It’s no secret that timing is important in sales, but it’s often overlooked.
No matter what piece of the pipeline puzzle you’re responsible for, it’s a crucial element of any sales strategy. And, if executed on effectively, timing can play a pivotal role in closing any deal.
So many aspects of the sales cycle are influenced by time;
- Your chances of reaching a lead are 100 times higher if you call within the first 5 minutes.
- The copious amount of research that has been dedicated to optimal times for sending emails and follow up emails.
- Timing your social selling or account based sales efforts for accounts that have just won an award or closed a round of funding can be a great conversation starter.
- Book-ending your day with calls to reach your prospects.
- Knowing your prospects deadlines and budget planning can give you leverage to drive urgency in the sales cycle.
5 reasons why timing is crucial to closing sales
A more human approach
It can make your approach human and personal – nobody likes to feel like they’re part of another automated step in a sales process, by timing your outreach you can make each touch point make more sense to the person on the receiving end.
More relevant
It can make it relevant – for example, if your prospect has just been promoted, reaching out to say congratulations and start a discussion on how they’ll affect change in their new role can help add a new level of relevance.
More context
It can give you context – it can be as simple as knowing that a busy period is approaching for an ideal customer and reaching out with a message on how you can help alleviate their work load.
Build trust
It can build trust – offering support or more information at the right time in the buying cycle can be the difference between a “deal lost” and “closed won” – too soon and the information is irrelevant, too late and they could have gone with a competitor
Cut through the noise
Whether it’s B2B or B2C, buyers have more knowledge than ever and they’re being bombarded by more noise than ever – so knowing the right time to engage is equally as important as the message you’re reaching out with.
How can you leverage time to your advantage and spot the right triggers?
Data combined with automation is the key to building timing in to your sales strategy. At every stage of the funnel, data can help you to engage with your prospects when it makes most sense.
When you’re first identifying leads you can use timing to your advantage in lots of ways like the tried and tested methods we mentioned earlier. But leveraging behavioural data can give you the upper hand by enabling you to proactively engage with potential leads when they’re on your website – displaying signs of a problem that you can help solve.
Engage with visitors before they’ve even signed up
For example, if a visitor arrives to your site and they’re browsing around exploring your features page – this is an opportune time to offer some help and see if they have any questions. Automating a pop up with a personalised message and giving them a chance to engage with your resources or speak directly to sales rep can drastically reduce your sales cycle and increase conversion rates by up to 47%.
Engage with leads when they’re trying to make a purchasing decision
Similarly in the closing stages you can use data and automation to identify when someone is display buying intent. Getting notified in realtime when prospects are on your website viewing your pricing or plans page can be a key trigger to get in touch and offer support.
Depending on the profile of your prospect and the attributes of your sales cycle you can use data and automation to get the message across at the right time, every time!
If you’re interested in building a perfectly timed sales strategy, learn more about how GoSquared can help you engage with prospects at the right time and in the right context to increase conversion.
