“Would you like to save 20% on your purchase today and open up a -------- credit card?”
Back in the day when I was paying my way through college, I worked in the customer service division of a well-known department store. I was a professional multi-tasker; I answered phones, managed online orders, rang up merchandise, and... promoted credit card applications.
The department store credit card was the bane of my existence.
We were required to ask every customer at the end of every purchase if they were interested in applying for a company credit card. If they mentioned that they already had one, we were supposed to ask them if they wanted to apply for another one. As a customer yourself, I’m sure you’ve been asked the question above countless times. I know I have. I would also venture to guess that the majority of your responses have been like mine: “No, thank you.” Why? Because you came to the store with one goal in mind: to shop. Whether you’re buying basketball shoes for your son who just came out of a growth spurt, a cute dress for a night on the town, or a Char-Broil grill because it’s that time of year, you most likely did not venture to the nearest department store to apply for a credit card.
After a long day of “No, thank you”s, I will never forget the conversation I had with my supervisor when I explained that this “cold-calling” method of sales was not working:
“People want merchandise that is priced fairly and delivered with excellent customer service. When we push something our customers are not interested in, we’re essentially saying that we’re not listening to them.”
To which my supervisor replied, “Our customers don’t know what they want. It’s our job to show them what they need and help them make a good decision, and hopefully, it’s an expensive decision.”
Needless to say, I left that company a few weeks later.
After graduating college, I found myself sitting across from Gavin Baker discussing inbound methodology. I soon became aware that inbound marketing was the solution I desperately craved as a department store sales representative. Here’s why:
- Inbound marketing is customer-focused and customer-driven. It understands customers, their needs, and how both grow and change in time. Inbound marketing is a flexible science that will adapt to meet people where they are in their buyer's’ journey.
- Inbound marketing is a gentle approach to sales. It recognizes that the power to buy is in the hands of the buyer and it provides them with good information to guide them through the process of choosing the right product or service.
- Inbound marketing realizes that even though a person may enter the sales funnel, he or she may not be a true lead. Through a carefully designed nurturing process, inbound marketing directs only the people who are ready to make a purchase to sales reps who can facilitate the buying process.
HubSpot coined the term “inbound marketing” and created a software to help digital marketing firms like us serve businesses like yours better. Read a fellow partner’s story here: How We Aligned Marketing and Sales to Drive Quality Leads.
In a perfect world, if inbound marketing was used when I was promoting credit cards, I would only discuss credit card applications with those who had already voiced interest in applying. Inbound marketing would have saved the department store time, money, and a lot of unnecessary headaches, which would have therefore increased sales and decreased turnover. Sales reps would stop feeling like they were putting customers on the spot by promoting something they didn’t value. Customers would no longer feel the awkward tension in the check-out lines as they turned down an offer they didn’t want… for the third or fourth time. In fact, inbound marketing would improve the overall customer experience because it would replace an interrupting atmosphere with a listening one. If that happened, the credit card promotion policy wouldn’t be the only thing to undergo some changes.
For more information on how Baker Labs can unite your marketing and sales teams, contact us. We’ll show you how inbound marketing is a lifesaver for sales reps and your bottom line.
