7 stages of the sales funnel: start with prospecting and end with loyalty
You’ve certainly heard of a sales funnel and know how important representation is for business. After all, it simply illustrates how a customer’s journey works, helping to develop strategies. There are numerous ways to present it, each with a more specific focus. And, in this article, we’re going to cover the 7 stages of the sales funnel, with an eye on what’s most modern in business strategy. Over the years, the sales process, the customer journey and the way marketing relates to our daily lives have changed a lot. Philip Kotler – about whom we will talk at the end of this text – is a pope on the subject and adamant: the time when the idea was to sell to the masses is gone. Businesses today need to be customizable, and the 7 stages of the sales funnel that we are going to cover are exactly about that. How are sales made today? Until recently, companies sought to sell in the same way to as many customers as possible. It happens, however, that there was a great diversification of players in the market, specific niches were created and, today, small ones are able to compete with the big ones many times under similar conditions. Thus, the way of negotiating had to evolve, and nowadays one of the most accepted strategies is what is conventionally calledconsultative sales. The term emerged about half a century ago, but it has only recently become common practice in business. The central idea behind consultative sales is to make the seller become, in fact, a business partner. When working with consultative sales, the consultant analyzes the difficulties faced by the company with which he is negotiating, and what are the alternatives to overcome them. It is only from there that he draws a sales proposal. By doing this, sellers tend to make more assertive proposals for customers. Thus, the chances of the solutions being effective are greater, the customer experience improves and the chance of doing future business also increases. Consultative sales usually bring a series of advantages, and in corporate businesses the most obvious one is the increase in the average ticket. After all, sales in B2B environments naturally tend to involve larger sums, and companies that feel secure in negotiating with others tend to spend more. It so happens that, although in consultative sales the way of acting is different from that seen as traditional in the past, many things are similar. One is that all negotiations go through stages. And do you know the stages of the sales process? 7 stages of the sales funnel In this model, the journey has seven steps. And the 7 stages of the sales process are divided in very different ways, with the intention of seeking the best leads from the beginning. Therefore, the first of the sales stages (prospecting and qualification) is of paramount importance for the smooth running of the entire journey. After all, a bad choice about who to negotiate with can mean unnecessary expenditure of resources, as well as an effective loss of time. It is clear, however, that all stages deserve the utmost attention. Knowing how to prepare a presentation that fits the potential customer, choosing the best way to approach them and presenting a proposal that fits their needs is the first part of a successful sales process. The final part, in turn, is about being as consultative as possible. That said, these are the 7 stages of the sales funnel: Prospecting and qualification; Preparation; Approach; Presentation; Dealing with objections; Closure; Follow-up and loyalty. 1. Prospecting and qualification Let’s start at the beginning. The first step in an effective sales process is prospecting. In it, you make widemarket research after potential customers – which in marketing and sales are conventionally called leads. There are several ways to do this prospecting, both through inbound marketing,how much per active search. In case of corporate business, the intention behind the prospecting process is to have a broad base of potential customers. These are companies that are in a branch of economic activity similar to yours or capable of being interested in your product or service. This initial search should be broad. Any and all companies that seem to benefit from the products or services you have to offer need to get on your radar. It happens, however, that not all of them will actually become customers. Therefore, to reduce the chance of error by investing in negotiations that have no chance of occurring – at least at that moment – it is necessary to qualify the leads. A lead qualification it is the sales stage in which you analyze whether that company can, in fact, move forward in a negotiation. At that moment, you need to find out if that lead is ready, willing and, above all, able to buy from you. After all, there is no point in spending weeks or even months negotiating – something quite common in the stages of thecomplex sales process, for example – if that company does not have effective conditions to make a purchase. Qualification is very important because it is also a statistical issue. Studies have already shown that, in modern sales, in general, a typical purchase happens after approaching seven potential customers. Thus, it is essential to find the leads that best fit theideal customer profile before moving on to the next stage of the sales funnel. Do you want to grow your business with the help of B2B experts? Protagnst can help! Get in touch and find out about our solutions. 2. Preparation The second of the 7 stages of the sales process also precedes the approach itself. In other words, you have to do your homework. You have already identified a company that could be a potential customer. You’ve already warmed up that lead, identifying that he has a real chance of being interested in your product or service. The business is indeed promising. That way, you can’t afford not to
Cold Call 2.0: discover the future of customer prospecting
