marketing at Salesforce. Domenici, who was recently quoted by Inc. about the future of the sales industry, said 62 percent of the sales cycle is pretty much complete by the time you arrive on the scene.
Taking that into consideration, you not only will need to make contact with sales prospects at the ideal time — you need to be prepared to engage in a conversation that takes into account that the prospect, more than likely is entertaining the best solutions for her problem.`
Here are two primary ways you need to fine tune your sales techniques in the coming years.
Make contact quickly. Did your lead generation efforts produce a significant number of warm leads? Don’t just let them sit around … not even for 30 minutes. By responding within 5 minutes of that inquiry, you’re able to develop it into a qualified lead by a rate of 21 times compared to 30 minutes, according to a report by Lead Response Management Company. Finding solutions to quickly respond to leads could be the key to significantly boosting your sales in 2016.
Engage in a conversation. Think of your prospect as being in a fact-finding mission, more than likely with a problem to solve. Avoid the temptation to jump into the conversation with a finely-tuned PowerPoint presentation with only a hunch about what the prospect wants. Remember that, at this point, the prospect already has a good idea of his options. Start by asking questions in an attempt to understand where the prospect is in his understanding of your product and/or service and how it may address his needs.
With technology changing the way we do business, the need to evolve your sales team and techniques to meet those demands is critical. Find out how MonsterConnect can help you make calls with key decision-makers more quickly and intelligently. Request a free demo of MonsterConnect to find out how.
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