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Book the right meetings faster with one-click scheduling
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Qualify, route, and schedule prospects directly from your web form
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Route and schedule prospects from bizdev to sales to implementation
Want sales tips for optimizing every aspect of the funnel?
We’ve got sales tips. Lots of sales tips.
Here are 89 sales tips, backed by the vets and used by the pros, to become an absolute sales beast and turn more leads into satisfied customers.
To make this resource a more handy reference guide, we’ve decided to organize these sales tips into 14 categories:
Some examples of triggers can include looking at your pricing page, requesting a demo and filling out a contact form.
Be sure to customize your lead qualification and routing rules in Chili Piper. Works like a charm and guaranteed to convert leads faster.
Marketing qualified leads (MQLs) are leads toward the top of the funnel, while sales qualified leads (SQLs) are toward the bottom.
Sales reps should only receive SQLs because these are ready for sales and more likely to convert.
As for MQLs, they will require more nurturing and should be assigned to your marketing team.
“In a typical firm with 100 to 500 employees, an average of seven people are involved in most buying decisions.”
Try to get your offer in front of key decision makers. Often, this is as simple as asking your point of contact, “Who is the right person to talk to about ______?”
“64% of sales professionals now use CRMs, up from just 28% in 2017.”
A quality CRM not only helps collect and store important information, it plays an integral role in qualifying leads.
The industry leading CRM is Salesforce, and it integrates with Chili Piper like a charm.
5 minutes is known as “the golden window” and is 21x time more effective than calling after 30 minutes.
78% of deals go to the first vendor that responds to a lead.
If you contact them within 5 minutes, you’re in a much better position to convert them.
Speed is everything.
You can use scheduling software like Chili Piper to book an appointment instantly and strike while the iron is hot.
Although not nearly as effective as contacting a lead within 5 minutes, doing so within 5 hours is still 40% more effective than waiting 24 hours.
With Chili Piper, for example, you can set rules to segment reps into meeting queues.
Or, if you have a potentially game changing lead, you could send them to your top sales rep — whomever has the best chance of landing them fast.
150 is known as “the magic number” because it means a sales rep has enough time to contact every single lead.
Slumps happen to even the best of sales reps and is something that should be taken into account.
When this happens, give them a chance to get back in the groove before sending them top leads.
And, yes, Chili Piper can handle this for you.
Make sure your marketing team provides your sales reps with key information, such as a lead’s company size, CRM, preferred communication channel, and so on.
Including additional notes like what sparked a lead’s initial interest and what target persona they fall under can improve the handoff process even more.
LinkedIn is a gold mine for quickly learning about leads, so include a link to their profile.
You can also gain a lot of insight by browsing through their company website — something that should help you gain a better understanding of their needs.
Scoping their social media can be beneficial as well and provide ideas for what to talk about.
The more fluid the exchange is between marketing and sales, the better your odds are of converting.
Use a tool like Instant Booker from Chili Piper to assign and book meetings with outbound leads.
Always be on the lookout for friction in the lead handoff process, and promptly address inefficiencies.
When issues arise, don’t play the blame game.
Instead, work on finding a solution collaboratively.
Here’s a breakdown of preferred communication channels, according to research from eMarketer.
Telephone tops the list — in 2015. Today, email and other channels have taken the fore.
The key is to just ask your leads — hey, how do you want to communicate — and meet them on their preferred turf.
Use the information gathered through lead forms and website browsing behavior to figure out which issues a lead is facing.
Conversion rates can double by using the right script.
Leads want to speak with a real person, so it’s okay to go off script at times to address their unique needs.
The chances of a lead answering a call increases by 300% when they recognize the area code.
I find that it’s best to create a list of key questions and draw from that.
However, you want to keep the discussion conversational and not make a lead feel like they’re being interrogated.
The sweet spot is between 11 and 14 questions.
It’s important to get a lead to go beyond a “yes” or “no” response, as this sets the stage for deeper conversations.
Leads will inevitably have objections, which can include:
Have your sales reps prepared and equipped with a standby response to overcome objections.
Let a lead know what you’ll do to fix the situation and make it right.
This will help you fine-tune your UVP and improve your offerings.
One of the biggest challenges is competing with low cost rivals.
Therefore, you should have a clearly defined UVP that showcases why your product is the better choice.
This gives a lead time to digest information so they don’t become overwhelmed.
At the end of the day, the focus of the conversation should be on how the product will make their life easier.
Genuinely caring about their success creates a positive experience for 45% of leads.
