Closing deals is the lifeblood of any business. However, with evolving customer expectations and fierce competition, sales teams need to be strategic in their approach to stand out and seal profitable deals. In this comprehensive guide, we outline 15 proven sales tactics to help you engage customers, earn their trust, and ultimately convince them to buy from you.
1. Leverage Social Media to Connect with Customers
With over 4.65 billion daily active social media users worldwide, platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn present a massive opportunity to engage prospects. Post educational content, run promotions and interact directly with potential buyers through messaging. Data shows brands generating over 75% more leads from social selling. Tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social help manage multi-channel campaigns.
2. Offer Free Trials to Demonstrate Value
Product trials enable prospects to experience your offering first-hand. Software company HubSpot saw conversions improve by over 400% after launching free tools. To replicate their success:
- Keep sign up frictionless by only asking for essential details
- Set trial duration to 14-30 days to give customers enough time to see value
- Prompt for feedback surveys after sign up to guide product optimizations
3. Refine Cold Calling with Targeted Messaging
Despite the bad rap, cold calling remains an effective lead gen tactic if executed correctly. Define an ideal customer profile (ICP) and call prospects that fit it using personalized pitches. Data shows reps tailoring messages have 2x more success converting calls to sales than those using generic scripts.
4. Produce Demo Videos to Showcase Products
64% of buyers are more likely to purchase after watching a brand video. Create a visual narrative around how your product solves customer pain points. Use testimonials and avoid complex jargon. Insert CTAs to your website or sales reps at the end. Invest in professional production for maximum impact.
5. Adopt a People-First Approach to Build Relationships
Get to know prospects as people first before pushing products. Ask good questions to understand their business needs. Then explain how your solution helps, focusing on value over features. This makes customers feel cared for, improving brand perception. Sales reps prioritizing trust have an average 70% close rate over those focused on quoting.
6. Follow Up Regularly to Stay Top of Mind
It takes an average of 12 follow ups to convert a lead. Set reminders to tackle progressing deals in your CRM. Send personalized emails recapping past discussions. Call periodically to answer questions. Consistent nurturing makes customers more inclined to close with you versus competitors.
7. Respond to Inbound Leads in Under 24 Hours
Inquiries from your website and socials signal high intent. Yet over 42% of reps take over a day to respond, causing drop off. Empower teams to react faster with shared inboxes and call/text tools. Customizable chatbot solutions like Drift and HubSpot also offer instant answers to popular questions until a salesperson can follow up.
8. Survey Customers Regularly to Improve Experiences
Client opinions provide valuable insights to help refine your sales and product strategy. Send post-purchase NPS surveys to gauge satisfaction benchmarks. Run quarterly Voice of Customer interviews asking what they like and what needs work. This helps spotlight areas working well versus those needing improvement.
9. Enable Upsells and Cross-sells to Drive Higher Value
Upselling nudges customers to enhance their purchase while cross-selling presents complementary offerings. Set up post-checkout offers on your website highlighting premium products or accessories. Equip account managers to discuss add-ons during onboarding calls with new sign-ups. Personalization is key here to avoid being intrusive.
10. Prioritize Referrals for Organic Growth Opportunities
Referred customers have a 37% higher retention rate over non-referred ones. Make it easy for happy clients to share your brand by embedding links in receipts or through loyalty promos. For example, offer $20 credits for both parties when a new user signs up via an existing member’s link.
11. Captivate Prospects with Persuasive Sales Pitches
Words influence decisions. Carefully craft pitches to evoke emotions and convince fence-sitters to say yes. Use conversational language. Summarize key takeaways upfront. Embed credibility by mentioning prominent logos you work with. Storytelling also helps relate benefits back to prospects’ reality, moving them closer to desired outcomes.
12. Leverage the Power of Storytelling to Make Meaningful Connections
Research shows narrative-based messaging gets up to 22% more engagement over factual statements. Foster an emotional bond by illustrating how you solved issues faced by customers similar to the prospect. Describe the before and after experience after onboarding your product. This helps buyers envision their future reality once they sign up.
13. Coach Mindset and Motivation for the Sales Team
Skills alone cannot guarantee sales excellence. The right mental attitude and intrinsic drive to keep prospects engaged also play a huge role. Foster a coaching culture focused on positive self-talk, tenacity and lifelong learning amongst reps. Lead team huddles each morning to set the tone and celebrate small wins.
14. Tackle Objections Head-On to Alleviate Concerns
Prospect doubts delay sales, especially for considered purchases. Tackle barriers even before they come up by listing FAQs on your website. Prepare rebuttals to common concerns around value, implementation complexity or data security to reassure shoppers.
15. Instil Urgency via Scarcity Appeals
Playing on the fear of missing out (FOMO) motivates quicker decisions. Offer discounts or premiums for customers only available for a limited period. Show remaining inventory stock levels on key product pages. Remind late-stage opportunities of expiring special rates on onboarding services for an extra nudge. But ensure genuine value still underpins every deal.
Key Takeaways
– Map sales strategies to each Customer Journey stage for relevance
– Continue testing innovative approaches like AI for increased efficiency
– Focus on conveying authentic value to prospects at every interaction
– Equip and motivate sales teams to execute strategies reliably
– Track performance through CRM reports to refine approaches over time
Using the blueprint above, you can develop an integrated framework encompassing the people, processes and technologies needed to stimulate growth – one profitable customer conversation at a time!
