The ideal sales process for your buyer

process-for-your-buyer

The Internet has changed our lives dramatically. Nowadays we use the Internet for just about anything: from paying taxes to the book medical appointments, from watching movies to go shopping. The internet has so pervaded every aspect of our lives, changing the way we approach the world.Necessarily, this change has important implications, especially in the world of the market.

Today, in fact, the buyer has at its disposal all the tools to not have to depend more on the experience and advice of a salesperson to make a purchase: a web search will provide you with the necessary information: costs, manufacturers, pros and cons of one product over another, and reviews from other people who bought the products including.

A businessperson carefully knows that this new buying power is going to redefine the purchasing logic and considers this in the organization of the sale of his company process. The careful business owner knows that the old marketing methods, such as email or indiscriminate campaigns standardized telephone calls are no longer effective.

And this is where comes in philosophy inbound marketing, or better, in this case, the inbound sales : it is important to adapt the sales process to the buying process, so that the seller sells the world in which the buyer purchases.

process-for-your-buyer
Image Source: Google Image

Inbound sales center is the buyer, not the seller.

For this reason that we decided to dedicate an article to the deepening of the inbound sales process and here are the first 6 principles for this change. These tips are useful for all businesses, whether big or small, B2B or B2C, and regardless of what they sell.

6 concepts for methodology inbound sales

1. Define the process of purchase of your buyer

With the traditional sales approach, today’s buyer often feels belittled and both buyer and seller are often its two different wavelengths. The seller must be able to give something more than the information to which the buyer can access over the network. In order to do this, the seller must know in what stage of the buying process its potential buyer is located.

The buying process consists of three phases:

  1. Consciousness
  2. Rating
  3. Decision

In the stadium, Consciousness / awareness buyer acknowledges the existence of a need to satisfy. Then ask yourself: What needs meets your product? How do your buyers make this a priority need?

In the stage, rating buyer has decided that they want to solve this need, and assesses the options available to him. In this case, the question arises: What kind of solutions look for your buyer? As transposing the pros and cons of the various options? Why would choose your product over another?

In the stadium Decision buyer it decided which product best meets its needs and draws up a list of suppliers of this solution by deciding to what most convinces him. Ask yourself this: By what criteria the buyer Currency various offers? What differentiates your offering? Who and what part in its decision?

2. Develop a sales route that takes account of the buying process of your buyer

But once the stages of the buying process of your buyer must arrange the path that matches.

In order to do this, ask yourself how it can act your seller in respect of these three stages. The inbound sales methodology simplifies the theoretical framework proposing you process that involves four main steps for your sales path:

  1. Identification
  2. Connection
  3. Deepening
  4. Council

The seller identifies the lead or potential buyers whose need can help you meet.

Then it connects with the potential to help you understand whether this requirement is a priority; if so is the potential becomes qualified.

The seller inbound Deepens / explores the potential need to determine if this could represent a concrete opportunity, if the product meets the specific needs of the potential customer.

The seller will only come at this time to advise the opportunity, explaining how its product is the solution to the specific need. So then, once agreed by both sides that the product is the best solution, the opportunity becomes final and the person becomes a customer.

You may also like to read another article on Heygom: Sales Techniques: Make an appointment with the client impossible 

3. Define your process of “identification”

With a traditional approach, the seller decides randomly as potential customers contact, regardless of where they are in their buying process. It is preferable to instead establish contacts hierarchy: the seller will contact inbound for first buyers, which is more likely to be successful, that is, those who have already entered the stage of consciousness of their need. Is preferred so who is already thinking of a requirement that the product to be sold could meet, compared with those who have a passive attitude.

Before you can identify your leads, it is important to define your buyer’s persona, that your ideal clients, to determine who can and cannot help.

Once your ideal client profile, follow this hierarchy to decide which potential first contact and how to more closely match the new:

  1. Potential: People who have left their information in the form of your site and who work for a company that reflects the profile of your ideal buyer.
  2. Potential companies: Anonymous Visitors to your site who are from companies that are ideal for you buyers: in this case you have the name, but not the purchaser’s credentials. To identify these companies can use the CRM software.
  3. Indications of interest: Keep an eye open for all those clues suggesting that the purchaser has started its purchasing process: for example, if mentioned on social networks the product you sell, your company, or a competitor.
  4. Socialize: Spend a few hours every week to keep alive your social network: public useful and educational content, participate in relevant conversations in which you can increase your visibility, share content but also outside that, you believe to be educational for your buyer. These features allow you to attract new potential.
  5. Common Knowledge: Buyers “passive” you know for business reasons or through friends or family members and that reflect your ideal customer profile.
  6. Passive buyers: I am your last resort. Consider only those that reflect your ideal client profile.
  7. Define your process of “connection”

A traditional seller tends to send emails impersonal and standardized to all contacts who consider interesting, with the aim, once a connection is made, to propose once presentation to understand the buyer’s spending power.

But, as we have said, the modern buyer already has access to all information of a standard presentation: if it comes into contact with the seller is to get an added value. The inbound seller who establishes contact with a potential does calibrating the contact on the context in which the latter is located. The context may be the role, the industry, and the interests of potential.

The inbound seller will then propose online content with the stage of consciousness of his buyer: the example will offer a free consultation or an in-depth eBook.

To prepare for the phase connection the seller must define their persona, dividing them by type of company; after that, it will divide the different individuals who are part of that company. For example, divide the companies by sector, size and geographic location; and people for the role, title, functions and behaviors shared.

Next, establish a strategy for each category. The categories will define as (by mail, by phone, through social networks, etc.), when and how often contact potential. It ‘important, at this stage, organize the content of contact taking into account the context of the buyer, the seller will be outlined during the connection.

For example, if your buyer is active on social, looking for a contact in that form; but if the company does not form part of his habits, do not spend time to contact him with that medium.

5. Define your process of “Deepening”

Unlike a traditional seller, who does not have a thorough understanding of the context of its buyer, and that tends to try to close the sale as soon as they show any interest; inbound vendor knows that you have not yet, at this stage, reached a level of trust and understanding enough to offer him a presentation tailored.

The inbound seller uses the stage of a pronouncement to understand more deeply the needs and expectations of the buyer. Then uses its expertise to advise the buyer: the aim is that the potential draw conclusions, deciding for themselves whether or not your product face to his case.

To achieve this, the seller will make a series of questions designed to identify, together with the purchaser, the causes, the solutions and the consequences of the requirement of potential.

An exploratory conversation should follow these steps:

  1. Establish a human connection with the buyer
  2. Summarize the evidence gathered during previous conversations
  3. Declare the exploratory purpose of the conversation
  4. Dissect the buyer’s difficulty
  5. Define goals buyer
  6. Figure out if the buyer has already taken steps to deal with the difficulties and / or what are the measures to be taken
  7. Understanding the timing with which the buyer intends to respond to this need
  8. Define the negative consequences of inaction
  9. Understanding the actors involved in the buying decision
  10. Define the buyer’s budget.

6. Define your process of “Council”

The inbound vendor who has followed all the steps mentioned works as a mediator between the generic presentation of the website of his company and the purchaser’s specific situation. This ability makes the seller inbound able to move to the better in the new sales paradigm.