Do you actually WANT to solve your pipeline crisis?
One of the challenges facing organisations is that many of the founding principles of how they generate sales simply don’t work the way that they used to.
“Just call up some prospects and they will buy”…that’s all well and good but most people don’t want to have their morning interrupted by a salesperson trying to sell them something. So even if you do by chance get your call answered 9/10 of the time the person on the end isn’t receptive to what you have to say.
“Simply do some research and provide a tailored value proposition to the individual”…again, that’s good in theory but why would the person believe you? Adding insights is a great thing to do but how much insight can you add if the person you’re talking to is actively not listening to what you’re saying? Also, the time taken to create that insightful dialogue is hard to just icy if most of the people you’re talking to are not listening…and even if they are the are not in a position to buy at the moment.
Leads from marketing seem to be invariably not what the sales team are expecting or wanting and the fortunes spent on attending events are difficult to connect to revenue at the best of times.
In the overwhelming majority of companies I talk to this is part of their story… nothing seems to work any more.
So what can you do?
Well, get back to understanding what might pique YOUR interest of course.
A cold outreach to sell you something (no matter how well targeted) is still and cold outreach to sell you something.
All you are going to say is “words”…
?- We are market leading
?- We have helped many companies just like yours
?- We have the highest customer satisfaction rating…
Well of course you do, few salespeople say that their company is in the bottom half, that they’ve never spoken to a company like yours or that they have a low satisfaction rating.
This is exactly the problem.
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First, you need to build a relationship. Not a commercial relationship…a relationship.
Then, in time, see if you can develop it in to a commercial relationship.
“But I haven’t got time for that, I need the pipeline NOW” I hear you say.
And, that is exactly why you have no pipeline.
But I don't have time for that
Why would anyone believe what you say if they don’t know who you are?
You need to change how you think sales happen (because for most businesses that AREN'T happening quite like they would want them to.
Social media allows you to scale this "social" behaviour.
Imagine an event with more than 900 million attendees...everyone that you ever wanted to talk to. Imagine that you can gradually get to know these people so that they trust you and see you as THE expert in your field.
Imagine how this would transform your ability to start conversations and win trust of your prospects.
To get this to work you need to have a strategy and you need to execute it. It isn't rocket science...but it isn't easy to do this either.
You should start now though...before you run-out of runway.
At my core, I am a teacher. I'm great at the middle of conversations. I'm not as athletic as I remember being.
1 年Reading the same quotes about how doing the same thing won’t change the outcome doesn't change the outcome either, Adam. ??
Should have Played Quidditch for England
1 年There is a very clear data centric way of creating pipeline, or of course, they can just keep walking into obscurity.
Where Conversations Become Stories—and Stories Become Growth
1 年But I still want to sell you something! ?? Until a meaningful relationship is formed, one has very little chance of selling anything. Well written Adam!
Failed musician, but always writing.
1 年Couldn't agree more, Adam.