In the past, consultative sales processes have been the primary method of obtaining information about many products and services. However, today a buyer has access to “new sources” of information and can understand an industry’s trends, translate those into business opportunities (or problems), and come up with a list of potential suppliers that meet those needs and analyze the best available solution right from their mobile device.
The main point to note is that not one of these “new sources” of information has required the involvement of a sales professional.
Today, buyers leverage the Internet and place the salesperson in a secondary role, especially early in the discovery process when self-educating themselves. It is for this reason that TIMING IS EVERYTHING.
The challenge in this environment is aligning the prospect’s buying process with the company’s sales process. In turn, that has significant implications for lead qualification and handoff.
For example, when a prospect visits a website and downloads a free resource, they may merely be “kicking tires,” not yet ready to purchase. As a result, a sales rep ignores the lead and ejects the prospect from the sales funnel. It’s not that the prospect isn’t going to buy — they just aren’t going to buy today.
The result is a leaky sales funnel.
What many salespeople would reject may be a good lead — just an early lead.
The ability of business owners and marketers to guide and facilitate the buying process can significantly impact revenue and sales results. Make sure you don’t give your competitors this strategic advantage.
Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to ensure the right message maps to the interests and stage of a potential buyer and how to build a lead generation system.
To your success,
