The business world at its core is composed of people and the deep-rooted need for all people, both sellers and buyers, is human connection. Any sales person knows connection is the difference between a comfortable buyer or an agitated and uninterested one.
However, sales and marketing teams struggle on finding the best ways to connect with consumers due to their ever changing nature and desire for immediate gratification. The sales funnel, in each of its portions, should integrate to make sure a lead is connected with at every point, from top to bottom.
To establish human connection from lead generation to closing, a breakdown of the funnel with unique ideas on reaching prospects can help your company convert more leads and close more deals.
Top of the Funnel
So how can marketers separate their brands from others while still maintaining human connection?
Using cool swag to give to both customers and employees is a positive way to spread branding and connect with consumers on a personal level. Going to a trade show and offering water bottles and tee shirts will attract many people simply because people love getting free stuff.
It can, also, be a new marketing strategy. Sending leads and targeted demographics free stuff is a great way to introduce yourself due to its less aggressive approach toward getting their attention. It simultaneously gives them something useful for their daily work space.
Smell is the sense that creates the most powerful impression on your brain. So next time your potential customers pick up their cup of coffee to smell and drink, make sure it’s your logo on their cup.
-Palm Tree Promotions
According to Jet Marketing, consumers are 2.5 times more likely to have a positive impression of promotional products compared to internet advertising. Even better, 87% of people keep promotional products for over a year. A simple strategy such as swag can have such a large and positive impact on a brand.
Trying to get water bottles, totes, shirts, stickers and other various branding materials would typically require going through multiple companies. So Swag Up decided to fill this void by offering all of it with a customizable swag pack, a simple uploading of files and logos, and an easy checkout process.
All in all, it’s unique, captures the attention of the consumer, and spreads brand awareness across the board. Swag Up can be a great additive to an already existing marketing strategy while still maintaining the important element of authenticity and human connection.
Middle of the Funnel
The “handoff” between marketing and sales happens in the middle of the funnel and this is where human connection can easily get lost. Somewhere between generating and contacting leads can be fickle and slow, creating a disconnect between the potential consumer and the seller.
There are two important ways to solve this problem:
- Offering text. Upon generating a new lead, sales teams might find themselves calling this lead, maybe even more than a few times. What some sales teams don’t realize is 89% of consumers prefer text communication. Why? Because consumers are all about instant gratification. They want to talk when they feel like talking and text allows them the ability to respond accordingly. Consumers can feel less bombarded when they receive the legitimacy and comfort of text.
- Speed-to-lead. It’s no mystery for companies that their leads are 21x more likely to purchase when contacted in the first five minutes of filling out an inquiry. Getting to the consumer fast establishes top-of-mind awareness, a “wow” factor, and a presence detection of the brand for the consumer. It also ensures another company isn’t getting to them first.
These two things have been deemed unsolvable or unmanageable by many teams. Not only is it not unsolvable, but negating the human connection is not an option, as it results in lost money and time.
Lead conversion companies such as Verse can save your sales team from stretching themselves too thin. Verse is able to contact a lead via text within five minutes for qualification, so sales can focus on taking the appointments for qualified leads instead of doing the filtering themselves. Human connection is preserved and companies can see more appointments and money by investing in such a platform.
Talk to a Verse Lead Conversion Specialist to see how we can help
Bottom of the Funnel
Since human connection has been established and cultivated in the first two-thirds of the sales funnel, your in-house sales team can now take over and manage nurtured and qualified leads. Sales teams are not ignorant to the need for personable relationships with consumers and as other measures have been taken to maintain that authenticity, sales teams are simply picking up right where marketing left off.
At this point, the brand is maintained in a positive light, the consumer is comfortable and feels catered to, and the salesperson can continue to answer questions, be available when necessary and prioritize the qualified buyer better.
Overall, these methods and the personal connection to the lead will result in more deals and less time wasted and will continuously boost your brand and general reputation as a company.
