Sales is hard. And it’s even harder when you don’t know what sales strategy to use. There are two types of sales strategies: inbound and outbound. Which one should you use?
Outbound sales is the most traditional form of sales where a company will call or email potential customers. It’s difficult to do this on your own, but hiring an outbound sales team can be counterproductive.
Inbound sales, on the other hand, has become the best way to make more money. This strategy takes advantage of social media and marketing campaigns, allowing for more customer interaction and engagement with brands. You can make an incredible amount of connections through social media! It will take time to find success with this.
Outbound Sales
Outbound sales is the traditional form of sales. It takes a company outside their local area to meet with potential customers. Marketing professionals will research and monitor markets before sending out marketing pitches to build relationships.
They will build relationships with retailers, competitors, brokers, media, etc. Many salespeople think their strategy consists of sending out tons of cold-email campaigns.
In actuality, most of your success in this strategy comes from building relationships with high-net worth individuals. By getting introduced to these customers, you can see their reaction to the product and message that you’re selling. Once you’ve achieved a positive response, you can offer other services to this person.
Inbound Sales
Inbound sales involves building relationships with clients to get them to buy products or services. It often involves nurturing relationships through social media and email. If you’re not used to doing this, it can be uncomfortable at first.
To use inbound sales, you’ll need to invest time into learning how to best connect with potential clients.
The one downside to using inbound sales is that you’re making a single customer the primary point of contact with your company. This can be a major turn off to a lot of people. However, it doesn’t mean it’s not worth the effort. If done right, you can establish an amazing personal relationship with that one customer.
The Difference Between the Two
Outbound sales is the only one that takes the risk that the customer will take it. This is the type of sales strategy that may seem kind of mean to your customers. But it works because people can put filters on emails to make sure they don’t get these spammy sales pitches.
Inbound sales is the kinder version of sales. You use social media marketing to connect with your customers to keep them happy. You also use a more personal approach to sales. In this approach, you build a relationship with your customers first before asking them to buy your product.
The differences between the two are in their benefits and how they work. If you’re unsure what strategy to use for your business, I recommend getting into the habit of trying both.
How to Choose Which One To Use
This decision is personal. It depends on your goals, and what kind of sales you are looking to do. It’s not uncommon to find yourself doing both in your sales career. It’s not a bad thing.
If you’re unsure what strategy to use for your business, I recommend getting into the habit of trying both.
The best way to make money online is to find out what the industry needs, and then develop a program to fill those needs. This is where your website and social media marketing, among other marketing campaigns, will come into play.
In addition, you should spend a great deal of time in person. It’s rare that you will ever see a blank page as a customer, and in most cases, they want to see an overall strategy to be sure you know what you’re doing and you’re a great fit.
Conclusion
Selling is a strategic task that takes both time and effort to develop and grow. Whether you decide to outsource your sales efforts, or build your own outbound sales team, you can’t be afraid to invest the time and resources to develop a better, more effective sales strategy.
What do you think? Do you prefer outbound sales or inbound sales?
Picture Credit: Kindel Media from Paxels.