Consider the budget you spend on lead generation for your business. No matter how successful you are at lead generation, the true measure is how many you convert to sales. Here are some tips on how to increase your conversion rate.
Qualify throughout the sales lifecycle
We all know about lead qualification, but it’s just as important to qualify at every stage of the sales process. The longer the sales cycle, the more important this becomes. A customer’s budget, timeline, needs, and the overall competitive landscape can all change at any moment, disrupting the trajectory of the sale. When this happens, you need to know and adjust your approach accordingly. Take the time with each customer interaction to ask qualifying questions at each stage. You want to be in a position where you understand all aspects of their situation and how it could affect the sale. As a result, the deal will be far less likely to fall over at any point.
Be a curious problem solver
This is an attitude to selling that will stand you in good stead. No-one likes to be “sold” so taking a curious approach to understanding the customers needs and being a good problem solver will feel more consultative and allow you to build trust quickly. In this way, you will become a trusted advisor, gently leading the client to a solution. Fully understanding the customers needs and taking a problem solving approach to meeting them will put you in a stronger position.
Personalize your pitch
We have all been there: the presentation that is all about the vendor and what they do and nothing about me, the customer and what I need. This needs to be turned on its head. The presentation and proposal should be littered with the customer’s name, their problems and how they will be solved. This gives a sense of ownership of the solution by the customer and you will win them over much more quickly.
Know the decision makers and the approval process
It seems simple but it can be sometimes overlooked. At the outset ask what their decision making process is so you are prepared. Who are the key decision makers and key influencers? You want your presentation to be relevant to all decision makers and address their key drivers which can be quite different depending on their role.
Always agree on the next step
If there is anything that will increase the likelihood of conversion and close the sale faster it is this: always agree on the next step. This applies to every single customer interaction including even something seemingly insignificant as a phone call. Agree on the next step. That next step could be a call back, an email, an answer to a question or putting a date in the calendar for a presentation. Whatever it is, agree on what you will do and by when and the opportunity will keep progressing and be less likely to stall.
Use an “assumptive close”
Have you ever been at that moment when you want to ask for the sale but not sure how to do it in an easy, natural way? The most seamless way is to use the details of the sale or next steps. For example, let’s say you are an accounting firm looking to take on a new client: instead of saying, “would you like to start next month?”, you could ask “our top tax accountant has availability to start on December 15 if that works for you?”. They will say yes and you have now closed the sale and going through next steps or if they are not ready to commit that will be uncovered in their response. It’s a much softer way to close a sale and for most people much more comfortable.
Those are my top tips to keep leads progressing through the sales funnel through to closing. Apply these and see your conversion rate improve.
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