Let’s be honest: there are a lot of bad leads out there, and chances are if you’ve worked leads in the past, that you’ve had some bad experiences. Fear not, my fellow sales folks. Inbound marketing has and continues to change the way that we engage with prospects, empowering sales teams to transcend the traditional limitations of slimy selling.
But there’s a catch. Advancements in inbound marketing have not eliminated the need to work sales leads effectively. In fact, it has put more pressure on the modern sales person to always be helping and to be better prepared. But where to start? With so much information out there about sales enablement, advancing your pipeline, prospecting, etc., it can be a challenge in and of itself to pick and choose what to adopt throughout our own sales processes. We’re here to help you cut through the noise, and remind you that it never hurts to rely on the basics. So here they are– 3 basic inbound sales tips to help your team create more opportunities and win more deals.
3 Inbound Sales Tips to Help Your Team Succeed
1) Don’t give up.
This might sound like common sense, but– according to the Harvard Business Review– 71% of qualified leads are never followed up with. While you might take comfort in knowing that you aren’t the only one procrastinating over prospecting, the reality is that all leads– especially inbound leads– should be contacted consistently and in a timely fashion.
Regardless of what’s holding you back, the best thing you can do to get over your prospecting hurdle is to keep on trying. Not every day is going to go well, and you’re inevitably going to make mistakes along the way. But let’s face it: the calls that we mess up on are the calls that we learn the most from. Skill pales in comparison to effort in any sales capacity– don’t be the reason why you aren’t hitting your targets.
2) Be authentic.
I hate to break it to you, but even the most creative sales pitch will turn off the modern day prospect. People don’t want to be sold to these days— they’re looking for helpful, meaningful engagements that provide them with value-based solutions that can help them solve their problems. That’s why inbound marketing is so effective. It allows marketers to put relevant information in front of their online target audience, which allows sales to follow up with prospects when the time is right.
So make sure to do your research, drum up some enthusiasm, and–most importantly– be yourself. Your prospect will forget about the time you didn’t know an answer to a question, (and then followed up with the answer), but they won’t forget the way you made them feel through your engagements.
3) Practice makes perfect.
If you’re persistent and true to yourself, then there’s just one thing left for you to do: practice. Whether you’re brand new to sales or have been around the block with a variety of prospects, there’s no excuse for you not to work on your craft. From prospecting tips to increasing your win rate, there is an endless vault of training materials available online. And the best way to test drive those new sales tactics is to roll up your sleeves and step on the gas!
A combination of persistence, simple messaging, and consistency in practice will open more doors for your team, and lead to more deals won for your business. If you’re hungry in sales and are looking for more inbound opportunities, then download your marketing strategy kit to start bringing in leads and boosting business.
