A solid inbound sales strategy begins with a connect phase. Your first outreach should provide context for the buyer, such as their industry, role, interests, and common connections. In addition, your outreach should align with the awareness phase of the buyer’s journey. Too often, salespeople jump right into demoing their product instead of learning about the buyer’s needs and wants. Using this step to guide your outreach will help ensure that your outreach aligns with the buyer’s journey.
Identify
An inbound sales strategy begins with identifying potential buyers. These potential buyers, known as leads, are interested in your product or service and may have come to your website through a form, blog post, or chatbot. As the buyer’s journey unfolds, qualified leads may decide to research your product or service further, ultimately becoming sales opportunities. It’s important to know how to qualify leads and ensure that they match your ideal customer profile.
Inbound sales methodology is broken down into four stages, including the awareness, consideration, and closing. During the awareness stage, the buyer has already identified a problem and is looking for information on how to solve it. At the consideration stage, the buyer has identified multiple solutions and is ready to select one. The closing stage involves continuous segmentation and involving sales staff in the process. A salesperson should provide solutions to the problem-solving process.
The next phase, the connect, is a critical component of the inbound sales strategy. During this stage, the salesperson should provide context to the buyer based on their industry, role, interests, and any common connections they may have. The opener outreach, or opening outreach, should also align with the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey. Too often, salespeople simply dive into a product demo without understanding the buyer’s goals.
Connect
Inbound sales strategies have two major parts. The first phase is known as the Connect Stage. During this phase, salespeople reach out to potential buyers and engage in social networking and content sharing. By developing a social presence, salespeople can build a personal brand and identify additional leads. Ultimately, a salesperson should create a plan that incorporates all three parts of the process. Let’s take a closer look at each one of them.
Inbound sales involves personalized interaction with potential buyers. As your salespeople connect with prospects, they will be able to better understand their needs and priorities. During this phase, you’ll assess your offer’s fit with your prospective customer. As you explore the needs of your prospect, you’ll understand what sets you apart from your competition. After all, this is the first step toward closing the sale.
Leads are qualified prospects. They are actively engaged in the buying cycle. They have either an immediate need for your solution or are considering your solution. You’ll want to engage with these people, because they are likely to convert into customers. Once you’ve identified these people, follow up with them as soon as possible. They may only need a simple conversation about their needs and the solutions to their problems.
Advise
Inbound sales strategies entail identifying your buyers’ concerns and interests. This step is vital to building trust and determining which prospects are most likely to convert into customers. You should not assume that your prospects are ready to purchase your product or service, just like car salespeople don’t. Instead, strive to provide value and be as helpful as possible. Listed below are the phases of an inbound sales strategy.
During the connect phase, the buyer should experience your company’s offerings. This is an opportunity to learn more about their industry, roles, interests, and common connections. When creating the initial outreach, try to match the content of the email with the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey. Salespeople often jump right into a demo of their product without establishing context and building rapport. This is a common mistake.
Another phase of an inbound sales strategy involves attracting prospects to your website. This includes commenting on other people’s blogs, participating in LinkedIn groups, and contributing to company blogs. Depending on your audience, this step will be effective for attracting the right customers. The key is to align goals and processes, as each role is crucial to the overall success of your inbound sales strategy. Once you have aligned your goals and processes, you’ll see more success.
