Sales is a tough industry in the digital age. Gone are the days when you were the only source of information for your clients. Now, people can find the information they need from an endless list of sources with a simple Google search. That means your sales team has to adjust. You have to become an invaluable resource to potential clients to convince them to work with you.
But how do you do that? In this blog, we’ll talk about five sales techniques that help you connect with leads and convince them to convert.
1. Sell Solutions
It’s second nature for people to talk about themselves. The same goes for businesses. Too many businesses today focus on who they are and what they do that they completely forget their customers. Unfortunately, this means the customer will also forget you.
Shift the messaging in your sales process to address the customer’s pain points. That way, you can sell them solutions instead of products or services. Identify the problems they’re facing and then position yourself as a helpful advisor who can help them solve those problems.
You’ll not only see an increase in sales but also in customer loyalty. People will see that you care about them and their situation more than your bottom line, and that’s what keeps them with your brand.
2. Make an Emotional Connection
As much as we’d all love to think that we’re making good, rational decisions when we purchase a product or service, we’re not. Humans are emotional creatures and most purchase decisions are made because of how someone feels not what they think.
This is why it’s so important for salespeople to make emotional connections with leads. Get to know them a little bit. Find out what frustrates them and empathize with their situation. The more you can understand and cater to those emotional factors, the more luck you’ll have to convince them that you’re the right solution.
3. Use Testimonials
Testimonials are a powerful tool in sales and marketing because it provides the social proof many leads need to convert. Hearing from other happy customers and learning about their experiences helps people feel confident in the decision to work with your brand.
A great method of adding testimonials to your page or sales pitch is to include video testimonials. This is a much more personal way to relate how you help people. Prospects can see the body language, emotion and intention behind the words when they can see the speaker. Plus, it makes a stronger connection because it feels like that person is in the room with them.
You can post video testimonies on your website, include them in presentations or send them directly to interested leads to help you close the deal.
4. A Good Sales Funnel
Many sales teams underestimate the help a sales platform or pipeline can provide. The truth is, if you’re not using tech in your sales process, you’re probably missing out on a lot of leads. The most foundational element of technology in a sales process is the sales funnel.
The sales funnel isn’t a particular software. Instead, it’s a method of building your website and content in a way that fosters people through the buyer’s journey and your sales pipeline. With a well-crafted sales funnel, you can watch as people enter your business, move through the journey stages and eventually are ready to talk to you and make a decision.
The sales funnel is a great way to monitor leads and ensure you’re going to them with the right information at the right time. It also helps you plan content creation and populate your website with helpful resources.
5. Automate Lead Qualification
As leads come into your business, you need a way to qualify and disqualify them. Meaning you need to evaluate if they match your ideal customer, if they actually need your services and if they’re likely to make it all the way to the end of your sales process. However, this process can be time-consuming and significantly take away from your sales team’s day-to-day tasks.
That’s where automation comes in. Plenty of CRMs and sales platforms offer some type of qualification automation so you don’t have to worry about spending hours sifting through countless leads. You can input the parameters that make a qualified lead, and your software will use it to sort through contacts and pull out only the best leads.
These are just a few ways to optimize your sales process, but they can yield some powerful results.