Traditional Healthcare Technology sales involved going out to look for potential customers. In a day and age where executives in Health Systems, Insurance Providers, Private Practices, Etc. are busier than ever, and are distracted by endless messages and advertising, it’s more important than ever to adapt your health IT software sales approach to the way they like to buy today. According to a survey by Roper Public Affairs reported by Forbes, 80% of business decision-makers said they prefer to get information via articles, not ads. 70% of them said content makes them feel closer to a company, and 60% said content provided by companies helps them make smarter buying decisions. This new approach called the Inbound Sales Methodology, makes it possible to get leads to reach out to you! Inbound sales process involves connecting with and educating prospects using helpful and relevant content. This in turn will help build the credibility and trust for your business, and subsequently increase your chances of closing health IT software sales with the right people.
The first step to Inbound Sales is understanding what kind of prospects you want to connect, and this is where outlining Buyer Personas comes in. A Buyer Persona is a fictional character that reflects the challenges, goals and job responsibilities of your ideal customer. One of the best ways of creating this character is by conducting a survey among your target audience or even your existing customers. Here are some of the questions you can ask:
Research by Aberdeen Essentials revealed that aligning content with the prospect’s stage in the buyer’s journey results in a 72% higher conversion rate. After defining your Buyer Personas, you and your marketing team can research and outline content that would appeal to them. At the Awareness stage, health IT software sales leads are trying to identify their problems. Educational content in forms such as blog posts, eBooks and social posts that assist with diagnosis of the problem would be appropriate. White papers, how-to guides and webinar with Q&A sessions would work for the Consideration stage where the prospects are researching solutions to the problems they’ve identified. For your prospects in the Decision stage, you can provide comparison charts, trial sessions, case studies and live demos to guide them to the solutions your Healthcare Technology company offers.
Optimizing your content using relevant keywords will make it easier for prospects to find you on search engines. Working with your marketing team, carry out some research to find out the main topics your target audience is searching for online. You can use tools such as Wordstream, SERPs or Moz to conduct keyword research. To enhance your chances of success with SEO, it would be advisable to go for long-tail keywords that don’t have much competition. However, don’t just use keyword research to improve your ranking but also keep track of popular pin points and trends to plan and craft your content accordingly.
There are many ways in which you can use LinkedIn to attract health IT software sales leads. First, you need to optimize your profile to show prospects what kind of value you have to offer. List all of your accomplishments and display your certifications. You can also attract new leads by sharing helpful content on LinkedIn Pulse, thus positioning yourself as an authority in your industry. Avoid the boring and generic ‘Top mistakes’ or ‘How to’ posts that have flooded LinkedIn. Instead, choose topics that will challenge people’s traditional thinking. Joining LinkedIn groups is another great strategy for winning the trust of prospects. As you respond to questions, people are more likely to be interested in what you (and your company) has to offer. Finally, you can share links to your blog posts on the LinkedIn newsfeed, thus attracting more traffic to your health technology website.
A recent Social Media Examiner report revealed that 19% of businesses considered visuals to be one of the most vital forms of content. Images will grab the attention of your audience and enhance their chances of reading your content. In addition, breaking your blocks of text using photos or graphics helps with your readers’ focus and eases their reading. Also, quality images of your product or about your services will make your offers look attractive and subsequently enhance your chances of making health IT software sales.
One of the best ways of building a long-term relationship with your prospects is by starting an opt-in email newsletter. You can use the newsletter to educate your leads on relevant topics that will influence their buying decision. To enhance your open rates, make sure the email subject line is catchy and relevant to the content–and is personalized for your respective lead. Keep the content of your email as brief as possible and remember to include a call to action at the end.
B2B content doesn’t always have to be serious and formal. Like Microsoft, you can also share stories of your employees, your products or your company. This will humanize your organization and help build stronger relationships with your prospects. You could also ask potential or existing customers to share their own stories on your website. This is a great way of to widen your audience, reach even more people, and potentially increase your health IT software sales.
Getting an endorsement from a third-party is a powerful strategy for generating new leads. Whenever you make a sale, incentivize or simply ask the customer to refer other people who might be interested in your product or service. Chances are high that the referral will already be a qualified lead who’s ready to make a buying decision.
The tips outlined above reflect the Inbound methodology. Inbound involves thinking from the perspective of your qualified leads and providing them with useful and informational content. It’s important that every step of your sales process is customer-centered because this is how you can build insurmountable trust with your prospects and enhance the chances of their converting to your happy customers. It can be very challenging to do all of this alone. We here at Responsify partner with health technology sales and business development pros to offer strategy, support, and help implementing Inbound. By collaborating we help marketing and salespeople strategically attract new website visitors, convert them to qualified leads and happy customers. We’ve helped many sales pros like you incorporate Inbound into their sales processes. If you’d like, you can reserve a free strategy session now to get help evaluating your assets and gain valuable insights and suggestions to help you get qualified leads to come to you!