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Have you ever had a prospect go MIA? All too often, prospects you have invested time and energy in seemingly disappear into thin air. This is a frustrating and confusing reality for many salespeople whose job it is to grow new business.
It’s easy to cast blame on the prospect, but what if the reason you are being “ghosted” by prospects is a lack of connection early in the buyer’s journey? The fact is, in today’s Google-crazy world, most sales are taking place before the salesperson ever contacts the prospect. By the time a prospect contacts you, chances are they’ve already done their homework and have a good idea of what they want and from whom they want it. Consider the possibility that prospects disappear because you and your business failed to establish a relationship early enough in the buying process.
It’s Out Of Your Control...OR IS IT?
In some cases, as mentioned above, losing a prospect’s interest is out of your control and you may never know why they quit engaging. They drop you for no discernible reason. Or, and admittedly this isn’t exactly fun to discover, prospects simply find another solution. They may buy from a competitor or opt for an alternative solution to their problem altogether. Disappearing prospects happen for a variety of reasons. What’s more important than understanding why, however, is to have a plan for what happens next. It’s important to never completely write them off. Your goal should be to remain available and helpful should they decide to come back for a second look. And moving forward, your marketing plan should contain strategy that enables you to build relationships with prospective customers BEFORE they enter the buying phase.
BECOME A TRUSTED RESOURCE
With an inbound marketing strategy that shares educational and helpful content, you keep a line of communication open and stay top-of-mind with a prospect, even if they aren’t responding. Work to build a relationship over time and to become that trusted resource by consistently providing content that is valuable. If your blogs simply try to sell, prospects will tire of you quickly. Don’t aggravate them with constant sales pitches. Instead, consistently provide relevant content as part of your inbound marketing strategy. That way, you’re there when the prospect steps back into the market for your products or services. In the life cycle of a business, your customers will regularly have questions, and through strategic inbound marketing, you can be there to provide the answers. Then, when they are ready to buy, you’re there.
Build Trust Early
In today’s society, consumers often prefer doing their own research online instead of opening themselves up to a salesperson for questions. They don’t want to appear stupid or naïve, and information is power. This is a fantastic opportunity for your business to be regularly producing high-quality informative content that will answer consumer’s questions early on in their buyer’s journey, particularly if your industry requires a lot of education. In other words, you want to answer your prospect’s questions before they even think to ask them. Keep in mind, if your business is there with content that the prospect needs to learn about a subject or service, they are much more likely to do business with you over your competitor who wasn’t.
A well-orchestrated inbound marketing strategy will go a long way to prevent prospects from disappearing. Not only will inbound give you contact with a prospect before your competition even knows they exist, it positions your business as a trusted expert in your industry. Content that is helpful and relevant will reassure that prospect that buying from you is a wise decision, and they will feel more confident in moving forward in the sales process.
Our clients tell us that, with an inbound marketing strategy, not only did they have more prospects to work with, their closing ratio increased and the amount of time it took to close the deal was shortened considerably…all because customer leads came in that were better informed and more prepared to purchase. Contact us for a free consultation to find out if inbound marketing can do the same for you.
