The "on demand" availability of information has empowered your clients. They are free to learn about products and services their own pace, and at the place and time of their choosing.
As a result of the change in the ways buyers buy, sales and marketing organizations have to change. Clients choose when and where in the buyers' journey they want to engage with a sales rep. When the buyer chooses to engage, educational content must be available. Marketing departments become educational media organizations. Sales people become educators. "Always Be Closing" changes to "Always be Helping."
Establishing your business as an expert educator will help it to maintain relevance. Clients will come to you as willing partners. They will take advantage of what you have to offer because you are there to help, not to sell.
Making friends is what the the Attract Stage is all about. It is sort of like a first date: You need to be interesting and engaging, but you can't come on too strong. It is necessary to provide value to build the relationship.
How do you show value in the early stages of a relationship with a client? It's easy - you help them. Here are some ways to do that:
As noted above, you can't come on too strong in this phase. The client isn't interested in buying at this point, so trying to sell will be frustrating for them. Building trust is key, so be soft in your approach.
An inbound marketing strategy "attract stage" builds "trust equity" with a prospect. The purpose of the convert stage is to learn more about these contacts as individuals. This will help to create context around who these contacts are. Context drives understanding. Understanding drives results.
In the dating analogy, this is when casual flirting results in a phone number - and maybe even a date. To put it into business terms, this is where visitors become leads.
Here are some ways to get out of the "friend zone" and take your relationships to the next level:
The convert stage is one of the most difficult parts of an inbound marketing strategy. Conversion events provide contacts with something of value in exchange for information about themselves.
The "closing stage" is where traditional marketing starts the buyer's journey, but with Inbound, we've done the necessary work of introducing ourselves, providing value and building trust before ever closing a deal. This may sound backwards, and to traditional marketing it is, but it works, and that's why we do it.
To continue our dating analogy, this is when we decide to enter a relationship or "go steady." In business terms, this is where leads become customers.
Here are some ways to convert leads into customers:
If you've faithfully executed all the steps leading up to this one, you can move prospects through the closing stage with confidence.
Consistant revenue comes from repeat business, and the best leads come from current customers who already love what you do. This is why the Delight Stage is so important. Sometimes it's the little details:
The delight stage is all about nurturing the relationship. Not only because it's the kindly thing to do, but because it makes good business sense.