Author: Digital Selling

  • Does your business have predictable revenue?

    Does your business have predictable revenue?

    I have a challenge for you. How many of the following questions can you say “yes” to?

    • Do you know which communication channel has the best conversion rate? 
    • What Marketing actions have the most impact on revenue? 
    • Also consider the opposite, which is just as or more important: in which stocks and channels are you losing money? 

    Are your salespeople thinking “how does my solution help this prospect?” instead of “how can I sell my product faster”?

    Do you know how much time your sellers spend negotiating a sale? Or rather, how much does your company lose in figuring out whether a certain lead is even worth the time of your sales specialists? Do you know the minimum value a deal must reach to be sustainable? 

    Do you have a specialized sales team with a clear division between who prospects and who closes deals

    There are dozens more questions I could ask you, but I’ll end with this one: do you know at which stage of the sales funnel you are losing opportunities?

    If you said yes to all or most, congratulations! Your company has already established a sales process capable of generating predictable revenue and is on track to grow year after year.

    For the rest, the questions I asked go to the heart of the issues that impact the predictability of sales volume.

    Not knowing when the next leads, let alone the next sales, are going to drop is a harrowing feeling for any CEO or sales leader. It cannot hire new employees, has no margin for error in Marketing, or does not even do Marketing, among other problems that inhibit growth.

    But despite having the best intentions, many CEOs make fundamental mistakes that keep them from achieving steady, predictable sales volume.

    Many believe that more sellers = more sales. The reality is that salespeople don’t increase sales opportunities, they just dispatch. Another common mistake is to think that all sellers must prospect. The authors of the book Previsible Revenue, who were also responsible for transforming Salesforce’s sales, argue that Sales specialists must be specialized. 

    Even if the sales team is reduced to two specialists, Development Representative (SDR) making Salesoutbound and inbound, generating sales opportunities and qualifying leads; and an Account Executive (AE, closer) builds relationships with prospects and closing sales. As a good closer is experienced and, consequently, well paid, you won’t want to have him making cold calls, cold emails, and chasing unqualified contacts. He wants you to deal only with proven opportunities.

    This is how you begin to outline the sales funnel, a fundamental step to achieving predictable revenue.

    A company with a Sales Developer and an Account Executive already has the middle and bottom of the sales funnel covered. All that remains is to add Marketing at the top of the funnel, and thus increase the number of contacts that the SDR qualifies for and passes on to the closer for negotiation and sales.

    To complete the funnel, and accompany the customer throughout their purchase journey, we have Customer Success. Unfortunately, this role does not exist in most companies, but the truth is that it has immense potential to expand its sales volume. It is through current customers that the so-called referrals, or referrals, both SDR and AE want to obtain. SDRs seek them out because they result in a higher qualification percentage, and Account Executives love them because they have a higher conversion rate and shorter sales cycle.

    Do you want the key to creating a sales machine capable of consistently generating contacts, leads, prospects, and sales? Follow the right KPIs. I’m not talking about the vanity metrics that make us feel good, like the number of visits or email opening rate, but those that measure the pulse of your sales process:

    • The conversion rate of visits-to-lead
    • The rate of lead-to-MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) conversion
    • The percentage of leads accepted by sales (SAL)
    • The percentage of Marketing leads that sales work
    • on The MQL-to-opportunity conversion rate
    • Opportunity-to-customer
    • The duration of the sales cycle
    • Average cost per sale
    • Average sales value

    With this data, you can identify the phase(s) of the sales funnel in which hand-off (passage) has problems, allowing you to make a diagnosis and act accordingly. incisive way.

    Generate lots of leads but don’t have a fit for your business? Marketing is attracting the wrong people. Do you miss many sales opportunities? Sellers are taking the wrong approach, and so on.

    Interestingly, the customer-centric approach is critical to predictable revenue. Gone are the days when salespeople’s priority was to “impose” their solution. The priority is to be an active agent in your client’s success, proposing the best solution to their problem. When salespeople make the connection between their solution and customer needs, sales naturally follow.

    With these metrics, you also get to know the Sales Velocity, which is nothing less than a forecast of the revenue you can expect in a given period. Here’s the formula:

    Sales Velocity equals the number of opportunities multiplied by the average value negotiated and the percentage of sales closed, divided by the average duration of the sales cycle.

    This equation introduces again a concept that I only mentioned at the beginning: the time it takes to close a deal. Companies working to achieve predictable revenue – and predictable growth, year after year – recognize that they don’t have time (or money) to waste. 

    Achieving revenue predictability is about leaving nothing to chance. Everything in the sales process is systematized, the professionals are specialized and performance metrics are created to evaluate the crucial points. Even so, amid all this sales machine, it is important to recognize the humanity of customers and work with a focus on their needs.

     

  • What is a sales process and how to create one?

    What is a sales process and how to create one?

    What is a sales process?