Prospecting customers is a task that is part of the daily life of those who work with sales. There are several strategies to get new leads and one of the best known is the cold call, that technique in which the seller or responsible for pre-sales reaches out to someone who may not even know your business to offer the product. This technique brings good results, but it also carries with it some disadvantages. And, more and more, it is losing ground to cold calling 2.0. Have you heard? Cold calling 2.0 is one of the most modern methods of do active B2B prospecting (which focuses on business-to-business sales). The basis is the same as calling as we’ve always known it, but adapted to this increasingly connected world and people increasingly valuing their time. Also called calling 2.0, this model is based on the use of e-mails, app messages and, of course, also by telephone – but in a more specific way. Much more than using new means, however, cold calling 2.0 has a different proposal. Instead of looking for a lot of sales, he focuses on better sales, with a higher average ticket and greater added value. This is because, from the beginning,prospecting is carried out supported by surveys. Even if you keep getting in touch with prospects who may not even know your company, it’s already known that they have a need to fill – and that your company has the means to do that. Another point to highlight is that cold calling 2.0 has developed targeting B2B business, and not the final consumer. Traditionally, business between companies takes longer to complete and involves more interaction. And that is precisely what calling 2.0 proposes. Remembering traditional calling You probably ever heard of cold calling and if you work in the sales area, it is possible that you have already made use of this strategy. This model is quite old and is still used today, being a classic method of active prospecting. A cold call is the model in which someone makes contact by telephone with a lead in order to present their product or service. Often, the person receiving the call is not even aware of the existence of such a product or company – or even that he was a potential customer for it. And that’s precisely where the name of the strategy comes from: it’s a cold call, in which the potential customer is approached without him having expressed interest. This system is widely used because it brings immediate results, unlike inbound marketing models where conversions tend to happen in the medium term, albeit spontaneously. But like all sales strategies, cold calling has strengths and weaknesses. Among the disadvantages, one of the main ones is the possibility that the person receiving the call will consider the approach inconvenient – and this has a strong potential to make the company offering the business opportunity equally inconvenient. Also, the focus in this model tends to be on a quick sale. The seller’s conversation has a more persuasive tone, with the aim of ensuring a negotiation as soon as possible. The main intention is in the moment sale, and not necessarily in a relationship between companies or between company and consumer in the long term. Thus, although it brings immediate results, it does not always ensure their perpetuity. And what is cold calling 2.0? Cold calling 2.0, or even cold calling 2.0, is a method of actively prospecting for new customers, with whom no previous negotiations have been held, but without using the traditional cold call. It is, after all, an evolution of this model. As we have seen, in the past this type of prospecting was done through phone calls to contacts gathered in large lists by the marketing team. Even if it gives results, the method is not exactly efficient: the lists invariably also have uninterested contacts, which often represent precious wasted minutes. With cold calling 2.0, you start using new prospecting tools, which include contact via email and WhatsApp. And surveys have already shown that more than 70% of those born between the years 1980 and 2000 – the so-called Millennials – prefer that negotiations be handled by email, not by phone. These are people in this age group who currently occupy strategic positions in companies. However, there are still other reasons that make calling 2.0 a more interesting model. It allows the negotiation to be more pleasant and to develop gradually. Instead of a phone call that can represent a direct denial, exchanges of emails and WhatsApp messages allow the approach to also be consultative. In other words, this type of prospecting is more analytical. This makes the team responsible for capturing new leads identify whether it is ready to move forward in a negotiation or if it still needs to be worked on better. In this sense, cold calling 2.0 also becomes very useful for retaining customers, since it allows the sales team or even pre-sales make a more complete prior diagnosis of that potential client and everything that can be offered to attract him. The importance of prospecting new customers The sales sector is historically one of the most important of companies. This does not mean that it is more relevant than development or production – which, after all, produce what you want to sell –, but without a team prepared to put that product on the market, little progress is made. In addition, it is sales that bring revenue to companies and, therefore, sustain them. Therefore, having a solid customer base is essential to maintain the financial health of any undertaking. But always relying on the same sales volume impedes growth and is, at the same time, risky. Many times, an important client stops doing business with you for a number of reasons, billing drops and this can bring harmful results. Thus, being on the lookout for new leads should be a constant goal. However, on many occasions, this alone is not
Marketing Strategies: Definitive guide
