For any company involved in the marketing and selling of larger ticket items (which include anything from consultancy to industrial machinery), sales will seldom take place after just one meeting or phone call. They need to be cultivated and worked on over time. But for too many companies such leads get lost somewhere along the way. This results in warm leads going cold and then disappearing. People who were interested in buying from you (but not right now) end up using your competitors simply because you failed to stay in touch.
Equally, people who may well have been fantastic prospects may have never found out about you and so you never stood a chance of them using you. This kind of missed opportunity arises when you fail to use the sales pipeline process.
What is the sales pipeline process?
The sales pipeline is a systematic approach to selling a product or service. It clearly identifies the steps that a business can take from initial contact with a potential customer or prospect, to qualifying the prospect as a lead, and then ultimately turning that lead into a tangible sales opportunity. The steps of the pipeline are prospects, contacts, leads, finalists and clients.
What is your target audience?
Before you start building your pipeline, you need to be clear about the type of prospects that you would like to attract. Think about problems that your potential customers may have and make your sales proposal specifically relevant to them. This way, you can make sure that you are pitching to the right audience.
Focusing on niche markets and the unique issues that they need to resolve will help make it clear how you should alter your sales message. The more clarity you can offer on how you can solve carefully identified problems within a specific industry, the more successful you will be.
Ultimately, the sales pipeline is a numbers game – a higher number of sales will be generated if more prospects are added at the beginning of the pipeline. As we have already touched on, there needs to be quality in the numbers so you can take aim at the right audience. Remember the acronym GIGO – Garbage In Garbage Out. After all, if you have weak prospects to start out with they are highly unlikely to turn into strong customers.
Find your prospects
To get prospects into your sales pipeline you first need to acquire their details. This can be done through networking groups, LinkedIn, running competitions, advertising, a website data capture strategy – you name it. When you are collecting data it’s important to gather as much information as possible, as this gives you the option of being able to tailor your messages. However, when collecting data, it’s of paramount importance to comply with the new GDPR laws that require you obtain explicit consent when contacting potential customers.
Once you have collected your prospects’ data, the information needs to be entered into a Computer Relationship Management (CRM) system. CRM allows you to monitor contact with customers and record additional information about your communications with them over time. If you’re working on data for hundreds of prospects you won’t be able to remember all of their details, so having a system for recording phone calls, meetings and other points of engagement is important.
Make contact the smart way
Do your research and figure out the best way to reach your audience. This could be through LinkedIn, email, direct mail or cold calling – it all depends on your audience. Whatever method you choose, remember that staying in regular contact with prospects helps to build trust with them.
An efficient way of staying in touch with prospects is an email newsletter. This low-level interruption into your prospects’ day can prove to be a very effective way of reminding them of who you are. This kind of interaction should not push for a sale; you should use your communication to create a rapport by inviting people to events or sharing news stories or information that may be of use to them. Then, when they identify a need for your product or service, you will be at the forefront of their minds.
The Ideal Marketing Company work with a wide range of clients to help them to create a successful sales pipeline. Our work includes newsletters, email shots, flyers, brochures, online marketing, and social media. These marketing activities can become a useful component in creating a sales pipeline for you company.
For marketing advice specific to your business, get in touch and speak with a marketing specialist on 01858 374 170 or email info@idealmarketingcompany.com
