B2B buying analysis paralysis

B2B Buying Analysis Paralysis: How Many Options are TOO Much?

Ever felt overwhelmed by choices and ended up a bit down because picking one was tough?

From picking a candy bar to choosing the right pair of shoes to wear for work, for sure everyone has been there. An overabundance of choices can outweigh a position and cause “paralysis,” where one is unable to reach a solution, an action, or a conclusion.

Martin Cothran, a famous writer, calls this Cheesecake Factory Syndrome.“In case you didn’t know, the Cheesecake Factory has a menu the size of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. There are so many options that you feel depressed afterward thinking about all the things you could have had but didn’t because you could order only one thing out of so many.”

B2B business owners and consumers now enjoy the digital era where massive amounts of information are readily available through computer technology and the Internet. Technological advancements improve how businesses serve customers through the likes of Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence. The process of moving businesses into the digital age and using technological tools to upgrade your organization is called digitization

Part of digitization is the usage of search engines like Google. People now find it easier to find the information they need online. With millions of websites to browse from and a vast collection of knowledge that can readily be accessed whenever a question pops into mind, the vast number of options allows everyone to choose how to digest the information they’re given.

 Although B2B buyers find first-rate data helpful in decision-making, it doesn’t make the process easier. Psychologist Barry Schwartz describes this phenomenon as the paradox of choice. Based on his findings, he states that while the provision of many options allows reaching better results, it also leads to higher levels of indecision, dissatisfaction, paralysis, and anxiety. The paradox of choice contends that having too many options restricts freedom.

This circumstance of indecisiveness, when taken into the B2B context, is called the B2B Buying Analysis Paralysis.

The three dimensions of buying analysis paralysis

Information overload is undeniably overwhelming, and B2B marketers aren’t strangers to this. Whether from B2B lead generation, reaching out to target audiences, or finding the right marketing strategies of close competitors, it’s difficult to make a choice. Read on to learn more about the three dimensions of buying analysis paralysis.

  • Horizontal – the buyer has a difficulty in choosing several or two similar offers
  • Vertical – here, the buyer finds it difficult to estimate a product or service
  • Internal – this entails the desire to select the best option combined with the fear of failing to do so.

Buyers, in most instances, suffer a combination of these three; and the situation is much more difficult in B2B since products and services are harder to analyze. Furthermore, their choices have an impact on the decision-maker’s relationships with top management, coworkers, social standing, image, and profession.

In turn, B2B buyers who suffer from buying analysis paralysis halt their deals and company growth. To discuss this problem, there’s a need to understand these 4 psychological factors that make decision-making hard for buyers: decision paralysis, status quo bias, the impact of early influence, and loss aversion.

  • Decision paralysis –  the more attractive the other options are, the less likely they are to buy a product or avail of a service.
  • Status quo bias – change is scary, which might be the reason why most people prefer to stay where they are most comfortable. When change comes, they tend to see it as a loss. This tendency is called the status quo bias.
    Although the status quo bias often makes people hesitant to change, it can also have a significant impact on their choices.
  • The impact of early influence – Budget, Authority, Need, and Time Frame, or BANT, was once a common method for evaluating sales opportunities. Salespeople are encouraged to rule out early opportunities that aren’t yet official projects. Forrester discovered that the vendor who contributed the most to the prospect’s vision of a solution wins 3 out of every 4 future purchase decisions.
    Vendors who tell their salespeople to exclusively pursue BANT-qualified opportunities significantly disadvantage themselves. The impacts for value selling are evident: salespeople need to be motivated and given the tools necessary to actively target and engage with those individuals and organizations that fit their “most valuable opportunity” profiles early on. They also need to be given the chance to do this before a formally defined and funded project emerges.
  • Loss aversion – this is a phenomenon wherein the losses are weighted more than the gains. 
    LinkedIn defines it as the pain someone feels over losing something they already own is twice as powerful as the pleasure they feel over gaining something extra.

The causes and symptoms of B2B buying analysis paralysis

Psychologists claim that there are many reasons why B2B marketers (or basically anyone) are ailed by analysis paralysis. Among these are:

  • The fear of making the wrong decision
  • The obsession with achieving perfect outcomes, and delaying their decisions in turn
  • The buyer may be overwhelmed with too many options and find it difficult to choose one resolution
  • The customer tends to over-complicate things

What are the tell-tale signs that a buyer is experiencing analysis paralysis? As a seller, here’s what you should look out for:

  • The customer has a history of delaying or failing to complete what appears to be a “no-brainer” purchase decision.
  • The customer frequently expresses strong regret for previous bad decisions, such as “this should not have happened.”
  • You have proof that the company continues to throw good money after bad rather than admitting and moving on from previous purchasing mistakes.
  • The customer has a history of delaying or failing to complete what appears to be a “no-brainer” purchase decision.

Effects of buyer’s analysis paralysis (and the role of anxiety)

In today’s market, B2B lead generation companies are direly affected by buyer analysis in terms of lead generation. Researching up front to target the right prospects is a must, but distraction and information overload hinder companies from reaching their target audience. 

Here are several ways that overthinking and anxiety hold back companies from achieving their goals.

  1. Overthinking saps your willpower.
    Overanalyzing can wear you out and reduce your willpower. Daily tasks like light household chores, eating, and grooming usually require little energy. When you’ve been overthinking frequently, you may develop decision fatigue, which makes making easy decisions a tedious task.
  2. Overthinking reduces your ability to perform mentally demanding tasks.
    Prolonged exposure to high-stress levels and fast-paced work types are certified performance killers. When you try to push your brain beyond its capacity, your performance suffers. Your brain can only handle and process so much information at once.
    Overanalyzing and overthinking things results in worry, tension, and anxiety, which reduces your capacity to do other tasks, such as being creative and productive. Overthinking can result in self-doubt too.
  3. It dampens creativity
    Thinking processes and executive functioning are centered in the prefrontal cortex. This is the same area where creativity lies. Exerting a lot of your resources on analyzing and thinking leaves little space for creativity.
  4. It makes you unhappy
    Overthinking might prevent you from having pleasant ideas and put your mind in a perpetually pessimistic state of mind since it tends to dwell on the negative. Your mental well-being and productivity suffer when your level of happiness declines. This can impact the choices you make, your capacity for addressing problems, and your interpersonal relationships at work.

Tips to overcome the B2B Buying Analysis Paralysis

Listed below are some techniques to assist you in moving forward, taking action, and making better judgments if you find yourself entangled in the snares of buying analysis paralysis.

  1. Narrow down your options as soon as possible
    If you have a vast number of options, it’s better to cross out some right away. Eliminate any choices that don’t meet the criteria for the result you want to achieve. You can do this by deciding what your desired outcome is before making a choice.
  2. Set a deadline for decision-making
    Not having a timeline for decision-making will have you shuffling back and forth between options, which is an ultimate waste of time. If you want to be more productive and want to get over it already, try setting a deadline or a specific time frame for the decision to be made.
  3. Make decisions using a framework
    The decision-making process entails gathering information, evaluating alternatives, and ultimately making a final decision. You can follow this step-by-step guide to help lessen the mental work that’s needed for making big decisions.
  4. Make rapid decisions a habit.
    Impulsivity can cause trouble, but it’s not always a bad thing. Here’s a tip: Practice making quick, simple decisions if analysis paralysis plagues you all the time. Small decisions like deciding what and where to eat lunch will help you become more decisive when you’re put in a situation where you should make a big choice.

