In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, a comparison of inbound selling and dating.
You’re probably thinking, how in the world do these two go together? We kind of were at first, too. But then it dawned on us, just as their are many options (or fish in the sea) when dating, so too are there when shopping for products and services to solve our problems. Let’s take a closer look.
There are many fish in the sea. Singles in search of love sometimes go on several dates with all different kinds of people before finding out what type of person works best for them.
That’s true for buyers searching for a solution to their business’ problems. There are many fish in the sea–tons of products and services that claim to solve the same problem. But it will most likely cost you a lot more to test out multiple business solutions.
That’s where inbound selling comes in. Inbound selling, like inbound marketing, works to bring the buyer to the solution in a valuable way. Salespeople who incorporate inbound selling best practices work to educate, engage, and excite their prospects. Which, when you think about, sounds a lot like convincing a date to go on a second date with you.
Here are the inbound selling best practices that salespeople should use when trying to convince a decision maker to move forward with them.
The 3 E’s of Dating– i.e. Selling
1. Educate— Nobody likes to sit through a date or a meeting and listen to the other person talk all about themself. Instead, educate them with materials that are useful to them. If they are looking for a solution to their patient bad debt, provide them with materials–eBooks, blogs, white papers, etc.–that offer suggestions for improvement.
2. Engage— Being an engaging person takes skill and understanding. An inbound seller must understand what their buyer really needs; something the buyer might not even know themselves. This is an extraordinary skill to craft. But it is an essential skill that ultimately sets you apart from your competition.
3. Excite— Who wants to go on a boring date? There’s nothing worse than sitting through a dull conversation, over dull food, in a dull restaurant, with a dull person. The same holds true for boring salespeople. If you are not passionate, excited, and enthusiastic throughout your sales process, how can you expect the buyer to be excited?
Inbound selling is a lot like fostering a relationship. More recently, people believe that Sales has become less about relationships. It is true that buyers expect more, want better solutions, etc. But it still takes a strong relationship with a sales person to separate your business from its’ competition. Inbound selling enables sales leaders with the tools to do just that.
Learn more about how inbound selling and inbound marketing work together to educate, engage, and excite prospects. Download the Smarketing eBook below and get started!
