Summary
But what’s a channel? In commercial prospecting, it is a platform or a means of communication allowing a message to be transmitted to potential customers. The interest of multi channel marketing will reside in the possibility of freely combining different channels according to your objectives and your budget.
The phone is the sales channel of choice for many sales reps around the world. Considered for decades to be the sales prospecting channel, it still remains a reliable tool for professionals today.In fact, 92% of interactions with a prospect are still done via telephone. But times are changing, the habits of prospects are evolving and new technologies are more important than ever. If your outreach strategy is based solely on traditional telephone calls, you risk missing out on opportunities.
To stay competitive in today's market, you need to combine multiple channels to contact more prospects and increase your sales. It’s better to favor a multi-channel strategy than a single-channel strategy and reduce any dependence on a single prospecting strategy.
Should you invest in all possible and imaginable channels? How to set up multi channel prospecting? These are the questions we will attempt to answer, but before that, it's necessary to define what a multi channel prospecting strategy is.
What are the main prospecting channels?
Prospects react differently depending on the channel. The challenge is to choose the channel which corresponds best to the target. To help you decide, here’s a list of the best prospecting channels.
E-mail is often underestimated. It’s one of the most profitable channels. A well-written email still has an ROI of 73%! It would nevertheless be simplistic to think that the only advantage of email is its low cost. This channel allows mass mailings of personalized messages. It’s also a good way for salespeople to qualify their prospecting files.
Indeed, with an e-mail routing solution you can obtain valuable information on the opening of e-mails sent or the click rate on the links. It is up to you to define the action to be put in place: call the people who opened and clicked on the CTA placed in the email, follow up on the openers who did not click, suggest an appointment, etc.
The telephone
The phone remains an essential channel even if it’s less appreciated because of its intrusive nature. The telephone is really useful for humanizing prospecting and allows the salesperson to quickly understand if his prospect is interested or not.
Ringover can fit into your CRM solution, the Ringover telephone solution will optimize your use of this channel. You can obtain local numbers to multiply your appointments or finely control your calls , SMS or direct voice message campaigns.
Social networks can be gold mines of information and a great place to find leads. You can use them to collect information about your prospects and build a community around your product. LinkedIn can be used for this research work, it differs from other social networks by its ability to become a real B2B prospecting tool.
If you offer a service/product intended for companies, LinkedIn will prove to be essential for making contact and must be integrated into your multi channel prospecting strategy.
SMS
It differs from email by its opening rate which is 98%! What’s more, 9 out of 10 text messages are opened within 3 minutes of getting them. That's huge! The SMS forces you to be clear and concise. Automating SMS campaigns will save you a lot of time in your reminders. You’ll need to do a lot of research to identify the habits of your targets and then define the combinations of channels to integrate into your prospecting mix.
The advantages of multi channel prospecting
Multi channel prospecting allows salespeople to approach their clients on the platforms where they’re the most active. Professionals adapt the content of their message according to the channels. It’s also a way to obtain key insights into the behavior of their targets to offer them an ultra-personalized service.
Implementing a multi-channel strategy also means generating more leads because you multiply the points of contact and the opportunities. It helps you convert more leads. As proof, a recent study reveals that teams that have adopted this type of approach have a 287% higher purchase rate than those who are content with single-channel prospecting.
How to enact a multi channel strategy
Multi channel prospecting should not be done in all directions. You must adapt your strategy taking into account the specificities of each channel and the habits of your targets, whether in terms of content or reminder frequency. The goal is to maintain the balance between commercial pressure and target acceptability, not to scare away your prospects.
To reach a maximum of potential customers and increase your turnover, you must carefully prepare your prospecting strategy. Here are the steps to follow to launch your multi channel prospecting in the best conditions.
1. Targeting
Defining your target is important. It’s imperative to clearly identify the target according to your sector and your objectives. But that's not all, targeting involves detailed and reliable prospecting info.
2. Development
You’ve defined your target, but are you sure that your product/service meets their needs? Before starting your prospecting, get your hands dirty and go through all the data at your disposal to understand the expectations of your target. If you don't have the info, conduct surveys and research via social media. This research is crucial because it’ll allow you to anticipate certain questions and refine your sales pitch.
3.Specify the communication steps
This is the stage where you define your message both in form and content. Even if the content changes from one channel to another, always be sure to talk about your prospect and not about you. Create customizable templates for each channel, be creative while staying relevant and share these templates with your collaborators for the best results.
4. Define the steps for your sales agents
Using multi channel prospecting tools, developing a clear schedule of actions to be carried out on each channel. A solution like Cadence by Ringover will help you plan these actions through a fully customizable process.This tool makes it possible to create the models mentioned above and gives each salesperson the possibility of knowing they are in their prospecting cycle.They’ll know what they have to do to achieve their goals. As a sales manager you can also monitor the performance of your team in real time and follow their progress.
5. Plan your CRM and analyze data
In addition to prospecting sequences, you’ll also need to equip yourself with other tools. CRM software is essential. Through your CRM, you will be able to manage all the data collected and keep an eye on all aspects related to your customers (identity of customers, calls, invoicing, number of sales, etc.).
The best tool for multi channel prospecting
Try Cadence by Ringover
To be successful in prospecting, you must devote time to developing your plan, collect and analyze a lot of data, and equip yourself with the right tools. He’s what we think are the right tools for the job.
A high performance telephone system
Is your current telephone system suitable for this type of prospecting? If your solution does not allow mass SMS or voice message campaigns, you'll quickly find yourself limited in your multi channel actions and will not be able to achieve your objectives.So you’ll want to opt for a telephone solution such as Ringover. In addition to the features mentioned, you’ll benefit from unlimited calls to more than 110 destinations while keeping your current numbers, one-click calls or integration with your CRM.
CRM software for prospecting and following-up
CRM software is one of the pillars of sales prospecting.You’ll need to ensure that your CRM is aligned with your current and future needs. It must be scalable to manage your customer relationships such as Zoho, Hubspot, Sellsy or Salesforce. Whatever your choice, you can easily integrate the Ringover telephone solution. Since we integrate with other platforms you will not have to switch from one window to another to access customer information and will save time.
A quality email routing solution
Contrary to popular belief, email works. If you really want to take advantage of it, a tool is required. You must have e-mail routing software to:
- Create tailor-made mailing campaigns
- Increase the open rate and deliverability of your emails
- Activate marketing automation
- Access accurate data about your campaigns
- A tool to create an sequence for prospection
The tool to create your sequences which allows you to standardize your multi channel prospecting and guide salespeople on a daily basis. Here are the criteria to take into account when choosing your multi channel prospecting tool:
- The ability to create sequences in just a few clicks
- The integration of the cadence tool with your other software (telephone system, CRM or email router for example
- Centralization of all models and messages for each channel
- Automatic creation of daily to-do lists for your sales team
The Cadence system by Ringover is a prospecting tool, you can request a free trial. Cadence is particularly aimed at SMEs who wish to gain efficiency, reduce the time spent on tedious tasks and generate more sales through multi channel marketing. You now have the keys to implement the multichannel strategy that will allow you to accelerate the development of your business. For more information on telephone systems or multi channel prospecting tools , know that our experts are at your disposal on 01 844 411 1221 and that you can also reach them via our contact form.