Overcoming the B2B buyer’s analysis paralysis

Analysis paralysis is a looming yet unacknowledged problem that continues to frustrate sellers. The good thing about it is that it’s solvable. Take a look at these six tips sellers can follow to overcome this:

  1. Kindly remind buyers that deciding not to make a decision is a decision itself.
  2. Specify no more than three reliable options for your customers. Over three options raise the risk that a consumer won’t make a purchase.
  3. Create a decision-inducing deadline to eliminate the possibility of procrastination. For example, “Our special offer expires at the end of November.”
  4. Assist buyers in quantifying the expenses they are avoiding.
  5. Ask buyers to visualize how they will feel if a proactive step they are thinking about today pays off but they do not take the chance.
  6. Ask your customers what they would do if they were thinking about this choice without taking previous choices into account.

B2B buyer analysis FAQs

  1. How does analysis paralysis affect consumer decisions?
    The phrases “analysis paralysis” and “decision paralysis” are usually used interchangeably. Consumer behavior specialists realized that having fewer options yields superior results compared to overwhelming the public with limitless options.
  2. What is analysis paralysis’ opposite?
    While analysis paralysis refers to the condition in which a person is unable to decide because they become mired in trying to weigh all of their options, there’s one thing that’s the exact opposite: “utopia myopia”. 
    Every time a choice needs to be made, there’ll always be a small group of people or an individual who are adamant about what should be built and why, and who will not back down from their position or agree that further information or investigation is required. A careless disregard for facts is a defining feature of this condition.
    This is a situation where someone decides without research, analysis, or little to no debate at all. This person believes this is the only option, or perhaps even the best one.
  3. What is the root cause of analysis paralysis?
    It all boils down to anxiety. Decision-making itself is difficult enough. What if you make the wrong one? This mindset nurtures analysis paralysis. It’s because the human brain is wired to make the best decision every single time even though there’s no right solution. Indecision can be a sign of impostor syndrome. When you’re more of a perfectionist, making a big decision can throttle you down into analysis paralysis.

So, how much is TOO much?

B2B buying analysis paralysis can not just cripple your customer’s decision-making process, but also impact B2B businesses. Here’s how: 

Delayed decision-making: The B2B buying process is already lengthy, and buying analysis paralysis can further prolong the process. Because of indecisiveness, B2B buyers might need more time to evaluate options, delaying the final purchase decision. This can slow down the implementation of solutions, disrupting project timelines and overall business operations.

Change in priorities: Analysis paralysis may make buyers shift their priorities and criteria. As a result, B2B companies may need to adjust their strategies in how they develop products, market, and handle sales to meet their customers’ evolving needs.

Challenges in resource allocation: Extended decision-making periods pose challenges in effectively allocating resources for B2B companies. The allocation of budgets, staffing, and marketing efforts becomes particularly challenging when revenue generation timing is not set.

Difficulty in goal-setting due to arising uncertainty: Growing uncertainty among buyers impacts B2B companies, making it challenging to set clear goals and plan for revenue, resources, and strategy. Analysis paralysis complicates sales forecasting, requiring ongoing adjustments due to uncertainties in timing and volume of conversions.

Exposure to increased competition: Extended decision-making exposes B2B companies to more competition. When buyers take longer to decide, there are greater chances that they might come across other providers, intensifying the competition for the same potential clients.

Need for Additional Support: Buyers in analysis paralysis often need extra guidance, information, and support. This may lead to increased demands on customer support, sales teams, and educational content creation to aid in their decision-making process.

Breakthrough B2B buying analysis paralysis with expert help

Every aspect of your business and work life involves decision-making. Most decisions require a little more deliberation, especially in the B2B industry. Overthinking a decision is a risky move especially when you’re presented with too many options to choose from. It’s as self-sabotaging as deciding randomly.

Now, you might ask: How many options are TOO much? If you are struggling with analysis paralysis, you can start by first defining your objectives. Then, narrow your options to a few that meet them. After taking a good look at the benefits and drawbacks of each option, you can now proceed to pick one. 

B2B buying analysis is one of the most frustrating situations faced by today’s corporate decision-makers. Part of your job is making huge decisions, and sometimes you need to do it quickly. 

So, how do you efficiently shrink your options and make sure that you choose the best one? The secret lies in working together with a trusted lead generation services provider.

Choose a reliable lead generation services provider for optimal decision-making

Lead generation service providers are crucial in helping businesses overcome analysis paralysis. Leveraging their expertise, they analyze datasets to offer leads aligning with the buyer’s profile, reducing information overload and easing decision-making. 

Working with these providers offers the advantage of customized solutions, shaped through collaboration and understanding buyer preferences. Lead scoring techniques help prioritize leads, empowering buyers to focus on promising opportunities and reducing analysis paralysis.

 Partnering with a trusted provider like Callbox enhances these benefits, combining expertise in data analysis, customized solutions, and effective lead scoring for efficient decision-making in the B2B landscape.

Our expertise in Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy becomes a crucial ally in dodging the pitfalls of B2B buying analysis paralysis. By precisely targeting and reaching potential clients, we address the challenges associated with extended decision-making periods. 

Our Multi-touch Multi-channel approach helps streamline the decision-making process for B2B buyers by providing information through various channels, reducing information overload, and facilitating more confident and efficient decision-making.

In the pursuit of optimal decision-making, choosing a reliable lead generation services provider is paramount. Partnering with Callbox can significantly impact the quality of your leads and result in an impressive ROI as you venture in Australia and APAC.

Transform your B2B outcomes with Callbox. Call us now and kickstart your path to success!

marketing trends 2024

What Top 4 Marketing Trends Will Dominate 2024? Let’s Find Out

Now that 2024 is just a few months away, the marketing world is split into two: those who are planning festive campaigns for Christmas and the New Year, and those who are like you: curious about what the future holds for marketing.

In this juncture of retrospection, we have seen 2023 as a remarkable year for marketers, starting with the buzz around ChatGPT and GoogleBARD, embracing the playful ‘barbie-core’ trend, and witnessing big brands undergoing major rebranding. It was a year filled with surprises, innovations, and opportunities.

Fast forward to today; it’s time to peer into the crystal ball and see what 2024 has in store. Let’s get started!

Immediate Gratification And Solutions with AI

Think about how you use social media. When scrolling through TikTok or Reels, if a video doesn’t grab your attention within the first few seconds, you quickly swipe away. It’s essentially speed dating for content. Social media’s fast-paced nature makes captivating content essential.

It’s very much alike with customers everywhere. They want quick answers, no matter what product they are buying or the service they are using. And if they don’t get a quick response, they might just go to another brand.

The mantra to win over your customer is quite simple: Quick and Now. Fortunately, AI chatbots and Virtual Assistants tick all the boxes. These AI helpers can talk to your customers right away, answering questions and helping them out any time of the day.

But why stop there? Taking a step further by creating your own AI app puts your brand directly at your customers’ fingertips. This might sound like a big step, but it can make your brand stand out by boosting brand visibility and engagement.

Even so, before taking the plunge, it’s crucial to understand the value and potential impact of your AI app idea. You can also consider reading this information blog on DreamWalk Apps to learn more about the app idea, its worth, and its execution. Regardless, this understanding can help align your app with the business idea and help provide the immediate gratification they seek.

