Gone are the days when salespeople were the primary source of inbound leads (A prospective client who independently contacts a company to express interest in a good or service). Welcome to the evolving era of technology, where the advent of the internet has made traditional sales strategies just a good old story.
In these changing scenarios and challenging selling landscapes, one concept that has the potential to not just survive but thrive is Inbound sales. This methodology approaches a potential customer with value and frames an offer around their requirements so they can't refuse.
Basically, Inbound sellers turn the data accessibility of the internet their ally than enemy, filling the crucial role of translators between the general message available online regarding a product and the unique buyer needs, thereby ensuring the continued relevance of their profession.
In the following section, we will delve deeper into this amazing concept, exploring its principles and practical applications. So, stay tuned, and let's unlock the potential of Inbound sales together!
What is inbound sales?
Inbound sales refers to building trust by providing value to prospects or customers before upfront pitching your product or service. Unlike traditional sales methods, it takes a customer-centric and consultative approach.
Before the internet, buyers relied on the expertise and discretion of salespersons to understand the details of their desired product, the resources needed to install it, or its functioning. However, the internet has not just changed everything, it has empowered buyers, shifting the dynamics of sales in a massive way.
Now, in many cases, buyers don't need salespersons. Online buyers can read about the details of the offering, compare across competitions, and usually become well-versed in the price points. This context shift has dramatically changed the way sales should be executed.
Inbound Selling: A Narrative You Must Know
In today's era of online shopping, a company puts all the details about a brand, its vision, various products, their types, utility, price points, etc., on its site for the convenience of customers. Moreover, some brands put their product specifics on various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, etc., through influence marketing, videos, etc., catching customers' attention and allowing some of them to approach you for a purchase.
The marketing team typically leads the inbound approach. They're the ones who craft and disseminate advertising campaigns and web content, all with the aim of attracting and satisfying potential customers. It's their efforts, particularly in content marketing, SEO, and referrals, that often lead to a surge in potential leads, as customers respond to the results of these powerful strategies.
It's at this point that inbound selling comes into play, paving the way for inbound sales. Inbound sellers don't just sell-they engage with these interested buyers in a deeply personalized way, earning their trust and gaining a thorough understanding of the buyer's context. Only then do they offer a product that truly aligns with the buyer's needs.
Why Is Inbound Approach the Next Big Thing in Sales?
In sales, the idea is to stay relevant in the eyes of your potential customer, and with the changing times, this has become even more important.
Inbound sales, with their customer-centric approach, assist sales representatives in remaining pertinent and at the forefront of consumers' minds as they move through the various phases of the purchasing process. Inbound tactics provide customers with insightful information and content germane to their purchase choice, which helps draw in and hold their attention.
Many ask why inbound sales are important. Why not focus on outbound sales? They may yield better results in the short term. However, inbound sales, with their focus on building relationships and trust, offer long-term benefits that outbound sales can never replace.
First, let's understand the key differences between inbound and outbound sales in our next section. This will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of both strategies, enabling you to make an informed decision about which one is best for your sales approach.
Inbound Sales Vs. Outbound Sales: It’s All About Approach
Unlike inbound sales, where customers approach the company, outbound sales is a proactive approach. Here, a sales development representative (SDR) takes the initiative, reaching out to potential customers and making a compelling pitch for a good or service. This method, which includes emails, cold calling, and more, allows companies to directly influence their customer base and potentially secure rapid wins, fostering a sense of optimism and motivation.
Inbound Sales | Outbound sales |
It is mainly customer-initiated | The sales team takes the primary initiatives. |
Content marketing, SEO efforts, social media initiatives help in attracting leads. | Company’s sales reps try to reach leads through cold calling, emails, etc. |
You can scale it with consistent content marketing and generating wide-spread appeal. | You can scale it, too. All you need is a big sales team with persistent efforts and clear vision. |
Feedback is generally slow and requires consistent customer engagement | The feedback is immediate here. It requires direct interaction. |
Conversion rates are quite higher as the first step is taken from the side of customers. | Here conversion rates are quite less because of higher rejection rates and cold outreach efforts. |
The answer to what kinds of sales are superior is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It primarily depends on your company's industry, target market, business objectives, and other elements. This flexibility empowers you to tailor your sales strategies to your unique business needs.
