Saturday, 3 January 2015
Marketing, Sales & The Missing Link
This old school theory of Interruptive Sales or “finding the customer rather than the customer finding you” via print, TV and radio media results in ‘leads’ hitting the ‘funnel’ for the sales team to cherry-pick from the ‘top’ based only on their own per-conceived notion of a ‘good lead’... while in reality, only 5% of these leads are ready for that all-important ‘sales call’. So, what happens to all the leads? How are they nurtured into a sales ready position?
Traditionally, THEY ARE NOT! This is why ‘sales’ has always been a ‘numbers game’ rather than an ‘attraction’ game... thus, the missing link! Social Business.
Interruptive sales tactics have lost their effectiveness in leads-to-sales conversion and revenue acquisition as a result of media’s ‘social’ convergence and the shift in consumer buying habits.
The combination of 1) consumer’s conducting significant online research prior to any type purchase and 2) the known fact that 90% of consumers trust peer reviews over advertisements and 3) social media networks creating a ‘world of mouth’ effect regarding brands rather than the old school ‘word of mouth’ effect have created an acute demand for better targeted online customer communication designed to attract the prospective customer with Social Business rather than interrupt them at each stage of the sales cycle.
Over the next few years, businesses that rise to the top will do so by embracing Social Business! Because they understand that by informing people with valuable information in a constant, strategic flow of one-on-one conversation - of which is ‘absorbed’ on the customers terms - is more effective than mass broadcasting. This approach attracts prospects to your business that are both interested and informed about your products and services before they ever ‘hit your funnel’ while also serving to lock down loyalty among current customers.
Today, we must realize that the internet and social communication has leveled the playing field allowing more businesses to compete for consumer attention regardless of size and budget. So to attract and move prospects further down the sales funnel - until they are sales-ready it is of paramount importance to nurture this cycle with strategically implemented messages developed from content that is relevant and of high quality and then ‘execute’ the message via social media networks.
Think about it: if the buying process has changed, then for maximum demand generation and lead conversion - marketing and sales must follow. So, it’s time to STOP doing Interruption Marketing and START doing Social Business Marketing! Please share with us some of the ways that you are doing this!
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Elynn Fish is the Founder and President of The Fish Firm of which specializes in using New Media To Turn Modern Marketing Into Money by helping small business owners and entrepreneurs increase online sales and attract new business.
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