The Era of Hyper-Personalization

Currently, many brands have something super valuable that they’re not using enough – customer data. This isn’t just numbers and emails; it’s the secret to understanding what each customer likes and wants.

Think about it: when you know what your customers are into, you can create marketing campaigns that make their experience with your brand way more personal. It’ll ensure that your messages are not just read or heard, but also felt.

The good news is that this isn’t a distant dream anymore. Rather, it’s the unfolding reality of 2024. Big data and smart computer programs (like machine learning algorithms) are improving daily. They’re changing the game, making it easier to figure out what each person wants to see and hear from your brand.

These technologies can help brands tap into every single customer data available to make each person’s experience unique. It’s like each customer gets a VIP pass to a show made just for them. Perhaps we can even say that this isn’t just a trend; instead, it is a new way to win at marketing.

Embracing Sustainability and Ethical Practices

As we step into the new year ahead, sustainability and ethical practices are at the forefront of consumer consciousness. These have become more than just buzzwords—they’re essential strategies for brands looking to make a real impact. That’s why we’ll witness businesses adding these values to their core business models and marketing strategies.

This shift is not just about ‘going green’ or adding a sustainability label to products. It’s about a holistic approach to doing business that considers the long-term impact on the planet and society. Companies are now prioritizing areas like eco-friendly packaging, supply chain transparency, and fair trade practices, showing a commitment to not just profit but people and the planet as well.

Moreover, ethical marketing is rising to prominence. This involves being truthful in advertising, respecting customer privacy, and avoiding manipulative tactics. It’s about building trust and credibility with consumers who are more informed and discerning than ever before.

Perhaps, we can predict that sustainability and ethical practices will be the key drivers of business success and customer engagement.

Immersive Marketing Experiences with VR and AR

One significant change you will likely see is the use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). If you haven’t heard about these buzzwords, they are about using special glasses or apps to make it feel like you’re in another world or adding cool, digital stuff to the real world.

Still confused? Think about Pokemon Go, where you catch cartoon creatures in real places using your phone. That’s a fun example of Augmented Reality. Now, imagine trying on glasses or seeing how a new sofa looks in your living room without having to leave your house. That’s how marketing is embracing VR and AR.

These are great for businesses because they make shopping fun and different. They help customers feel like they’re actually at the moment with the product. It’s not just looking at a picture or a video; it’s like trying it out for real. This can make customers remember the product and the brand more.

Plus, when businesses use VR and AR, they learn more about what their customers like and don’t like. They can see which part of the virtual store you spend the most time in or which products you look at the most. This helps them make better ads and products in the future.

In 2024, as it gets easier and cheaper to use VR and AR, we can expect to see more and more businesses using them. The trick for them will be to use these tools in a way that helps or interests their customers, not just as something new and flashy.

That’s A Wrap!

2024 is going to be an exciting year for marketing and advertising. It’ll be about being smart with technology and creative in how they communicate with you. So, get ready for a year full of surprises, new experiences, and cool new ways to connect with the brands and products you love!

The Right Sales Process To Pump Up Your Sales Performance

The Right Sales Process To Pump Up Your Sales Performance

Way back when smartphones were non-existent, people would use maps to navigate unknown terrains and find the best possible route to their destinations. That’s pretty much the same in a sales journey where the sales process serves as the road map to your destination – converting a prospect into a customer. Without a detailed roadmap, your marketing team’s lead generation efforts would simply go to waste.

A sales process is referred to as a series of repeatable steps taken by a salesperson to guide a prospect from the early stage of awareness up to the point of a closed sale. A strong sales process gives representatives a reliable and replicable framework to follow, therefore helping them close deals consistently.  an effective sales process helps boost conversions, turn potential customers into closed deals, and ensure that your reps provide consistently remarkable and satisfying customer service. One of the crucial parts of the sales process is lead generation.

Lead generation refers to the process of gaining potential customers’ interest to increase sales in the future. They are the ones whom the company hasn’t done business with yet but showed an intent that they may want to in the future

Having hundreds or thousands of leads can be overwhelming and complicated. Imagine how tedious it’d be to fish out which leads are ready to purchase and which of them need more nurturing. That’s why you need the right sales process to improve your sales performance if you aim to scale your business. One of the most crucial parts of building a strong B2B sales process is working with an outsourced B2B marketing and sales support services provider like Callbox.

Callbox is known as the leading lead generation agency in Australia and New Zealand, helping SMEs and enterprise businesses in various industries like IT and Software, Consultancy, Healthcare, etc. improve their sales efficiency by zeroing in on the revenue team on the best leads and appointments.

Among its locations in Australia are:

australian map infographic

New South Wales

Housing Australia’s largest economy, NSW is the place where nearly half of Callbox’s AU clients come from. NSW companies occupy almost half of Callbox’s client portfolio, covering the state’s major industries like IT, software, and financial services in Sydney, Wollongong, Central Coast, and other key areas in the state.

Victoria

Having worked with over 390 companies in AU’s financial services, ICT, and other sectors, it is a leading marketing agency in other major areas including Melbourne.

Queensland

Over 200 clients in Queensland enjoyed Callbox’s expert services in the aspects of lead generation, appointment setting, and market research campaigns. This substantial experience made it a top marketing agency in other key cities in the state including Brisbane.

Western Australia

While this location comprises the smallest group of Callbox’s client portfolio, WA-based companies benefited a lot from the breadth and depth of its campaigns by carrying out a full range of campaigns for WA B2B companies in business, professional services, engineering, and technology.

Now that you’ve understood the importance of lead generation in the sales process as you scale your business, let’s talk about how using the right sales process can boost your sales performance.

The Sales Process and the Sales Cycle

The sales process integrates the steps, methods, and approaches to attain sales productivity, while the sales cycle pertains to the specific steps within a sales process.

For a more understandable comparison, the sales cycle describes the entire steps undertaken in the sales process, right from the first customer contact to closing the sale and the follow-ups done after. In other words, it pertains to the journey of the potential client right from the moment they realize that they need a product, to the point of making a purchase. Since the sales process is a prospect’s journey, it serves as a roadmap for the salesperson.

The Sales Process and the Business Process

The terms sales process and business process, in addition, are sometimes used interchangeably and can cause a bit of confusion. To give a clearer view, let’s discuss what makes the two distinct from one another:

While the sales process is defined as a set of crucial steps that a sales team can follow to complete a sales cycle, a business process refers to a repeatable collection of activities or steps a company uses to achieve a specific outcome. 

A business process includes at least one but is not limited to the following elements: data, workflow, system, employee(s), and tasks/activities.

Compared to the sales process which concentrates on the customers’ journey, a business process is meant to derive and contribute to an organization’s goals. The continuous execution of these business process steps plays a crucial role in a business’s growth and operations. 

Both of these factors are crucial for a business to survive in the current marketing state

 where the customers’ needs, business specifics, and team skills are ever-changing. 

Let’s now go deeper into the details of the sales process.

The 7-step sales process: Everything you need to know

A sales process typically has 7 steps. These are Prospect, Lead Qualification, Company Research, Pitch, Objection Handling, Close, and Nurturing.

australian map infographic

1. Prospecting

This involves sourcing new leads in their early stages and exposing them to your products or services. In this stage, you aim to get the interest and generate the awareness of specific individuals who fit your target persona. You can find the right prospects by using customer-centric lead generation strategies like:

Interacting with potential customers in LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn Groups, like Reddit and Quora, make it easier to contact ideal customers who experience similar problems as your target market.

