Since the beginning of 2020, the world has changed in ways we could never have imagined. Today, as we write this in May 2020, there are over 4.5 million cases of COVID-19 and over 300,000 deaths from this virus worldwide. In the USA alone, we are looking at almost 1.5 million cases of our own and nearly 90,000 deaths.
There are currently 22 million unemployed in the USA, mostly due to companies closing their door to follow the mandatory quarantine and social distancing regulations from their state and federal government. Many companies, such as restaurants, retail stores, and movie theatres, face the threat of never reopening since they have had to close for months with little to no incoming revenue.
Thankfully, as a Motorola Radio Dealership, your business is considered an essential service. Your supply of mission-critical equipment and services enable teams to protect themselves and the communities they serve. While there have been many changes in how business is conducted as we adjust to the new normal, overcoming and adapting to these new challenges is crucial to driving revenue and staying competitive.
INDUSTRY FOCUS
Many industries, such as hospitality, travel, recreation and retail businesses, have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. However, some industries that are considered essential are now busier than ever during the pandemic.
Healthcare and managed care services are ramping up emergency preparedness and making extended and preventative care investments. The government is making investments in infrastructure construction projects such as roads, bridges, electricity, water, and schools. These projects require a large number of workers and efficient communication between them to get the job done quickly and safely. Supply chains at every stage are feeling the pressure of our new environment as they continue to provide products for businesses and consumers while following new regulations that keep their workers safe.
KEYS FOR SALES AND MARKETING 2020
Video Conferencing
Adjustments need to be made to the traditional models of selling. More employees are working from home than ever, which limits in-person meetings and the ability to quickly check in with a colleague to ask a question. Meetings and presentations are now being held online, which means that your business needs to adopt a reliable online conference platform such as Zoom, BlueJeans meetings, or Microsoft Teams. Your sales team needs to understand the ins and outs of their platform so that they can conduct their sales meetings smoothly and without annoying technical difficulties that could potentially lose the sale.
Phone Calls
Now would be an excellent time for phone prospecting or customer calls; however, if all you have is the office number for the person you’re trying to reach, it may be difficult or even impossible to reach them. Gathering the mobile numbers of both prospects and customers is crucial for keeping your sales team in touch with the people who matter most to your business.
Marketing Automation
Marketing automation is a great way to nurture leads without applying a large portion of your sales team to outreach. Think about this, a lead fills out a form on your website, they typically have to wait until a sales rep follows up with them. What if they filled out a form on the weekend? Now it’s 48-72 hours later before that lead is touched and qualified. In steps Marketing Automation. As soon as a lead fills out a form, their data is capture and follow-up emails are automatically sent to help warm the lead up until the sales rep is able to reach out.
79% of top-performing companies have been using marketing automation for over two years as a method of improving lead acquisition and staying competitive. What makes marketing automation so successful, you may wonder?
- Organizations that use marketing automation with prospects experience a 451% increase in qualified leads.
- Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost.
- Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads.
- Companies that automate lead management see a 10% or greater increase in revenue in 6-9 months.
- Marketing automation also drives a 14.5% increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
A lot of dealers have their sales techniques down but have no insight into their sales team activities and ongoing deals, especially now when everyone is dispersed. They don’t have a button to press that produces instant forecasting reports or a breakdown of open opportunities and where they are in the pipeline.
By using CRM and marketing automation together, your business will be able to manage opportunities like never before. With features like centralized customer data management and proactive marketing campaigns, you can find new leads and easily qualify prospects, at a time when lead generation might not be so easy. Without a CRM and marketing automation, other businesses who adopted this modern technology will likely reach and land prospective clients before you ever knew they existed.
Selling during a time of financial constraint isn’t easy, but using a CRM can make it easier for your sales team. CRM applications can help increase sales by up to 29%, sales productivity by up to 34%, and sales forecast accuracy by 42%. Beyond that, 47% of polled CRM users said that their CRM had a significant impact on customer retention, and an equal percentage said their CRM had a significant effect on customer satisfaction.
Sales Presentations
With most employees working from home and not allowed to visit prospects, sales meetings can be awkward and cumbersome. Your sales meetings need to look and feel professional even if you’re calling from your basement and only wearing business attire from the waist up. This can be difficult without your customer or prospect in front of you with branded sales collateral to guide them. By putting together a clear, crisp, and concise dealer presentation, you can visually guide your customers through your meeting, efficiently driving home your selling points without any confusion.
LEAD GENERATION CAMPAIGNS
At a time when inbound leads seem scarce, starting a new lead generation campaign could fill the gaps of missing business that you’re used to when many large industries are almost entirely shut down.
Call Campaigns
Don’t let anyone tell you that cold calling and prospecting call campaigns are on their way out. With 69% of buyers accepting a call from new salespeople in the last 12 months, the numbers show that call campaigns are still one of the most effective ways to gain new customers.
- 92% of all customer interactions happen over the phone.
- 57% of C-level buyers prefer that salespeople call them.
- 82% of buyers accept meetings when salespeople reach out to them.
- 78 percent of decision makers say they’ve taken appointments or attended events that came from a cold call or email.
Email Campaigns
Email campaigns are one of the most effective ways to generate leads. With over 3.9 billion users, almost anyone is reachable by email these days. A smart email campaign is a productive and profitable way to create new leads. There might be all this talk about social media, likes, shares, and tweets, but that doesn’t mean that email marketing is becoming any less valuable. Research findings show that email marketing tops the chart compared to organic search, paid search, and social media when it comes to customer acquisition and retention. Some statistics to know about email marketing are:
- Every $1 spent on emails marketing results in an average return of $42.
- The average open rate for a welcome email is 82%.
- Emails with personalized subject lines generate 50% higher open rates.
- Sending three abandoned cart emails results in 69% more orders than a single email.
- Adding videos to your email can increase click rates by 300%.
- 49% of all emails are opened on mobile devices.
- 81% of SMBs still rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel and 80% for retention.
49% of consumers said that they would like to receive promotional emails from their favorite brands weekly.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Targeted Online Ads
Targeted ads are another great way to generate leads because you are focusing on potential customers who are already looking for something you offer. PPC ads also allow you to drill down even further to specific search terms, regions, and interests to reach your perfect audience. Additional benefits and insights of PPC ads are:
- People who click on ads are 50% more likely to make a purchase.
- Online ads increase brand awareness by 80%.
- 65% of small-to-midsized businesses have a PPC campaign.
- 46% of clicks go to the top three paid ads in search results.
- 35% of users purchase a product within five days of searching for it on Google.
- 90% of consumers say advertisements influence their purchase decisions.
NEXT STEPS FOR TEAM GROWTH
There is no shortage to the choices of sales and marketing tools available if you have the bandwidth for set-up, training, implementation, and management. However, we know that you aren’t sitting with your feet up on the desk waiting for something to do – your plate is full. Implementing these new tactics can be time-consuming for new users and take away from the selling and closing opportunities.
M4D is a leader in online marketing for Motorola Solutions Channel Partners and understands the many tools that could be used to improve and expand your business. Book your Free Marketing Strategy Session with us today for insights into marketing strategies designed for dealer growth in a post-pandemic world.