Not that long ago, we published an article on the Hubspot Sales blog (you can read it here) and thought we would provide our readers with a short summary on that blog…
Cold calling used to be one of the most effective ways businesses could sell and market products to their potential customers. However, technological advancements over the past decade have changed the way in which we communicate with our leads. We no longer need to smash out cold calls to potential customers –hurrah!
In fact, it’s actually really easy to see how ineffective cold calling is. It’s essentially just interrupting your prospects day with an uninvited scripted conversation – no wonder it doesn’t work!
But what other alternatives does the modern sales person have to cold calling when it comes to lead generation? Well we’re glad you asked!
- Set up a personal follower base that helps answer prospective customers business problems
- Blog as often as you can – create relevant content that has the goal of helping your potential customers. Work this content into your content marketing strategy.
- Get talking – sharing your content to solve your prospects problems (and shout about how good it is on social media platforms!)
- We’re all friends here – make connections with the right people on LinkedIn and Twitter
- Join LinkedIn and Twitter groups – this is a chance to answer any questions you get asked on social!
- Go above and beyond – create an email marketing series, (automated or manual) that goes above the ordinary conversations of asking them for a meeting. Tailor these emails to help solve your customer’s problems. Remember, it’s about them, not you!
- Measurement is key – measure and track your web visitor’s behaviour to know when to reach out with a phone call to potential customers
- Don’t ignore notifications! - Turn on email notifications; preferably email ones to let you know when visitors are researching articles on your website. This can help you know where your prospect is within the buyer journey and you can tailor your content marketing strategy accordingly
- Sell based on your expert knowledge – not just Jedi mind tricks
- Make use of CRM systems – Use smart CRM systems before you reach out to customers so you have some context to them
- It doesn’t end once the sale is over! Keep in touch with prospective customers AFTER the sales process. You can continue to send helpful content to prospects even if they decided not to purchase. This may seem strange but it helps you to stay in the front of their mind so if they decide to make a purchase in the future – they know where to turn
- Ditch the script and get personable! No buyer in today’s world WANTS to talk to a robot
So, there you have it – our best practices to lead generation without having to place the dreaded cold call –shudder-.
If you'd like to know more and would like to enlist the help of an expert, our digital marketing services can help accelerate your lead generation.
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