In the world of traditional selling, when a lead came in, it was usually a cue for a sales rep to proceed by giving a product demo, quoting pricing, or some other overly aggressive, outbound tactic.
In the world of inbound selling, the approach is a bit different. When you apply inbound marketing to your sales process (i.e. inbound selling), you engage with leads differently. But trust us, it’s for the better.
Here’s how sales leaders should use inbound marketing assets to engage with their qualified sales leads.
You’ve made it through Phase 1: attracting prospects to your website through inbound marketing assets like blogs, videos, etc. This part of the sales process is heavily marketing-related. Marketing creates these assets and distributes them in places where target prospects can find them. Then, when the right prospects do find them and engage with them, they are captured as a Marketing Qualified Lead. These MQLs have proven they are ready to be handed to Sales based on their engagement with Marketing materials. It is then Sales’ job to determine if they are a Sales Qualified Lead.
SQLs require a great deal of nurturing. Traditionally, that “nurturing” would be in the form of repeated phone calls, aggressive sales demos, etc. Thankfully, those days are behind us!
Armed with inbound marketing, modern sales leaders have all the tools to nurture SQLs and convert them to customers. Here are a few examples of content pieces that Sales can use to nurture SQLs:
- Present them with a Case Study about a recent project you did for a client
- Give them a White Paper demonstrating the market growth of your product or service
- Show an eBook that addresses challenges specific to their industry
All of these assets make up the content marketing strategy and can be used for different lifecycle stages. For example, a MQL most likely wouldn’t receive a Case Study because they are just uncovering their problem. Case Studies are reserved for bottom of the funnel sales offers—when SQLs are more sales-ready. A Case Study is considered a bottom of the funnel offer because it gives evidence of other client’s success with your business. This is only useful for leads that are sales-ready.
In order for Sales to compete today, they have to get on board with Marketing and use the tools that inbound marketing efforts create. It’s a new way to sell—inbound selling. Educate, engage, and excite prospects through inbound selling to convert them to customers.
Further the relationship between Sales and Marketing–Create Smarketing. Read more about enabling Smarketing in your business by downloading the free eBook below!
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