Jul 11, 20218:46 PM - edited Aug 12, 202110:39 AM
HubSpot Employee
What makes inbound sales different?
Inbound sales transforms sales to match the way people buy. It's all about meeting prospects where they are and helping them move toward a purchasing decision. Is this different from the way you're used to approaching sales, or have you been doing sales in this way but calling it something else? Leave your thoughts in the comments about how inbound sales is similar to or different from the way you've been doing sales.
I have been working in sales for the past 20 or so years. Just now having started a new job, I was told by the management that I needed to take a HusSpot course on Inbound Sales. But whatever I have learnt so far, is pretty much how I learned to do sales. Back when i started, internet wasnt a huge thing, but I would regularly visit seminars, community meetings, sometimes events that werent even related to what I was selling, just to socialize with people, often steering the conversations to what challenges they were facing. Incase their issue wasnt related to my product(s) I would still earn a contact and if their problem was something I was dealing in, it would allow me to help them research. I am very open to direct my lead to somewhere he or she would find a more suitable solution; however, mostly I had the solution in my arsenal to help them. My technique comes from the fact, that I am allergic to the old-school salesperson mentality of bombarding your lead with your information. Most often, resulting in the lead being chased away. I would always focus on building long-term relationships.
Feb 17, 20255:17 AM - edited Feb 17, 20255:18 AM
Participant
What makes inbound sales different?
Inbound sales is different from outbound sales which is based on assumptions. In Inbound sales pipeline, we are assisting the customers' purchase decisions since they are attracted already with the products or services. By knowing well between key features of your product and customers' concerns, you need to show up yourself first by building relationship and then offering product with personalized customer service thought buying journey, so it can generate succuessful deal from lead.
Inbound sales is different from classical sale techniques, in that it doesn't begin with a cold-call to someone who may or may ot need your product. It involves researching your prospects, and helping them in the "buyers journey" they are most likely already undertaking. Making resources and information available on your company's webiste, and allowing customers who are seeking your services to do their own research is a vital component to inside sales, as the public has an inherent distrust of salespeople. They want to look into options themselves, and it is up to you, the salesperson, to guide them through the sale, and give them assistance wherever they may need it. Overloading them on a cold-call with more info than they can retain isn't an effective strategy to building trust or providing a positive experience to a customer.
Inbound sales is different because it focuses on meeting buyers where they are in their journey and guiding them toward the best solution for their needs. Unlike traditional sales methods that rely on rigid scripts, pre-made slides, and waiting for customers to come to us, inbound sales is about actively engaging with prospects, adding value, and adapting to their unique situations.
Many customers, especially when dealing with important purchases, prefer to have a conversation rather than just browsing options online. They want to discuss their needs, explore alternatives, and ensure they're making the right decision. As sales professionals, we must be prepared with the right tools, insights, and altenatives to offer the best possible solution tailored to each customer.
It doesnt matter what industry you are in. If you are selling a product, you need to understand the buyer's journey/point of view and once you place yourself in their shoes, you can see the process a lot clearer and respond accordingly, assisting them. They dont want sellers gambit; they want you to chat and talk to them normally in aiding their decision. This is something a lot of people struggle with, forgetting you are chatting to another human, and more like a machine, and I think once you are aware of this, the process of sales is more like common sense in reframing how you would like to be sold something if it was you buying a product.
From buyer's prespective, we do know all the general information, so if someone could guide me specifically for my use case e.i. if this will help solve my problem & to what degree?
Inbound attracts customers to you, while Outbound goes out to find them. Inbound is customer-centric, focusing on relationships and value, while Outbound is company-centric, focusing on closing deals.
Inbound sales focus on leads who already show interest in a product or service, typically through content, marketing, or referrals. The sales process is more consultative, helping prospects find solutions based on their needs. Unlike outbound sales, which involve cold calling or prospecting, inbound sales nurture warm leads, making conversion easier.
I'm new to the marketing community, I've always worked in the school office setting. After watching the video on Inbound Sales its really refreshing to see this type of approach rather than trying to sell a product to a buyer that doesn't need it. I like the fact that its more customer-centric and making connection with the buyer in order to assist them in their buyer journey. I can relate this in a way to my office job since at the schools we assist parents in registering and help them pick the right school that best meets their child's needs.
I have never been in a sales role before, and dislike the idea of cold calling or any other aggressive selling techniques. So I'm far more comfortable with this form of sales technique.
For me it's really been a mixture of both. I guess it depends on where in the process or cycle I meet them. In my business, I get a real mix of educated buyers who have done all their research, and ones who just have a vague idea of the problem they are trying to solve! I can see how a strategy not just stages in the CRM is a smarter way of looking at it though!
We all need to remind ourselves that sales is a people’s business involving an emotional connection! With the inbound sales we have to properly identify customer’s problems , support and guide them throughout the buying process!
Inbound sales is all about attracting and engaging potential customers who have already shown interest in your product or service. Instead of cold-calling or pushing a sale, you focus on providing value, answering questions, and guiding prospects through their buying journey. The key difference is that the customer comes to you, rather than you chasing after them. It’s a more consultative, relationship-building approach.
It makes sense that with the shift of power towards the buyer that our approach as sales people is to work with them through their Buyers Journey. We have to meet the buyer where they ar along their journey and aid them along it towards a purchasing decision.
This is generally how I have been doing sales but still I did not full comprehend or respect the full scope and nuanced stages of the buyers journey. Having the clear differences between the awareness stage, consideration stage and decision stage will be very helpful in making sales.
What is more having a clear distinction of the inbound sales strategy: the identify phase to see if potential buyers have a problem of goal I can help them with through gathering lots of info, use of blogs and social media and poistioning as a though leader, so making them a lead, the connect phase where we help them to see if they want to prioritise their goal which if they do makes them a qualified lead (I see a connection here between the buyers journey consideration phase and our sales stretegy in the connect phase which seems to function as helping them onto consideration phase, beyond awareness, if they not already there - meaning the SS connect phase links with them being on the consideration phase), then the explore phase where we can assess if we can help them better than they can themselves through proper value positioning and the right question process and fianlly the advise phase where we provide the tailored presentation linked to their context to show how we can help.
Having a thorough process of the inbound sales stretegy and understabding of the buyers journey is immensely helpful. I have been doing parts of this and understanding parts but as a complete whole, this is a game changer.
It is all the things you have to do as marketeer to be act as consultant first and simultanessly obtain the trust of the expertise and solution provider.
I understand that the essence of inbound sales should be thinking from the other's perspective. That is, thinking and communicating from the buyer's position, starting from the point of helping the buyer solve problems, and ultimately converting it into an order.
Inbound sales is different because it emphasizes meeting the buyer on the buyer journey and helping them on their unique journey this is in contrast with the the rigid sales approach with premade slides, repeated processes, and waiting for buyer to come to us. It as about doing the things that add value to the customer in today's world.
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