You can also opt for a hybrid model, a strategy that offers you the freedom to choose. In this model, the marketing team creates and nurtures inbound leads while the outbound sales team qualifies and converts potential customers. The choice is entirely yours, giving you a sense of control over your sales process!
Now, it's time to understand the tips that will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to successfully navigate inbound sales.
Tips to Make Inbound Sales Effective
Walk in Your Buyer's Shoes
Understanding your buyer's unique context and specific needs is as important as understanding the specifics of your offering. This helps you contribute to the knowledge of what your buyer consumes. This practice will help you build trust with your customers and put them in the forefront as they show the amount of time and investment they have made to cater to their unique needs, making them feel valued.
Don't Oversell
You must remember that since clients have come to you, they have some degree of trust in your business. Now, all you have to do as an inbound seller is highlight the benefits of their decision and reassure them about it. Overselling and aggressively promoting your proposal won't work in this situation. Instead, focus on building their confidence in their decision.
Learn to Listen
Everyone desires to feel as though they are being heard. However, the majority of us never learn to listen. However, you must become an expert at listening if you work in inbound sales. When it comes time to paraphrase, listening throughout the consultation phase will be helpful. Be sure to show that you fully get the wants and objectives of the client. This will give them the impression that you care about finding a solution and help build trust.
Be Honest
Sincerity and honesty are the fundamental components of sales ethics and are necessary to establish credibility and confidence with clients. Give a fair assessment of the good or service; don't omit important details or overstate its features. Being honest about where they are in the purchasing process and reacting accordingly will make them feel secure and trustful.
Sound Authentic
Being genuine in inbound sales can help you gain consumers' confidence, differentiate yourself from the competition, and establish enduring partnerships. Being yourself, respectful, sincere, and demonstrating relevant interest in your customers' queries are some of the things you need to do while making the repo with the customer.
Effective Communication
The representative for inbound sales should be aware of the communication that has an impact. When interacting with current or prospective customers, he should be aware of his topic, audience, and communication style. You get to interact with a wide range of clients in this line of work, and in order to succeed in sales, you need to be able to establish rapport with them, understand their wants, references, and thinking, and communicate properly with them. Representatives should be authentic and show they have researched; using generalizations or making exaggerated claims will turn off potential customers.
These are certain things that an inbound sales representative should take care of while conducting an inbound sales pitch. In the next section, we will understand the Inbound sales process.
Inbound Sales Process
The idea behind an inbound sales process is to build your sales journey around the customer's requirements—nothing less and nothing more!
As per the standard qualification process, customers are supposed to encounter crucial stages in their purchase journey.
Awareness,
consideration, and
decision
Awareness is the stage when buyers understand that there is a problem with purchasing. The second stage is when buyers consider that issue a problem and seek ways to resolve it. The purchaser has finally made a decision regarding a product.
Salespeople should try to comprehend the buyer's criteria at this point and craft their inbound sales plan. All they need to assure customers organically is that they are able to resolve any issues and guarantee that they have a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that sets them apart from the competitors. This could be a unique feature of the product, exceptional customer service, or a competitive price point.
The idea of the Inbound sales process is simple: It supports the buyer through their purchasing journey so that they actually make a purchase.
Let's understand how you can do that.
There is a standard four-part framework that you must follow to create a good Inbound sales process.
Identify
Connect
Explore
Advise
Identify the Potential Lead
The first stage in the inbound sales process is finding or identifying potential customers who might be interested in your product or service. This can be effectively accomplished by customer profiling, social media listening, or market research, providing you with a solid foundation to build your sales strategy.
One excellent strategy for generating Inbound leads is content marketing. Each piece of content you produce contributes to a lead's increased interest in your offering.
It's important to create a structured content journey that guides the buyer from the top of the funnel (what the content is about) to the bottom of the funnel (what the price of the product is). This approach ensures that your content is not only engaging but also informative, leading to higher conversion rates. Start by determining the kinds of content that are appropriate for your audience, business, and product.
Connect With Your Customer
Once you have found your customer, it's time to strike the iron when it's hot. Yes! It's time to take another crucial step: reaching out to them (making initial contact). You can do this in various ways, including phone calls, emails, etc.
Make that pivotal first impression with personalized communication that not only aligns with the prospect's goals and requirements but also makes them feel valued and integral to the sales process.
Understanding the personality of your prospect is crucial. It allows you to create a connection that is tailored to their unique objectives, problems, and areas of expertise, thereby increasing the chances of a successful sale.
