The Best Way To Increase Your Close Rate Is To Stop Selling And Become A LION

That sounds asinine, doesn't it? Well, it's not... 

Here's the trick...Stop selling and start HELPING. You might be thinking, "but Kim, help is a 4-letter word in sales?!?" (You might also be wondering what becoming a LION has to do with anything, and I'll get to that later in the post, I promise!) So, I realize that "helping" sounds like something you do with laundry, yard work, the PTA and shake n' bake, right? Helping sounds like something you do for free and/or because you have to. No one gets paid to help and getting paid is your job because you're in sales; so, what gives? It's all about a slight paradigm shift that changes the way you're perceived as a salesperson and how you perceive your prospect; this slight shift makes all the difference in the world!

You want more leads and you want to increase the number of prospects who become customers. One method says that in order to do this, you need to cold call a certain number of people per day to see if you can convert them into prospects. Then, you email and call them until they buy or tell you to buzz off (or what's more likely is that they give you unlimited access to voicemail because no one likes to be a "no man" but for whatever reason they can't be your "yes man").

There is a better way.

First, with the right set of tools (like HubSpot) you can track who is interacting with your company online (remember, 85% of people start their buying journey online). For instance, if I know that Jane Doe with Acme Company has visited our website, she found us through a facebook ad and she came to us through our landing page about the world's second largest search engine, I know a little about what's important to Jane. She's trying to solve a problem and she thinks SEO is a part of the solution. I also know she is with Acme Company, which gives me the ability to peruse the internet and learn more about her company. Once I've done my research, it's time to call Jane, BUT this is not a cold call because we've already met online.

Now what I don't know is, 1. What problem is she trying to solve? and 2. Are we a good fit for Jane and Acme? but giving her a call is a great way to find out.

So...ring ring...

J:  "Hello, This is Jane."

K:  "Hi Jane, This is Kim with Sauce..." (PAUSE -- Jane wasn't expecting my call and it's likely that she is searching though and downloading information any place she can get her hands on it, so the pause gives her a second to figure out why "Kim from Sauce" sounds vaguely familiar.)

K: "How are you today?"

J: "I'm good, How are you?"

K: "I'm doing well. I know you weren't expecting my call, but I saw you downloaded our infographic about optimizing for the world's second largest search engine, and I wondered if you have any questions or if I can help. Is now a good time to chat?"

J: "OH! Yes! Kim from Sauce! I remember! I downloaded your offer because we are ________________ (insert an overview of what problems they are trying to solve which helps me begin to understand if we might be able to help in solving)."

Then, Jane and I chat for about 10-15 minutes and if she'd like to learn more about how we can help her reach her goals, we schedule a longer call where we can explore the possibilities.

Alternate ending...

K: "I'm doing well. I know you weren't expecting my call, but I saw you downloaded our infographic about optimizing for the world's second largest search engine, and I wondered if you have any questions or if I can help in some way. Is now a good time to chat?"

J: "OH! I remember Sauce. So, in all honesty, now is actually not a good time."

K: "Totally understandable. When would be a good time to chat? I have some time tomorrow at 9:15am, would that be good?"

From here, she may say "sure!" and we can continue in our scheduled conversation. That's best case scenario. There are so many other possibilities and ways to respond that I won't go into them here. I will say this though: I learned so much about this method in Dan Tyre's Sales Skill Bootcamp. From the 9 stages of the connect call (a little of that is what's in the Jane Doe scenario above) and knowing what days are best for calling, to researching your prospect and how to understand their goals once you've connected, this bootcamp is worth every second! So, if you are a HubSpot partner and considering this bootcamp, the answer is YES! Do it! What are you waiting for???!?!?!

If you are not a HubSpot partner and you'd like some help, let's connect to see if Sauce is a good fit.

Here's my pride:

We are LIONS... HEAR US ROAR! (P.S. That's Dan on the top left, sporting his Lion costume!)