The sales environment today is quite different from before as compared to the past as now the focus is on being customer-centric. The new world doesn’t consist of hunting leads through a cold call list or sending unsolicited emails; instead, high-performance brands are moving toward using inbound selling to make conversions of their leads. So, what is inbound sales, and how does it take someone from browsing clicks to closing deals? Read on to know more.
Inbound selling is all about nurturing leads that have shown some interest in the products or services offered by you. For instance, the leads may have signed up for an advertisement, filled out forms, or requested call backs. This is where you have to act on their intent and make them buy your product.
As opposed to the conventional outbound selling, which consists of reaching out to strangers without any prior contact, inbound selling makes use of pre-engaged leads for nurturing them.
Current customers are quite educated about what you do. They may have browsed through your websites, compared them with your competitors, and even read their reviews before they speak up. In other words, when your potential customers contact you, they just need confirmation and not persuasion.
Inbound leads are therefore far more valuable because they are easier to convert, cost-effective, and tend to have longer customer engagement with you. Of course, all that only happens if you follow the right procedure.
A good starting point would be to offer quality content such as blog articles, landing pages, paid advertisements, and social media posts. All these create an interest for prospects, guiding them to clear actions they can take. This is where you have to concentrate on establishing your brand.
At this point, the next move would be to gather information about the click to qualify them. It includes their names, locations, levels of interest, budget, etc. You would benefit from the information collected as an inbound sales representative prioritizes the leads.
What makes the biggest difference is response rate and how fast the response comes. The odds of discussion increase 9x for responses within five minutes. Agents in the inbound sales team work towards engaging with the leads as fast as possible, listening to them first and then steering the conversation according to their requirements.
Sometimes a lead does not become a client after the first contact, it happens often and there is nothing wrong with it. To make up for this shortcoming of the inbound sales process, the follow-up strategy becomes vital with follow-up emails giving more details about the offer, comparison between products and even free trials.
If the lead is ready to buy from you at this point, they have developed a certain amount of trust in your company. This is where the salesperson’s job starts, trying to ease out all the concerns they might still have and customize pricing plans for them.
One thing that makes inbound sales so efficient is that you are not interrupting anyone; you are reaching out when they are already interested. This is something that is really valuable in today’s market, considering the limited attention spans and competition.
When done properly, inbound sales can take the pressure off your sales staff, who no longer have to look for cold leads. With inbound, every click is a real lead.
There is a big difference between inbound sales and other methods. Inbound sales does not just refer to a method but also to a mindset. If you want to get smarter about sales, this is the way to go.