General Reminders on Sales and Marketing

Google is responsible for 94% of total organic traffic. Only 29% of people want to talk to a salesperson to learn more about a product, while 62% will consult a search engine. 75% of companies state that closing more deals is their top sales priority. 40% of salespeople claim that it is increasingly difficult to get a response from prospects. Every business should reconsider its sales funnel: 67% of the sales cycle takes place on digital channels before contacting the company! (Forbes, January 2023)

Why Reevaluate the Sales Funnel?

The customer journey is no longer linear. Prospects no longer enter only at the top of the funnel. Customer acquisition has changed: customers arrive at any stage and often skip steps or go back and forth between them.

A new paradigm and reality have led us to write this essential guide for successful sales prospecting.

We remind you that we work in French, English, and Spanish, but this guide is valid for other languages.

We primarily work with B2B companies, but many of our recommendations also apply to B2C.

We want to emphasize that as of the writing of this guide (1st quarter of 2023), we have had the opportunity to collect, consolidate, and synthesize information from over 20 years of B2B sales experience in numerous countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

We have also surrounded ourselves with experts from North and South America to compare our “European” perspective, and what we can confirm is that the planet is full of skills in all countries, and staying “curious,” modest, and humble and cultivating an international and multicultural network remains, in our opinion, the best way to continue to progress and improve the quality of your sales prospecting.

Before delving into the main topic, here are our observations in 5 points about current trends in the ecosystem:

1. Increased competition.

2. Customers are changing how they buy a product or service.

   • 70% of buyers make their purchase decision BEFORE talking to a salesperson.
   • Today’s customers have technology; they search for any purchase decision in seconds, but they also take the time to research (companies that educate their audience and assist in research are well-positioned to perform better).

3. Sales teams are not generating qualified leads.

   • When was the last time you made a purchase or investment after receiving a cold sales call?
   • The reality is that cold calls are becoming less effective, and brand perception is increasingly negative for those who continue to cold-call potential customers.
   • Lead generation is also becoming less the task of a salesperson and more that of a marketing team.

4. Buyers no longer need salespeople.

   • Business decision-makers, like all consumers, now expect to have a wealth of information about the products or services they are researching or considering buying.
   • A simple Google search on their smartphone after a business meeting can be the first step in exploring options that meet their needs. The question is to already provide answers and resources on the web when prospects are searching for answers related to their industry.

5. Marketing budgets are diluted as the number of marketing opportunities increases.

   • Should marketing managers focus on specific channels and possibly reduce experimentation?
   • Should marketing managers spread their budget across multiple channels to expand reach and audience engagement opportunities?
   • Regardless of the chosen path, there will be missed opportunities.
   • Constant budget increases for marketing cannot be expected; companies must focus on integrating their marketing efforts to maximize benefits (even when budgets are tight!).

We have written this guide to help you sell more, sell better, but above all, save time. In fact, if your product takes 4 months to sell, we would be very happy to help you save 1 month by selling it in 3 months with this guide!