Sherry Miller sells janitorial supplies to commercial, residential, and retail property managers as well as to retail clients that have the need for industrial-strength cleaning products. During the past 2 years, sales increased by more than 50% per year and her company has doubled in size.
Previously, Sherry closed 1 in 10 opportunities. She attended numerous networking groups, met loads of people, and was diligent in her follow-up, but was frustrated that her closing rate was too low.
Sherry’s Challenge
Sherry used 3 spreadsheets to track prospects, clients, and tasks. Being gregarious, Sherry devoted equal time to everyone she met. She described her follow-up as both diligent and haphazard as she did not really set priorities.
Sherry and her sales team attended many networking events and were active in several chambers. While she met great people, they were not business people who needed her janitorial products.
What Could Sherry Do Differently
“How can we double your closing rate?” I asked her when we met. Sherry was confused. She thought the more people she met, the greater her chances of success. Her light bulb went off as she realized that she was meeting the wrong people.
Who Is Your Target Audience?
Sherry realized she had been marketing in the wrong places. It was easy to identify the best industry networking groups as Sherry’s products are focused on specific audiences. She assigned salespeople to new groups in the industry and the salespeople’s eyes lit up. They became active in the industry groups and became more and more visible to potential buyers.
Sherry’s team inverted their sales funnel. No longer did she have a wide-open top of the funnel. Rather, her funnel was cylindrical with fewer but more qualified prospects.
How Do I Contact People?
The sales team appreciated their new status and reached out to their new industry contacts. Each time they met a contact, they sent an email saying how nice it was to meet them. Some folks responded and others did not. Unfortunately, there was no consistent follow-up being applied.
Sherry’s team wanted to contact prospects using a series of emails to describe what they do. They created a 6-email drip campaign that sent emails every 3 weeks with a call-to-action. The first and fourth emails asked for meetings. The other emails addressed the cleaning challenges faced by property managers. Over 4 months, prospects now received nurturing, educational emails describing the customer’s challenges and the solutions available.
How Do I Send Different Messages to Different Groups
In the past, every contact got the same occasional emails from Sherry’s team. Not anymore! Sherry uses Dynamic Lists to create segmented lists to send different messages to her 3 markets: Office, Multifamily, and Retail. A Dynamic List is set up in advance with criteria that define the list.
Sherry’s lists were divided by type of real estate and geography. Every time, a new contact is added, it is assigned to the correct Dynamic List automatically based on the list’s criteria. When the team does a mailing, they don’t waste time putting the list together so the list is up to date all the time.
Understanding Buyer Behavior
Sherry analyzed her sales and saw that reorders had a predictable pattern for each customer. On average, reorders were needed every 2 months. Using her CRM, Sherry created “Reorder Reminders” that are emailed to her buyers 14 days, 7 days, and 1 day prior to the renewal date. Orders can be placed on a customer-only webpage and the emails stop when an order is placed. Each salesperson also got a reminder to touch base with clients who needed to reorder.
Building Buyer Confidence and Reducing Buyer Risk
Once Sherry and her team focused on the right targets, sent segmented messaging on a consistent basis, and started the Reorder Reminders, sales started to grow. Every email had relevant content for its audience. Office cleaning is different from multifamily which is different from retail. Messaging to each made the messaging more effective and elevated Sherry’s team in the eyes of the buyer.
When you build buyer confidence and reduce buyer risk, you will close more sales with less Follow-Up Fatigue (FUF). Perhaps, you would like to double your closing rate? If so, set up a meeting with me to discuss the best approach for you based on what you sell and to whom you sell it!