If you follow all the tips above, you will be all set to make the connection you need to further the sales process.
Explore the Issue With Your Customers
The primary goal of the investigation phase of the inbound sales process is to engage in meaningful conversations with your prospect, understanding their unique requirements, problems, and objectives. This is where you can gain crucial insights into their needs, such as why they need this product, and tailor your solution to meet their specific needs, fostering a deeper connection with your client.
It's crucial to make a sincere effort to understand your client's issues. This understanding will allow you to modify your proposal to address their needs, demonstrating your commitment to their success. The timing and rhythm of these touchpoints are equally important. You want to ensure that your product or service is top of mind for your lead, but without overwhelming them.
Advise That Hit the Bull’s Eye
Any competent inbound salesperson will be able to determine whether the offer is a good fit at this point. Inbound sellers create a customized and very successful proposition using the data they collected earlier in the process. Remember, sending a generic pitch or explanation is never appropriate. Your persuasive email content or one-on-one presentations should be tailored to the industry and persona of the customer.
The buyer and sales representative should both profit from the sales process, which should feel like it ends organically.
Best Inbound Sales Practices That Can Bring the Deal Home
It’s All About Customers
Inbound sales' ultimate goal is to make it easy for customers. Customers have shown interest in you and have a rough idea of what you do. Now, it's time to extend your warm hand and understand what is stopping them from making a purchase. Take the time to empathize with their doubts or reluctance regarding some feature or price point. This understanding will help you guide them effectively.
Communicate with potential customers clearly, courteously, and concisely. Your customers should easily grasp how you present your goods or services. Additionally, don't call prospective clients when they're busy. Eliminate all extraneous information to give your buyer a clear value proposition. Allow your client to initiate the next course of action.
In short, let them be the hero of their film; you direct them in a way they feel they are the mainstay. Respect their role in the sales process and believe it or not, they are the mainstay!
Adding Value, Build Rapport
They know what they know; now, the real thing is what you, as an inbound professional, can add to their knowledge to make them your customers. You have the power to add value at every step of the sales cycle. Offer clients more than a pre-written sales message. Contribute to the conversation about best practices and provide practical solutions by drawing on your extensive industry knowledge.
Moreover, building a personal relationship with customers is the cornerstone of inbound sales. Build rapport with your clients and make an effort to personalize each stage of your sales cycle.
Write Clear and Concise Pitch
"The initial impression is the final one." Developing outstanding copywriting abilities enables you to interact and communicate more than you could ever imagine. These days, the majority of the audience asks this question. You can also add a little fun and oddity, depending on the type of consumer you have.
Inbound Sales Examples: How Do You Do It Right?
Blogs
Establishing a corporate blog is among the best instances of inbound marketing, which can be a first step toward inbound sales. By writing blog entries on subjects linked to your products, you are not just driving people to your website, but also providing them with valuable information they are actively seeking.
Each blog post you create is a potential gateway to new customers. By focusing on a specific keyword, also known as a search term, you can attract readers who are interested in your products. For example, if you sell beds, an article on the term "types of beds" could pique the interest of readers who might then become your clients.
Social Media
With half of the world's population active on social media, it's a vast marketplace for your product. Users spend an average of 28% of their online time on these platforms, making them a prime target for your marketing efforts. By creating a social media account for your company, you can regularly share marketing content in a non-intrusive way. Users may discover your brand by chance, and if they find your content engaging, they may choose to follow you.
SEO
One of the best practices for inbound selling, SEO, is all about meeting the needs of your users. By optimizing your website's pages to appear in Google search results for specific keywords, you're ensuring that your users find exactly what they're looking for when they search on Google. This user-centric approach is key to successful inbound selling.
Videos
Video, with its engaging moving imagery, is a powerful form of media that can connect with your audience in a unique way. Unlike text passages or pictures, videos have a compelling quality that makes them hard to ignore. They can be created for your website, shared via email newsletters, and even distributed on social media.
Conclusion
That’s it! Now you know everything there is to understand about inbound sales. You’ve got the full picture—from the core principles to the strategies that set it apart from traditional sales techniques. But knowledge alone won’t get you the results. Now, it’s time to take that knowledge and put it into practice.
Start by filling in the gaps in your current sales process, applying the inbound methodology step-by-step, and optimizing each phase along the way.
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