1) Social proof
Why it works: Social proof describes the tendency to make choices based on other people’s decisions, because we believe those decisions reflect the right choices.
Marketing teams already leverage the concept of social proof through customer case studies and displaying customer or social share counts.

How to use it: Reference high-profile customers or the size of your customer base. For a more targeted use, point out how many of your prospect’s competitors and peers use your product.

Example:
The McDonald’s slogan “Billions and billions served” calls out the company’s giant customer base.

2) Get your foot in the door with a small ask
Why it works: Once a prospect says “yes” to a small ask — the proverbial foot in the door — they’re more likely to agree to future requests.

How to use it: Ask your prospect a question that they are unlikely to say no to.

Examples:
If you sell software that tracks target accounts’ trigger events, an easy way to get a first “yes” is to confirm that your prospect’s sales team wants to improve their prospect outreach.

3) Include a headshot in your email signature
Why it works: When we make eye contact with people, we feel a subconscious sense of connection. In one Cornell University study, researchers edited images of the Trix rabbit mascot, then asked adults to pick between several cereal boxes bearing different versions of the image. Participants most often chose the box where the rabbit was directly looking at them.

How to use it: You can’t make actual eye contact through email, and by no means should you include a massive photo of yourself in the body of an email — that’ll just make prospects uncomfortable.

But it can be easy to forget that there’s a person on the other end of your emails. Including a small headshot of yourself in an email signature is a subtle way to remind prospects that you’re human too.

4) Include a reason
Why it works: Giving people a reason why you need something — no matter how ridiculous — makes it far more likely they’ll do what you ask.

Psychologist Ellen Langer conducted a study in which experimenters asked to skip ahead in line at a Xerox machine. When they asked, “I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”, they were allowed to skip the line 60% of the time — not a bad outcome.
But when they asked, “I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?”, 93% were allowed to skip the line.

Despite the fact that everyone else in the Xerox machine line needed to make copies, they complied with the request simply because the experimenters provided a reason.
How to use it: We wouldn’t recommend making up ridiculous excuses to get your prospects to sign a contract — that’s not good for anybody. But even providing a simple explanation — “I’d like to set up a meeting with you because I can help with X strategy” — could pay huge dividends.

Example:
Instead of writing, “I’d like to set up a conversation so we can discuss your project management software strategies,” try this instead: “I’d like to set up a conversation to discuss your marketing strategy because we’ve seen similar companies increase their lead generation by 40%.”

Happy Monday & Happy Selling!

K. Frisch

In 2016, salespeople have more tools at their disposal than their predecessors ever did.

The advent of inbound marketing means that inbound leads are no longer a rarity. Social media provides a wealth of information about prospects. There are a multitude of sales training courses, sales enablement tools, and professional conferences available for the enterprising rep to attend or adopt.

And yet, only 33% of salespeople make quota, according to the TAS Group.

What gives?

When you miss your number, it’s often human nature to point the finger at someone else.
Prospects weren’t picking up this month. Nobody wanted to talk to me. The leads just weren’t good.

All of these things could be true, at one time or another. But far more frequently, the fault doesn’t lie with the leads — it’s the way salespeople follow up that cause deals to disappear.

As you face a new year and a new quota, take care to avoid these six common follow-up mistakes errors.

5 Huge Mistakes Reps Make When Following Up With Sales Leads

1) Following up too slowly.
Research shows that salespeople are 100 times more likely to connect with an inbound lead if they follow up in the first five minutes than if they wait half an hour. No, you didn’t read that number wrong — 100 times more likely.

It’s also logical that this should be. Your brand is top-of-mind for someone who’s just converted on a piece of content, but wait a day (or even just 30 minutes) and they may not even remember who you are.

2) Not providing value.
Salespeople have more information than ever before, but so do buyers. And it’s easier than ever for buyers to take their business elsewhere in the blink of an eye. So how can salespeople get prospects to talk to them?

Welcome to the age of Always Be Helping, where the most successful reps act like consultants — not sellers. Buyers can easily compare pricing and feature lists themselves — what they need is an expert to show them how all that data coalesces into a coherent solution for their business problems.

Make sure you’re providing value from day one. And this means real, objective value. If your prospect really isn’t a good fit, recommend a better solution and let them go, rather than forcing them into a purchase they’ll regret.

3) Not doing research.
You can’t provide value if you don’t understand your audience. While it’s perfectly fine to be ignorant of your prospect’s most serious business pain going into your first call, it’s amateur to fumble their job title, company size, or not know what they do.

This doesn’t mean you need a dossier on every lead you intend to call. Do just enough research so you have a sense of what your prospect cares about, then tailor your call to those needs.

4) Relying on a “just checking in” follow-up sequence.
So you didn’t call in the five-minute window and you couldn’t connect with your prospect. All hope isn’t lost — 80% of sales require five or more follow-ups to close.

But all too often, salespeople resort to the “just checking in” method of following up. This might seem reasonable: After all, you haven’t done any discovery yet, so how are you expected to evolve your messaging?

You can’t be as specific as you’d like, but that doesn’t mean going to the other extreme and being incredibly generic. Instead, spend a few extra minutes on research so you can send content or suggestions based on what you can guess about your prospect’s situation — they’ll be far more likely to respond if you prove that you’re not just interested in a sale.

5) Misaligning your pitch with your prospect’s buyer stage.
The buyer’s journey has four stages: Awareness, Consideration, Evaluation, and Decision. Each of those four stages represents a very different type of buyer activity and need. If your prospect converted on a top-of-the-funnel offer, it’s not the best time to offer a demo. Always tailor the content you share and your advice to your buyer’s needs.

The five mistakes above are serious, but the good news is they’re easy to correct. Often, salespeople make these mistakes because it’s harder and slower to take the time to correctly follow-up with leads.

But buyers will sniff you out a mile away, and they’ll take their business elsewhere. So live by this rule of thumb when designing a lead follow-up strategy: Build your sales process around the customer. Tailor every communication to their needs, wants, and requirements.