Offering answers to specific problems on Reddit or Quora

Queries in social forums like these can help you identify persons or organizations with pain points that can be solved by your products or services.

Creating video content that helps attract potential leads

Videos that contain a lead generation form at the end capture prospects with engagement on a baseline level.

Offering educational email courses

Helpful email courses are helpful in nurturing the interested top-of-funnel lead until they are qualified enough to proceed to the second stage of the sales process.

2. Connecting and Qualifying Leads

This process entails the probability of a lead buying a service or a product. Lead generation and qualification help agents focus more on prospects who displayed interest and can afford to avail of the products or services, effectively increasing win rates. When qualifying leads, it’s crucial to ask questions that shed light on whether the prospect is a “fit” for your offering.

This is where the role of the lead qualifications framework comes in. One of the most popular frameworks used in asking questions is BANT. Take a look at the diagram below:

BANT stands for:

Budget: Questions whether your lead can afford your solution or not

Authority: Questions regarding your contact’s purchasing and decision-making power

Need: Questions about the issues your leads are looking to overcome or their current problems

Time: Questions about value and their expected time of resolution

Answering these questions in the early stages of the buyer’s journey will help you determine if the given lead is worth pursuing before investing time and effort into them.

3. Researching the company

This step entails the rep’s research of companies and prospects. Reps are able to put themselves in the customer’s shoes and better understand their pain points, thus offering a more personalized experience and increasing the likelihood of closing a deal.

4. Giving an effective pitch

Also called the presentation step, is all about showing your qualified prospects the value of your offering. This gives you an opportunity to make yourself stand out among other companies and convince your prospect to transact business with you.

5. Handling objections

In sales, objections refer to the buyer’s explicit expression that there’s a barrier that exists between the current situation and what needs to be satisfied before he/she buys from you. It signifies that you need to put in more effort in the selling process.

Objections can be tough to handle especially when you’re trying to reach quota, but take them not as a waste of time. Listening to your prospect’s objections and questions can help you tailor your products or services to their needs.

6. Closing the deal

The closing stage is when the seller and buyer come to a mutual sales agreement and the buyer makes a firm commitment to make a purchase. This stage varies widely depending on the company and may include achieving a buy-in, a negotiation, or delivering a proposal or quote.

7. Nurturing and continuing to sell

While closing a deal is an ultimate goal in sales, the sales reps’ work does not stop there. More than confirming if the customers received what they bought, they also have an important role in transitioning customers to whoever is responsible for onboarding and customer success.

This final step of the sales process also entails continuous communication and value reinforcement to the customers. This opens opportunities for cross-selling, upselling, and securing referrals from satisfied customers.

How the right sales process pumps up your sales performance

In a study conducted by Vantage Point Performance and the Sales Management Association, B2B companies that have a defined formal sales process have 18% more revenue growth compared to those who didn’t. This suggests that having a structured sales process adds a clear path and accountability to your sales activities. These, in turn, lead to a higher win rate and shorter sale cycles.

In the end, it doesn’t matter how talented or adept your sales team is. It all boils down to the sales process as a roadmap. Without it, it would be difficult to attain your business goals.

Here are some of the factors the right sales process pumps up your sales performance:

It provides a clear path for sales reps to follow

A standardized sales process helps sales reps know what needs to be done at every stage of the buyer’s journey. The absence of these steps can cause even the most promising deals to be lost due to disorganization.

It makes new staff onboarding fast.

When a team follows a roadmap, training sales reps become easier, faster, and simpler because it shows salespeople what to do in specific situations. Even newbies can catch up quickly once he/she learns the basic steps in the sales process. Through this, older reps can pass on their knowledge to new hires in an easy and basic way.

It provides the opportunity to constantly refine sales methods

Having a well-defined sales process guarantees that your team directs its efforts on activities where the most revenue can be generated. The lack of a detailed roadmap will make sit hard to know which deals are won or lost, or which strategies work or fail.

It allows you to predict sales and revenue

Repeatable sales processes enable teams to be more consistent in winning deals. Having an accurate record of win rates allows you to forecast or predict the sales you’ll close from a given number of leads. Also, it helps sales managers come up with realistic quotas.

It makes lead filtering effective

With a well-planned sales process, your sales team can efficiently filter out low-potential leads and determine prospects who will most probably buy your products and become long-time customers.

Generating high-quality leads reduces the efforts wasted on sales that are unlikely to close, therefore shortening your sales cycle and increasing lifetime customer value.

It improves communication between company teams

Communication is the key to every successful sales and business transaction. Using common steps and the sales process language, company communication is simplified and inter-departmental confusion is reduced. A sales team that communicates well collaborates effectively and works productively.

It enables greater insight into sales team performance

A sales team that lacks structure finds it difficult to measure its metrics outside of wins or losses. With a sales process, more data points can be measured, allowing a closer and sharper analysis of sales targets and key metrics.

It contributes to a better overall customer experience

Rushing the prospect into the sales stage even if they’re not yet ready can kill off the customer-seller relationship and create distrust. The sales process allows sellers to properly guide the customer throughout their journey, making sure that the customer is valued, and nurtured throughout every stage. By tailoring the sales process, a foundation for a trusting, valuable, and positive customer experience is made before finally closing the deal.

The magic of Marketing Material and Sales Advertising in increasing your sales

Some marketers are adept at closing sales. They are the ones who find it easy to build customer rapport, collect relevant information, pitch their products or services, and ultimately close the sale. Meanwhile, there are others who are only skilled at connecting with their prospects and find it almost impossible to present a product or seal a deal. 

Using the right sales process helps salespeople perform better in what they do. Part of an effective sales process that’s sure to pump up your sales performance is the use of marketing materials and sales advertising.

Technology wove itself into the way people work, learn, perceive things, and do business. Today’s fast-paced digital world makes one think that traditional ways of advertising, the old paper and ink methods, have lost their value. However, if you aim to maintain and build your competitive advantage and boost your sales performance, it would require both traditional and digital integration of marketing and sales strategies, hence the use of marketing materials and sales advertising.

Marketing materials, as per definition, are any kind of branded elements and materials used to promote brands, products, or services. The most common form of marketing materials is “literature”. These are printed pieces used to promote and present products. These include brochures, business cards, letterheads, flyers, and thank you cards. They can also be adapted digitally in the form of branded promotional images and graphics.

Sales advertising, meanwhile, is used by businesses to introduce a new product, boost sales, acquire new customers, sell existing inventory, and create a sense of urgency. Some examples of commonly used sales advertising include the distribution of vouchers and coupons, giving discounts and flash sales, offering giveaways, buy-one-get-one-free offers, and product sampling.

These methods contribute to the overall success of the sales process and performance. Try them out to find out how their power can help you promote, sell, and communicate your brand.

Business success isn’t a sprint, it’s bound for the long run

Boosting your sales performance using the right sales process is like running a marathon. By investing in an expert lead generation services provider, understanding, creating, and strictly following a standardized sales process, and tapping into marketing materials and sales advertising, you’ll be able to secure your business’ success in the long run.