If possible, give a lead multiple options that extend beyond your initial offer.
This creates a positive experience for 49% of leads.
That said, you should keep your offerings simple, and don’t throw too much at them at once.
Research has found that certain sales words reduce the odds of closing a deal.
Some of the worst ones are:
Saying “we” rather than “I” increases the sales closure rate by 35%.
Nearly 60% of leads want to talk about pricing during the first call.
99% of sales professionals believe that trust is integral for winning new business, and 40% say it’s essential for closing a deal.
So this should always be in the back of a rep’s mind when interacting with leads.
Leads tend to be much more receptive to sales reps who have genuine passion.
This allows reps to know about a lead on a deeper level, and the information can be used during future interactions.
At the end of the conversation, let a lead know why it’s important to take action right away.
Be clear about what they need to do next to prevent confusion.
This helps recap the points a sales rep makes and can build stronger rapport.
This brings me to my next series of sales tips.
These are the best times to send emails based on data across multiple studies.
Those same studies concluded that 10am was the optimal time to send emails.
Here are some examples of good and bad subject lines.
Research has found these emails receive a 51% response rate.
These emails get a 53% response rate, as compared to only 39% for a college reading level.
These emails are 30% less likely to get a response.
Those with questions receive a 50% higher response rate than those without.
The click-through rate increases by 14%.
This video from Really Good Emails explains the fundamentals of email personalization.
Emails with this length have the highest open rate of 21%.
These emails have a 56% higher open rate than those without.
For instance, with Chili Piper, leads can select from multiple days and times to best fit their schedule.
Chili Piper does this as well using the Concierge feature.
Giving each lead a friendly reminder before the meeting helps refresh their memory and reduces the chance of a no-show.
For example, you can configure Chili Piper to automatically send an email reminder one hour before a demo, which helps keep no-show rates under 2%.
Know what specific objectives you have with your product demo.
Here’s an example:
Videos should be a max of two minutes long. But ideally, they’ll be under a minute.
“Closed deals involve using webcams 41% more often than lost deals.”
This helps create deeper rapport and make a quicker connection.
Understanding the features is important, but knowing the specific benefits is even more critical.
One of the best ways to get a lead on board is to show them how your product has worked for other customers.
You can use these case studies from Chili Piper for inspiration.
“92% of consumers are more likely to trust non-paid recommendations than any other type of advertising.”
Any hesitation or uncertainty in a rep’s response decreases their odds of closing.
Therefore, they need to know the product inside and out and how it applies within the context of each individual lead.
Products evolve and industries change, so reps need to stay up-to-date.
“69% of buyers say salespeople can improve their performance by listening to consumers’ needs.”
This can be a huge turnoff for leads and can harm your brand reputation.
Be straightforward about pricing and contract terms.
This is a huge turnoff and will send many leads running.
Leads want to be heard and understood. So, always have sales reps put themselves in their shoes.
According to 61% of buyers, not being pushy is critical to improving the sales experience.
Promising a lead the world may result in a sale. But it can come back to haunt you later on.
Avoid the presentation turning into a one-sided monologue.
Making this your overarching goal rather than just going for the immediate sale lays the foundation for trust and long-term success.
Leads are 80% more likely to buy when they receive personalized experiences.
“Lack of content relevancy generates 83% lower response rates.”
For instance, if a lead looked at the Events Manager feature of Chili Piper, we would want to make event meeting automation the crux of the conversation.
Don’t think of the sales process as being over once a customer has made a purchase.
Instead, reach out to see how they’re doing and what you can do to create an even better experience moving forward.
See how you can go the extra mile to blow a customer’s expectations out of the water.
Satisfied customers are often willing to refer your product to others.
Always be on the lookout for these opportunities.
Be super specific so they’ll be able to objectively analyze their performance.
This is one of the quickest ways to spot a rep’s strengths and weaknesses, which sets the stage for positive change.
Working for 90 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of rest should help keep reps energized and achieve better focus.
This will help reps stay at the top of their game and approach each sales opportunity with maximum energy and zeal.
There’s a natural ebb and flow to sales, so it’s important to not get too high or too low.
5 minutes. This is known as “the golden window.
Use scheduling software like Chili Piper to schedule meetings.
150 max.
Closing more deals is all about creating a winning formula based on proven data.
The sales tips I’ve outlined here address all the major areas of the sales process, which can help your company make more conversions and build lasting relationships.
Want to learn how to book better meetings and close more deals? Get a Chili Piper demo today.
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