It's funny what happens when you step out of your 'role' and experience it from the other side. I've been trying to buy a few things this week. I'm aware that I spend all day thinking about conversion and how to enable a potential client to connect with your business, so I assume that's how businesses operate. I'm also aware that there are plenty of real-world challenges that get in the way of best practice all the time. After a few less-than-optimal experiences this week I've created this list with a few things to check in your Sales process.
1. Optimize your contact or demo form and test it regularly. 💌
Ask people what they are looking to buy, and make sure to give them options to self-select a category they might fit into (When I'm looking for a client, my website or company name isn't going to give you the right information when routing me to one of your reps).
I've also pointed out to a vendor that their 'hidden form field' for source tracking was showing along with the default HubSpot form styling rather than their website styling.
How often do you check your own demo or contact us process? Actually, fill in the form and see what happens and how the pages behave. Does it all look like it should? Do some of the fields seem redundant?
2. Give your reps good follow-up templates. ♻
One vendor called me; their phone system failed and the line disconnected. They didn't call back, and I got an email with 'We need more information to answer your question.' It would be great to know what exactly they need to know so we can speed this up and not spend more emails back and forth.
I've seen email signatures without clear information that helps me understand who I'm speaking with. Give your prospects some context!
3. Make it easy for your prospects to connect with your reps. 🔌
I've received emails with 'Would you be able to connect Friday morning?'. I don't know what timezone this rep is based in, there is no phone number in their signature, and no way to book their calendars.
I've received emails with 'when is a good time to connect' without suggested timeslots. When I sent an email back suggesting a time and alternatively a link to book directly in my calendar, this rep called me back at an inconvenient time.
There are plenty of good solutions to offer a calendar booking link to speed this process up. Speed to lead is great, but making me spend 3 days connecting negates all that hard work.
4. Lead routing and ownership. 👩💼
Make sure to deduplicate your form submissions, assign an owner to all incoming leads, and log engagement to automatically update a lead status so everyone knows a lead is being worked.
Make sure you automate a 'lead status' field to 'in progress' when a rep sends an email or places a call so you can avoid double follow-ups. As a bonus, this will also help your Marketing team understand how leads progress down the funnel and which sources are most effective for the business as a whole.
Bonus: 5. Make it easy for prospects to find your pricing. 💸
I understand that not all pricing and packaging are straightforward to understand. But when a prospect is in contact with a rep, give them a simple calculator, breakdown, or examples so they can compare potential solutions without wasting hours on different demos. Maybe the vendor has used your product in the past or they already have a concrete price from a competitor; making this information available stops your reps from wasting time.
Ok, perhaps that's 4 quick wins and a more complicated improvement to your sales process. What did I miss? How often do you check how easy it is to connect with your Sales team?