    A sales process is a series of steps required to complete a sale. It starts at the most preliminary stage of the sale, lead generation, and can go all the way to post-sale account management. We say “can” because all sales processes are tailored to each company.

    This framework details how sales can convert leads into customers and build loyalty. For each phase, it explains the actions the rep must take and in what order, so that all of his actions are intentional and premeditated. 

    Nothing harm a sale more than starting a conversation with the customer without having a direction. A well-designed sales process reduces the time you spend wondering about the next step, and frees up time to dedicate to other customers.

    At the same time, a good sales process also captivates the customer, because it neutralizes objections before they are raised. Thanks to this, customers feel more secure with the prospect of doing business with you.

    Without a sales process that all team members recognize, sales managers cannot communicate with reps. They also have difficulties in training new sales reps and increasing productivity and end up throwing down all aspirations of being able to measure, automate actions and have a scalable sales team. 

    Example of a B2B sales process

    1. Lead Generation and Prospecting
    2. Discovery Call
    3. Lead Qualification
    4. Product or Service Presentation/Demonstration
    5. Objection Handling
    6. Closing the Sale
    7. Onboarding
    8. Business Expansion

    Lead Generation 

    This is the process of finding new leads to integrate into the sales funnel It involves all inbound marketing actions and also sales prospecting actions, such as LinkedIn searches, contacts from conferences or professional events, and contacts referred by other customers.

    Discovery call 

    This is the first contact between the rep and the potential customer. But before calling, the rep should know:

    • What is the purpose of the call
    • What questions to ask
    • What objections to expect and have answers ready

    During the call, the rep should be guided by the plan, but also let the conversation develop naturally. After the contact, it is useful to reflect on the conversation, perhaps talking to a colleague and getting feedback, and thinking about goals for the next contact.

    Lead qualification

    This process proposes some qualification criteria and questions to uncover the necessary information. In this way, reps will be better prepared for the first contacts and sure that they are chasing the right leads.

    To qualify leads, they can ask questions like:

    “What is your role within the company?”

    “What do you do in your day-to-day?”

    “What problem do you want to solve?”

    “What other solutions are you evaluating?”

    Thus, you can respond to some of the most common criteria:

    Does this lead have the ideal customer profile?

    Do you have the decision-making power for this purchase?

    Do you have the necessary budget?

    Presentation/demonstration of the product or service

    This step is reserved for customers who are more advanced in the purchase journey. Presentations are tailored to the potential client, which involves a lot of time and resources – hence the importance of asking the right questions during previous contacts.

    Handling objections

    It is very common for objections or doubts to arise after the demonstration. Therefore, it makes sense to make this moment a specific step in the sales process. Throughout conversations, a sales rep must be able to identify and anticipate potential customer objections.

    Closing the Sale

    This is the step that all sales reps work towards. At this stage, it is usual to deal with contracts, proposals, budgets, getting decision-makers to approve the purchase, etc. To save closers time, this step should anticipate the necessary documentation as far as possible.

    Onboarding

    Work continues after the sale closes. This is the time when you implement the proposed solution on the client. Reps must ensure that they pass on the necessary information to the next team so that the customer continues to receive the level of service they are used to.

    Expand the business

    The final step involves all the initiatives account managers take to upsell and cross-sell. But not only. The business expansion also comes from super-satisfied customers who leave referrals for other potential customers.

    How to create a sales process?

    Now that you’ve seen an example, you’re better equipped to start creating a sales process that fits your organization.

    • Process definition

    Start by pointing out the relevant steps, including internal processes and customer interactions. Also, establish a leader for each step – the person capable of detailing the actions to be taken.

    • Process mapping

    With the support of the process leader, create an ordered list of processes and list all corresponding actions. Don’t forget to consider all the departments that are involved, such as the technical department or marketing.

    • Process standardization

    Describe in detail how to develop each activity:

    • Charge: who will carry out the task?
    • Action: How can you perform the task?
    • Support material: documentation, systems, tools, tables, systems, etc.
    • Deliverables: what is produced in this phase? Reports, proposals, budgets, etc.

     

    • Definition of indicators

    Make a survey of the indicators that will best represent the team’s performance. The sales manager’s role is to evaluate these indicators and determine the quality of execution, propose improvements and provide coaching based on individual results.

    • Constantly Update

    The purpose of having a sales process is to make sales more predictable, measurable, and scalable. To do this, you need to constantly innovate systems, adopt new productivity tools, add or remove steps, depending on feedback from reps and customers.

    Finally, it is important to say that many companies make the mistake of thinking about the sales process from the perspective of the internal organization. On the contrary, the point of view you should follow is that of the customer, in order to be able to effectively accompany their purchase journey.

    So when thinking about the sales process, answer the following questions: who is my customer? What are your pain points? For what benefits are they willing to pay? Does my value proposition meet the pain points?

