Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, we have been closely monitoring our clients’ B2B prospecting and sales departments. For many, team performance has been compromised, results have plummeted, and historical and reliable conversion rates have gone down the drain. Much of what previously worked in terms of marketing, conversion, and sales has been compromised.
On the one hand, we are united in favor of social isolation and prevention of the virus let's do our part. On the other hand, we are entering a scenario of war and corporate survival. Cost cutting, reduction and optimization of resources, digitalization of processes and even pivoting business models are measures put into practice at this time.
It's a funnel scarcity phase.
Part of this change is happening very quickly in marketing, our france companies email list on Linkedin, Inbox and WhatsApp are overflowing with invitations to Lives, Webinars and online events.
These are great initiatives, since almost everything is digital from now on. These actions allow companies to position themselves in the market by delivering content, information and knowledge. They are also tools that greatly help in generating leads and supporting the sales team.
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However, this marketing effort is still not enough. It is necessary to look at the sales machine, optimize steps, test hypotheses, isolate variables and adopt new criteria, without losing sight of three mandatory premises:
Reduce sales friction (from the buyer's perspective)
Adapt the sales model to the customers' way of buying
Convert as many leads (with profile) as possible at all sales stages.
In this (still) initial period of crisis, we implemented some low-effort digital optimizations and tests that are generating results and improving indicators.
See the five tactics tested in B2B companies:
Inclusion of the [cell phone] field in conversion forms:
Talking to prospects on landlines is almost impossible, since most of them are working from home and no one answers the phones. So, we recommend adding the "Mobile Phone*" field to all conversion forms.
After this small change, we noticed that contact and first connection indicators are improving. Here's an example from a client:
Landing Page with mobile
Change the content of prospecting emails:
As the landscape has changed, it is also important to change the context and callouts of emails, and also create highly targeted approaches for all connection and qualification content.
Everything should be reviewed, especially the content of the contact cadences with leads. The cadence of contact attempts and channels should also be reviewed weekly.
Important: Be very careful with the tone of your emails, remember that we are in a very sensitive market moment.
Prioritize WhatsApp:
With the drop in conversion rates for landing pages and emails, the priority for the communication channel has been ZAP.
In some cases, it is already the main marketing and sales tool, integrated with automation tools, such as HubSpot , for example, which greatly enhances results.
Switch to the meeting scheduling form directly on the contact page:
Bingo, we've shortened the path.
Making the calendar available to schedule a meeting with the sales team directly on the contact page of the website, landing page or blog is a good example of reducing friction and gaining agility.
Instead of filling out the form and waiting for a call from the salesperson, the lead can quickly book a time on their calendar and skip steps.