Anyone who has ever prospected the good ‘ol fashioned way knows just how tedious it is. Calling people you don’t know anything about, trying to sell them on your products and services? Sound familiar? What’s worse is that this has happened to us all, so we know how off-putting it can be.
Fortunately, those days are over. The days of cold calling and mass emails are behind us. Inbound selling has enabled us to prospect in new (and more productive) ways. Here’s how.
Inbound selling is the umbrella for the modern sales process. Under this umbrella there are several tools, best practices, strategies, etc. that enable us as salespeople to do our jobs. These tools come in the form of data intelligence about our prospects, gleaned from marketing activities and sales prospecting efforts.
Inbound selling is the modern sales process, and the place where Sales and Marketing alignment is essential. The modern sales process, the one where the buyer is more than 50% of the way through the decision-making process, requires Sales and Marketing to work effectively together. This process relies so heavily on data intelligence to drive future strategy, and that data comes from a coordinated effort from both teams.
Let’s look at an example of inbound selling in action:
Leads come in. Preferably, these leads come in from a BDR, whose sole purpose is to optimize sales prospecting efforts. Leads become Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL’s) when they engage with your marketing assets in some way. An example of this is downloading an eBook from a landing page, or watching a video on your home page. After this initial engagement, and using some type of marketing automation software, Marketing can set up future engagements based on previous ones. This lead nurturing converts an MQL into a SQL at a point that is specifically outlined by both teams. This is crucial. Sales and Marketing must work together to decide what that crucial conversion point is to hand over only the most qualified leads. Once a MQL becomes a SQL, it is in Sales’ hands to convert that lead into a sales opportunity and ultimately close them into a deal.
That’s it, right? The lead is in Sales’ hands, it’s up to them to finish the deal. Well, that’s not necessarily true when it comes to inbound selling. Inbound selling is all about nurturing the lead into a customer. So throughout the entire sales process, Sales leverages Marketing assets to continue that nurturing process—to always be helping, rather than always be closing. So really, Marketing’s job is never done in the inbound selling approach.
Teams that are using inbound selling methods are optimizing the point of conversion and ultimately closing more opportunities into customers. It is crucial today that data intelligence be at the forefront of every prospecting, marketing, and sales effort. Data intelligence is the key to inbound selling, and the key to Marketing and Sales alignment.
Learn more about how a BDR can help bridge the gap between Sales and Marketing and optimize sales opportunities. Download the eBook below!