Nowadays, there exist different types of marketing, as well as offline. It depends on your business you can prefer to use offline marketing or only using online marketing. By the way, here goes a spoiler: The ideal is to mix the two types in order to reach as many people as possible! If you’re not convinced or still want to know better about the principals strategies of marketing, stay here. After all, in today’s text, we will explain one of the biggest types of marketing, how they work and its benefits. We’ll begin by the types of online marketing, like digital marketing which includes inbound marketing and outbound marketing. Beside this, we’ll explain how offline marketing works nowadays and if it’s possible to use it. What is Digital Marketing? Digital marketing is a broad term for products of marketing and services using digital technology mainly on the internet but also including smartphones, graphic advertising and any digital medium. The goal of digital marketing is to reach potential customers through the internet with content that is relevant and valuable to them. Techniques of digital marketing, like search engine optimization (SEO), search engine machine (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, social media marketing, e-commerce marketing and mobile advertising, can help the organizations and expand your business online, reaching a more relevant audience with less effort. Why invest in Digital Marketing? Companies are investing in digital marketing to remain competitive, catch up new clients and retain the old ones. There are many benefits of digital marketing such as higher ROI, lower cost and wider reach. Some of the principal benefits of digital marketing is that it has a bigger ROI than the channels of traditional marketing. Digital marketing it’s cheaper than the other traditional channels because it doesn’t require materials or expensive equipment. It’s also easier reaching a specific public with techniques of digital marketing, such as social media advertising. A wide variety of methods can be used for digital marketing, including online brochures, blogs, podcasts and e-commerce. 5 tips for running a successful digital marketing campaign Digital marketing campaigns have become an essential part of modern marketing strategy. Companies that want to remain competitive need to invest in digital marketing. But, not all digital marketing campaigns are successful. Here are 5 tips for running a successful digital marketing campaign: 1) Define your target audience and identify their needs and desires The most important thing in any marketing campaign is understanding your target audience: What they want? What’s their needs? How can your product or service solve their problems? Remember to identify the pain points you’re solving for them, and make sure you address those issues in your campaign copy. 2) Find the right channels to reach your target audience Digital marketing is an excellent way to reach a wide audience, but that won’t happen unless you find the right channels to do so. There are many different forms of digital marketing such as: social media, email marketing and search engine optimization. 3) Create a good content plan The digital age is characterized by an inexhaustible supply of information. The challenge presented by this constant stream of content is how to capture and hold the attention of an audience that has grown accustomed to an influx of digital noise. 4) Optimize your content for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in digital marketing refers to affecting the visibility of a website or a webpage in unpaid search engine results – often referred to as “natural”, “organic” or “earnings” -which are typically displayed in the order that the search engine finds most relevant and useful. To rank well in search engines queries, your website content must be rich in keywords and phrases. Make sure your site is mobile responsive so it performs well on all platforms. Make sure your blog posts are optimized for relevant keywords and your website has plenty of content. 5) Promote your content on social media platforms You wrote an amazing post, now how are you going to get people to read? One of the best ways is to promote it on digital media platforms. Social media sites provide a space for you to share your content with others and they can share it with their own followers. Digital marketing tools and services you should know This section will talk about digital marketing tools and services you should know about. Tools are important in every industry, but they are especially essential in the digital marketing industry. Digital marketing is a fast-paced industry, which means it is constantly evolving and new tools are being developed every day. This section will introduce some of the most popular tools and services that have been used by many companies around the world. Digital marketing tools and services you should know: 1) Google Analytics: Is an analytics tool that tracks your website traffic data, including where your visitors came from, what they did on your website, how long they stayed on your website, etc. It also provides a variety of reports to help you better understand how your site is performing. 2) Google Adwords: Is an advertising platform that helps you advertise on Google search results. You can analyze how your ads are performing, tweak them for maximum impact, and track the success of different campaign types. 3) Facebook Ads: Is an advertising platform that helps you advertise on your friends and family’s Facebook newsfeed. You can analyze how your ads are performing, tweak them for maximum impact, and track the success of different types of campaigns. 4) BuzzSumo: Allows you to quickly find topics related to a particular topic or keyword. This can help you find content that your audience might be interested in. 5) Google Trends: Lets you discover popular search queries and related topics based on the number of searches performed over the last 12 months. You can also use this tool to identify trending topics that might be worth exploring further. 6) Taboola: It’s a content discovery platform that
What does a sales consultant do?
