There’s a giant disconnect between salespeople and the people they want to sell to. Both are having conversations online about managed IT services and printing hardware. That’s a good thing. Those conversations aren’t with each other. That’s not a good thing.
According to HubSpot research, what customers want to talk about in the first sales meeting is NOT what the reps want to talk about. Both sides are talking about the same things, but in different ways. Here’s what office technology reps are talking about:
- Why is the company purchasing?
- What the company is trying to achieve with the purchase?
- What are the company’s overall goals?
These are questions that need to be answered so that salespeople can understand what their prospects need. However, hitting a prospect over the head with these questions may not be the right approach, because prospects want to talk about something different:
- Price
- A demo
- Case studies for how others have successful used the product or service
Remember, this is the FIRST CALL. In the past, sales reps held the keys to the kingdom of knowledge. They were able to listen to a prospect’s pains and spout out all the recommendations that would fit the prospect’s pain points. That knowledge gap rarely exists in today’s buying process.
Today, the prospect has already done research and made an alignment of the product or service that best solves their company’s pain based on their research. True story: This past weekend, we decided to stop by the pool store in my town to look at the solar covers. On the way there, I started discussing how I’d like to ask a store employee about the different types of solar covers. My husband stopped me immediately. “Lindz, do NOT ask the guy in the store. He’s going to sell you their brand or whatever they’re trying to make the most money on. Get your phone and do some research first, then you’ll know what to look for.”
He was absolutely right. I had a world of information at my fingertips–no need to engage with the store employee until I was closer to my decision. I knew what I was looking for within 10 minutes.
It’s the same for your prospects – they look online for their answers. Think about your website and the office technology industry in general. Let’s look at how the rules of sales engagement have changed.
Then:
- Cold calls were answered.
- Drop-ins were successful and resulted in immediate meetings.
- Sales reps educated the prospects on the products and services.
Today:
- Many evolved buyers don’t answer their phone at all – e.g., gatekeepers, caller ID.
- Elevators don’t have buttons – they have guards with digital keys to get you to your desired floor.
- Google is their sales rep.
Google has fundamentally changed sales because consumers are ALWAYS connected. According to Anderson Jones PR, 93 percent of the business-to-business buying process starts with an online search. And, according to Forrester, 74 percent of business buyers conduct more than half of their research online before making an offline purchase.
Prospects Get Frustrated
We are conditioned now to get exactly what we want when we want it. Technology has spoiled us. Your prospects are experiencing that right now. Our industry has exceptional sales people and they are trained to the hilt. But our prospects no longer want to be called or receive direct mail. They want answers and they want them now. Imagine the delight they’ll feel about YOU when you’re the one answering their questions.
Tools Are WAY Better
Think about 10 years ago… the iPhone didn’t exist yet. You couldn’t take a photo and post it to Facebook or Instagram immediately. Our tools and technology evolved since then, and we evolved with them. We have expectations that we can get what we want when we want it from anyplace. So why haven’t we evolved how we sell to meet the evolving landscape of how buyers buy? I don’t know.
Let’s Start Here: How Can You Engage Your Audience in Today’s Business Environment?
First, do NOT stop cold calling. Most folks think if they start getting leads coming in through the website that they don’t have to cold call anymore. Wrong. Until you have more inbound leads coming from your website than you can handle in your funnel, then cold calling still needs to be done.
However, think about all the opportunities companies or individual reps can share the knowledge in their heads:
- Company blog
- Social networks
- LinkedIn long-format posts
- Company website
- Personal blog
- Instagram (yes – you can use Instagram for telling a story of a client, a service or anything really… example: https://www.instagram.com/xerox/)
- Snapchat
Something to keep in mind: You are human. Your buyer is human. Engage online like a human… not a cyborg. When you’re answering questions, answer them in your words, like a human. You’re creating a digital soul to connect with.
Top 5 questions you need to answer for your target audience to find you online:
- Price/Cost questions. – I know, I know – you can’t list the monthly cost per seat for your Managed IT Services program or what an MFP costs (however, any of you who have heard me speak know that I won’t let any of our customers use “MFP”…it’s a copier to your prospect, so call it a copier online). But prospects are Googling the question “How much does a copier cost?” If you aren’t addressing it at least in ballpark, rough estimates, then you’re not coming up in the search results. If you’re not, then who is?
- Problems and Issues. When researching, prospects will research which machines could be problematic for them. A typical question might be “Which copier is the most high maintenance?”
- Versus/Comparison Questions. These questions often come up in the middle of the researcher’s process as ways to start gathering information to make an educated decision. An appropriate one would be: “What’s the difference between an In-house copier lease vs. third-party copier lease?” or “Leasing vs buying a copier.”
- Reviews. When the prospect has an idea of a specific product or solution, a search for a review of the product will occur. Something like “Review of the Xerox Workcentre 7845.”
- Best Of. These questions are at the heart of the decision for the buyer. An example would be, “What is the best color copier for a small business?”
What will answering these types of questions on my website do for my sales growth? Folks buy from people the know, like, and trust. So get them to trust you, in the place where they are spending time doing the research–online. What do you think that will do for you in a competitive situation? They do a search on Google, you answer their question, they begin to trust you. It’s that simple.
