ATE Sales Bootcamp - Day 2
After the first day of the sales bootcamp my brain felt like Jell-O, but I managed to absorb a few good pieces from the second day as well. It was split up into two major parts, influence and action. That wasn't exactly how the day was framed, but what I got out of it. So in regards to influence, there were some really good parts. The book "Influence" by Robert Cialdini was mentioned (a favorite of mine) and so it was a little easier to relate to the subject because of it. Social selling came up as well, but I felt like we barely scratched the surface here. Social media is developing so fast and there's plenty to learn about how you can (and should) do things. Facebook told me the other day that they now have two billion users - imagine the possibilities as it grows!
Anyways, on to some of the relevant parts! One thing that I'm just starting to work with is segmentation, which was really interesting to learn more about. Basically it's about splitting bigger (potential buyer) groups into smaller segments, based on how likely it is that they'll become a customer of mine some day. It also really helps when I market different types of products or services. Some may be interested in building muscle, some may be wanting to lose weight, and some people care most about their ability to stay injury free. Different folks, different strokes as they say! I've felt that I've been a bit stuck in regards to segmentation, but after the lecture I'm on my way to get unstuck. I keep stopping myself when it comes to segmentation because I'm afraid I'll get things confused. We use a few different systems and WHAT IF segmentation doesn't look the same in them! What if, what if that doesn't even matter and I'm sitting here all action-less because I have fear that I may, by accident email someone about an offer they might not be interested in (oh the horror!). So I'm gonna keep thinking about why I keep putting obstacles in my own way... And then stop doing it. Segmentation is the first step to a sale, as it increases the chance to actually sell the right thing to the right person.
After creating some segments it's a lot easier to identify buyer personas, and then create the right type of marketing material and/or campaigns to make the best possible impression. Who are they, and what do they like?
Next step in the process is the actual marketing. These were split into two parts - inbound and outbound. I've never thought about it like that before, but it'll be handy to have a strategy for both, as they are very different and attract different personas. Outbound marketing is when we actively are searching for potential buyers and contact them, like calling, emailing, direct media, sponsored ads on facebook or instagram, networking and events. Inbound marketing is the opposite, when the customer actively are looking for us, so our website, blogs, free articles and other material will be important parts of this strategy. For Massive I believe we need a strategy based of both, but perhaps a little more outbound marketing and sales during 2017/2018 to get more people to know what we're about and what we can do for them. Joining can be life changing!
Sales sequence was another thing we looked at - a sales journey if you will. How do we work with the steps of the sales sequence, and what is needed at each step? At Massive we haven't worked very actively with sales at all, so there's a lot of potential for us to develop here. I'll need a bit of time to define what it looks like for us.
We ended the day with practical work, so mainly looking at our lists, technical solutions and we started calling. I spent the most time with figuring out the technical side of things and outlining the different segments of my audience, so that we can make communication much smoother, and sell the right thing to the right people, at the right time!