The sales area is one of the most important for any business. After all, it is responsible for guaranteeing a good part or even all of the companies’ revenues. Thus, having qualified professionals who know the market and who are capable of prospecting new customers is essential. And that’s exactly what a sales consultant does. The world has a strictly commercial society. Buying and selling products and services is what drives the economy. Even those who produce need inputs, machinery and, of course, having someone to negotiate with. Despite this, the sales sector is often neglected or, at least, does not have the attention it should have. Although many companies consider hiring a sales professional to be an additional cost, if they have the right profile, it will be an investment. After all, what a sales consultant does is attract revenue, not push it away. Another option is to hire companies that specialize in sales consulting, such as Protagnst. These companies have the advantage of having an entire team devoted to prospecting and business analysis. Thus, the return is usually faster and more assertive. In this article, we’ll show you how hiring a sales consultant or consulting firm can be the turning point for your business. Whether on a permanent basis or through a service contract, a good sales consultant is able to improve your way of negotiating or even offer you new opportunities. Next, learn all about sales consulting and why you should consider hiring yours too. But what does a sales consultant do anyway? A sales consultant is a professional whose job it is to find and implement solutions that improve a company’s sales process from end to end. This is a professional who needs to be aware of market changes, in order to identify and plan the best sales strategies. Sales consultants are professionals hired by companies to provide sales training, sales consulting, and other sales-related services. He is the right professional to improve the conversion of leads for your company, since he applies all his knowledge and analytical capacity to influence people, improve the average ticket and the total number of customers. Prospecting for customers, presenting the company and its products and services, discovering customer needs and formatting solutions based on them, as well as negotiating business terms, is also a summary of what a sales consultant does. If you are already familiar with the sales funnel, the consultant is the person who is responsible for taking the customer to the top of it and ensuring, in the sequence, that they reach the conversion. The sales consultant conducts the sale as if he were consulting with the customer. He applies consultative sales techniques, making the lead receive added value during the sales process. What does the sales consultant do exactly? It helps the customer to make a better purchasing decision. He can offer his services, or sometimes even recommend a competitor, if this client is not his ideal client profile. The commercial consultant makes recommendations, and gives suggestions and advice during the sales process. More than selling, it starts a relationship with the customer. This type of professional is increasingly important for the company, especially in times of crisis – such as the one triggered by the pandemic. After all, with the downturn in business, those who consume and those who offer need to be accurate in their choices. There is little room for betting, and that is precisely why having a professional capable of enhancing results can make all the difference. In times of crisis, decisions are taken collectively. This means that normally the option that prevails is not the one with the lowest cost, but the one with the lowest risk. The lower risk usually costs more. Therefore, to sell more in a crisis: offer security. Offer and commit to delivery. If you want to hire a company committed to your sales, consider Protagnst’s sales consultancy. Fill out the form to schedule a chat. The Sales Consultant can be represented both by the seller, who makes the consultative and complex sale, and can be an external commercial consultant, who identifies the needs of the company, and proposes improvements, based on the needs of each company. Sales consultants are often called on to help a company with a specific problem or objective. They can be hired for anything from providing customer service to improving the company’s marketing campaigns. Sales consultants can work on a contract basis or they can be hired as full-time employees. Either way, they will typically work closely with the company’s management team and executives to develop solutions that will help the company achieve its goals. What is the difference between a sales consultant and a seller? What about the closer or commercial consultant? In many cases, mainly in consultative sales and inside sales, we use the term sales consultant, commercial consultant or even the term closer to represent the same thing: the seller. Commercial consultancies like Protagnst have teams of sales consultants or commercial consultants, who are responsible for delivering sales consultancy projects. In these cases, we make a diagnosis to understand the needs of each company, and based on that, offer solutions that adhere to the needs of each company. In addition to these names mentioned, we also have the position of account executives or Key Account Executive, who are also responsible for the commercial sector of the company. As we mentioned, the sales consultant makes a consultative sale and during the process of serving the potential client, he understands the client’s needs, making a diagnosis to verify what the client needs, to then make the relationship with his solutions of sales and see whether or not it makes sense to continue the sale. The sales consultant gives commercial advice during this service process. And this process is seen during every moment of the sale. During the proposal presentation, lead qualification, or even during the sales closing process, it is important for the sales consultant to understand the customer’s
