These are trying times and most, if not all, industries are being impacted in some way. The world is frightened, cautious, and clinging to their toilet paper like it's gold.
In all seriousness, there are a lot of things that businesses have to consider when it comes to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and somewhere near the top should be your marketing and sales efforts.
In sports, playbooks are used to guide every member of the team and tell them what their specific role for that exact moment is. Where they need to be lined up, what their action is, what to look for from an opponent, etc.
Playbooks for your sales team should really serve the same purpose. They help you to give your team the winning strategy to know what questions they need to ask, how to respond to objections, what documents to send, what team members to loop in, etc.
Picking the right CRM for your company is crucial. There are so many factors to consider. How much will this cost me? What are the contract terms? Can I customize layout and reporting? Will this integrate with other software that I use? What kind of customer support do they offer?
Automation is the way of the future in almost every industry. In sales and marketing, email automation is vital as it allows you to reach the masses, and become more efficient in your outreach. However, reaching the masses does you no good if your emails don't get responses or clicks. So as you create or amend your HubSpot sequences, here are a few tips to keep in mind.
When I first heard the term "Smarketing", I automatically thought it meant smart marketing. I zoned out and thought about what smart marketing looked like. It was reaching the right people (your target customer), through the right communications or mediums (social media, email, phone calls, video, etc). Then after I let my mind wander for a minute, I realized what I was thinking about the entire time was actually just good ol' marketing.
If you’re like me, then you've already missed out on spring cleaning. At this point the only logical decision is to let the clutter linger until next spring. However, you likely don’t have the same luxury at work as you do at home, and there's still some spring cleaning to be had. That's exactly why you need to block out some time in your calendar and clean out your CRM.
The way in which we conduct business is changing on an almost daily basis. Business isn't closed by dropping off some bagels and business cards anymore. Keeping track of your clients in a spreadsheet is so archaic, the last time I did that, I fell off my dinosaur. But seriously, every single prospect, every lead, and every customer has a variety of needs.
Now if you work for a large-enterprise organization, you're most likely using a CRM and understand the value it brings to your business.
If you don't see the value, then there's a good chance you're using the wrong CRM.
If you work at a start-up, small, or mid size business, there's a possibility you aren't using a CRM, and that in itself may be the biggest hindrance for your company's growth.
If you're in sales, you've likely had a slow period before. A tough month, a brutal quarter, or just an absolutely abysmal year. When I reflect back on my own personal career in sales, I've hit multiple slow times, where I feel like I'm grinding, I'm hitting the phones, I'm prospecting harder than ever, and still not seeing the results I need. Now you feel trapped, right? A bad week turns to two, quickly that bad month hits you and before you know it the end of the quarter is here and you're nowhere close to quota. You sit down with your sales manager, go through the data and it appears you're doing all the right things - you're making all the calls, and sending great emails. Sales is just a numbers game, so keep your head high, hit those phones and let's pray the next quarter is better.
WRONG.
Have you noticed that old school conference calls seem to be a thing of the past, and the video conferences have completely revolutionized the business world? That's because people like to see other people, they like to see engagement, body language is telling, so the videos help them connect. Now I know what you're thinking, "Wow Michael, what groundbreaking information that we were already aware of", but let me ask you...why haven't you implemented video into your outbound sales strategy then?
Video emails are the newest sales trend, so to get started I've come up with three points to help guide you in making your first video outreach emails.
