Business Recovery:
Grow Sales in Record Time,
Using Inbound Sales Strategies
To begin a dynamic marketing campaign aimed at increasing both sales and profits, there are essentially
just two types of leads available to you:
- Inbound leads
- Outbound leads
Inbound leads are those that come to your company and into your website or 800 number.
They result not only from marketing campaigns, but also from word-of-mouth and referrals, public relations, and search engines.
Usually, an inside-sales "Market Response" team reviews, qualifies and routes the leads to the correct salespeople.
Excluding the educational inquiries (such as webinar registrations), these leads tend to be already interested in
what you offer, and are about to start a buying cycle.
Outbound leads are ones that you had to dig up, whether through market-development campaigns or a cold
calling or other "proactive" method. You're letting prospects (who aren't already interested) know who you are,
what you do, and why it should matter to them.
In your business recovery efforts, it’s critical you use an inbound leads program to supercharge your sales
as quickly as possible. Inbound leads are the most cost-effective, and have the following advantages:
Inbound leads...
- close at a higher percentage
- close more quickly
- close without as much sales effort
You (or your staff) qualify inbound (market response) leads differently than outbound sales development (sales prospecting).
It's almost impossible for reps to juggle both functions well because of the different demands of the job. Planning is
also very different for each, so plan them separately.
The high-quality portion of inbound leads (word-of-mouth, referrals, some search engine leads) are mostly organic.
Usually the pace of leads grows steadily, bit by bit, and any big jumps or dips aren't sustainable.
Inbound leads have an hourly or daily rhythm. (Outbound leads have a rhythm of weeks or months.) When they come in
they come in quickly, with high close rates. But they demand quick reaction, or you may lose the opportunity.
Today there is no better sales investment than using the Internet for inbound marketing.
If you’re in manufacturing, distribution or even the service business, you need a website to take advantage of the huge
potential the medium offers the small and midsize business. As you've heard for years, it levels the playing field,
enabling you to compete with much larger companies.
Closeable outbound leads are like needles in haystacks — they're there, but they take a lot more effort,
sales cycles are longer, and close rates are lower.
Though all this can take quite awhile, once you build your sales team this method is repeatable and
can be lucrative in landing the big accounts.
Congratulations! You've survived and are growing again!
I want you to be able to say that to yourself as soon as possible. But you have a lot to do first.
The advice I've given on this site should give you the understanding and confidence required to pull it off.
Please go to the top of my main menu and be sure you haven't missed any pages. Also check the links to follow-pages.
There are a LOT of details I can't cover in a simple website. So also watch here for my soon-to-be published e-book.
And meanwhile, get yourself on the mailing list for tips in my upcoming newsletter.
Meanwhile, I'm personally available for coaching through e-mail and phone consultation to a relative handful
of businesses. In that mode, I get to know you, your business and your business plan in great detail, and
together we develop a turnaround plan for your precise situation.
Click to learn more about
my Mastering the Turnaround coaching program.
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