Sales and Selling: how it’s changed for the better?

The way we sell his changing as we speak and the days of cold calling and random spam sales emails are well behind us. Marketing has already advanced leaps and bounds with the adoption of  ‘Inbound marketing techniques’ with automation,  smart campaigning, story telling and consumer led social media strategies. It is not surprising that sales is starting to do adapt in a similar way.

Inbound Sales: the new approach

Imagine the era before the internet, when search engines didn’t exist. How did people decide how to spend their hard-earned money? The answer was straightforward: they relied on sales people, or sales people approached them.

In those days, salespeople held all the power. They used a technique called legacy selling, where they delivered the same pitch to every customer, used the same old selling methods, and were completely ignorant of the buyer’s journey.

But with the advent of the internet, the sales landscape changed dramatically.

Today, customers are in control. They can quickly find out everything they need to know about a product or service with the click of a button and make a purchase or enquiry. No more cold calls, no more pushy salespeople, and no more hassle.

So, how can you adapt to this new buying experience? Say hello to inbound sales. Whether you’re a big corporation or a small business, dealing with a simple or complex sale, inbound sales is the way to go. Its primary philosophy is to focus on the buyer rather than the seller throughout the entire sales strategy. The experience should be customized to meet the buyer’s personal needs, pain points, frustrations, and goals.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? By understanding the buyer’s behaviour and preferences during the inbound marketing process, the smart salesperson can tailor their approach to the customer’s interests and needs.

The Inbound Sales Method: identify, connect, transition and advise.

Similar to an Inbound philosophy, these essential steps serve as the basis for any thriving campaign.

1. Identify

While traditional salespeople might use a scatter gun approach when engaging with potential buyers, Inbound Sales prioritizes those buyers who are already involved in a purchasing process.

2. Connect

This is where creativity becomes crucial. To establish trust with your customers, you must employ personalized messaging, engage with buyers’ online discussions, and demonstrate your expertise through candid advice.

3. Explore / Transition

When a potential buyer expresses interest, avoid being too aggressive. Instead, shift to exploration mode by initiating an exploratory conversation to uncover the buyer’s goals and objectives.

4. Advise

With a better understanding of your potential buyer, leverage that knowledge to your advantage. Customise your presentation to the buyer’s situation, utilizing the information obtained during the Connect stage.

Identifying Leads

Before implementing this plan, it is necessary to identify your leads. This is where buyer personas come in, which are integral to Inbound Sales.

In essence, they assist you in identifying the job roles, concerns, skills, and personalities of your target audience. Once you have this information, you can flesh out these personas in the form of digital profiles.  This is an important step in the Hubspot Sales enablement process that some companies miss out.  There are no easy short cuts to smart selling in this way.

These profiles, which are created using digital data from your website, content and data research tools provide valuable insights into your prospects’ buying behaviour. The outcome is a sales strategy that speaks directly to your customers and promotes a conversation around their needs.