When you ask sales people what they hate about their jobs, their answer will be cold calling. Approaching an absolute stranger to try and sell something to them is difficult, heartbreaking and downright unpleasant at the best of times.
Replacing cold calling, or at least supplementing it, is a lot easier thanks to the Internet. Your website should be generating leads for you every day - and there are several ways of doing this.
A contact form is what most websites will have. This is one way of gathering qualified leads, as most people who fill it in and submit it are interested in your product or service. They may be interested in a particular product or service, have a specific query, or they need you to contact them in order to discuss a quote.
Your website, however, gets many visitors who may not be ready to contact you yet, but are interested in the products or services you offer. These people are the ones you may want to reach especially if you generally have a long buying cycle. The most popular method of getting these people to give you their contact details is to offer them something in exchange.
It would depend on the nature of your business but you could offer several things such as a voucher, a whitepaper, special offer, ebook, or an industry report. Making a sale is not the purpose of this exchange but rather to get the details of the prospective customer. Make sure that the materials you provide are not pushy sales material but rather industry relevant. The details you receive should be added to a database, and used for email marketing campaigns.
Offering a newsletter is another way to get customers' details just as long as you don't call it a newsletter. Whether you offer weekly tips, secret tricks, or industry highlights, you must deliver a weekly email with relevant, helpful information.
When they are ready to make a purchase, you'll be the first company on their list since your email campaign adds information you send to your prospects and you build a relationship with them and convince them that you're an expert in the industry.
Instead of trying to sell to your clients, you should be helping them gain knowledge and understanding within your industry but occasional sales messages can be included. An excellent foundation for future sales is trust and this is something it will build.
All the contact details you receive are leads - they were on your website, so they are interested in what you have to offer. With email automation programs, this process can be simplified to the extent that you write the emails once, and the program runs itself. This is more cost effective and easier than cold calling.
Replacing cold calling, or at least supplementing it, is a lot easier thanks to the Internet. Your website should be generating leads for you every day - and there are several ways of doing this.
A contact form is what most websites will have. This is one way of gathering qualified leads, as most people who fill it in and submit it are interested in your product or service. They may be interested in a particular product or service, have a specific query, or they need you to contact them in order to discuss a quote.
Your website, however, gets many visitors who may not be ready to contact you yet, but are interested in the products or services you offer. These people are the ones you may want to reach especially if you generally have a long buying cycle. The most popular method of getting these people to give you their contact details is to offer them something in exchange.
It would depend on the nature of your business but you could offer several things such as a voucher, a whitepaper, special offer, ebook, or an industry report. Making a sale is not the purpose of this exchange but rather to get the details of the prospective customer. Make sure that the materials you provide are not pushy sales material but rather industry relevant. The details you receive should be added to a database, and used for email marketing campaigns.
Offering a newsletter is another way to get customers' details just as long as you don't call it a newsletter. Whether you offer weekly tips, secret tricks, or industry highlights, you must deliver a weekly email with relevant, helpful information.
When they are ready to make a purchase, you'll be the first company on their list since your email campaign adds information you send to your prospects and you build a relationship with them and convince them that you're an expert in the industry.
Instead of trying to sell to your clients, you should be helping them gain knowledge and understanding within your industry but occasional sales messages can be included. An excellent foundation for future sales is trust and this is something it will build.
All the contact details you receive are leads - they were on your website, so they are interested in what you have to offer. With email automation programs, this process can be simplified to the extent that you write the emails once, and the program runs itself. This is more cost effective and easier than cold calling.
About the Author:
Jewelry designer and artist Caroline Jasper creates one-of-a-kind blue chunky necklace - each piece handcrafted by an artisan.
