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5
minute read
November 20, 2015

5 Tips to Improve Lead Conversion and Shorten Your Sales Cycle

Written by
Noel Hooban

Improving Lead Conversion and Shorten Sales Cycle

If your sales cycle seems like more of a saga than a short story, you probably want to think about ways to shorten the tale. You need to improve lead conversion from a shorter sales cycle.

How is your lead generation performing? These tips will improve your lead conversion and turn those leads into customers much more quickly.

1. Define Your Buyer Personas

When people feel like you understand their needs and you are offering a solution that solves their problems, they are much more likely to buy.

Work to segment your typical buyers into buyer personas. What attributes distinguish each group?

Focus your contact on these needs and interests. Make your contact as personal as possible to achieve sales success.

2. Express Your Value

When you’re reaching out to prospective customers, you need to show them why your solution has value to them.

State the information about your offering clearly, and show people how it solves their problems. Be as specific as you can. Use an example or a statistic to back up your value proposition.

A generic statement that your product or service will increase efficiency or improve sales has less impact than a statement about the average percentage that sales tend to increase when people utilise your service.

3. Reach Out to Qualified Leads

Reaching out is a excellent idea, but reaching out to the right people is an even better one. When you want to shorten your sales cycle, look for qualified leads.

Ask questions or connect with buyers who are more likely to have a need for your solution right now. Does your lead have a budget and if they do, is it ring-fenced?

Is he or she the ultimate decision maker or is there a chain of command that must be followed within the organisation? By connecting with these qualified leads, you contact those who are actively looking for a service like yours. This shortens the sales cycle.

4. Get Into the Groove

A good sales technique has a great rhythm. It combines various methods of contact, from social media to email to phone conversations.

A single phone conversation or email is unlikely to yield strong results. Repeated contact through several means is essential. While you want to shorten your sales cycle, sometimes it’s worthwhile to put in the effort to find clients who will stay with you over time.

If you have excellent leads that show the promise of a long-term working relationship, it’s worthwhile to spend time over 6 to 12 weeks connecting with those leads.

A satisfied customer will repeatedly return to your business and give you an excellent word of mouth advertising, making future lead generation much easier to pursue.

Regardless of what industry you work in, the best form of lead generation is word of mouth.

Take a look here at good examples of this.

Improve lead conversion

Understand your buyer personas and benchmarks, and you’ll understand ways to shorten your sales cycle.

5. Establish Benchmarks

How do you know if you’ve succeeded in your quest to improve lead conversion?

Establishing benchmarks will help you track your lead conversion and determine whether you’ve met your goals.

You can learn how long it usually takes to get the results you’re looking for, and you can examine who is buying from you and why.

These results can weave into future marketing campaigns, shortening your conversion time even further. Are you trying to ramp up your lead generation and conversion? We can help.

We provide inside sales technologies that support you as you develop your customer base.

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