Traditionally, sales professionals are told to follow the ABC model, but this model is broken. Dan Tyre shares why at the 2017 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference, and today we’re bringing you the highlights from his keynote.
Dan knows how to help a business succeed. He has worked with five start-ups since 1983, and he is employee #6 at HubSpot. His motto is “Trying to do the most good for The Universe.” (He actually borrowed that from his son.)
The Inbound Revolution is Here – Are You Ready?
It’s a great time to be a marketer. Historically, marketers have been in the doghouse. You either don’t generate enough leads or you bring in more leads than a business knows what to do with, so either way, marketing ends up in the doghouse.
Let’s Talk Trust
Turns out, as a whole, we haven’t done a great job yet. When we went out and asked people about trust and relationship-building, we found that salespeople and marketers are trusted by 1% and 0% of people, respectively. Ouch!
Honestly, we found that people trust their barista more than a marketer or salesperson. They’re buying a $5 coffee from their barista, but they’re likely purchasing a much higher ticketed item from their marketer or salesperson, yet they trust their barista more. (Interesting note: The most trusted profession in America today? Firefighter.)
The Future is Now
There’s a huge difference over the last 10 years. It’s harder today. There’s much more competition and the future is happening now. Back in the day, starting the company was the hardest part. We had offices, we used to work 9-to-5. Now we look at our phones about 200 times a day.
The key for businesses today: You want to formulate deep relationships. Build up trust. It’s not a transactional relationship anymore.
Outbound is sales-oriented, not personalized. And conversion is about 2%.
Outbound Marketing Strategies
- Cold calling
- Cold emails
- Interruptive ads
- Seller-centric
Inbound Marketing Strategies
- Helpful, relevant content
- SEO
- Free tools
- Buyer-centric
There’s more competition now because it’s much less expensive to start a business today. And consumers are less tolerant now and they have less patience. The human race, in general, just has an all-time low supply of patience – which means that the jobs of salespeople and marketers are harder than ever before.
Inbound Methodology – The Best Way to Turn Strangers into Customers
Stages of Buying (Decision-Making)
- Awareness – first learning about the product
- Consideration – after research and creating a shortlist
- Decision – after reviewing the shortlist = READY TO BUY
Buyers want to connect with sales during the consideration phase. (Only 2% buy the first time they come to your website.) But at it’s core, inbound is about building relationships with your audience by providing them with value way before they are ready to purchase your products/services.
Still using ABC? Today Use ABH!!
The Always Be Closing marketing/sales model is dead. It has been replaced by Always Be HELPING.
Inbound Sales Methodology – Transforms Selling to Match the Way People Buy
- Start with your goals
- Learn the basics
- Sales is a PROCESS
- Measure every step
- Sell to people who want to buy
When we asked buyers what makes an exceptional experience:
- 69% said just listen to my needs – In other words, hear me out and understand what I’m trying to achieve. It’s inexcusable not to listen in 2017.
- 61% said share relevant information – In other words, I don’t need to hear about all the things, just the things I’m concerned about.
- 51% said respond to me in a timely manner – In other words, don’t leave me hanging, let me get to an answer quickly.
- 49% said provide a range of options for me – In other words, help me understand all the ways I could tackle this challenge in front of me. Don’t decide for me what I need, show me a few options and let me decide.
So really, the Inbound Revolution involves Sales + Marketing = SMARKETING.
Remember, Inbound is not limited to Marketing – it touches all parts of the company, so keep that in mind as you encounter prospective customers.
