So you have put in the time and money required for successful marketing and advertising in order to drive prospects to your e-commerce site. As a result, you are seeing an increase in the volume of incoming leads from various channels and campaigns. Your sales team must respond quickly and keep up with the speed of opportunity in order to maximise revenue potential.

Whatever your industry, the online market we know today puts the buyer in control, as they want to do business at a time which suits them. This means prospects are not just seeking good quality products and services, but also expect excellent customer service on demand. Just because you are selling online, do not think that your website will do all the work – it won’t. Sales agents are just as important as they ever have been if you are to maximise your conversion rate.

With this information in mind, here are five tips to help your sales teams to realise their full potential in today’s super-fast selling environment.

1. Don’t keep your prospects waiting

In today’s over-crowded online market it goes without saying that keeping potential customers waiting once they have shown an interest in your company’s products or services is not the smartest thing to do. Consumers are happy to shop online, but when they want to ask questions they expect you to be there – instantly. Our research at Optilead has shown that over 50% of prospects can be contacted on the first attempt when calling them within 10 minutes of them being identified, with that number decreasing by half after 2 hours. It should therefore not come as a surprise that this high number of prospects that can be reached offers a great opportunity to increase your conversion rate

2. Don’t be a quitter

So your sales agents are making those outbound calls within 10 minutes of receiving leads. Good work! But no matter how good your agents are, there will always be a number of prospects who cannot be reached on the first attempt. The common mistake made at this stage is to give up on the lead. This could be for many reasons such as your sales agent lacking experience, or perhaps the sheer volume of leads they have to get through. Avoiding this error could help uplift your conversion rate, simply by making more than just one call to prospects.

3. Make a good first impression

Your sales agents are now following up leads quickly and making an appropriate number of contact attempts. You will now be pleasantly surprised at how many more leads you are able to engage with, but the job is not finished yet. As you would expect, the prospect on the other end of the phone has done their research and is clued up about the product or service offered by your company, so it goes without saying that they expect to be met with an equally informed member of your sales team. At this stage it is crucial to connect the right lead with the correct agent in order to maximise the potential of making a sale.

4. Create the best buyer experience possible

Think of the process when trying to convert a prospect into a customer. In many ways it is a lot like dating – you want the prospect to know they are important to you, but equally you do not want to come across as a ‘pushy’ by bombarding them with calls and emails, as they will become irritated. The key to a positive customer experience is having an effective process in place to ensure your prospect is getting what they want, when they expect it.

5. Take charge

With thousands of prospects in a sales agent’s queue, all at different stages, it is important for them to be able to record all of their activity in order to maximise efficiency. This means effective CRM, as well as providing sales agents and team leaders with the right tools and automation necessary to implement a consistent sales process which can be measured and continuously developed over time. As a result your sales staff will not only become more effective within their roles, they will be much less stressed when dealing with the huge amount of activity they are responsible for every day.

With these five simple tips put into practice, your sales team will be moving towards success as they will be operating as efficiently and effectively as possible, which can only mean one thing for your business – an increased conversion rate.

 

To find out more about how Optilead can increase your business revenue, please contact us.

 

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