19Examples of insufficient content include:Websites created in 2010 or older that aren't mobile friendlyJust a couple of sentences about your products and servicesNo faces on the website ­ people still buy from peoplePoor or non-existent LinkedIn profileNo articles, blogs, or any content that can help them learn about their problem and your solutionAction 3. Follow Up with Increased PassionMost successful sales professionals love to boast about their ability to follow up. I'm no longer impressed with their ability to do so for the following two reasons:If it takes 18 touches to close a sale, I question if they ever really do that much follow up.And in the rare cases that they do, I question where they get the time to open new opportunities (typically the answer is they have no time for anything new because they have to chase existing non responding prospects)Is there a solution? Yes there is, you have to use tools. Do you recall computers were invented to save us time and effort? We must use computers and specialised tools to follow up smarter and not waste our time and headspace. Now is the time to explore what works for your business and apply your learning. 60% of customers say no four times before saying yes whereas 48% of salespeople never even make a single follow up attempt. 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls whereas 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call. 35-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first. 75% of online buyers want to receive between 2-4 phone calls before a company gives up; 12% would like a company to try as many times as it takes to get a hold of them. 70% of salespeople stop at one email. Yet if you send more emails, you've got a 25% chance to hear back. 42% of people would be encouraged to make a purchase if the sales rep called back at an agreed-upon, specified time.Action 4. Recognise the Value of ToolsWhat would you say if your accountant would use an abacus to do your tax, and charge their usual hourly rate? Hard to imagine? I agree.Then why do so many businesses tolerate sales professionals who don't use a CRM or any other productivity tools? In my 16 years in business, I've heard so many times: "Yeah, we invested ... (up to 2 million was the largest amount I've heard in this sentence), but we don't really use it" And I can barely recall a few times when people said, "Yep, we have a CRM and are using it". Even in these rare cases their actual actions indicate they're not quite using it. Did you know that there are smart, handy, and easy to use products released literally every day? Did you know there are inexpensive or even free CRM solutions? These days there are plenty of options to arm your sales team with productivity tools and yet ... very few are making use of them. 60% of customers say no four times before saying yes whereas 48% of salespeople never even make a single follow up attempt. 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls whereas 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up call. 35-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first. 75% of online buyers want to receive between 2-4 phone calls before a company gives up; 12% would like a company to try as many times as it takes to get a hold of them. 70% of salespeople stop at one email. Yet if you send more emails, you've got a 25% chance to hear back. 42% of people would be encouraged to make a purchase if the sales rep called back at an agreed-upon, specified time. By the way, a CRM is just one of the examples, there are also email marketing automation tools, autoresponders, access to better data, social selling tools, and many more wonderful tools. All of these are designed to allow you and your team to go home sooner, save time on tedious searching of the internet, and reduce manual data entry.Action 5. Sharpen Your PitchI'm not sure if this action deserves the last spot. I only left it last out of respect to many sales professionals who have already mastered their sales pitch over the years. And even if you have, the message here is you have to revisit it to ensure:Your facts and figures are up to dateYour competitor's analysis or assessment of the market is up-to-date (what was unique 20 years ago, might no longer be revolutionary)Your presentation, because you need both an online and print version. You also need a web version and a short email version, and possibly even a video presentation.When do you plan to get all of these? Hurry, because tomorrow there will be some other format of communication and you will need to keep up too. Because if there is one universal lesson we all had to learn in the past 18 months, it's that change is not only here to stay, but that change is constant, on-going, and fast paced. Nearly six in 10 salespeople say that when they figure out what works for them, they don't change it. Only 7% of top performers report pitching, while 19% of non-top performers pitch their offering. Salespeople spend just one-third of their day actually talking to prospects. They spend 21% of their day writing emails, 17% entering data, another 17% prospecting and researching leads, 12% going to internal meetings, and 12% scheduling calls.There are already people who managed to learn how to use Zoom and can't do anything else. Sadly, this is not quite an option and you might have to learn and use something else too. Life is full of choices and it's absolutely everyone's choice whether to keep up with the current changes in B2B sales and marketing or not. But if you are sick and tired from waiting for prospects to say Yes; if you are frustrated with the amount of effort it takes for prospect to say Yes; if you want to have more and better results sooner, you are welcome to discover what can be done now.
< Page 9 | Page 11 >