Lead quality is something every business strives for, more so this year than any year previous. With the sheer amount of information available online, qualifying leads has never been easier. So why did only 33% of sales reps meet their quota last year according to the TSA Group? Take a look and find out why.
You didn't get in touch with your inbound lead soon enough
With attention spans dipping to a new low of 5 seconds, getting your lead's attention is a skill set all to itself. That is marketing's job. Yours, as a salesperson, is to follow up on that lead as soon as they have shown an interest. It's no good chasing them later in the day or week. By then, they have probably forgotten who you are or what initially drew them to you.
Research from Dr. Oldroyd at Northwestern University showed that sales reps are 100 times more likely to connect with an inbound lead if they contact them within the first five minutes rather than the first half an hour of showing interest. It sounds crazy, we know. But the research speaks for itself. You can take this one step further by contacting outbound leads within five minutes of them landing on your website thanks to visitor identification software.
Your prospect doesn't believe they need you
With information at the buyer's fingertips, your prospects no longer need to talk to you in order to make an informed decision. The internet is rife with whitepapers, case studies and expert opinions. To stay relevant and alive in the B2B world, your average salesperson needs to be seen as an expert in their industry. This way, even informed buyers will still turn to them for advice.
Create this reputation by providing valuable content that doesn't just promote your own product. Participate in business conversations online and interact with other professionals. Don't discount your online reputation - this is where buyers do their research. This is where you can stand out from the crowd.
You don't know your lead and they know it
Any salesperson who is still using a sales script in 2016 is too far behind the times. Initiating a conversation with a prospect and only focusing on what you offer is the easiest way to hinder a negative response. For example, presenting them with a sales presentation that focuses on your USPs, case studies and pricing is a waste of time when they can (and probably have) already seen this information on your website.
Instead, you must look at your leads history and care about the context of why they are looking at your product. Consider a doctor. They have access to your history, ask you a few key questions which you answer truthfully because you want the best help. A salesperson that can use this technique and develop this level of understanding with their prospect will perform better than the 33% currently underperforming.
By Alison Chambers, Content Strategist at CommuniGator Group Ltd - marketing automation platform for lead generation. Find out more here.