    At Digital Selling, we are prepared to help you design a sales process that will bring concrete results. Talk to us!



  • Sales funnel what it is, how it works, and benefits

    Sales funnel what it is, how it works, and benefits

    The sales funnel is one of the fundamental concepts of Digital Marketing and Sales. It’s been around for over 100 years and has had several iterations, but all seek to establish a map that lets you visualize the steps potential customers go through to become customers.

    By accompanying contacts throughout the sales stages, Marketing and Sales are able to align their actions and processes with the specific doubts and obstacles of potential customers at each stage. In this way, sales managers are more effective at transforming the contacts that Marketing generates into actual customers.

    How the sales funnel works

    Although the specific stages of the sales funnel vary from company to company – depending on the business model, customer expectations and needs, the sales process, … – any traditional funnel ends up essentially corresponding to 4 major phases:

    • Attention
    • Interest
    • Desire
    • Action

    In a real funnel, the largest amount of liquid enters at the top. As you move to the bottom of the funnel, the volume decreases. This analogy is useful for companies, but with a big caveat.

    While in a funnel the quantity that leaves is the same as that which entered, in a sales funnel the visitors to a website do not all turn into sales. In other words, the best analogy is a perforated funnel, which ends up losing some of the liquid.

    The objective of the process that we are going to describe below is precisely to ensure that as many contacts as the possible move from the top to the bottom of the funnel.

    Attention

    The main function of Marketing is to capture the largest possible audience within the target audience. This is nothing new. Content is a great marketing ally at this stage: blog articles and other informational materials, publications on social networks, the press, advertisements, partnerships, etc. are common formats for attracting the public’s attention.

    Using content to draw attention is a concept based on the idea that a large percentage of our potential customers look for information in order to solve a pain point they have.

    As an example, imagine a company that has developed billing software that integrates with eCommerce platforms. Possibly, a part of your audience still manages invoices manually when they receive an order on the website. It is for this audience that it makes sense to produce “top of the funnel” marketing content, which presents a solution to optimize the process with accessible terms and not too technical.

    As this audience learns more about available solutions, they will need more in-depth information, and eventually, they will leave their contact details, which takes us to the next stage.

    Creating interest and stimulating desire

    Interest and desire go hand in hand, let’s see how.

    When leads have already defined their problem well and are researching specific solutions, Marketing steps in to generate interest in your solution.

    This means producing other types of content: didactic resources, webinars, videos, and email sequences, among other ways to show not only the product’s characteristics but also the value (or intangible benefits). In this way, you are inciting interest in the product and the desire to obtain the same benefit.

    Introducing topics with an increasing level of specificity educate the lead and help to position yourself as an authority on the topic. But not only. The consumption of specific topics gives clues about the true stage of the lead in their buying journey, which is extremely useful for sales.

    Through certain contact capture mechanisms, also known as lead magnets – for example, downloadable materials, newsletter subscriptions, or account registration – we are able to obtain some contact information. At that moment, they are no longer just visits and become leads.

    This is the time when Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) contact leads to find out if they are Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs), that is if your offer meets their needs (if not, they continue to be nurtured by Marketing). If so, they move on to the next stage.

    Action

    The SQL is the leads that make it to the bottom of the funnel. They already know everything about their problem, they know what they need, and what the best solution is and they are prepared to choose the supplier. Now is the right time for the Account Executive to submit a proposal.

    After the Marketing nutrition, the preparation with the SDRs, and with the certainty that they are in the ideal phase to receive a proposal, the probability of accepting the proposal increases exponentially. Furthermore, the probability of giving up on the service or product after implementation is also lower, because this process ensures that the customer makes the best decision for him.

    Benefits of the sales funnel

    • Having a well-structured funnel allows you to understand the level of knowledge and interest in your offer.
    • Timing the submission of the proposal correctly avoids bombarding potential clients with too much information too soon.
    • Since not all contacts are ready to buy, the sales funnel helps prioritize the right leads and save sales reps time.
    • Allows you to adjust the themes and frequency of campaigns to send the right message at the right time.
    • It allows managers to scale the sales process, create some predictability about revenues, and set goals.
    • Allows you to align Marketing with Sales and optimize both processes.

    How are the sales funnel changing?

    Marketing and Sales, and the sales funnel by drag, are entirely centered on customer needs. It is no coincidence that the funnel is divided into “attention, interest, desire, and action”. This means that the activities and processes of the companies act according to the needs of the consumer and not the other way around.

    Digital marketing, marketing automation, and analytics have dramatically changed the process of converting new leads into customers. Sales reps now rely less on intuition to close sales – instead, they use complex data to prioritize sales opportunities.

    Finally, one of the biggest changes was the post-sales entry into the funnel. In the sales funnel just described, we are at the purchase decision stage. But today, a sales funnel is not complete without contemplating implementation and customer retention. Marketing and customer success comes into play after the sale to promote customer satisfaction and brand advocacy.