Loading...
Answers
MenuHow do I get an interested prospect to take action (= buy an online course)?
Answers
I love this topic and I know it all to well ;)
I work with small businesses Building Brand influence to increase sales on social media but I also Market info products like yours. I would ask: Do you have a specific process that people go through?
There are a few specific things I want to suggest off hand.
First and most importantly, though, is asking for the sale.
You have got to get comfortable stepping behind the cash register so to speak.
This question makes me smile and I had to reach out to you because I know exactly what you are talking about.
There are people that do well without having specific processes in place, they do it intuitively and without much skill. Those are few.
Most of us have to break through some self-limiting beliefs and hop behind the cash register and say/do some BOLD things simply because: People need to be told what to do.
It's great that you are talking to prospects and they are sounding eager. One small tweak that will most likely increase conversions is to simply say, "Okay great, are you by your computer now? I'll stay on the line to help you through the checkout process."
Schedule a follow up time or just call back in 3 days to "See how it's going." ;) Even if you KNOW they didn't buy. Sometimes people need reminded or something came up as soon as they hung up. If you look at it as a kind gesture, so will they. :) Have you tried this yet?
There are tons of directions we could go with this. I'll wait to see what your reply is.
Have a great day!
When people don't buy (even after they've expressed "interest") it generally means there's a problem with one or more of the following:
1. Product Positioning
2. Creation of a compelling (aka irresistible) Offer
3. Proper Pricing
4. Clear identification of your Market
To "sell" your product (i.e. to get more sales) you need the right message put in front of the right market with the right offer and priced properly in order to have the greatest probability of them buying.
There are always other factors (such as where they are in the buying cycle - for example perhaps they are just "shopping") but your strategy should take that into account.
And once you've figured out how much you can afford to acquire a customer (and other such key metrics) you are well on your way to growing your business.
My best advice is to consider that you don't "get" a prospect to buy. Get to know your market so well that you deeply understand what they want - then position your business and products to provide that to them.
In other words - Build a strategy around HOW your market buys and then make it easy for them to do so.
I'd be happy to walk you through the steps you need to take to create this strategy in a call.
In any case - I wish you the best of luck!
This is a super-broad question and there is enough to say about it to write entire books on.
That said, you've got a few basic tools at your disposal that, combined with some expertise in lead life cycle management, can really help you optimize your funnel and help you help your prospects help themselves.
The fundamental tools you have are messaging and your own ability to sell (even when it's a soft sell).
By getting smart about understanding the funnel, and using tools like marketing automation systems to implement lead nurturing and to start making sure that you're getting targeted content to prospects at the right time... And most importantly to make sure that you're always reminding your prospects why they signed up with you in the first place... You can seriously boost your engagement and help people get over their personal hurdles.
One of the biggest challenges in online marketing is the concept of friction vs momentum.
What you're talking about is leads who you felt had great momentum and were pushing towards the sale... What happens offline (where you can't see) is that life throws a bunch of friction at the which slows them down and they lose their momentum. When this happens the lead falls back into their routine and moves away from making a change (which is actually what you're hoping to get them to buy).
What you need to do is strategically apply some grease to your prospects to help them slide on through to the goal of changing their situation (by purchasing your course)
The good news is, the process if building this out will really help you understand your prospects, your customers, and as a byproduct your own business... Which is really cool :)
If you want to increase your conversion rate offer a buy now option. Or there could be some holes in your value proposition/offer.
I agree with the other folks here that something's likely wrong with your offer and you need to dig to figure out what that is.
BUT, I also sell online courses, and you should know that conversion rates here, like for everything we all sell, are low. You have to get a high number of people to a landing page to convert enough of them to make it worth your time. Even if you have a relatively high conversion rate, you need a lot of eyeballs to make it work. So just keep that in mind!
Related Questions
-
How do you build a structured sales process for a digital agency that works with Enterprise Ecommerce Clients?
Yes, a consistent sales process is vital so that you know where you are. You also want to know why you lost some orders and won others--I was over a decade into my career before I realized I had no idea why. And that's what lead to the change. You need to understand your numbers. You need to know what the process steps are, and how to proceed to the next one--or let the opportunity die if it should (hint: if you're trying to turn every prospect into a client, you're doing it wrong.) And you must have your fulfillment process dialed in, which at present with the description of murky data-gathering and pricing it sounds like you do not. Loads of info my my blog at http://www.salestactics.org Let's discuss specifics on a call.JK
-
What is the best sales material to use to support a B2B outbound strategy. And what should be the order of outreach? I.E email, phone call, mail?
People hate calls. People hate emails. People hate mail. Do you really want your first impression to be that of an interloper and a pusher? Then again, most recipients aren't event going to look at what you send them. What is your niche? Office managers for private family healthcare providers in Peoria? Athletics department directors for NAIA schools? Sales managers at wholesale car dealers that make over $180 million per year in gross revenue? Know your niche and define your buyer (and it better be the CIO or VP). Is your buyer female or male? Older, middle age, or younger? What about her or his college education? What does he drive? Where does he live? Where does he eat his lunch and get his coffee in the morning? What does he read? Etc. Go to your buyer. Find congregations of your buyer. Professional associations. Conferences. Meet-ups. Trade shows. Offer to do free presentations--not on your product but on best practices or trends you observe in the industry. Make your presentation about solving problems your buyers deal with every day. Write blogs or columns for media they read. Again, focus on what they need/want to read. You will have a hard time keeping enough business cards in stock and click-throughs from your byline. This is a true "targeted outreach campaign." Don't waste your money and time with anything less than this. You're going to do great. Please let me know if you'd like to talk about it more!BI
-
Is cold mailing/calling dead?
I don't think they're dead - but changing communication trends have created new challenges. Calling someone on their cell phone is considered rude and people are increasingly ignoring their office phones. As for email, we are inundated with an ever increasing load in email - making cold emailing less and less effective. But the deeper question is "Is Cold Prospecting Dead". To that, I give an emphatic 'no'. Seasoned sales professionals like to prattle on about how its relationships, referrals, and the art of the pitch/close... but only because they've forgotten how hard it is to get the machine running. Aaron Ross' predictable revenue is a modified version of traditional prospecting. People have to become specialized, disciplined, and rely on tools to help you be more efficient. But the underlying concept holds true: In absence of higher yielding lead sources, cold prospecting is superior to doing nothing. If you believe that principal, then you do *everything* you can to grow sales that is *NOT* cold prospecting... but the key is to 'grow sales'. In absence of any more effective method/technique, get back on the phones and email and become a student of prospecting. Maybe the better answer is "Cold Prospecting is Dead for those that don't learn how to do it in today's changing environment" Pro Tip: Communicating through LinkedIn, Twitter, and other online channels is still cold prospecting. Setting up tools like Cadence to handle your prospecting emails is still cold emailing... just more evolved versions of them :)NH
-
How do I generate leads for an outsourcing service?
I'd recommend attending trade shows and conferences focused on the tech industry. Another great option would be running a Facebook Ad campaign targeting organizations who best represent your ideal client. You can also try LinkedIn Sales Navigator and cold emails to cultivate your b2b leads. Any of these are viable methods for lead generation. It's best to try each one and see what results you get.RJ
-
Should we hire hire a contracted outside sales force for our company rokform.com? If so who do you recommend? We need visibility in larger channels.
Do you have any internal sales professionals? You should at LEAST have an internal sales director who sets the strategy for a sales force. Then you determine if the proper path is a contracted sales force. I've known companies that have used outside sales teams however NONE that have seen the type of success that outweighs having an internal team.MM
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.