Inbound and Outbound: The definitive guide of Attracting B2B Customers
Inbound and outbound, what is it? There are many terms used to talk about the possibilities and different types of customer attraction. These terms, basically mean “passive prospecting” (in the case of inbound) and “active prospecting” (in the case of outbound prospecting). In this article, we will explain in detail the main differences between inbound and outbound and the advantages and disadvantages of using one type of prospecting or the other. Although the strategies work for all markets, our focus will be on the B2B (Business to Business) market, that is, companies that sell to other companies. In the B2C (Business to Consumer) market, we will just outline some strategies so that you can decide what makes the most sense and how to attract your Ideal Customer Profile (PCI) or Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). In addition to talking about inbound and outbound marketing, we’ll cover the differences between inbound and outbound leads so you understand when one type is more recommended over the other. There are ways and ways of working, and in many moments, you will see that this work can occur simultaneously. Outbound: what is it? After all, what is outbound? The term today is widely used in the areas of marketing and sales, as well as logistics and other areas, which have flows of materials or information that go one way or another. In this article, we will explain the meaning of outbound marketing. That is, it is active marketing, in which we use techniques and strategies to actively seek out customers, going to them in different ways to try to offer a product or service. According to Philip Kotler, one of the great scholars and experts in marketing, marketing is the area of knowledge that encompasses all activities related to exchange relationships, aimed at satisfying the desires and needs of consumers. Marketing aims to achieve certain objectives of the organization or individual and always considers the means of action and the impact that these relationships cause on the well-being of society. When we actively do this, we are opening commercial opportunities that would hardly exist if we hadn’t stimulate them. That’s what active marketing is for, to “go after” these customers, whose profile interests us and who would hardly be impacted by advertising or content in an assertive way. This form of customer attraction can be used for both B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumer) sales. Because it requires more effort, it is usually made to reach corporate customers. How to create a good plan to capture B2B customers? First of all, you must define your ICP, that is, your Ideal Customer Profile. This is the first step in defining a good plan. The ideal Customer Profile is a kind of persona, which usually has some specific characteristics. Knowing your commercial process and the decision-making process involving your customers is also essential for us to start off on the right foot. It is essential for us to define the steps to control our process, even if these steps don’t depend exclusively on our efforts. After defining the position, the type of company and the segments that your company will operate in, you will need to define the main benefits or pains that your product or service solves. It is important to know what you are going to offer and how or what you are going to do to qualify the customer for the next step. For each decision maker, your solution may have a different strategic positioning. It is based on how your company defines the communication style and what it should communicate with each type of target audience. If you only have one solution, it is easier to do this planning. However, it may be that for each specific audience, you have different solutions with different benefits and proposals. In this case, it is important to clearly show each one of them and develop the best way to present them. Outbound Types Although the concept has gained relevance in recent times, the term and its techniques are old. After all, sales have always existed. What has changed is the way this is done. Tools, techniques and strategies have been created over time to gain productivity and assertiveness in the customer acquisition process. Let’s look at some examples of types of outbound sales. Cold Calling This is one of the oldest and most classic strategies. The approach is made by telephone, with the seller contacting a company that doesn’t yet know yours. Initially, the intention isn’t to sell anything right away, but rather to arouse interest for an understanding meeting, and then proceed with the sales stages. Cold Call is a way to present your company and raise awareness in the customer that there is a problem in his area of operation or in the segment, and that your company is capable of helping him to identify this problem and solve it in a assertive. The intention of the cold call, is to present the product or service to a potential customer who did not even imagine that you would have a solution for him. Although many sales professionals consider this strategy outdated, it has a number of advantages that need to be taken into account. Among them are the immediate response of the potential customer, the opportunity to present nuances with the certainty that he’ll listen to you and clarify doubts. In addition, a personal contact demonstrates a direct interest and allows you to customize the presentation. On the other hand, this type of approach requires greater resilience, at the same time that it must be dosed so as not to appear invasive and have the opposite effect. There are many cold calling techniques that help salespeople to achieve higher conversions in their work. Techniques such as rapport, active listening, empathy and trust are essential for a good job of active telephone prospecting. Cold Call 2.0 or Cold Email Despite the identical names, there are significant differences between them. With the