Inbound marketing has resulted in changes to the sales process. All of the steps of the sales cycle are still there, but it is no longer up to the salesperson to do all the work. With inbound marketing, consumers find you, identify themselves as leads and become educated at least partly through their own research and consumption of your content. All of this helps make your sales team more efficient.
There are additional things you can do with inbound marketing to truly optimize your sales process, though. Below are some steps you can take to move people through the sales funnel faster and close more leads with less effort.
Sell using content.
People don't like to be sold to, and are wary of salespeople. With inbound marketing, though, people can be educated (and effectively sold to) through your content. Since they are the ones doing the research, they feel in control of the process and are more confident and satisfied with their decision.
In order to sell using content, you need to determine what content is needed at each step of the decision-making process. You can map out what content to use by considering the questions asked and objections raised by prospects; analyzing web traffic data to identify patterns; or by interviewing customers about their experiences and opportunities for improvement.
Utilize web analytics and marketing automation software.
Besides helping with content mapping, the web data created by inbound marketing can be useful in multiple other ways. For example, it can help you identify which topics are most interesting to your target audience, so you can produce content that will attract more traffic and produce more sales leads.
You can get more detailed insights into your target market, and even get information about individual leads, by utilizing marketing automation software. Inbound marketing is really what makes marketing automation software possible. Such software allows you to automate many sales processes to save time, and can give you valuable intelligence on leads to increase your odds of making a sale. And by closing the loop between marketing and sales, you can identify exactly which marketing campaigns attract the best customers and deliver the highest return on investment.
Sell socially.
Referrals, testimonials and word-of-mouth have always been among the most powerful drivers of sales. The social media side of inbound marketing is ideally suited to make use of such social signals, and gives you more influence and control over the process. You can see what people (including prospects) are saying about you, engage in the conversation, and encourage your customers to share.
Testimonials also fit well into the inbound marketing model. Consider using video testimonials, which gives prospects the feel of actually talking with references about their experience without the uncomfortable chore of contacting them directly.
Work together with prospects on solutions.
By removing the sometimes combative nature of aggressive outbound sales, inbound marketing makes it easier to collaborate with your prospects and work together to design solutions that perfectly meet their needs. When you work together as allies, the process of closing the sale becomes a breeze. You also end up with more satisfied customers, who are more likely to become repeat customers and recommend your business to others.
By using inbound marketing to change the sales dynamic, you can greatly improve your sales processes and generate more customers with less actual selling.
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