Megaphone vs. Magnet: Why Softer Sales Approaches Reign Supreme Today
We’ve all seen TV shows, sketches, and movies depict the “salesperson” of the past as obnoxious, loud, and aggressive. Inevitably, this (slightly) exaggerated scenario would occur over the phone, with the person hawking a product or service cold-calling clients, shouting information, and pressuring the customer until they make a purchase. The tactic of bombarding consumers with information, while common 30 years ago, is wholly inconsistent with contemporary consumer behavior and simply doesn’t work.
Even if we ignore the fact that such a strategy is particularly annoying, there’s a more nuanced reason as to why it wouldn’t be effective in today’s environment. The overarching explanation is this: The seller no longer wields the power; the buyer does. While we’ve long accepted this new reality, too many businesses are dragging their heels, failing to come to grips with this new power balance.
Consider this statistic: Less than 5-percent of cold calls currently result in direct lead generation. So, instead of hanging on to the past, it’s time you embrace account-based marketing (ABM) with open arms.
And one way to do that is by focusing on the so-called flywheel effect: attracting, engaging, and delighting the buyer as a mode of growing business. In short, customers are doing the hard work, while helping your business grow through referrals.
Why Are We Now in an Inbound Marketing Age?
What caused this shift? The answer is simple: technology. The internet has made it easier than ever for brands to specifically please and woo their ideal consumer, whether that be through special targeted marketing based on demographics, or responding directly to comments to keep them happy. Marketing has evolved into the perspective of the consumer, and companies that embrace this approach are the ones experiencing the biggest yields today.
Additionally, social media sites are providing marketers with information and data that make it easier for businesses to effectively approach consumers down the line. Data helps marketers understand demographics, identify valuable content to distribute (photo versus video, for example), what topics to discuss directly with customers, and information on successful ad campaigns, and more.
Essentially, salespeople no longer have to “wonder” or assume what elements to include in an advertisement or speculate about its performance after the fact—they can access that data immediately.
Now, how do you completely shift your sales approach from megaphone to magnet? You open yourself up to a crash course, or boot camp, on lead generation and modern sales techniques.
HubSpot Sales Pipeline Generation Bootcamp
By going through a sales boot camp, you will learn the following:
- How to get up and get started. We’re all afraid to make that leap in the beginning. This sales bootcamp takes you out of your comfort zone and into the world of inbound sales marketing.
- How to learn, test, and learn again. You will learn what you need to work on, how you can provide more value to your customers, and how you can make changes to successfully adapt to this consumer-centric world.
- How to embrace the sales journey. Every sales process has a conversion, a journey, and a life. We all have to start somewhere, which is what this bootcamp will show you, from start to finish. You will learn how to connect to the human on the other side of the equation.
- How to formulate numbers that work for you. Create a sales metric that works for you and your business. This bootcamp will help you figure out the math in a way that makes sense.
From megaphone to magnet in just eight weeks, you will be amazed at how equipped you are for today’s sales expectations.
