Pipeline generation bootcamp for B2B sales folk

Pipeline Generation Bootcamp - Sales Training from HubSpot Academy

In January I was offered an exciting opportunity to participate in HubSpot Sales training. But, with a full-time role in Sales and commitments to other projects, I was really unsure if I had the time to take on an intensive training bootcamp over the next few months, but as it turns out, I am so glad that I did!

With a successful background in sales, getting insights into the HubSpot sales process really resonated with me. Having the opportunity to align our practices with the HubSpot approach seemed like a brilliant idea and I was confident that the training would provide a ton of value.

Now that I've finished the training, I'm delighted to say I've graduated, 🎉 🦁 (IYKYK)....... I’d like to share my experience and some key takeaways that I believe are relevant for sales in 2024. 

Rethink How You Research Your Prospect

With over 15 years of experience in sales, I have always made it a priority to conduct research on a company before reaching out. However, there are several key considerations to keep in mind before making that initial contact:

• Have you taken the time to review the company's profile on LinkedIn and checked for any news articles to stay informed about any recent developments that may impact your approach?
• Have you delved into the personal profiles of individuals within the company to gain insights into their processes and priorities?
• Do you have a grasp of the persona of the individual you will be engaging with? Utilising tools like Crystal Knows can provide valuable insights into different personality types.
• Have you thoroughly explored their website to gain an understanding of their business areas and growth objectives?

This goes beyond a simple lookup of the right person in the organisation. It's more about ensuring you have a solid understanding of the business before initiating contact. This better prepares you to effectively showcase how your offering can help them achieve their goals.

Start Helping

The days of "Always Be Closing" are long gone, what's more relatable is “Always Be Helping”.  I'm sure most salespeople are more comfortable with adopting a "helpful" approach to sales, rather than the old-fashioned "pushy, salesy" approach.

The important thing to remember is to "be helpful" consistently throughout the entire process. In instances where the fit between you and the prospect doesn't align, it's best to acknowledge that and mutually agree that it's simply not a good fit. Similarly, if there is interest but a budget constraint, that's ok, simply direct your prospect towards your free resources in an attempt to help them further.

Consistently provide value and be helpful throughout the entire process, regardless of the duration. While it may not result in an immediate win, prioritising "helping" others will ultimately lead to more opportunities than resorting to heavy-handed sales tactics.

Warm Calling

 Traditional cold calling belongs in the past. Warm calling is a much more effective strategy for securing appointments with key decision-makers in your target accounts.

Only connect with prospects who are a good fit and take the time to truly understand their business, challenges, and preferences. It's crucial to have a compelling message prepared. By delving into your prospect's social media profiles and website, you can uncover trigger events and valuable insights to personalise your approach. Look for common ground, whether it be a shared interest, connection, or group, to establish a meaningful connection.  No more scripted calls, use your playbooks to create guides to start and progress conversations and always with a "helpful attitude".

Include Video 

     With video consumption continuing to rise, it's clear there is a huge demand for it. Video is an important element to include in your outreach to help people get to know you and build a connection.  It's a powerful way to make a lasting impact and help others effectively.

Sending personalised videos in your emails to companies that you know you can assist is a no-brainer, so why don't we do it? And if you already use video, do you use it routinely in your sales activities? 

There are numerous options/platforms to choose from today, many of which come with enhanced features compared to just a few years ago. It's worth spending some time exploring new features and products on the market.

Use Technology To Help You Succeed

The technology stack you assembled years ago may no longer be suitable for your current needs. With the shift in the buyer's journey (towards embracing online options), sellers must also adapt to keep pace with change.  If your website fails to track visitors and isn't capturing website visits and prospect activity, you risk falling behind competitors who have this valuable information readily available in real-time.

Many companies use CRM systems, but often not to their full potential. Today's CRM platforms are at the heart of every successful scaling business and HubSpot Smart CRM is ranked #1 by G2 software for four consecutive years, so clearly it's a good choice! 

Some businesses are using multiple systems, for example, Salesforce as well as HubSpot. With advances in modern CRMs, this no longer makes sense. It's much smarter to consolidate on one customer platform that really delivers what your business needs.

When it comes to tools to support your sales teams, there are too many options to list but here are the ones I think are worth a special mention. 

HubSpot CRM, and yes, not only is this best-in-class, world-leading CRM, it's free, so it's hard not to recommend it!  But pairing the core HubSpot CRM with Sales Hub and Service Hub takes it to another level, making prospecting and customer HubSpot Onboarding a breeze!

LinkedIn Sales Navigator, helps you uncover target accounts that meet your ICP much faster

ChatSpot - excellent free resource for researching your prospects

Crystal Knows, a personality profiling tool based on DISC profiling - can help making a successful customer connection a little easier

Dokio for content creation and distribution for sales and marketing teams

Expandi, integrates easily with HubSpot seamlessly pulling your new LinkedIn contacts into HubSpot (and that's just the tip of the iceberg)

Zoom - is by far the easiest-to-use tool for both 1:1 and group meetings. Zoom webinar features and integration options are excellent.

Was it worth it?

Who knew a connect call could be fun, yes really! I got such a lot out of the training and whether you are a HubSpot customer or HubSpot partner I would highly recommend the bootcamp to anyone considering it.

As a Solutions Partner, we collaborate closely with HubSpot, so it's been really worthwhile to intimately understand their sales methodology and how we can adopt it to help our customers meet their sales goals. By integrating effective sales strategies with robust software solutions, we aim to propel your business towards success.

To take the next steps with your business growth, why not book some time with me using this meeting link? 

Useful Links

How to prospect new clients

Top 12 B2B Sales Methodologies

Is the SDR role really dead?

HubSpot Help

How to get over 90% Pipeline Accuracy