My Top 5 Ways to Get More Customers Today!
Building a pipeline full of qualified leads is the number one priority of all sales professionals. Prospecting is one of the top 5 ways to get more customers today! It can also be a challenging tasks for unprepared salespeople. However, when done right, prospecting can be an exciting experience that polishes your sales skills and allows you to find potential customers who are the perfect fit for your goods and services.
Here are the Top 5 trending tips for sales prospecting you need to know now!
1. Create an ideal prospect profile
New companies are created every day, in every industry.
So, first things first…
The first step is; to discover who is your ideal customer, then create a database with the contact information of everyone you meet.
Start by creating profiles for each of the following groups:
- Who are your top five customers?
- Who are your best five customers?
- What industries benefit most from your product or service?
- Where is the person in the organization that will purchase your goods?
Pro Tip off the top! Sell the problem you solve.
After completing your research, use your ideal customer profile list and your existing company list to find businesses that match these criteria. This tactic is also known as account-based marketing, and it will help you focus on the bigger fish in the sea.
2. Identify ways to meet your ideal prospects
Start by researching the companies, and the titles of people who are your ideal purchaser or client. There are opportunities to meet on social media, at trade shows, and seminars? You may also meet them by way of introduction, better known as a referral.
Your presence at industry events and activity in social organizations add value and credibility to your brand. These are also resources that provide yet another opportunity for you to meet your ideal prospects.
In terms of their digital presence: Which social media channels, newsfeeds, and other digital publications are they likely to use or visit?
For example, if you’re in B2B sales, chances are most of your potential customers are on LinkedIn. This means you need to establish a strong presence on this platform. LinkedIn allows you to not only find out almost everything about a prospect but also to warm up your first approach through a mutual connection.
All this information will help you map out an action plan for showing up at the right places to meet your right fit customer, not followers that “like” but don’t buy. Remember, this is one of the top 5 ways to get more customers today!
3. Actively work on your call lists
You’ve got the cold call list and the warm lead list, and even a lost lead list.
Prioritize each list and then take some time each day to call the people on your lists.
First of all, don’t underestimate the power of a phone call. Why?…
Because some research shows that 69.9% of buyers accepted a call from new salespeople and 28.6% of sellers admit that making phone calls to new contacts is very/extremely effective.
Another tip is to be prepared. Write down a list of open-ended questions for all your prospect lists. When you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.
Did you know that asking between 10–16 questions during a lead call will translate to 73.8% greater success?
Get to know your customer! Call it chit-chat, the gift of gab, or the art of conversation; whichever phrase you like the best. This is where genuine dialogue occurs and you get over-standing about the challenges, wants, desires, and most importantly – you meet them at their point of exit; aka when they are ready to pay for a solution. When you maintain the conversation, qualifying leads becomes much easier.
Keep these top of mind:
- What are they looking for?
- Do they have a specific solution to their problem in mind?
- Do they have enough information?
- Is there any information you can send them?
Invite them to a discovery meeting, product demonstration, or group q&a session that you’re hosting.
Finally, call to touch base in a few days, then a few weeks, then a few months. In the end, it’s all about building familiarity with you, your products, and your services. With consistent follow-up, you’ll convert lukewarm leads into happy repeat buyers.
4. Send personalized emails
Providing valuable information in an email is a great way to reiterate the solutions your goods provide.
It’s been said that more than 74.8% of buyers say they prefer to be contacted by sellers via email. Furthermore, the open rate of personalized emails is now more than 28.6%
Some best practice tips:
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Make sure that the content is customized to each prospect’s needs. Your task is to demonstrate what you know about their company or industry, and how your product addresses specific needs and provides solutions.
- Prepare your blog post and articles for desktop and mobile devices. In today’s fast-paced market, more than half of all emails are read on the go. In fact, emails that are optimized for mobile devices generate 15% higher click-through rates than those not optimized.
5. Ask for referrals
Start capitalizing on the work you have already done with customer and colleague testimonials! Now is the time to boost your business and brand with testimonials.
So often we don’t utilize one of the most persuasive selling components in our marketing materials, which is the words of our own clients. Many creative people received wonderful compliments, flowers, and greeting cards but never use them for fear that they are bragging, or that it is too self-promotional.
Well of course it is self-promotional! That is what good marketing is!
When you have finished a project for a client, why not capture that moment in the client’s own words to use for showing potential customers the value of your services?
Testimonials are even more crucial for creative businesses because it is often more difficult to set a value on most arts-related items and services. Seeing others talk about the value of working with you will help new customers more readily understand the value of your work.
When your colleagues and clients express they are pleased with your product or service, that’s the time to ask for a testimonial and a referral.
92.6% of B2B buyers are influenced by word of mouth. The best testimonials are persuasive and show a measurable goal has been reached, and use language that engages your potential clients and business partners.
Pro Tip: Ask your clients and colleagues to write specific examples of improvements in one or two areas that resulted from your partnership.
You can respond with something like:
Thanks for your feedback. It is wonderful to hear about your success. What specifically has improved during our work together? Were you able to measure the differences?
The more measurable the testimonial, and the more your client speaks in their own words, the faster new business will be generated.
Pro Tip: Don’t be greedy! Testimonials and reviews are a two-way street. Extend this courtesy in kind to your colleagues and clients; as this is especially helpful in brand building and career growth.
The power of referrals is truly incredible, as 73.4% of executives prefer to work with salespeople referred by someone they know.
This is a free-of-charge opportunity you simply can’t afford to miss – ask your customers for referrals.
The best time to ask for a referral is immediately after the sale is made.
Why? Because this is when the experience is still fresh in the customer’s mind. If the experience was positive, a massive 91% of customers would be happy to provide a referral!
It’s also important to keep in touch with your existing customers to ensure that they are still happy with your product/service and with your company.
Once upon a time, s.a.a.s. was the acronym for “Service After A Sale”. Believe me, this is a best practice. Follow up a few days, then a few weeks, and lastly 30-60 days after the transaction and simply say hello, and see how things are going.
You can also send them invitations to an event, and share a blog post, or other content that you think would be valuable. The point is to show genuine interest in their success and ask who else they think can benefit from your goods and service. These are the top 5 ways to get more customers today! #salesgoals #pipeline #prospecting #leadgeneration #customerexperience #salespro
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