Five steps to establish thought leadership in the Tech Space

You can’t be the master of all trades

If there’s one thing that a thought leader should possess in any given field is the focus. Not to focus on showing leadership and management skills in various industries that they want to venture on, but focusing on a certain field in which they have gained experience, established credibility, build a foundation, and more importantly, being an expert.

Thought leadership is possible for many business experts and strategists, but it does not happen immediately. Being regarded as one necessitates knowledge, insight, and a unique perspective on a certain field or sector. With the existence of numerous business fields, if you want to be a thought leader, you must only choose one to focus on to be effective and to provide the efficiency and success that the company expects from you.

With the advent of technological advancements and the adaptability of business companies, thought leadership in the technological industry is becoming a trend. Competition is rough in this field and young minds are paving their way in becoming thought leaders in the field of Tech Space.

If you want to join them, you have to focus on certain aspects, gain experience, study and be an expert in the given field and have focus.

Once you do, follow these five steps to establish thought leadership in the Tech Space.

Focus on Interactivity

The glue that holds your brand and your audience together is your content. People need to know you and understand where you’re coming from before they can become enthused about your brand. And the most effective approach to do it is to engage your audience in interactive learning.

Focus on Interactivity

Infographics, video, blogging, live streaming, and much more are all possibilities. There Are many different types of content you may develop today to deliver quality content to your audience.

Incorporate fresh and developing media material for your audience to connect and engage with them even more. You may use existing platforms to generate content that your audience and prospects will enjoy while learning about your brand. Games, basic quizzes, polls, and awards can all be used. All you have to do is think beyond the box.

Make use of Social Media

Make use of Social Media

Use social media marketing to amplify content and key messages, as well as to maintain a strong online reputation and promote thought leadership, to increase brand recognition. Create and post various sorts of content once you’ve chosen the correct social media networks for your brand and identified the audience you’re attempting to reach.

Upload your presentation to YouTube or post a sample on your website after a speaking engagement, for example. Post snippets on Facebook or tweet about it. Consumers want to engage with the individuals behind their favorite companies on a personal level. 

Make sure each post has a specific message that is tailored to each target demographic. One of the numerous advantages of having thought leaders use social media is that they have a diverse audience of followers, expanding the company’s reach through social sharing and increasing engagement through comments.

Related: How to Build a Strong Network of Telecom Leads Using Social Media

Speak to you audience

The cornerstone of thought leadership is visibility. Speaking engagements are a great way to boost your visibility and credibility as a thought leader while also helping you achieve your marketing objectives.

Speak to your audience

Customize your delivery to the audience once you’ve identified strategic opportunities to showcase your point of view. Create an interesting presentation that appeals to the audience’s pain areas and delivers a new perspective.

Say something new instead of your bio or executive biography. Use the stage to impart your knowledge by telling stories that are both memorable and humanizing. Identify and offer your distinct perspective.

Speaking engagements can help qualified leads go down the sales funnel, even if that isn’t the primary purpose. Make the most of speaking chances to establish rapport and genuine connections with your prospects.

Answer questions and offer solutions

Answer questions and offer solutions

Your audience is constantly asking questions, and the answers aren’t necessarily where you expect them to be. With so many channels and platforms to choose from, it’s important to learn about and employ strategies like social listening. This allows you to determine the ideal locations for your content and respond to audience questions and concerns.

As a result, thought leadership is about equipping your prospects with the knowledge they need to solve a problem. But it’s also important to develop enough authority and trust that they’d rather hire you to do the work.

You actively nurture these prospects through the sales funnel if you can supply solutions to their concerns using your content strategy. 

If your material gives something back to the reader, they’ll be more likely to develop a bond with your brand and choose you over competitors when they’re ready to buy.

Don’t forget to Research

The purchase process is complicated, with several decision-makers and influencers. Facts and figures are important to Tech Experts.

Cutting through the clutter by conducting your own research to support your content strategy is a powerful approach to stand out. Furthermore, if your study is current, relevant, and original, it provides the potential to get useful backlinks from other sources, which will enhance your SEO.

Don’t forget to Research

A thought leader motivates their followers to take action, but this isn’t something you can do by chance. You must state the facts based on reliable primary or secondary research.

Why not undertake your own research to support your thought leadership if you have the capacity and means to do so? Interviewing customers and quoting their perspectives is a great method to give your article more authenticity and substance.

To provide a complete, original, and effective vision of their field of expertise, thought leaders draw on the past, assess the present, and illuminate the future. As a result, they are solely focused on a single field in order to be effective in their position.

If you are inclined to the field of Tech Space, focus on honing your expertise in this subject, and improving your leadership skills. Eventually, you can become a thought leader yourself, and you can use the techniques outlined above to do so.

You can be a jack of all trades but you must be a master of one.

Featured - How To Respond To Prospects When They're Not Ready To Buy Yet

How To Respond To Prospects When They’re Not Ready To Buy Yet

Not now, we are not interested.

When you receive this message from potential leads that you have been allocating your time and focus into, more likely you will think that you have failed to invite them into a discussion, not proven you’re worth a discussion and in worst cases, you think that the way you’ve reached out has led into a rejection.

However you might be wrong, you have just encountered a sales objection. Thus, as Bo Bennet has said:

An objection is not a rejection; it is simply a request for more information.

– Bo Bennet

Think on the bright side. When potential leads object with “not now”, this only means that they have received your message and avoided the spam bin. Also, the prospect refrained from deleting or marking you as spam. But more importantly, you have successfully caused the prospect to read the email and reply.

Therefore, the “not now” reply from your prospects can be an invitation or even almost like a challenge.

So should you respond? Ofcourse, because you have now established a sense of curiosity into your prospect.

However you should really be careful and not too risky in responding to sales objections in order to turn it into a qualified conversation.

A “not now” response can mean a lot of things but if you communicate in the right way it will spark an engagement with your prospects. Here are 5 ways how:

1. Hear them out

One approach to deal with sales objections is to take their side and listen to them. Because you and your organization are both affected, you can be open and honest about the issue and relate to the prospect. Most of the time, the prospect isn’t directly turning you down. ‘I want to purchase, but not right now,’ they’re presumably saying.

So, pay attention to them, understand their worries, and talk to them about what has to happen for business to resume as normal, such as the reopening of the economy and a reduction in infection rates, to name a few examples.

Hear them out

Continually communicate with them based on their answer by delivering updates on these metrics. They will be able to commit to a purchase once they notice the needle going in the correct way.

This manner, you’re asking the prospect what the best time is for them to contact you. You can’t expect them to keep track of what criteria are essential to them once they tell you. They have other things to think about. This is why it’s critical to stay in touch with them at this time.

Related: 2 Surefire Strategies that Increased My Conversions by 70%

2. Re-evaluate your approach

Keep in mind that your prospects aren’t trying to tell you they don’t want to buy your goods. They’re only stating that your emails do not accurately reflect the current reality.

Your prior emailing habits will no longer be applicable. The answer is a straightforward three-step procedure: Return to the drawing board, analyze, and rewrite your emails from the bottom up.

For example, despite the fact that the COVID pandemic has impacted the world, many firms may still have not updated their emails to reflect the present circumstances.

Thus, it is preferable to change it now rather than later, and it is straightforward. As a result, you should consider delivering safety recommendations to your prospects, checking in on them to see how they’re doing, and providing them with practical advice. This demonstrates that you are empathizing with them while yet communicating with them in a consistent manner.

