Did you know that almost 75% of B2B companies take 4 months to close a lead, while about 46% take 7 months or longer?
How does your company measure up to that?
Of course, there are millions of variables. Some industries take longer to close than others. For example, 36% of studied companies in the retail/e-commerce sector close their leads in 2-7 days, but only 6% of surveyed companies in the software/SaaS sector close them that quickly
If you’re reading this today, odds are very good that you feel like your sales cycles could be shorter.
Every company is different and every market is unique. However, these 4 strategies have helped companies in all sectors unclog their sales funnels and get things moving.
1. Sales Effectiveness Training
Give your sales leaders and managers the help of outside specialists. Bringing in a company like 360 leads can help you speed up the sales cycle and show you how to do things more efficiently.
They can help your sales team with services such as:
- Re-thinking your offering’s real value to your target market
- Call shadowing
- Instructional support to maximize sales results
A little bit of guidance in any of these areas can go a long way.
2. More Targeted Marketing Materials
Is your sales team sending all of your prospects the same brochure and the same case study? Your clients aren’t identical and neither are their specific needs. So, stop sending them all the same thing.
Ask your sales team what materials could help them close more deals. Maybe they need a detailed sheet for feature A, or a case study that clearly illustrates the real-world impact of feature B.
3. Leverage Automation Software or CRM
Maybe your sales staff needs to spend more time actually selling.
The average salesperson only spends about a third of their time doing any actual selling. The rest of their time is spent doing other activities such as composing emails, preparing quotes, and prospecting leads.
When looking at the return-on-investment for a major tool to automate tasks or manage your sales pipeline, don’t forget to consider the value of allowing your full-time sales staff to actually sell full time.
4. Lead Scoring
Did you know that 61% of B2B marketers send all leads directly to their sales team? And only 27% of those end up being qualified.
We don’t have to tell you that not all leads are created equal. Some will contact you at the cusp of being buy-ready, while others will require more education and nurturing.
Taking a close look at how your specific company is losing and closing deals is the best way to develop your own lead scoring system.
Scoring will help you determine which leads will require more time to close and which ones may not even be qualified.
There is no magic cure-all solution that will work for every organization. However, sales effectiveness training, tailored marketing materials, CRM/ automation software, and lead scoring have helped a lot of businesses unplug their sales funnels.
Talk to your sales team. Their feedback will most likely point you to the solution that will work for you.
