In the current fast-paced business environment, "efficiency" has become the primary goal of sales professionals in all walks of life.
When interacting with prospects, spending a lot of time on the wrong goals can lead to the loss of valuable opportunities. Therefore, it is wiser to target the most potential customers in a swift and accurate manner.
However, as the market continues to evolve and customer needs change, this task becomes more challenging.
That's why, in this article, we'll provide a curated guide to help you quickly and accurately target the best prospects in a complex market by streamlining the process.
A "see-don't-buy" customer is a prospect who has shown interest in a product but is not actually willing to buy.
These types of customers often actively interact with the sales team, asking a lot of questions or constantly raising objections, which leads to a longer sales cycle and consumes a lot of sales resources. To be more effective, a successful sales team needs to quickly and effectively screen out these "see-it-not-buy" prospects from the sales pipeline, allowing salespeople to focus their time and energy on more promising opportunities in a more targeted manner.
As a result, current sales techniques have moved away from the "cast wide" paradigm and instead focused on precisely matching with the target customer group who are most likely to buy.
However, it's not always an easy task to accurately distinguish between a "see-and-buy" customer and a potential qualified lead.
1. Whether it meets the target group
The first crucial consideration in the quest for how to quickly target the best customer is whether the prospect fits the set customer profile.
When it comes to building buyer personas, we can't just limit ourselves to demographics. In addition to considering basic information such as the age and gender of potential customers, it is also important to dig deeper into their purchase motivations, interests, design preferences, and past purchase behaviors.
If a prospect doesn't fully meet the target customer criteria we set, then it's likely that they won't be an actual buying customer. As a result, spending a lot of time on these types of leads is not worth the cost. While optimizing resource allocation, we want to ensure that our efforts are more focused on the target customers who have real buying potential to increase conversion rates and effectiveness.
For more information on how to develop a customer profile, please check out the previous highlights: Customer Portrait Analysis, these 7 steps are enough2. Whether you know the product in advance
According to the latest report, more than 80% of shoppers do their own research before making a purchase.
In today's information, educating potential customers through the output of content is also an indispensable step in the sales process.
However, if a potential customer doesn't seem to have any in-depth knowledge of the product or shows little enthusiasm for buying such a product in some way, there's a good chance they're asking out of curiosity.
According to Gartner's research, buyers who take B2B buying seriously spend more than twice as much time conducting independent research than talking to potential vendors.
Whether it's a B2B or B2C business, the people most likely to make a purchase usually have at least a relatively comprehensive understanding of the business.
Consumers and companies that don't take the time to understand your value proposition are even less likely to be in dire need of your product.
Therefore, in the face of such potential customers, there is no need to rush to eliminate them, they can be placed in the second echelon. This way, you can focus your attention and resources on more potential customer segments.
3. Whether the demand is urgent
Another distinguishing characteristic of a good lead is a sense of urgency.
If they don't demonstrate an urgent need for your company's products or services, they're less likely to make a purchase.
Sales consultant Kathleen Smith points out, "Time is money for customers who are really serious about buying, and projects often have deadlines. If someone can't make it clear when they're ready to buy, then they may not make a quick purchase decision. ”In order to assess the urgency of a prospect's needs, the following questions need to be considered:
Do they have a strong motivation to solve the problem they are currently facing?
Is there a clear timeline for resolving the issue?
Are there other issues vying for their attention that could be more pressing?
By answering these questions, you can more fully assess the prospect's motivation for problem resolution and whether there is a specific timeline. Perhaps they have other, more pressing issues to address that are causing them to be unprepared to buy at this time. In this case, focusing on the urgent needs of the other party can help drive the sales process in a more targeted manner.
4. Whether there is a budget
In the discussion of how to quickly target the best customers, do you take into account the budget of potential customers?
Potential customers may indeed have a strong interest in your business, and there may even be an urgent need. However, if they can't afford the associated costs, it will only end up wasting valuable time for both parties.
There are a number of reasons why the final deal doesn't close, one of which may be that the prospect's budget is not enough to pay for the product. Whatever the reason, it's worth noting if the prospect shows resistance to pricing close to you, if they frequently raise budget objections, or if they've been haggling.
Therefore, during the communication process, try to ask the other party directly about the budget to determine if they have the budget to cover the cost of the product. Maintaining a positive relationship with potential customers through open and open communication can lay the groundwork for potential future collaborations, even if they haven't made a purchase decision at the moment.
5. Whether it frequently deviates from the topic
Whether or not often goes off topic in discussions about how to quickly target the best customers is a question to be aware of.
Building a personal relationship with a customer is an important part of many sales processes. In actual sales, it's not just about selling a product, but also about communicating with potential customers on a personal level is also a key part of building a good relationship.
However, if a prospect is moving away from a pre-established agenda, repeatedly digressing, or seems to be just making small talk, then you may be talking to a customer who just looks and doesn't buy.
Quality customers often ask in-depth questions that show a deep understanding of the business or product. At the same time, by noticing changes in non-verbal signals, such as body language, facial expressions, and voices, you can get a more complete picture of your customers' true feelings and attitudes.
Before each communication, set a clear agenda and clearly define the topics to be discussed. If clients frequently deviate from the topic, you can consciously guide them back to the agenda to maintain effective communication.
6. Delay in decision-making
We must be vigilant when confronted with prospects who seem to be plagued by fear and are slow to make decisions. Such customers may be hesitant to make mistakes and ultimately struggle to determine the appropriate solution. Or, they may not be ultimately responsible for the purchase decision.
To avoid potential buyer regrets, they may make a series of time-consuming requests about our products or services to ensure that the decision they make is wise. Even if we provide a solution and dispel doubts, if the prospect is still hesitant, it could be a sign that we should consider abandoning the customer.
Of course, a certain amount of hesitation is understandable for first-time buyers. However, if we find ourselves struggling to guide potential customers to make decisions, then they may just be browsing customers rather than actually buying, recognizing this early and abandoning or repositioning our sales strategy in time is crucial.
There is no 100% way to discern the extent to which a prospect is genuinely interested, or whether they are just on the sidelines.
Keeping an eye out for early warning signs throughout the lead generation and qualification process can help you avoid dealing with time-wasters and keep your sales pipeline moving.
Rather than trying to win every deal, great salespeople are able to identify if a prospect is a good fit and make an abandonment decision at an early stage, focusing their time and energy on nurturing high-quality leads.
In this era of precise alignment, we are constantly learning, adapting, and innovating to ensure effective connections with the best customers for sustainable business growth.