The New Sales Reality: How to Attract Your Best Prospects

Today's we're featuring a few excerpts from Matt Sunshine's book LeadG2: Getting Prospects to Raise Their Hands. This book was written to help key players within sales organizations navigate the changing research and buying patterns of prospects and clients. When applied, the principles and strategies in this book will help you generate more qualified leads for your sales team while also developing a new stream of revenue for your business. 

If you're in business, you know there are plenty of fish in the sea, but they're a whole lot smarter than they used to be. So how do you cast your net? How do you identify your best prospects, not just any fish, but "keepers"? Imagine being a commercial fisherman and as you're out on your boat, burning fuel and chasing these coveted keepers all over the ocean, you look over at another boat and see that its motors are idling and its crew is busy doing something different. The other crew is throwing bait and chum into the water, attracting lots of fish. 

You watch the other boat. Not only is it burning less gas, it's also attracting the kinds of fish that you're looking for—those prized, tasty ones for which the specific markets and restaurants that you service will pay premium prices. 

You're taking it all in, and it makes sense: by throwing desirable content into the water, the fish that you're looking for will come to you. 

What I've illustrated with my little fishing analogy is applicable to your business and the very essence of inbound marketing. The more skilled you are at putting the right bait out there, the right way, the more likely that you will attract the best prospects—those that need you the most, and to whom you can be of the most value.

Out With the Old, In With the New

Think about how you buy things these days. How much of it is a result of an interaction with a salesperson? How much of your buying decision was already made before you ever spoke to a salesperson? Like you, your spouse, your peers, and your kids, your customers are buying in the same way. You don't need to write for the Wall Street Journal to know the marketplace has changed and, while most of the old norms are gone, some things remain. We will need salespeople. We just need a better way to optimize their talents so that we can maximize our revenues. 

First and foremost, we need to include ourselves in the prospect's buying process earlier. 

Inbound Marketing

The opposite of outbound marketing, which relies on traditional advertising and cold calling, inbound marketing is a strategy whereby providing valuable information and content you can attract the attention of prospects and get found by customers. 

We're in a new era where the lines between sales and marketing are continuously blurring. The purview and responsibilities of a marketing professional have extended way beyond traditional channel messaging, winning creative awards, having enough impressions, and the cost per thousand impressions that you were able to achieve. Nowadays, the work of a marketer is judged on driving sales, driving lead conversions, allowing the sales staff to go on more qualified calls, and ultimately driving top-line revenue and ROI.

Who Should Read This Book?

Without getting into the nitty-gritty of titles or job descriptions, let me answer in broad strokes: this book is for anyone at a company concerned with growing revenue and improving ROI. If growth and/or efficiency are of any concern, whether you're an Owner, CEO, or both; Executive VP of Sales or CMO; VP of Marketing or Chief Sales Officer; or aspiring to any of these positions, I encourage you to keep reading.