Why does your revenue team need an inbound video call (IVC) strategy?

There's a big shift happening in the sales and marketing landscape today. That's primarily because the way buyers engage with companies has changed. 

However, It's not hard to find B2B companies using similar strategies, similar channels, and sometimes very similar messaging to describe their value propositions and educate buyers about their problems and solutions. How often have you visited a company's website that looked very similar to another company? 

Corporate websites are becoming the new "brick and mortar" retail stores. They are losing their relevance. That's why buyers are seeking frictionless and instant ways to connect with companies whenever and wherever they are ready to engage. 

THE (ALMOST) 20-YEAR-OLD INBOUND MARKETING STRATEGY

HubSpot, a Boston-based software company, pioneered the inbound marketing concept in 2005. The company's founder, Brian Halligan, sought to create a new way for companies to generate leads without paying for advertising. 

Inbound marketing is still one of the preferred strategies for educating and converting prospects into leads. The part that has changed is that prospects don't rely on corporate websites anymore to learn about your solutions in greater detail. It has moved into the hands of communities, social media, influencers, review websites, and other channels. 

With more content, more information has become available. Less interaction with your sales teams is required for prospects to get educated. That's why it's crucial that you offer frictionless experiences for your qualified prospects to reach out and connect with your teams from wherever they are whenever they are ready. 

INBOUND MARKETING MEETS ONE-CLICK INBOUND VIDEO CALLS

In case you missed it, we explored inbound video call solutions in a recent blog post entitled "What are inbound video call solutions for businesses?" 

In short, Inbound video call solutions combine video communication technology, digital telephony, and sales and marketing capabilities into one platform. This technology lets your teams receive a video call from any channel through a unique URL called e-lines. 

Similar to a website address or any other URL, an e-line is a dedicated digital communication address that enables prospects and customers to reach out to businesses from any channel with one click. ​​For example, 11Sight's sales e-line is https://11sight.com/sales. You can start a video conversation with our sales team through your browser or any mobile device if you click on this link.

Unlike a phone number or 1800 number, an e-line can connect a qualified prospect to your sales team with a simple click from any channel removing friction and unnecessary steps from your buying process, improving your customer experience, and delivering more and faster wins.

SALES VELOCITY IS KING

Your inbound marketing strategy is only successful when you generate enough qualified leads that will help your company achieve its revenue goals. 

The truth is that even though your first meeting with a prospect represents 80% of a deal's success, very few organizations pay attention to optimizing the customer journey from the first engagement. It takes, on average, five to ten days to meet face-to-face with a qualified prospect, and 30% of these meetings are usually no-shows.

In a highly competitive industry, this is unsustainable and ineffective. Suppose your competitor offers a one-click inbound video call engagement to a prospect and nails that first meeting. What will be the chances that this particular prospect will buy from you that have scheduled a meeting for 5-10 days later? In a short sales cycle, ten days is an eternity. 

For SMBs and mid-market companies that have 90, 60, 30 days or fewer sales cycles, where some consulting is necessary for clarifications, trust, and legitimacy are required, inbound video call solutions are a no-brainer. 

On the other hand, even though the sales cycle tends to be longer for enterprise sales, being the first to connect with a prospect can give you a substantial advantage.

No matter the size of your business, lead response time is crucial to achieving your sales goals. 

A study of small/medium businesses published by the Harvard Business Review shows that 78% of new business goes to the first responder, and 71% of internet leads are wasted because businesses fail to respond fast enough. In this new buyer reality, you either get there first, or you're not in the race.