Lead generation is the essential starting point in creating sales. However, an ineffective plan for engaging buyers throughout the buying cycle can ruin the advantage gained by attracting prospects. As you develop strategies to source leads, consider how you will interact with prospects in a continuous, interactive way to close deals.
Here are several strategies you can use to move from lead generation to successful close.
Videos Tell the Story
Video content is extremely impactful in attracting leads and converting buyers. Distributing videos on YouTube allows you to present your company and products to an audience searching for specific content. If you sell career services, create and promote a video on five tips to an effective resume, for instance. As interested prospects learn from your advice, you gain credibility, and in the end, your video will invite viewers to your website.
On your website, additional video content is useful to educate or further tell the story about your company and products. Testimonials are especially powerful in videos. In the content marketing arena, videos contribute to the strongest post-click engagement with your site and products. People have a good idea of what to expect when navigating from your video to your site. Thus, the initial request for more information or product inquiry is coming from a serious prospect.
Tailor Your Campaigns to the Buyer
Across your content marketing, search engine optimization and e-mail campaigns, customize content specific to each buyer. Build buyer personas that clearly outline the traits, motives, interests, preferences and behaviors of a given prospect. Knowing your audience allows you to develop content and communication strategies that are most impactful.
When buyers fill out a contact form on your site, ask about their path to your site and their product or service interests. Then, put them on an e-mail campaign designed to offer content and opportunities specific to those activities and preferences.
Drive Traffic with Social
On social media, such as LinkedIn and Twitter, the goal is to project credibility, engage prospects and drive traffic to your website. Share blog posts and informative messages, and reply to conversations related to the problems your solutions solve. After you gain interest and build rapport, invite a prospect to visit your site for more information and resources. Have the appropriate landing page ready to educate them, and present a specific call to action.
Sell with a Problem-Solving Approach
The most engaging part of the customer’s experience takes place when you step in as the salesperson. Review all of the information you have about a prospect before the first call. Use that initial meeting to dig deep into the problem or concerns a prospect faces. Ask probing questions that really get to the frustrations of the prospect. Only then, can you prepare and recommend the best possible solution.
Sales often stall between the initial contact and the closing stage. Positive outcomes happen when the customer experience is the primary focus throughout the process. With genuine empathy and strong needs assessment, you gain the details you need to articulate your solution’s benefits and value in the strongest way. Following through on commitments will drive satisfaction, repeat buying, loyalty, and referrals.
Customer relationship management software, like Salesforce, is particularly useful in tracking the experience of your contacts throughout the buying cycle. Use it to optimize performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
Conclusions
To efficiently attract leads and convert them into customers, you need to consider the entire buyer’s journey from the beginning. Engage prospects with a plan. Present content that appeals to particular interests, rather than offering a generic product pitch. When you engage prospects directly, build trust and dig deep on needs assessment. Finally, articulate your value by outlining desired benefits.
