How to sell differently to convert prospects more effectively? – Inbound 18

A user-focused strategy proves highly effective in terms of buyer credibility at the crucial moment: the sale.

Unlike a traditional sales strategy, an educational approach allows you to focus entirely on the buyer. You are at the heart of the action and you have the power to share information with your prospect, which enables you to earn their trust.

What defines selling in inbound marketing terms? First, understand that buyers have far more knowledge and information at their disposal, which enables them to have a better personal experience when making a purchase. They have so much information available that, on average, 60% of a buyer's purchase decision has already been made before they even speak to a sales representative. This is what makes it all the more important to evolve your sales methods so as to keep up with your customers' buying habits.

How to sell differently?

There are 4 essential practices you need to bear in mind. They will enable you to transform your sales process. What should sales teams do when a new prospect comes in through an inbound strategy?

1. Change the way you target customers

• Stay focused on your buyer personas (the profile of your typical client).
• You must be sure you are targeting the right people before concretely beginning the sale.
• The content you publish must be sought out by your prospects; it must bring you traffic.
• By changing the way prospects discover your brand, you ensure that the only people who enter your sales process are those who are most qualified. Bear in mind that not all prospects are worth having, and not all are ready to buy. Ideally, prospects will be filtered before reaching the sales stage. This is why it is extremely important to understand at which major stage of the process the prospect is, and to know where they stand in the buyer's journey (the active research process).

2. Change the way you prospect customers

• Start by conducting thorough research on your prospect. You have a checklist of things to look into, depending on whether you are in B2B or B2C: the size of their company, annual revenue, what they sell and to whom, the prospect's role within their organisation, and whether there are other key stakeholders involved.
• Next, you need to understand your prospect in order to establish a connection with them and build a degree of credibility: in a B2B context, research news about their company, recent funding rounds, whether they are recruiting, territorial expansion, upcoming events, LinkedIn profiles, and shared contacts and groups.
• Social media also plays a role: 73% of sellers who use social media outperform their peers who do not. Check whether your prospect is talking with another company, or looking for other solutions.
• Finally, you need to monitor the engagement of your prospects in order to reach them most effectively: what they have downloaded, which emails they have read, which pages they have visited, what they are interested in. This allows you to tailor each conversation with your various prospects based on the engagement they have had with your business. With all the information gathered, determine the objective of the call before getting your prospect on the phone (an introduction, obtaining an internal or external referral, trying to sell something to a manager, etc.)

3. Change the way you make contact with customers

You can now pick up the phone and sell to your prospects. To do so, there are 4 guiding principles:

• You must build a relationship with your prospect: establish trust between you and them by using your research, be impartial, position yourself at the same level as your prospect, and put the education of your prospect before your own agenda. They will notice that you are genuinely trying to understand their objectives and challenges. Maintain this mindset throughout the buying process, and even beyond it. The tone of your call must be educational — people should sense that you are helping them, not selling to them. People do not remember the sales process; they remember the experience.
• You must know your audience: put your research into action. Tailor your conversations to the person you are speaking with and what interests them.
• Speak your prospect's language: from the moment you start speaking, the way you articulate things, the information must be comprehensible to your prospect. You must ensure that you are bringing an incredibly valuable perspective to the conversation. It is a perfect opportunity to teach them a number of things and establish your credibility.
• Be helpful — share new information that can help your prospect, offer advice, provide content. This also allows you to build trust and be perceived as someone credible.

4. Change the way your prospects perceive you as a salesperson

• The first thing you need to do is position yourself as a sales educator rather than a sales tyrant. To step into the role of prospect educator, you must be fully attentive to them and have a thorough understanding of their problems. You need to focus on the fact that your organisation is human.
• Whatever you do, avoid coming across as a sales robot who repeats the same lines over and over, regardless of which prospect you are addressing.
• Take the time to study your prospects case by case, particularly their problems, the advice they need, and the solutions you will put forward. The best way to ensure that your prospect is open, at ease, and confident is to help them remember that you too are a human being, just like them on the other end of the line. Make the first move by making your sales organisation centred on human connection.

As a salesperson, you must become a trusted adviser. To succeed in your role, remember that people buy from people they trust — and the only way to build that relationship is to pay particular attention to mutual understanding.

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In pursuing a customer-focused strategy, your key selling asset is the educational dimension. Your prospect must feel at ease and valued; in that case, they will be far more inclined to do business with you.

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