There are dozens of sales process models out there, ranging from five to eight to twelve steps or more, but no matter the model, there are core elements of sales enablement that remain.
Those core elements include identifying and qualifying prospects, nurturing them, and closing the deal. While there are nuances along the way, the critical part of these elements is the order. When it comes to sales, you can’t skip around or jump in at any point – the process is a process for a reason. By following these core elements in order, you can get your team started on that sales enablement process.
The Foundation: Identify and Qualify
Before you reach out to any prospects, you need to know who to target. This is where your team should spend most of their time. Without a solid base of understanding whoto target, you could waste time and money pursuing fruitless leads.
To identify the best prospects for your team, use market research to understand who is in your sales space, what they want, and how they’re looking for products or services like yours. Market research sheds light on critical information like purchasing habits, pain points, decision-makers, and contact preferences within your target industry or segment. This research can also help you identify new segments to target.
Once you know more about who to target and how, your team needs to establish lead scoring to identify the most qualified leads. Lead scoring helps you understand who is closer to purchase based on factors like level of need, budget, and authority of the specific contact within the business.
The Next Step: Nurture
Most sales processes break nurture into multiple steps, but the general idea is to foster a relationship with your qualified leads. The best way to foster this relationship is through targeted marketing campaignsadapted to each lead segment’s needs and preferences. Leverage the data you gained in your market research to fine-tune these campaigns, speaking to each segment’s pain points and outreach preferences.
Sending targeted messaging manually can take hours of your team’s time each day and leaves you open to higher chances of human error in your messaging. Use marketing automation to keep each campaign running with carefully curated messaging and content. Marketing automation is also equipped to do A/B campaign testing, helping you target the most effective messaging and content for that time. Your prospect preferences will change, so keep testing, analyzing, and updating.
The Final Piece: Close the Deal
Granted, there is a lot of nuance in lead nurturing before closing the deal, but the point is you need to nurture before making any formal offer. You need a wealth of critical information before crafting the agreement that best fits each individual lead.
Everything – from market research to marketing automation campaigns – should be recorded in your CRM system throughout your sales process. When it comes time to present your final pitch, use the data you’ve gathered on the prospect to craft the perfect proposal, addressing solutions to their top pain points, a timeline that works, and a budget they can afford. If any of these elements are off, you position yourself for a “no” before you even present the deal.
Get Your Team in Step with NuGrowth Solutions
If you’re looking at your process and seeing something scattered, spotty, or simply nonexistent, it’s time to bring in the experts at NuGrowth Solutions.
We’ve worked with dozens of agencies at all stages of development, guiding them along the way with targeted tools and training. We focus on understanding where our clients are and scaffold teams, equipping them with the tools and training they need to get where they want to go.
If you’re looking to get your sales enablement in step, and achieve a contact rate three times higher than the industry average, talk to us. Get in touch by filling out this simple contact form or give us a call at 800.966.3051.
Sarah Deak is a veteran copywriter and content strategist with NuGrowth Solutions. She likes to look for the unexpected angle and uses her background in education, business development, and marketing to create interesting and informative pieces to equip readers with actionable data