At MPI, we believe that nine key factors contribute to the success of any outbound calling program.
We’ve already covered list quality and quantity and message as the first two factors that contribute to a successful outbound sales calling program. The third factor is nurture. Basically, this factor asks: What is the best way to generate qualified sales leads? How are you reaching out to your target market to convert them from a prospect to a buyer?
Sales can be a long-haul game and a salesperson is only successful with the right process and strategy in place to nurture prospects through the sales funnel. It takes time to build brand awareness and trust with prospects before they are ready to commit to purchasing, hence the need to nurture and fully inform customers about a product or service.
We find clients fall into 3 categories when it comes to nurturing. They do not have a process in place, they have a pipeline full of unqualified leads, or they are successfully executing on a nurture process. We have a little about each of these below and tips on how to overcome them to help close more sales.
FACT:
Nurturing produces 50% more sales ready leads
You do not have a nurture process or means to execute it properly
It’s easy to throw together a sales plan and set goals to follow, but it’s important to also identify how the sales team will reach those goals. The addition of a sales nurturing process should be a part of any company’s sales and marketing plan.
The nurturing process gets salespeople out of the act of selling and into the shoes of their buyers. They should ask themselves:
- What’s important to my buyer?
- What pain points do they experience?
- How does my product or service help them solve those problems?
Salespeople should research and survey past or current successful clients to get some of the answers to those questions. One of the most important outcomes from nurturing is that you develop a relationship with the customer which can help turn them into a brand ambassador for your company and ongoing sales.
Consistency may be another key factor lacking in the nurturing process. There should be a balance of the type of information delivered, when it’s delivered, and how it’s delivered. The buying process is often looked at in three phases: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision. Some testing of what works at what stage in the sales process may be needed to get the right formula for success. Thankfully, there are many programs and CRMs available that can automate outreach efforts and track where prospects are in the pipeline to ease the process.
Even once you have these things figured out, they may change over time. Staying attuned to your target audience, their industry, and customer feedback will help to make sure your sales team is on the path to success.
Your sales pipeline is full of leads, but they are not qualified
Yes, leads are good and a full sales pipeline looks great, however if it’s full of unqualified leads, it is useless. Hungry salespeople might be excited about the leads, but they end up being time consuming and lead to no closed deals. This shows a gap occurring in the nurturing process.
As we mentioned, the sales process might take some time to turn a prospect into a buyer. Sales and marketing teams need to collaborate to develop appropriate messaging and collateral to help narrow the gap in the process. It should be thought about across all mediums that your business uses:
- Blogs
- Case Studies
- Whitepapers or eBooks
- Video
- Phone Calls
- Website and SEO
- Social media posts
If you have a nurture process, but your sales pipeline is full of unqualified leads, it would be worthwhile to do an audit of the messaging and marketing collateral to ensure it’s still filling the needs to nurture clients. Content should be structured to include messaging geared for buyers to guide them through the sales pipeline. And just as important, the content should not be sales heavy, but more about demonstrating that you are an expert in your field, understand their pain points, and have the solution to their problem.
FACT:
Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases
You have a nurture process and supporting materials to usher prospects through the sales pipeline
Predictable, repeatable, and consistent outreach keeps sales teams on target and growing sales leads. It can take a lot of effort to get to a place where the messaging, content, and methods of delivery are all in sync, but once they are, there should not be an issue easily reaching or exceeding sales goals.
Conclusion
Nurturing prospects can go a long way in closing more sales. Buyers will come to the table well informed about their own pain points and how your company excels at solving those problems. It also helps salespeople connect with their customers and position the company as a leader in their industry. All leads aren’t good leads, but with an established nurturing process, it will help better weed out those that will not lead to a closed deal.
Not sure how to nurture your customers or don’t have the staff and time to execute? We can help. Let’s Chat: