Getting new clients into the fold is a daunting task to say the least. Figuring out the types of clients that might fit your skills and abilities and their needs feels almost like finding that needle in the haystack. Using the following tools might be a great way to track and attain those clients you are looking to add your sales pipeline.
The objective of using the following tools is to find/attract, interact and develop the relationships needed to build an opportunity for business with clients that may not have been on your radar. In the new age of sales, building a relationship has become a major factor in turning a prospect into a client.
Here are 9 tools that you may not have heard of that can help you attract new clients.
1. Pinterest
It might be a name you've heard of by now and you may only think its a personal use website to keep track of things you might find online that you like. Well, here's the great news -- businesses are making use of Pinterest too!
As a business you can set up a company Pinterest page and then begin a board with instructions for anyone to be a part of it. Home Depot ran a DreamBook contest on Pinterest where they asked people to share their DIY projects on the Home Depot board. It got people active with the company in a social way.
The effect, of course, was to get people interested in a project, see how its shaping up and then ultimately get people so interested in going through with it that they'll head to their local Home Depot and buy the materials needed.
2. Zopim Live Chat
Here's the key factor. Someone gets to your site, starts looking around, seems to be spending a fair amount of time on your site but produces no conversion. Here's your chance to step up and ask that visitor in real time if they need any help.
It's like going into a store and a sales clerk asks if they can help you find something. Of course the key is to not be pushy but to be there if they have any questions. Use this tool to keep them on your site and open the dialogue.
Are you in the B2B space? Are you interested in finding out what companies have visited your site AND the pages they have viewed? This is a Search Engine People exclusive software product that allows just that and a whole lot more.
This tool allows you to see the company name, contact info, staff size and more. Think about being pro-active using this tool. Someone from company X may have viewed your products/services page and even checked your contact page but they didn't reach out to you. Here's a good chance to call them and mine for more information. You can be better prepared knowing the pages they've viewed so that you can be a better resource for their potentially upcoming needs.
This is a pretty cool tool you can use to gain insights into terms people have been searching for on Google.
Type in a keyword (or multiple keywords) into the search bar and Insights will provide a look at the regional search volumes, top search volumes for variations of those keywords and emerging keywords.
So, if you're looking to expand your offering or even looking at getting the jump on the competition for emerging keywords then this is a tool you'd love to check out! You can then combine it with Google Alerts (see #5) to really put the two tools to use.
Google Alerts is an automated keyword tracking tool that you can use to check in on and see what's being said about any keyword you want.
You can use this to follow any activity involving products and/or services you provide (ie. Track the keyword used car for sale and see what's happening with it). You can also track your company name and branded products. What's great is you can then use that to respond to what's getting out there. It might be someone looking for that product/service, someone who's inquiring on whether someone else has interacted with your company in the past, etc. This is a great tool to keep tabs on what's being said!
6. Ubervu.com
Social Media has been the it word for a little while now. We all hear the talk about the need for a company to have a Twitter account, a Facebook page, a this and that account and more.
Great! Now what? Its a lot to do so how do we track what's going on, what's working and what to do next?
Ubervu is one of several social media dashboards that exist so that you can keep better track of your social media marketing efforts. It offers a simple way to listen and connect with your customers, manage your social profiles quickly and easily, collaborate with various staff members and even measure the effectiveness of what you've been doing.
7. Data.com Through Salesforce
The dreaded cold call. It generally starts with you calling a number knowing you'll need to press 0 in order to speak to reception. You have no clue who to ask for and you're hoping that you'll make it through the gatekeeper. Next, if you're lucky, you get to the person you want to speak to, only problem is you now have to leave a voice message since they seem to be out. Lets hope you have a great radio voice and a compelling message that hits home for that person! If not, you've just wasted your time because that person probably wont be calling you back.
Data.com is a great tool to get to the heart of it all -- the companies you want to contact and the person you want to connect with. There's more to it than this but this tool is great because it allows you the chance to get right to where you need to go. If that person is interested they can check your profile, assess if you'd be right to connect with and then move ahead from there.
It doesn't matter which product or service anymore; people have many opportunities to research the things they want or need before they make their decision to buy. It's life so accept the fact that people will come to your site then leave just to see if there's another option out there.
With Google Remarketing you can keep your brand in that visitors site lines by incorporating this tool into your AdWords account.
Here's how it works: someone comes to your site, looks around but decided not to buy. Google can serve them an ad while they travel around the Google Content Network (GCN).
Google owns roughly 80% of all traffic so its a good bet the ad will pop up pretty often. You can be creative by reminding them of your brand or even retarget a specific product or service that they may have seen. Go a step further and offer them a discount if they come back and buy.
Go another step further and retarget visitors who HAVE converted. Maybe there's an opportunity for an upsell?
This search marketing tool can help you discover the best keywords for your business. With so many ways that a customer can find you online its important to find the right mix of keywords to rank for organically that produce a strong search volume, target real buyers (not tire kickers) and are keywords that you have a real shot at getting a high ranking on or targeting through paid search. Once you download the software you may find yourself intimidated by the amount of tools it brings. Don't fret, once you get the hang of what you're looking at you'll find that you can easily run through things and find the right keywords for your business.