Get the Trash Out of your Funnel

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Get the Trash Out of Your Funnel

October 9, 2012

Welcome!

I’m Joanne Black

I’m Here

In San Francisco

The Book On Referral Selling

How Are Your Customers Doing?

Business Challenges

1. Reaching the decision maker

2. Converting prospects to clients

3. Budgets cut

4. Getting qualified leads

5. Making time to follow-up

Discuss Today

• Why the shape of your funnel matters

• The damage when your funnel is clogged

• Get the “right” people in your funnel• How to create real velocity in your

sales funnel• Identify your Ideal Clients and fire

the others

You Will…• Increase your conversion rate• Have the best people in your pipeline• Shorten time moving prospects to

clients• Work with only qualified leads• Calendar 3 meetings in 7 days

Joanne’s Points of View

Contrary to popular belief

The Traditional Sales Funnel

Too many unqualified leads

…clog up the funnel£

Jean Rutherford
People,rocks money symbols dont get through Funnel fills up and just one tiny stone plops out at the bottom

Consider…

If leads are “unqualified”, are they really leads?

Typical Demand Generation

• Companies that promise to deliver “qualified leads” to your inbox

• Companies that sell you lists• Website visitors• Social media• Downloads• Blogs

Qualified?

Research makes it ok?

They May Just Be

• Curious• Expanding their knowledge• Researching a competitor• Sending a link

“Lead” Sorters

A, B, C• Prioritize• What work on• What put aside

More Sorters

• Suspects• Prospects• Clients• Dead

Looks Like…

Joanne’s Point of View

Generating Qualified leads is the most important step in your sales process

Why Qualify?

Ensure Prospects • Match your capabilities• Are willing to talk to you• Value your services• Don’t waste your time

Who Qualifies?

• You?• Marketing?

The Role of Marketing

– Advertising– Conferences– Email campaigns– Website presence– Direct mail– Marketing automation

The Role of Sales

Getting in front of the “right” people

But You Might Say…

– Prepare for the meeting– Craft questions to ask– Overcome objections– Uncover the real issue– Decide team roles– Propose– Present– Close– Follow-Up

If You Don’t Get to The Right People

Nothing else matters…

Joanne’s Point of View

Generating Qualified leads is the most important step in your sales process

Typical Qualifying Criteria

• Industry• Geography• Business Unit/Function• Company Size

Other Typical Qualifying Criteria

• Budget• Authority• Need• Timeframe

Begin the Qualification Process

Two More Criteria

• Kind of person• Business situation or need

Who is Your Ideal Client?

Who Is Your Ideal Client?

• Collaborative• Listens• Values our work• Respects deadlines & deliverables• Keeps promises• Sense of humor• Open to new ideas• Budget authority

Is This Ideal?

Ideal Client

Who is the opposite of our Ideal Client?

What You Don’t Want

A PITA client!

Fire the PITA

Wears us out

Fire the PITA

Frustrates us

Fire the PITA

Makes us angry

A PITA Client

• Drains our energy• Wastes our time• Uses too many resources• Is never satisfied• Never refers us• We don’t make money

Your Criteria

Select your specific criteria

Criteria

#1

100%

50

0

sam

ple

YOUR CHECKLIST

Your Criteria

• If they don’t match your criteria, you have a PITA on your hands

• Fire the PITA now

You Know Who They Are

PITA clients are an opportunity

COST

You Know Who They Are

PITA clients are an opportunity

LOST

to work with our Ideal Clients

Fire the PITA

Say NO! Don’t create an opportunity cost for your business.

Statistics From a Sales VP

10 percent improvement in conversion rates in the beginning of the qualification process can result in…

This Result

A 40 percent increase in sales productivity

The Big Question

How do we increase our conversion rate?

The Answer?

Turn the funnel upside down?

…this won’t work.

The Answer

Get only qualified leads in your sales funnel

The New Funnel

Get more qualified leads…

…and increase velocity through the funnel.

How Do You Get Qualified Leads?

Through referrals

Referred Prospects

You receive an introduction!

Why Referrals Work

• Pre-sold • Credibility and trust• Sales time shortens• Competition goes away• Time with clients increases• No “hard” costs

Why Referrals Work

What percent of the time do you get a new client?30%

50%

70%

90%

100%

0102030405060708090

100

You Need a Targeted Strategy

• Written referral sales plan• Weekly written referral goals• Methods to track and measure

referrals• Accountability for results

Do You Have a Targeted Strategy?

What is Your Answer?

Targeted Referral Strategy

It’s

COMMON SENSE

But it’s not

COMMON PRACTICE

It’s About Velocity

Qualified referrals will move quickly through the funnel

Jean Rutherford
make funnel transparent dso you can see the people moving threough

CSO Insights

Barry Trailer bets his house• www.csoinsights.com

It’s Not

The number of leads in your funnel

It Is

The number you get through that counts

It Gets Better

Your new, faster-moving sales energy

…will generate more qualified leads through referrals.

No More Smoke and Mirrors

• Is the trash out of your funnel?• Are you ready to schedule your 3

meetings in the next 7 days?

Resources

• joanne@nomorecoldcalling.com• 415-461-8763• www.NoMoreColdCalling.com

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