With everyone going online and prospecting discussion often taking place via a digital platform, it is challenging to stand out. In the digital realm, salespeople often sound generic and all the same. So, how can you avoid these pitfalls and ensure memorable conversations when prospecting online? Here are three things to try.
Give more to get more
There’s a big difference between reaching out to the masses online and providing real value. To truly stand out online, you need to build your prospecting around giving something to the prospect that is of value. Truly of value.
- Provide expert insight: Share strategies, research, valuable nuggets of information, and success stories to inspire your prospects. These should be highly personalised and relevant to every prospect. Show the prospect why people work with you, and aim to give them information they didn’t have before.
- Share important relationships: Connecting people within your network is a great way to build mutually beneficial discussions. When you connect people that could be useful to one-another, it’s a great starting point, and you’ll likely be asked to share more about what you do.
- Connect and follow up: Once you’ve shared something of value, check in appropriately to progress the conversation.
Listen and engage
There are millions and millions of people all around the world trying to get attention and airtime online. However, few actually listen to the people they reach out to. Make sure you are one of those few.
- Like and share: Engage with a prospect by liking their posts and reply with something that relates to the actual content. You want the prospect to know you’ve actually listened to what they’ve said and read it properly. What did you like about the post? Why did you share it? What did you take away from it? Regularly engage with the prospects you want to build relationships with. Use their posts to open up conversations.
- Understand problem-solving: Work out what problems people are actually trying to solve and help them solve them. Don’t oversell. Instead, help them solve their problems by using valuable content – blogs, articles, podcasts, or videos.
- Ask better questions: Don’t be generic. Don’t cut and paste. And don’t small-talk. Ask questions that are specifically relevant to that individual. The best questions empower the prospect to open up a longer conversation with you, rather than you trying to force one.
Go the extra mile to do the unexpected
Given the ease of communicating with prospects en masse in the digital age, it’s important for you to go the extra mile to set yourself apart. If you do something that’s not the norm, it’ll be more memorable.
- Be different in your outreach: Video outreach is becoming more popular, but few salespeople use video effectively. Tools such as Vidyard allow you to record a personalised video from your webcam, recording your screen as well, so you can say something highly relevant to the prospect while, for example, you are showing them some tips to improve their website. The video puts a face to the name as well.
- Be honest: Don’t be afraid to be brutally honest, even if it’s something perceived as negative. For example, let the prospect know about a specific feature that wouldn’t be the best fit for them. Being honest with the prospect, even if it’s not always positioning your product as the best thing out there, builds trust. But, if you mention something that might not be the best fit for the prospect, make sure to offer the flip side of why your product is still better than the rest.
- Be personal: Use a tool such as Crystal Knows to get as much information about your prospect as possible. This will aid you in having conversations that are really personal and bespoke.
Follow these three really simple ways to stand out online and enjoy a better success rate. Remember, make it as easy as possible for the prospect to reply to your message and turn the conversation from a digital one to a telephone call.
