The key to growing your business' revenue is to increase sales; the key to increasing your sales is an effective sales pipeline generation strategy; but the key to developing a sales pipeline generation strategy is not so simple -- unless you're a teenager. That's right: The way teenagers interact with each other provides valuable insight about growing a sales pipeline. Here is what they know:
In most cases, qualified sales pipeline generation comes down to how great your product is and what it can do. Great products attract a following; it comes down to how many people like it. Teens, who base the entirety of their social existence on who's the coolest, know well how important it is to build a strong personal brand. They evaluate their social brand versus their peers. So do companies like Apple and Samsung, who have invested millions into making their products "cool".
In order to make your product cool, you have to create an image that makes it so. This is something else that teens know, as many teens will spend less time doing their homework than building a "false" persona and style to maintain their "coolness." We are not suggesting that you create a false, nearly impossible to maintain image as teens are notorious for doing. You should take the time to sit down and take a look at what you can do to create an external business image that adheres to your own business values while also appealing to your ideal Buyer Persona for your products.
Teens are loud and rambunctious for a reason: They know that if they are louder than the competition, their voices will drown out all opposing arguments. This is not to say that going outside and yelling some variant of "my product is great" is a smart idea. You should, however, be aware that your competition is working very hard to virtually drown you out on the internet. In order to fight back, you must increase your internet presence and establish an effective digital strategy. Many companies' internet presence is dwarfed by larger competition. Inbound Marketing methods enable smaller businesses to cost effectively get their message to the right prospects.
Sales pipeline generation does not end with bringing people to your website. If they are not engaged or have difficulty navigating, users will become disillusioned and leave. This is measured in the bounce rate metric. As a group well known for their microsecond attention spans, teens can tell you this as well. In other words, just hosting a website is not enough to convert visitors to leads. Once you get people to your website, it is your job to make sure that it is engaging, exciting and intuitive enough to keep them there long enough for you to have the opportunity to draw them to convert to a pipeline contact.
When teens become popular, that is when the real work begins. Now they must work extremely hard to keep themselves on the minds of their peers. Likewise, closing a sale is not the end of your sales pipeline generation endeavors. After this, you should be constantly communicating with the newfound customers in order to keep them coming back, to upsell them to more products and to nurture them so they are delighted to become promoters of your business.
One of the most significant things in a teen's life is the latest trend that everyone is following. No, we are not telling you that you need to copy everything your competitors are doing. You should, however, be aware of their marketing activities; this will give you a better perspective on the success of your own marketing strategy and a better understanding of how to adjust it so it succeeds competitively.
Learning about the intense peer pressure teens experience and watching how they adapt provides insight for every marketer. If you are looking for ways to make your marketing programs more effective, consider implementing an Inbound Marketing strategy. Contact us to learn how.
