Corona. A subject that has occupied us for a long time. We won't go into the virus itself, as enough has already been written about it. However, it is good to share the effect of the virus on new business from our perspective. Specifically, I want to zoom in on generating and following up leads. Because, how do you ensure a constant flow of new business opportunities when working from home is the new standard and physical appointments are largely no longer permitted?
The world has been turned upside down for a year now. Many people no longer work in an office. Just driving up to prospects is no longer permitted or possible. Trade fairs and events that normally generate part of the leads are no longer organised. The playing field has changed. If you don't change along with it, you will notice the negative consequences.
Scalable new business process
- Personalise your message: Potential customers often only want to talk to you if it adds value for them. The more specific the message is personalised to your prospect's unique situation, the more your prospect will feel engaged.
- Stop selling, start adding: The human brain has a built-in desire to become better at what we do. Therefore, we want to give prospects insights they don't already have. Think from the prospect's point of view. What can they learn from you as an expert and why should they invest in you? Remember that only 3% of your prospects are in buying mode. So you will have to adjust your message so that the majority of your target group sees added value in you.
- Multichannel your outreach: What channels are needed in this day and age to keep in touch with your prospects? Calling the head office is not enough to speak to enough prospects. Using a mix of multiple channels, on the other hand, is playing an increasingly important role in new business development.
Generating leads in practice
A good example is the contact with Jamie Steenbergen of Obi4wan. Now one of our current customers. The first contact was with one of Jamie's colleagues by phone. He couldn't put Jamie through and didn't have a direct number. The next step (usually) is to send an email, but Jamie's email address was not known. There was also no LinkedIn connection with Jamie, so the only step that could be taken now was to send a connection request. Tooling is a way that can help you further in this process. With the help of the amazing tool Seamless, we finally found Jamie's email address. As you can read, tooling has a positive influence on new business, because in this case Jamie could be emailed after all.
Now it was time for the personalisation. In the following mail you can read how we did this for Jamie. We applied the yellow part specifically to his personal situation. This story was made so specific and unique that it could not be sent to someone else. That's also what appealed to Jamie.
Unfortunately, this does not always result in 100% conversion, because there was no response to this e-mail. But perseverance wins. For this prospect, the power ultimately lay in the contact via LinkedIn. This story is also personalised for Jamie.
Finally, we come to: Stop selling, start adding. Looking at the e-mail and the LinkedIn messages, you see that the blue part ensures that the sales pressure is taken off. In this way, value is added for the prospect. Especially in these times, this is more important than ever.
Converting leads
How do you move forward with prospects who don't want to or can't receive you? You probably already see this answer coming, online. Digitalisation plays a crucial role in Covid times. We don't think things will go back to the way they were. At least, not exactly. Prospects will therefore only meet with you physically if there is an immediate need. So, as a replacement for the physical meetings, you want an online meeting. Which tool you use for this is up to you. In order to be as relevant as possible to your prospect during your online meeting, it is important that the meeting is also personalised. So make sure that you find out in advance what the prospect's specific situation is. No standard demos or one sizes fits all, but as customised as possible. Only in this way can you show what your product or service can do for the prospect in question and that is what he is interested in.
The most common mistake is to show everything your product or service can do. This is not what you want. Make it clear why your prospect should buy your product or service and how it can make his life more important. Stop selling, start adding!
Would you like to discuss this or are you curious as to what we can do for your organisation? We will gladly help you! Register now for our next webinar, via: https://match-day.nl/webinar/
