When outreach is targeted and personalised, customer interest converts into sales. Add successful outreach to your sales pipeline with CRM tools from Flowbird Ltd.
Reaching out to small business owners and key decision-makers in larger companies should be a well-defined part of any marketing strategy. However, bulk messaging and spam is rarely successful. Up to 80% of potential customers say they're more likely to place an order when sales teams contact them in more personal ways.
Small business owners or the decision-makers of larger organisations make up your audience. They're your prospective customers. The more you know and specifically target them, the more conversions to sales you'll achieve. Before starting to reach out, it pays to do some research and analysis. Who visits your webpage (Google Analytics is helpful here), reads your blog, and responds positively to targeted market research and surveys? Use this information to create individual customer profiles or a group buyer persona.
Demonstrating that you know and understand your customers and their needs and pain points is the first step to winning their trust and loyalty. Personalise initial emails by greeting prospective customers by name and using a hook in the subject line to grab their attention. This could be as simple as, 'Give me 30 seconds and find out how I can help you'. Then explain briefly how your product or service can be tailored to their needs.
While emails are the most common (and preferred) form of outreach, don't overlook social media. Make initial contact via a personalised message and build rapport and trust by referencing their role in the company. Then move on to promoting or selling your product. The tone and length of messages should vary from platform to platform. LinkedIn requires a more professional tone, while Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can be more chatty. The key is to keep messages short, around 50 words max.
Many potential customers say 'no' several times before saying 'yes' to a purchase. This demonstrates the importance of following up on initial contacts. It only takes a couple of minutes but pays dividends. However, this is something many salespeople fail to do. Ask your potential customer a specific question or for some information, or say that you haven't heard from them in a while and hope all is well. Again, this creates that personal touch and reminds the prospect about you and your product. Make sure follow-ups aren't overlooked by scheduling them into your sales pipeline.
The success of sales outreach is measured in two ways. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) measure whether your outreach campaign reaches its set targets (such as the ratio between initial contact and conversion). At the same time, Metrics are quantifiable data that let you assess a specific process, such as the number of times a webpage is viewed. Constantly evaluate your outreach practices against these measurables and make tweaks where necessary.
With CRM from Flowbird Ltd, every step of your marketing journey, including sales outreach, is automated. Customer data and information about interactions are carefully stored, while follow-up contact is never overlooked. By automating your CRM, every member of your sales team has access to the pipeline, new staff members fit seamlessly into the sales process, and analytic tools keep your business growth on target.