Related: From Feet on the Street to Digital: 3 Sales Tips That Never Left

3. Offer or extend the trial period

Extend the trial

Despite the fact that the prospect may be pleased with the product after a demo or trial, they may not have the financial means to adopt your solution, or it may not be their top priority.

These days, almost all business solutions come with a free trial period. If your prospect expresses an interest in purchasing but is unable to do so, you may prolong the trial period so that they can continue to utilize your product. What’s more essential is that you don’t want to permanently lose them as a potential customer.

Meanwhile, there are certain goods that do not require a trial period.

Few customers pay for these items in full up front; instead, they choose for monthly installments over a certain period of time. This necessitates their signing some financial paperwork, as well as proving that they are legally accountable for the payments. So, if your prospect is unable to pay in full up front, they may still buy the goods, and monthly payments can begin after two months or any other time period that your firm deems appropriate.

Related: Top SaaS Selling Strategies for APAC

4. Offer settlements and discounts

Most likely, the issue arises when the buyer is put off by the price. Right there and then, closing the deal becomes difficult. We’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s too expensive.”

We can never know what it actually means when we say something is costly. My advice is to concentrate on the context.

For example, a 5 to 6-digit price tag on a product could seem a little costly for a small firm. But, if you want to get into that market, I’d recommend giving a reduced settlement plan. Simply inquire as to whether or not cost is an issue, and then determine what sort of incentive or discount you can provide to clinch the transaction.

It’s also possible that your prospects aren’t aware of the value you provide. For them, it’s a costly exchange. In such a situation, having social evidence on your side as cavalry is critical. Send them a case study that demonstrates how you accomplished it for a similar firm. Even better if it’s a company and field that they can identify with.

Related: Sales Prospecting Trends Every Sales Manager Should Know

5. Sell your time

Sell your time

A sales objection is comparable to a breakup, in which you invent a reason to get out of a relationship. “I’m not ready to commit yet” or “It’s not you, it’s me” are common phrases. Most of the time, it’s just an excuse to do something else. It’s quite unusual that your prospect is pressed for time. People are always looking for methods to generate more money or expand their businesses faster. All you have to do now is explain why they require your assistance.

Selling time is a critical component of a company’s success. As a result, anytime you’re negotiating with someone, you should always mention how your ideas would assist them in reclaiming their time.

Finally, you must determine whether your offering is too complicated for your prospect. When at all possible, avoid friction. Nobody will ever tell you that they don’t have time for your product if it appears to be straightforward and enjoyable to use.


“Not now” is not saying that your prospect is rejecting what you over but instead it’s telling you that your message has caught their attention, thus they are challenging you to prove that your services, products, and solutions are worthy of having a transaction with.

“Not now” is the time to give up on your prospects, all you have to do is to have the persistence to respond back in a way that could build up into a possible deal.

Featured - How To Keep Company Culture Alive While Working Remotely?

How To Keep Company Culture Alive While Working Remotely?

In light of the coronavirus outbreak, remote working has grown to prominence, becoming a choice and a need for companies across the globe. However, companies have faced many difficulties, especially maintaining company cultures alive for this transition when many employees remain at home.

Man in a conference call

“A company’s ability to stay afloat and flourish in difficult times is directly related to how well it maintains its culture and keeps its workers engaged,” says Shane Perry, a small business lender from Max Funding.

So the ethereal question is how to keep your company culture alive while working remotely? Continue reading below to find out how.

Reaffirm and Dwell on the Culture You Want to Foster

Workplace culture will develop regardless of your effort. Find approaches to reinforce your existing culture while staff are working remotely. In such a scenario, start by identifying the culture you want to foster to help remote workers succeed. From there, ask each group to develop team norms that will help them stay connected even when they aren’t in the office, and then share those standards with the rest of the group. It would be best to encourage open dialogue with your senior management, managers, and workers on your company’s culture. Then reaffirm and dwell on these cultures and gradually grow and succeed from them.

Is It All Work And No Play?

Company employees aren’t merely working remotely. Instead, they are working at home amid a worldwide epidemic that is continuing. Thus, senior management and leadership teams must understand that not every employee will thrive in these circumstances, particularly if many are going through significant changes in their personal life or living circumstances.

A fun play can do magic in keeping your company culture alive. According to professionals, you should give employees time to adapt and have fun rather than placing undue pressure on them predicated on performance or workload results. Fun games and playful activities do not imply that employees should be allowed to ignore their duties, but rather that chances for your employees to adjust, unwind, relax and be relieved should be encouraged.

Related: Gamification in B2B Marketing: How to Generate Sales Leads with Fun

Promote Psychological Safety

Promoting psychological safety is another essential factor in keeping your company culture on fire. Humans are social animals who need a sense of belonging. Essentially, a sense of security is necessary for inclusion and the development of solid interpersonal connections. Thus, psychological safety – where employees can feel valued, safe to convey their opinions, comfortable to innovate, and free to question groupthink — has become more critical than ever before.

Boost Staff Flexibility and Work-Life Balance

Lady typing on laptop

When working with a remote workforce, paying enough attention to your workers’ work-life balance helps promote your company’s caring culture.

Extending child care assistance to working mothers, more universal leave entitlements to match the changing norm, and online group events, for instance, will help employees maintain a healthy balance between work and life.

Related: Success Stories in the Age of Digital Marketing

Address Any Mental Health Concerns Your Employees Might Have

Work-life balance is essential, but you also need to focus on the mental health of your remote employees. Employees working remotely may suffer mental health problems such as loneliness, nostalgia for an old workplace, a lack of regular coworker contact, and anxiety about their career and financial future. Addressing these issues will keep your company culture alive and guarantee that your company moves forward despite challenging times. 

Keep Your Culture Alive And Leave Your Lead Generation Strategies To Callbox!

Every company has its distinct culture. For some, culture emerges organically as a result of individuals, leadership, and day-to-day decisions.

On the other hand, great companies are highly conscious of their culture, understanding that it is the cornerstone of success.


Callbox understands that culture is essential, despite other difficulties. Its goal is to keep the team’s spirits up and help them navigate the crisis – not just as a company but as individuals. So contact us today and let us handle your Lead Generation and Appointment Setting strategies so you can focus more on keeping your company culture active.

2 Surefire Strategies that Increased My Conversions by 70%

2 Surefire Strategies that Increased My Conversions by 70%

Van, one of our seasoned sales reps here at Callbox thought he’d personally share the 2 things he did to improve his sales conversions – by 70%


As one of Callbox’s sales executives, closing deals was one of the biggest challenges I encountered. But over the years, there are two things I’ve learned when it comes to prospect engagement and closing deals. 

It starts with the mindset of not treating your prospects as transactions. Yes, you want to make a sale and increase your sales stats – that’s a given. But there’s a problem with treating prospects as mainly statistics — we lose empathy. 

However, when I changed that mindset, it opened me up to learning strategies that work.

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Listen and Ask Questions

A good closer is not aggressive, pushy, or unethical — even when you’re excited about closing the deal.
– Van Salang

A good closer is not aggressive, pushy, or unethical — even when you’re excited about closing the deal.

People are not transactions nor are they statistics. 

They come to us because they have a problem or pain and they believe we have the solution. So start helping them, making them feel that you genuinely care. 

