One of these companies used to make 50 calls and get 15 reaches. Now they’re making 15 calls and are getting 2 reaches. Another company is taking 200 calls in order to get a prospect to the proposal stage and a third company is getting a 0% response rate on their emails.
When I did a little digging into each of these companies, I found one person on the team that was going above and beyond as a top performer. These people were creating success for the organization using inbound techniques. In other words, 100% of their business was coming from inbound inquiries and they were closing 70-80% of those inbound leads. Not surprisingly, they all had exactly the same process.
First, they embedded themselves in their market. They joined every association that was associated with their market. They volunteered and showed up at networking events. They sat on the board of the companies they were working with. All of this was to deliver value to the market.
Next, they infiltrated all of their markets online. These people showed thought leadership by writing posts, sharing content, and connecting with other people on platforms like LinkedIn. They were active on company websites and webinars for associations.
[bctt tweet=”Your goal as a salesperson is to build both a virtual and an actual network ” username=”EngageColleen”]
They also created a referral program where all of their customers knew that if they referred business, they would somehow be rewarded. This does not always mean payment. Rewards can be in the form of thank you cards, discounts on future sales, or anything that was personalized to the customer.
These three things specially created a massive word of mouth situation inside of their networks, which caused a free flow of leads to them and they were able to close them at a high rate. All of these strategies can be done in your markets as well and I urge you to take this approach.
Great article with excellent advice!