Take these 3 steps to shorten your sales cycle | Entrepreneur

If you shop for a pair of new running shoes, how long does it usually take to make a decision? If you are picky, the process can take months. It does not matter in which industry you are active, sales cycles can take longer than they should.

Although factors do include picky shoppers (even I am known that they look far before the perfect dress), certain marketing tactics can still convince the most challenging prospects.

A Recent survey reported that 74% of companies Suppose sales cycles are getting longer. This translates into spending more resources (time and money) to generate flat results.

When running my own company, PostcardI have confronted with this and much more, but have kept our growth on an upward process. Last year last year set a new income record for us at $ 119 million, and we have grown 239% faster over the past five years than we did in the previous decade, with an average of 17% annual revenue growth now versus 5% then.

Here is a breakdown of the road tested marketing tactics that have helped me to speed up our growth and to shorten the sales cycle.

Related: how you can shorten your sales cycle and convert more leads

Step 1: Expand the top of the funnel by increasing the leads without any more – this is how I have reduced my average costs per lead

Over 28% of the companies Suppose generating leads is a challenge. My top strategy is simple: don’t stop marketing and stay consistent.

When the Pandemie struck in 2020, many companies decided to reduce their marketing budget, but I held.

My decision to consistently continue marketing in the Pandemie resulted in an increase in leads by 9.24% – another 186 leads per week – without any increased costs or do something else. After all, said and done, the annual turnover of Postcardmania rose by 10% that year despite the chaos.

But for those who cut their marketing, research shows that they probably suffered.

A Recent Study The long -term effects investigated when two major brands cut back on advertising under financial pressure. One reduced their marketing expenditure by 27% and the other by 65%. In the first quarter after the cutbacks, the first company saw the turnover fall 66%and the other fell by 51%.

This study simply demonstrates something that I have been saying for decades: you have to go consistent, week in and week, if you want your business to grow.

It doesn’t matter which marketing channel you choose. Make sure you follow your marketing and answers, so that you can accurately attribute your new customers and sales to know what works and what is not.

As soon as you know what works for your company, do more of it! And if you can, put it on the autopilot.

One of my customers, an investor in real estate, has implemented direct mail automation that automatically sent postcards to people who visited his website for more than 30 seconds without converting. After sending just over 100 of these mailers, he closed two new sales worth $ 70,000.

Because these automated campaigns are carried out daily, this means that you could have new leads every day. This would compile over time and ultimately generate a completely new list of new customers for you.

Related: how I have built a sales funnel that generates more than $ 80 million

Step 2: View your lead follow-up funnel and consider creating a better balance of online and offline communication

Following prospects is just as important as generating new leads. In my experience, the right balance between online and offline communication helps to move the leads to the selling funnel to buy.

And the research supports me here – Studies show that integrated direct mail and digital campaigns wake 39% more attention Then digital campaigns with one media. In fact almost 2 of the 3 consumers (60%) say that they respond extremely or most likely to advertisements that they see through multiple channels.

Follow-ups are like memories and you have to send a lot of them to provoke action. Ideally, these memories take place at the same time to keep your brand at the top. So if you send postcards weekly, you must also perform online advertisements on Instagram, Facebook and Google, as well as SMS messages and e -mail.

These channels all work together to bring prospects back to your website or to record the phone to make a purchase. Professional marketers are about this in Lockstep: 91% believe Integrating direct mail and digital has a positive effect on the performance of campaigns.

At postcards we continue to email postcards every week, but we also give priority to pay-per-click advertisements, remarketing, video-based advertisements on social media and daily e-mail bumps. All these methods have helped us together to constantly increase our turnover year after year.

Related: how you can stimulate your company with direct e -mail automation and retargeting – a detailed beginner’s manual

Step 3: Explore other marketing channels to replace some of your e -mail contact points

You generate leads with consistent marketing, perform online and offline follow-up, but what if your marketing messages are not even seen or opened? This phase of the selling funnel can take some time before a prospect makes a final purchase.

E -mail is a top method for companies for companies, but e -mails have one Low open rate of 37% – And it can get even worse because more consumers ignore or delete them. I know I do that! One study turned out That e -mails and SMS messages were the two most annoying channels when it comes to bombed with marketing.

Over 33% of companies struggle With falling open rates, but they can be improved by launching the right marketing campaigns

Instead of concentrating on what is standard, concentrate on what works. The most important marketing strategy that I used to draw prospects has been direct mail, and that has never changed in the last 27 years.

I have built up my company from the ground with Zero Capital, mainly based on direct -mail marketing, and today we earn more than $ 100 million in annual turnover. We started to mitigate 1,000 postcards per week and advertised our services, and now we email more than 230,000 a week.

The facts don’t lie either; Research confirms that direct e -mail has a much higher open rate of 90%. A company can also bypass open rates with postcards, catalogs or brochures, because the recipient immediately sees the message and images. This gives your company a better chance to make a lasting impression.

Another direct mail benefit: less competition in the mailbox versus the inbox. Personally, I don’t like to post hundreds of Emails every day. The USPS reports that the average household 7,750% more e -mails Then mail items per day -on average two direct -E -Mail advertisements in contrast to 157 E emails per day.

All these methods have helped us together to constantly increase our turnover year after year. I have tackled my challenges frontally with these marketing methods and I know that you will do the same with effort.