I’m sure most of us have been there and can relate to this blog post, spending large portions of the day swiping left or right through endless profiles of girls or guys. The truth is sales is strangely like Tinder and I’m going to tell you why – simply, it’s a numbers game. While we all might have different tastes about what we like and maybe don’t like about the opposite sex the same goes for your company and the killer values that you look for in prospect businesses.

It’s a numbers game

Some companies will be too small, too large, not turn over enough revenue, not have the correct number of sales staff, not have a marketing team. Whatever your killer values might be, the truth is, for your business development team to put numbers on the board, they need to maximise their chances of getting a meeting by calling as many companies each day as possible. Just like Tinder, you’re not going to get it right the first time around, nine times out of ten, it’s about increasing the chance of finding ‘the correct match’.

Spark a conversation

So, you’ve matched with someone, happy days, but how do you ACTUALLY know they’re the right person or ‘company’ for you? Once again, drawing comparisons with Tinder, while most of the information can be found on public domain data sources such as LinkedIn, or in this instance the Tinder bio, how can you properly qualify a company until you pick up the phone and spark a conversation? It’s inevitable that your sales team are going to reach out to companies that aren’t necessarily a good fit. Once again, it’s a numbers game, you need to trawl through negative calls before finding that metaphorical diamond in the dirt.

Biography

If you’ve used Tinder before then you’ll be familiar with the short bio space that you are given the opportunity to write in below your photo, this is your chance to shine, to impress, be witty and inviting. This bio is somewhat similar to the message that your company is trying to portray. Let’s imagine a prospect has stumbled onto your website or has opened one of your emails, you’ve only got a few moments to grab their attention and keep them looking further. Why not keep your hook lines that sum up your company in a single sentence, where they are visible such as in the email ‘preview line’ or even the subject line?

Shake up your current strategy

Who knows, maybe it’s time to rethink your current strategy and shake up your killer values. When was the last time your whole sales process was reviewed? The business environment is an ever-changing place, maybe it’s time to look elsewhere and broaden your company’s horizons? Just like with Tinder, occasionally it’s good to update your own profile. That photo of you from 5 years ago, maybe it’s not such a good representation of who you are and what you look like now! The same principle goes for your company, who says that change isn’t good for business and how will you find out what works best if you don’t change the way you work? One thing is for sure, I know that we talk over our own marketing personas every now and then to make sure we’re hitting the right notes with prospects.

Keeping the whole process succinct

A good pointer that we found to work here at CommuniGator is constant communication between Executive and Director level staff with the sales team. In some months, we found that industries we wouldn’t previously have dreamed of targeting were closing deals more frequently than other sectors. This top-down advice direct from more senior staff gave our own business development team the knowledge and know how to target and look for other companies relevant to that sector.
So, there you go, sales is more like than Tinder than you previously thought, who would have known? Yes, it’s a numbers game, but it’s about being savvier in where you are concentrating your time and resources. Your lead generation team is just one part of an efficiently run business, so make sure you give them the tools necessary to succeed and stay motivated!

Why not pass this advice on to help build an overperforming sales team? Better yet, if you’re looking for other ways to boost your current digital marketing strategy, we’ve got loads of helpful guides like this one that are free to download!