Instead of selling, I do the opposite — I keep quiet and let them talk about their existing pain points and difficulties. I ask questions that allow me to learn more about them and their challenges. In that way, I can effectively demonstrate how our services will benefit them.

Understanding their present position and them showing how we can assist them is a winning strategy.

Here’s one helpful tip when you ask questions — know when and how to ask them. In other words, timing is very important and the only way to perfect that is to listen to your prospects. 

Related: From Feet on the Street to Digital: 3 Sales Tips That Never Left

Giving the Perfect Quotation

Callbox has standard rates but a good closer should be flexible by providing customized pricing that fits the client budget. 

Our pricing guideline is just that — a guide. Don’t follow it to the letter, especially after speaking with the prospect and learning of their situation. 

This is the newest strategy I’ve been using with my clients. Instead of basing my proposal on our standard pricing, I factor in their sales cycle, the total number of sales reps, geographical presence, and other scopes of work. 

When you actively listen, you can give the exact  solution they need, especially when you’re on a proposal review.
– Van Salang

Again, the art of listening is at play here. When you actively listen, you can give the exact  solution they need, especially when you’re on a proposal review. You’ll be able to explain and justify the quotation you’ve given them. It always works 70% most of the time.

Related: Sales Tools that Will Help You Sell More in 2021

Final Thoughts

I’d say that what I shared is a very basic and common strategy. However, a lot of salespeople miss them because they do most of the talking. They think that if they talk more, they show their expertise and knowledge. But experience has taught me that isn’t the case. 

Talking a lot doesn’t close sales but actively listening does. 

And I feel great not just because I closed the deal but because my clients were happy to find a solution. At the end of the day, it’s very encouraging to hear them tell me that I have helped them.

From Feet on the Street to Digital: 3 Sales Tips That Never Left

From Feet on the Street to Digital: 3 Sales Tips That Never Left

So our BDM, Mike Carter has this to say when we asked him about his views on selling in the digital age.


As a salesperson for more than three decades – from selling Kirby Vacuums in the ‘80s, starting my financial firm back in ‘96, and now as Business Development Manager at Callbox – I’ve had the opportunity to experience the shift from “feet on the street” to digital selling. While the methods, strategies, and technologies may seem worlds apart, the core concepts have remained the same. Let’s go over the 3 elements of B2B sales that have withstood the times and why they’ll always matter.

Kirby vacuum

1. Relationship building

People buy from those who they enjoy talking with and the sales journey that you take them on. If you know what potential obstacles may be in front of you, always address them at the beginning, as once you close the door on obstacles, it will make your sales cycle much smoother. Always make sure that you present with a logical sense that addresses their desires, so it becomes a no-brainer why they should buy from you.

Mike Carter quote

Related: Consulting vs. Selling: Crafting a Winning Business Pitch

2. Building rapport

If people like you and enjoy talking to you, they will want to do business with you. Finding a hook, meaning, get to know your contact with gentle probing to find out what they need/desire, and could benefit from. Once you find a strong need/desire, the hook is to show them how they can acquire it with you.

Related: 4 Sales Call Rapport-Building Techniques That AI Can’t Yet Do [VIDEO]

3. Focus on your goals

Sales for me is being focused and disciplined and never taking your eye off your goals. Never be afraid to analyze yourself and to give yourself self-critique, until you are consistently producing results, there is always room for improvement. You will know when you are there, reaching your goals, and once you are, never take going forward for granted, as complacency can be your greatest weakness to failure.


Mike Carter quote

The way we sell will continue to change as we continue to make advancements but as long as we adopt a mentality of helping over selling, we’ll find that customers are more willing to engage and buy.

Redefining-Digital-Data-to-Revive-Your-Marketing-Strategy

Redefining Digital Data to Revive Your Marketing Strategy

We are in the midst of a pandemic and at the same time, technology is also developing at break-neck speed. These two factors significantly affect data in many ways.

Because of the crisis, many companies had to stop their marketing campaigns suddenly because previous data about what consumers want and what drives them to buy are no longer reliable. In other words, everyone was taken aback without any warning and everyone is scrambling what to do. More so, something new comes up every day forcing companies and businesses to make quick decisions on a daily basis. 

On the other hand, fast technological development has given businesses access to new data sources. This development has enabled marketers to gather a big amount of personal data from consumers, some even in real time. 

The pool of huge data waiting to be discovered might sound like every marketer’s paradise yet many still feel that they are still getting an incomplete picture of their customers as well as their performance. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. 

Start with the simplest data set 

People are always fascinated with big things. It evokes awe, fear, and worship. However, big is not always good, especially when you’re dealing with data. You might be swimming in an ocean of data but if you don’t know how to swim, you will drown. 

What does that mean?

If you have no clear-cut strategy what to do with that large amount of data, you’ll end up tired and frustrated trying to sort and analyze all of them. Data-fatigue can drive you to make assumption-based decisions which can further harm not only your marketing campaign but your sales as well. 

To avoid that, start with the simplest data set first in order to create an informed business decision rather than one based on assumption. From that small data, you can create a loop that includes: data > insight > action. That might give you small wins but in the long run, the business impact you’ll create to your customers and prospects are much more meaningful. 

Another advantage of starting small is that your confidence in data handling grows as the information you handle. As you become more comfortable, you add more to your existing data set. 

Focus on usage patterns

No matter what channel or platform – mobile, online, offline — you use, they all generate digital data. Furthermore, the Internet of Things (IoT) have allowed businesses to monitor how consumers are using their services like car mileage and Internet usage. 

By looking at the usage patterns of your consumers, not only can you deliver a more personalized service but it helps you understand if your customers are really using their products and services, and getting any value from what they are offering. 

What does it mean for you? 

Because you have insight whether your customers are using your product/service and the frequency of their usage, you know what will lead them to make that buying decision. 

Identify micro-moments

Micro-moments are those points in a buyer’s journey where they decided to make a purchase. The reason why they are called “micro” is because they are subtle which could slip under your noses if you’re not attentive enough. They can also happen unexpectedly, putting you out of balance. 

An example of this is a prospective customer searching for mobile devices and click through to a mobile phone landing page. He did not click right away to buy the phone, continued to navigate the site and ended up buying a tablet. The important micro-moment is the landing page of another product because it shaped the consumer’s impression of the brand and ended up taking the next action. 

Look for conversations that convert

We engage in many different types of conversation every day, and marketing teams need to focus on those conversations that lead to revenue. These interactions are not how many people visit your website or your email open rates – these are easy to monitor and optimize. Rather, these are interactions that convert to sales. 

These conversations are not limited to your social media interactions but to all communication channels you use including your phone calls. In other words, you need to treat and analyze these conversations just like your other digital activities. 

Why?

You need all the resources you have so you are always in step with what your customers and prospects are doing, especially during these uncertain times.

Revitalize-Your-Team-and-Marketing-Strategies-after-Crisis

Revitalize Your Team and Marketing Strategies after Crisis

Whether or not you want to admit it, everybody is still reeling with the effects of the global pandemic brought about by COVID-19 – and it seems like it’s taking its precious time in our midst! 

Turn on the channel and most of the news you receive will be about uncertainties and unemployment. Over the past decades, we have seen a staggering increase in the unemployment rate all over the world. 

If you are a business owner, the first thing you most probably would be thinking is whether you are also heading that path of doom. 

