Attracting leads into your sales funnel is a long and arduous process; companies spend a fortune on email, LinkedIn, telesales, hundreds of blog posts, podcasts, PR, guest posting and many other resource-sapping activities.
When you get leads into your sales funnel, engaging with your content and visiting your site, it’s incredibly frustrating if they don’t convert into sales. Loss aversion plays a role in time wasting on poor leads, focus on high-quality leads.
This is discouraging for any seller. It feels like you’ve done all the hard work except that final step that pushes them over the line. Businesses which find themselves in this position need to look for solutions to the following questions:
One interesting way your team can answer these questions is by using real-time data to look for changes in the lead’s circumstances that could point to a sales opportunity.
It works because when things are going smoothly, leads may not feel the need to change anything about how they do business. However, when they face challenges, they may be more willing to accept new solutions.
By quickly spotting when leads are facing a new test, you can offer your product at the moment when they are most likely to buy. Here are six examples of how sales teams could use changes in the circumstances of a lead to their advantage.
Businesses that are growing revenues may want to use their resources to expand or strengthen their position in the market. This could provide an opportunity for companies that can help them achieve their goals.
For example, an estate agent renting out prime commercial dining space in central London could use real-time data to spot businesses in the catering sector that are growing and are likely to be amenable to opening new venues.
Businesses that find themselves in sudden financial difficulty can also be opportunities for companies that offer the right products.
If a lead has just issued a profit warning, it may be looking to cut costs. This could provide an opportunity for utility brokers to offer the company a cheaper deal on their water or energy.
Alternatively, if the company is still in a strong financial position despite the profit warning, it may be on the lookout for other ways to improve sales and restore profitability.
Marketing firms with proven track records of building sales could use this as an opportunity to offer their services.
New directors often have their own ideas that they want to implement when they start a new role. This could provide ample opportunities to companies offering new solutions. Sales teams with information on the new director could look at their history to see the types of changes they are likely to make.
Another way a new director could point to an opportunity is if someone at your company has worked with them before. If the partnership was successful, the director may be open to restarting the relationship at the new company.
When a company enters a new market, there are likely to be plenty of opportunities for businesses to provide solutions that can help them get set up. Real estate agents, energy brokers and recruitment consultancies are just some of the businesses that could offer their services to expanding companies.
Consultants that specialise in a market will benefit from approaching new entrants: if a consultancy that works on boutique hotel branding can see that a large hotelier is opening a boutique hotel this is an excellent time to approach the business and offer its services.
Cash flow problems can be a major challenge – businesses that are suddenly struggling with liquidity are likely to be open to solutions that can help them increase the amount of cash they have at hand.
Lenders could offer the business a short-term cash loan backed by the company’s assets to help them get out of trouble. Suppliers that lease equipment, provide invoice financing or restructuring will benefit from visibility on struggling companies.
Bad debt is a fact of life for many businesses. Unfortunately, they often don’t have the resources to deal with it. Real-time data allows collection agencies, credit insurers or short-term lenders to offer their services when a business has just suffered a bad debt.
Approaching a business at the right time is critical – when businesses are in the middle of a bad situation, they are more likely to be amenable to future solutions.
To take advantage of these changes in circumstance, sales teams need a way to find out when opportunities occur. Red Flag Alert provides rich data updated in real time that sales teams can use to find and nurture leads.
To learn how Red Flag Alert’s B2B prospector tool can help your business grow, get started with a free trial.