Cupcake? No thanks, I'm on a diet.

The first thing we all agree on is every business needs sales leads.

Making the call is important, but an ill-timed approach that's not right for the buyer isn't going to be right for the salesperson either.

This a constant topic of conversation we churn regularly within our team. Here are some of our latest musings that may help if you're looking to make changes that will stimulate interest in your products and services and improve the likelihood that buyers will be interested in your call.

Picture this.....

You're tearing around at home doing the usual stuff, catching up on chores, getting ready for the gym or taking the kids out. Always a lot going on. Suddenly, your doorbell rings. You weren't expecting anyone. Reluctantly, you open the door to find a salesperson or a charity rep, armed with an ID badge, brochures, and a rehearsed pitch, ready to convince you that what they have is worth the interruption.

Annoying, right?

Now apply that to the business world and selling technology products. Buyers today are busy. Very busy. Many of the products being pushed towards them rejoice in the virtues of saving time, money and so on, but they're far from interested in that when they don't even know who you are. You're just an annoying interruption to their busy day.

That's not to say you're not exactly the right fit for them, but timing is everything.

Back in the real world

Buyers are savvy, well-researched, and value autonomy in their purchasing journey. They don't want to be force-fed; they want to discover, understand, and consider the logic in what is being presented and then discuss it when the time is right for them.

Equally, sales teams don't want to be force-fed leads that mean endless hours trying to connect with buyers who may have only shown a passing and superficial interest in the topic.

How do we all get what we want?

Simply put, today's tech buyers value trust. They seek genuine interactions over sales pitches.

Reaching out with insight and understanding leads to genuine conversations. When a sales team has a comprehensive grasp of a buyer's journey and interests, their approach feels more personalised and relevant, paving the way for meaningful onward conversations.

The result? Buyers feel respected, understood, and more inclined to engage. Sales teams are more productive and meet their call objectives.

So how do you make that happen?

Creating a two-way street

Communities where buyers and sellers are a place where relationships can be nurtured. Taking buyers through logical stages that help them figure out their problems will lead them to the people who can help them fix them. There's a difference between this and how you engage with them through your own website and communications as it offers a degree of impartiality.That's not to say it lacks sales intention, but it's presented more appealingly so when they're ready to decide to take a call it's backed by trust and the likelihood of a better outcome for both parties.

A programme that makes a difference

This is where our methodology comes into play. Imagine instead of that insistent door-to-door salesperson, you have a friendly neighbour who invites you over for a casual chat about a topic you both love.

They've created a comfortable space, where you can learn at your own pace, ask questions, and share experiences. That's precisely how we aim to offer information to our buyer communities.

The icing on the cake: Community-led marketing

In the grand scheme of things what we've achieved is simple: created environments where engagement is authentic, and growth is sustainable and measurable.

But it doesn stop there. Lead progression and visibility are important to our sales customers so we make that available every step of the way in dedicated dashboards.

Better still, we're accountable for results and because we're so sure our approach works, we're happy to sign up for performance guarantees at any programme's start.

Now that's got to be a win-win-win!

Author: Shelley Hirst, The Amigos Network
Email: shelley.hirst@theamigosnetwork.com

If this makes sense to you ......

Take a small step. Ask us to show you how Market Activation™ will help amplify your brand, identify buyers with purchasing intent and create better-informed sales conversations!

It can be a complete enabler for small/newly funded businesses or as a programme that's part of a wider demand generation strategy.

Vendors looking to support their partner channels in their demand-creation efforts find it particularly beneficial if they build it into their channel programmes.

Forward-thinking distributors wishing to offer value to vendors and partners by engaging and managing relationships directly with buyers are also creating interest.

And great news for the budget holders - depending on where you sit there are models some customers have adopted that have made it cost-neutral or revenue-positive at source.

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