Gaining more sales is the ultimate goal of every business. And from where does it start? Building a relationship with a total stranger starting from scratch. You need to have a strong sales pipeline for this which is a challenging target to achieve. But is that unachievable? Not at all. If you want to hit that note right, you are at the right place. We have gathered here with the six steps to build a strong and profitable pipeline and close more deals.
Build a strong foundation – Effective selling requires a strong foundation. Knowing the 3 Ps well can help build a strong sales pipeline. The first “P” is the product you are selling. Know the ins and out of the product to present it in the best possible manner and answer the questions with utmost confidence. It will aid you in having useful conversations with prospective customers.
The second “P” is the person you are selling your product to. And the third is the “Pitch.” Creating a fantastic pitch means you have won half the battle. Once you have built a strong foundation by working on these 3 Ps, you are ready to take the next step.
Segment your leads – Segmenting your leads is necessary to increase the chances of conversions. It gives a kick to the sales pipeline. You can group your prospects in multiple ways. For instance – Demographic segmentation takes into account the age, gender, income size, education, and ethnicity of the individuals. You can classify them according to the behavioral segmentation that considers the behavioral patterns of the groups, like purchase frequency or brand loyalty.
Another example is psychographic segmentation, in which the groups are formed on the basis of values, interests, beliefs, and lifestyles. Yet another example is the geographical segmentation in which the area where the people live is taken into consideration. Smartly segmenting your leads simplifies not only the customer’s journey but also helps in closing more deals.
Multiple lead generation strategies – A strong pipeline is one where you can generate leads and have a steady flow of them. You need to follow multiple lead-generation strategies to ensure that you have enough leads to work with and achieve your goals.
An example of an effective lead generation strategy is email marketing, in which you can build an email list and nurture leads. You can use cold email software to customize cold emails and follow-ups at record-breaking speed. Another strategy is content marketing. Addressing the pain points of your target audience and giving them relevant content can really pay you huge returns in terms of sales. You can also use referral marketing and social media marketing to bring customers and hence build a strong pipeline.
Identify the trigger behaviors – Businesses grow because they have a steady stream of sales opportunities. Sales opportunity means your business has a lead that qualifies a specific criterion and has a high chance to turn into a sale. Your business will only get returns if you bring the right kind of leads. You have to find out the trigger behaviors that take the lead to the next stage, which is a sale.
For instance – Ask them to download the report, watch the video till the end, or complete a trial period. Once you identify their triggers, fine-tune your approach. You can do that by offering incentives after they have completed the trial, sending more follow-up emails, or providing more phone support.
Refine the sales process – After identifying the trigger behavior, create a sales process to bring more sales. First, see what more you need to include in your current process. Find out the channel that produces the best leads, how long it takes to close the deal, whether you are hitting the right audience, etc. In the next step, look into the things which your business is doing right, what you do differently, and how you phrase the proposals. The answer to these questions will help you to sell better.
Now you can introduce new strategies for the purpose of closing more deals. For instance – You can offer free courses on your site, conduct webinars and give them information through video format.
Bring the dead leads back to life – All the prospects in your pipeline won’t end up buying your product. So, what should you do with these leads? The answer is reviving them. See what turned them off and introduce new features. Tell them about those features to reignite their interest back into the product and lead the conversation.
Besides, attract them with appealing content. All in all, using creative ways to bring dead leads back to life can work wonders in closing more deals.
Takeaway
If you implement and manage the above-mentioned steps properly, you are likely to track and close more deals. Don’t forget that you can revise the strategies by experimenting and seeing what is suitable for your business. Honing your pipeline will only make things more seamless for you. After all, a strong pipeline has the power to let you taste greater success over time.
