Have you ever thought about what causes a prospect to start a relationship with you? Where they sit in their purchase process can, and will, influence how you as a salesperson approach the sale.
Did a friend or business partner refer them to you? Have they thoroughly researched you as a company and are ready to purchase? Or did they just come across your company and made an inquiry?
A referral is one of the best ways to get a warm lead; we all like that bit of so-called ‘easy’ business. They have probably heard all about you, how you handle new customers, down to the nitty-gritty of what it is like being a customer of yours. Word of mouth is a powerful player in the buying process. Peer recommendations come highly respected and a trusted source of information is worth a whole lot more to a prospective buyer in the market for just about anything. Peer recommendations come highly respected.
If you have a researcher on your hands, one of the best things to find out is how they found you. What were they looking for in the first place? This can help you to understand exactly what their needs and expectations are. If they searched for “changing the world with $10”, chances are you don’t provide world-changing widgets for $10. But, in our case, if someone has searched “increasing sales with technology”, we know exactly what they want and what they are expecting from us. Expectations are key. And you must concentrate on meeting these and coming up with trumps for your prospects.
If a wayfaring stranger has happened to come across your website or product on a whim? It is still up to you to sell them your offering. Research your competition and find out what led them to you. We can be quite well figured out by our impulse decisions.
