People divide into camps when thinking about salespeople. To some, they seem like numbers-obsessed people who want to sell you something whether you want to or not. Others see them as regular people trying to offer solutions to the many problems we face daily.
One thing unites these two camps, however. The idea is that selling can be difficult.
Selling isn't always easy. It is straightforward, but not easy. Why is that?
People in business might still remember the old selling style. The stereotype of a salesperson is usually someone who radiates a charismatic aura or is pushy. Or so it used to be.
What made selling hard in the "old days" was persuading people to buy your product or service. Now, luckily, the burden falls on the quality of your offering and not on how talented your salesperson is. Though you still need a skilled salesperson, you now need them for different reasons. Today, customers draw their conclusions.
...or do they? (Spoiler: They do, but it's not that simple!)
Frictionless sales aim to make it easy for customers to make purchases or take action with minimal barriers. The focus is on simplicity and removing obstacles.
Modern living has changed the way we do many things, including buying. So it is only fair to assume that businesses should adopt accordingly.
"It's not what you sell, it's how you sell it that matters." - HubSpot
"How you sell" doesn't mean how charming or persuasive you are in this case. It describes what selling framework you use. Everything from how your Sales and Marketing departments work together to how easy it is to buy from you.
Our partners at HubSpot have developed a framework for frictionless sales. The framework consists of three phases.
Attract is all about bringing potential customers to you and capturing their interest.
This could be done by creating an effective SEO strategy. Content marketing, social media, and paid advertising are also used to accomplish this. A mix of all of them is always advisable.
The goal is to generate valuable content. Through it, you can address your target audience's pain points and interests.
Engage is about converting visitors into leads. Usually by capturing their contact information and nurturing them through the sales process. This is done through various tactics such as forms, chatbots, and lead magnets.
Once you have their contact information, you can begin the engagement phase. Try and address their specific needs and interests. You can use everything from email campaigns to personalized content, and targeted offers.
Delight means exceeding customer expectations and turning them into loyal advocates for your brand. How to achieve this?
Provide exceptional customer service, extra resources and support, and deliver on your promises. This way you can keep existing customers, but also attract new ones through referrals.
The goal is to move customers through the process with little friction or barriers. This way you can create a customer-centric sales process that meets their needs.
While each phase of the frictionless selling framework is significant in its own right, they are also interconnected and build upon each other to create a seamless sales process.
The Attract phase should lay the groundwork for the rest of the sales process. The goal is to attract potential customers and pique their interest. The Engage phase converts those interested visitors into leads. The goal is to collect their contact information and nurture them through the sales process.
There would be no visitors to convert if the Attract phase did not exist. Those visitors would not have become leads if the Engage phase had not occurred.
Engage and Delight work together to bring the potential customer closer to your brand. Your audience will be more likely to purchase if you engage them with various content. Delight them by supporting them all the way. Even after the sale is complete. Keeping their business while turning them into advocates for your brand
Now the Delight phase can help the Attract phase. If customers are truly delighted, they will be your most valuable salesmen. The goal is to build a virtuous circle of customer satisfaction and business growth.
To achieve frictionless selling, it's crucial to identify any points of friction within your sales process. These points can arise from a variety of sources. Be that the complexity of your funnel processes, lack of internal coordination, or monetary constraints.
One way to identify friction is to analyze your funnel processes. Is your sales process overly complicated, with too many steps or confusing messaging? If so, this can create friction for your customers and make it harder to complete a purchase. It's critical to streamline your sales process and make it as easy as possible for customers to move through the funnel.
Another area to investigate is internal coordination. Are your sales and marketing teams working effectively together? Are roles and responsibilities clearly defined? If there are gaps in your internal coordination, it can lead to confusion and friction for your customers.
Lastly, monetary constraints can also create friction. If your company lacks the necessary resources to support your sales process, it can create obstacles for your sales team and customers alike. It's imperative to explore ways to cut costs and streamline operations while maintaining a high level of service and support.
Now that we have discussed what frictionless sales are and the phases of the frictionless selling framework, let's dive into how to use it to improve your sales process.
The first step to frictionless sales is to understand your customer's journey from start to finish. By mapping out each touchpoint a customer has with your brand, you can identify areas where friction may exist or opportunities to improve the customer experience. This understanding will help you create a more tailored and effective sales process that meets your customers' needs.
Frictionless sales rely heavily on technology to automate and streamline the sales process. HubSpot, Google Analytics, and Facebook Pixels are just a few examples of the tools available to help businesses attract, engage, and delight their customers. By using these tools effectively, businesses can gather valuable data insights and automate repetitive tasks. This frees up time to focus on more strategic sales activities.
Frictionless sales focus on the customer. By putting the customer's needs and desires at the forefront of the sales process, businesses can create a more personalized and seamless experience. This drives customer loyalty and satisfaction. This means listening to customer feedback, responding to their questions and concerns, and providing exceptional customer service throughout the entire sales process.
Finally, the key to successful frictionless sales is to continuously improve and refine your sales process. By tracking key performance metrics, gathering customer feedback, and staying up to date on the latest industry trends and best practices, businesses can identify areas for improvement. They can also adjust their sales process over time.
Frictionless sales have numerous benefits for businesses looking to streamline their sales process and improve the customer experience. Here are some of the key benefits of frictionless sales:
By focusing on the needs of the customer and creating a personalized and seamless experience, businesses can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. This can lead to repeat business, positive reviews, and referrals, which are all critical to long-term success.
Frictionless sales can help businesses shorten their sales cycles by reducing the amount of time it takes to move a customer through the sales process. By removing barriers and automating repetitive tasks, businesses can speed up the process and close deals faster.
By leveraging technology and automating repetitive tasks, businesses can free up time and resources to focus on more strategic sales activities. This includes building relationships and identifying business growth opportunities.
By creating a more streamlined and effective sales process, businesses can attract and convert more leads, increase sales, and ultimately drive growth and revenue.
Implementing a frictionless sales approach can give businesses a competitive advantage in their industry. This is done by providing a superior customer experience and optimizing the sales process to meet today's buyers' needs.
Frictionless selling is a modern approach to selling that prioritizes creating a seamless, effortless buying experience for customers. By removing unnecessary obstacles and streamlining the sales process, businesses can improve customer satisfaction, increase conversion rates, and ultimately drive more revenue.
HubSpot's frictionless selling framework provides a clear roadmap for implementing this approach into your sales process. By focusing on the three phases of attract, engage, and delight, businesses can create a customer-centric sales process that is both effective and efficient.
Furthermore, HubSpot's Sales Hub and Sales Analytics tools can help businesses automate and optimize their sales process. In addition, they provide valuable insights to inform future improvements. By incorporating frictionless sales principles into your sales strategy and leveraging HubSpot, businesses can create a competitive advantage and achieve sustained growth in the long term.
