As a sales trainer I work with companies in a wide range of industries. And nearly every company I work with is spending more this year than last on internet focused marketing, including social media.
Unfortunately for many of these companies, their internet marketing is starting to work and they are getting calls and emails from motivated buyers who have found and followed them on the internet. But they are noticing a troubling trend, marketing can create leads but sales teams are having more trouble than ever closing.
The Problem
Internet prospects are not the people you were selling to 3 years ago. Those people from 3 years ago really knew very little about you they did not truly know what you sold or how you sold it. They had no idea what you had done right or any idea about what you may have done poorly. In fact, 3 years ago when you got an inquiry the most common request from a prospect was ‘tell me about what you do and how you do it.? Today’s prospect does not want to know ?what you do and how you do it.? And that is causing a severe disconnect between buyers and sellers right now.
Today’s prospect has googled you, visited your facebook page, followed you on twitter and read reviews about you on yelp. They know what you do, how you do it and all of the sordid details of the mistakes you have made over the past year. They have a reason to contact you and it is not to have a brochure read to them.
The new prospect does not want to learn about you-from you. They know most of that before you reach them. If your marketing is creating leads and your sales team can not close them the problem is typically not the quality of your leads. The problem is typically the quality of the sales process you are letting your sales team use.
If your sales process is designed to tell people about you it is flawed and you need to change.
The Solution
Ensure your business has a systematic process to discover why the prospect has contacted you. When you understand the needs of the prospect, then you are truly putting your business in a place to succeed with today’s buyers.
