Sales reps are key to converting business-to-business leads into sales for many firms. But most sales reps are completely wrong in their thinking about leads, asserts a recent HubSpot post by Ali Powell. First of all, sales reps should realize that a B2B lead is about a company, not just a specific individual contact, and any given company has many people involved in purchasing decisions. In fact, an average of 5.4 stakeholders are involved in each B2B sales deal per CEB data, Powell notes. So using an account-based approach, sales reps need to find multiple contacts at a company and engage each of them. But even before beginning to chase a company lead, it is important to research that company to make sure it is a good fit for the product or service promoted. Powell offers 12 places to start that research, from LinkedIn to news releases to internal CRM. Then compare the lead organization to the target customer profile, or at least to best clients. Sales reps can use two basic questions as a litmus test for lead pursuit, she suggests: Why am I working this lead and how can I help them? Be sure there are solid answers based on research and fit with client profile before moving forward. Reaching out to multiple contacts at a company doesn't mean a single one-size-fits-all approach, however; the sales pitch should be tailored to each individual contact's needs and roles, she advises. To tailor outreach, find a reason or trigger event to start a conversation. Here are steps suggested by Powell: Follow each contact and the company on LinkedIn; create a Google Alert to catch news and mentions online; follow the company on AngelList and Crunchbase; create a dedicated private Twitter list of contacts and company; and subscribe to the company blog if it exists. And, since leads are so valuable, be dogged in pursuit and don't quit before a definitive yes or no response, adds Powell. For the whole post: http://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-reps-are-thinking-about-leads-all-wrong
No comments:
Post a Comment