Nurturing your team with business opportunities is essential to maintaining a regular, predictable sales funnel with better results.
In 2015, I read the book “Predictable Revenue” by Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler for the first time, and in it I found concepts and ideas that really attracted and intrigued me, where the traditional sales model is questioned through a new methodology proposal.
Right at the beginning, the authors of the book reinforce the idea that finding new customers is not a simple task, and state that most salespeople either don't like prospecting or don't know how to do it, and when they do know and like it, they don't have time to do it because they are too busy with ongoing prospecting. Therefore, regularly feeding the sales team with new sales opportunities is a key point in the sales strategy.
The analysis carried out in “Predictable Revenue” shows that when the sales team, in addition to sales, is also responsible for prospecting new customers, the result of generating new opportunities becomes belize whatsapp data inconsistent. The periods in which more opportunities are created are followed by a natural drop in these results when the salesperson begins to spend their energy and time on commercial projects, proposals, contracts and opening service orders. This fluctuation in the number of new opportunities in the timeline, consequently, directly affects the number of closed sales.
It is important to highlight that generating more leads is the main priority for marketing teams, according to HubSpot's State of Marketing 2021 survey, conducted with 1,500 professionals in the field around the world, while sales results are the main metric used to measure the success of marketing strategies.
Therefore, the idea of nurturing the sales team with real opportunities, eliminating or considerably reducing prospecting activity, ensures that salespeople focus on closing opportunities. In any case, it is necessary to find the ideal way to overcome these challenges, as nurturing the sales team with business opportunities is essential to maintaining a regular, predictable sales funnel with better results.
Strategy
In a market where customers are accustomed to remote sales and do not always require the physical presence of the salesperson, a good strategy is to allocate resources to create a conventional sales team and, at the same time, also structure a team dedicated to generating and qualifying leads. This concept of “remote sales” has become even more in demand during the pandemic times we are experiencing.
The main concept is based on a simple process, following this sequence: generate leads with actions directed towards this end; qualify and treat the leads generated with a dedicated structure (Sales Development Representative – SDR); and forward the opportunities created to the sales team.
Lead Generation
This is where it all starts. The important thing is to identify the lead generation strategies that best suit your client, business model and product. And, whenever possible, test the models more than once until you find the strategy that brings the best results for your business. Most lead generation strategies available on the market involve a series of actions, such as:
Sectoral Events;
Website: chat, WhatsApp, email and 0800;
Social Media;
Inbound Marketing;
Outbound Marketing;
Cold Calling;
Finders and Partners Program.
Another point that I consider fundamental is measuring the final results achieved from each lead generation front. Based on these numbers, it will be possible to allocate, in the best way, investments in the actions responsible for the best results (ROI).
Lead Qualification and Treatment
Lead qualification is just as important a step as lead creation. This is when the company talks to the potential customer for the first time and can determine whether the profile is suitable, understanding their needs and discovering a possible purchase intention. With this information clarified, the lead can become a real opportunity that should be sent to the sales team, which will lead the process from this point on.
I believe it is important to have a dedicated team of specialists in the role to handle the generated leads, called SDRs: Sales Development Representatives. This practice will ensure that all leads are handled, that the main information about the prospect is gathered and that customers are served with a personalized message, increasingly customized to their profile.