Your anxiety and fear are valid. However, that’s not the only way of how you should be looking at the present situation right now. In fact, you might be able to make the best and smartest business move during this season. 

Go Against the Grain

Be still for a moment and envision your business and your team five years from now. 

What move or decision can you make today – in the middle of a crisis – that will positively have affected your business and your team five years later? A move that will set you up for success to come up better and stronger than ever?

“Is it even possible?” you ask. Definitely possible! 

How?

Lay-off some people in your team! 

Yes, you heard it right! One of the positive things the crisis has brought is it placed people under a microscope. It has clearly magnified who the assets and the liabilities are, whom you need to invest in and whom to let go. 

So if you want to get rid of those people who are crippling your business or your company, NOW is the TIME to do that! It might sound heartless, but what you need at this point are not freeloaders but those who will help carry the load with you.

More so, you need to empty those spots and reserve them to those who have the talent and a good fit for your company and business. If there are a lot of people not worth hiring, there are also a lot of brilliant talents sitting on the sidelines that hadn’t been available before. These are the people who are rock star team players – hungry, humble, and willing to learn more. These people are sitting there not because they are bad employees but because their companies were shut down. Therefore, THIS IS THE TIME to start thinking about upgrading your team.

It does not mean that you start hiring right away but you can start having conversations with these talents to fill strategic roles three months or six months from now. Start a plan right now so that when you make a comeback, you have these talents on queue. You can start the interview process now and give them a specific time when you can hire them for the positions you need. Maybe they can wait until such time because there are no other opportunities for them at the moment. Then, after the agreed time, you come back with a new deal and a new team. You even have a stronger foundation to build on.

Upgrade Your People

Every team wants to be set up for success. If you want your business to thrive, even during a crisis, you need to train them regularly. In fact, you need to train them to be better than you. There’s no room for insecurity, especially at this point in time.

And there’s no better time to train your team than now. Start brainstorming what you want your team to learn. You can also ask them what they want to learn or develop. Then, you can have regular coaching and training sessions online, or you can send training manuals or record videos on a regular basis – perhaps twice a week or every other day. You can build a repository of training manuals and videos overtime which future employees can also benefit from many years from now.

Revitalize Your Marketing Strategies

You have created your dream team and upgraded their knowledge. Next, you also need to revitalize your marketing strategies. It’s time to review and evaluate which work and which do not.

Where is the weak link – is it in your lead generation strategies? Is it in your sales process? Do you need to improve your after-sales service?

Go back to the drawing board and evaluate your game plan. If you need to change something, go ahead and change it. You want to do an A/B testing for your new product or service? Now is the time to do that. When you have them all figured out now, it will be much easier for your business to transition after the crisis because by then, you will have a better game plan.

What are You Waiting for?

No matter what business you have and industry you are in, now is the best way to make some bold moves for your team, upgrade their skills, and revitalize your marketing strategies.

Making-the-Digital-Switch-from-Live-Events

Webinars: Making the Digital Switch from Live Events

Last-minute cancellations are not uncommon in the business world. It’s always difficult to cancel an event or conference that you’ve prepared and put together for months or even a year. Whatever reason you have for putting it off, be rest assured that you’re not the only one who experiences going through the motions of scrambling for solutions.

The solution to this is quite simple, it’s all a matter of having the right means and tools to pull it off. With many live events being cancelled nowadays such as Google’s Cloud Next 2020 event, the company has decided to convert it virtually in the form of a webinar instead.

While live events are a great avenue to meet other markets and businesses, a webinar provides you the comfort and efficiency of attending the event from the comfort of your homes or offices.

With the right approach, you can transfer your live event over to webinars and still generate great results.

Here are some tips on how…

Virtual Event Planning and Production

If you haven’t done virtual events before, then this is where you have to start.

In event marketing, it’s important to put yourself in the shoes of your customers, understanding how they feel and what they could be looking forward to when it comes to your event. It’s about anticipating what’s to come.

When you move to a webinar, making it an online experience, entails that you have to adjust and/or add even more value to your presentation versus if it was done live. In order to do that, you have to take full advantage of your technology in order to entice your audience. Once you’ve captured your audience’s attention, it’s time to deliver an experience that makes them excited to be a part of.

Some good examples of media to incorporate into your webinar presentation include:

Pre-recorded videos

Whether you flash them in between sessions or insert links to your videos here and there for your audience to have direct access to them.

Animation educational content

If you have the resources or even your own team to produce 2D and 3D content in order to ease the production costs that would go into a traditional video. Animated content are simultaneously entertaining and effective demo tools for any presentation.

Add Virtual Panels and Forums

After your session is over, allot enough time for your audience to engage with you through a Q&A segment or just letting them chime in with their own inputs and reflections which can lead to productive discussions.

Best Practices for Webinars

As mentioned before, your leads come to attend events to get a first-hand look into the latest innovations and of course to network with different leaders and influencers in the industry.

The challenge lies in being able to replicate this experience online and that, of course, isn’t easy, but also not impossible. Many brands have been able to pull it off and were able to attract big audiences, generated a big following, interest, and increased their brand visibility.

There is a lot that goes into it such as thinking of the accessibility to remote attendance monitoring. It’s important to visualize and foresee each step beforehand.

  1. First, you need to develop webinars and online event marketing strategies that align and resonate with your company goals. Have a meeting with your organizers and lay down all the blueprints.
  2. Choose the right tech tools to pull off your webinar. This is also why you need to plan in advance, since it’s quite a challenge to find the right one that will work well for what you want to do.
  3. Together with your team, brainstorm and put together compelling topics to address and stories for your video presentations and other activities you want to insert into your webinar. It’s crucial to keep your audience tuned in and engaged and not click out of the window mid-presentation.

Conclusion

Dates and circumstances can be quite unpredictable., which is why you have to be ready at all times. Don’t wait for your event to get cancelled before you develop a Plan B. Whether your live event is pushing through or not, it’s best to develop its online counterpart beforehand – now!

We hope that this article was able to help give you some useful insight and tips on how to transfer your event over to a webinar form when things may go south.

Callbox has years worth of experience with hosting and promoting webinars. Should you have any questions, we are always glad to help!

Top-Sales-Tools-for-Your-Work-From-Home-Setup

Top Sales Tools for Your Work From Home Setup

Businesses across the world are adopting flexible remote work options for their employees. 

With the beauty of collaborative technology, shifting o a remote environment should be a breeze. 

For those working from home, here are some top sales tools to complete your set up. 

 

Video Conferencing

Meetings face-to-face is still possible from home by using the right video conferencing tools such as Zoom.

 

File Sharing

Sometimes files, especially large ones, don’t work too well over email which is why having a file-sharing tool such as Dropbox is important. 

 

Messaging

It’s important to stay connected with your team and even more with your clients, and Slack is a great tool for it.

 

CRM

Hubspot is a great CRM tool that helps you achieve top contact and lead management all while also helping you improve your customer list and interaction. 

 

Tasks Management

Staying on top of all your projects and tasks can be overwhelming especially when there’s too many of them, which is why we recommend a good task management tool such as Trello. 

 

Author Bio:

Dara Lin

Dara Lin is a Marketing Specialist at Callbox Australia. She is a coffee trailblazer, general music fanatic, and an internet enthusiast. Follow Dara on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

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