When it comes to business growth, it’s easy to get lost in the maze of strategies to choose from. Overall, there are four core ways to generate sales:
- Getting existing customers to buy more (upselling)
- Encouraging them to refer others to your business
- Reaching out to new customers through proactive outreach (i.e. cold calling)
- Using inbound marketing to reach ready-to-buy decision-makers (i.e. content creation)
Now, here’s the kicker: many businesses don’t give outbound strategies the attention they deserve. But get this—about half of business growth actually comes from reaching out to potential customers directly. Crazy, right?
However, many businesses fall into the trap of wanting quick fixes. They want to see immediate results instead of playing the long game. But here’s the reality check: building strong relationships and building strong relationships prior to them becoming a client is what really drives lasting success.
While it might not seem as flashy as some other strategies, outbound efforts are key to expanding your business in the long run. It’s all about making those connections and keeping them strong. And the first step to establishing those professional relationships is understanding the buyer spectrum.
Keep reading to get the dirt on how to build and sustain a lead generation strategy that works—all by understanding the buyer spectrum and how to “professionally nudge” qualified prospects to the end of the sales funnel.
Defining the Buyer Spectrum
Let’s break down the buyer spectrum into simpler terms. Think of it as the journey that potential customers go through before they decide to buy from you.
Phase 1. Hard No Interest
First up, we’ve got the “Hard No Interest” group. Approximately 30% of prospects aren’t interested at all and will brush off any attempts to engage with them. But here’s the thing: don’t write them off completely just yet. This is something that many sales development teams get wrong, and that’s because they were rejected and are scared of getting hung up on again… but that’s the name of the sales game, unfortunately. However, take this as an opportunity to follow up in the future to see if they’re open to chatting about what your business has to offer them.
Phase 2. Light No Interest
Then there’s the “Light No Interest” crowd, another 30% of prospects in your sales pipeline. They’re not super interested either, and they’re okay with how things are going for them right now. Again, take this as an opportunity to circle back in the future to explore where their heads are at with their product or service provider, and maybe you could be a better fit for their business needs.
Prospects in the “Light No Interest” phase of the buyer spectrum are more likely to chat with you compared to the “Hard No Interest” group because they’re at least giving you a chance to hear you out. Here, you should aim to verify the prospect’s lead qualifications. This is when your outbound marketing experts ask the prospect questions about them and their business, confirming that they’re the primary decision-maker and that their business meets your sales qualifications. It ensures that your team doesn’t spend time building relationships with the wrong people or companies that have no opportunity to convert.
Phase 3. Indifferent No Interest
Next, we’ve got the “Indifferent No Interest” group, making up another 30% of potential buyers in the pipeline. These prospects might not even realize they have a problem that your product or service could solve, or they just don’t care enough to make a change. These prospects could be swayed one way or another, so it’s still worth asking relevant, open-ended questions and nudging them to schedule a sales meeting with your team.
“The buyers who are “exploring” today were indifferent or not interested yesterday.” – Eric Watkins, President, Abstrakt Marketing Group
Phase 4. Exploring
Moving along, there’s the “Exploring” bunch, which makes up about 7% of companies in your sales pipeline. These individuals are starting to think about changing providers, maybe because their boss told them to, or they’re just curious about what other options are out there. Whatever their reasoning is, they’re looking for a new solution that meets their needs more than what they currently have in place.
Phase 5. Evaluating
Finally, we’ve got the “Evaluating” phase of the buyer spectrum, the last 3% of potential buyers in your sales pipeline. These are the ones actively looking for a solution and ready to make a decision. They’re a dime a dozen, but sometimes you get lucky and are able to convert quicker than the average sales cycle.
Understanding where your potential customers fall on the buyer spectrum helps you tailor your approach to each group and increases your chances of turning them into buyers.
Don’t Fixate on the 10% — Expand Your Reach
Here’s where a lot of businesses miss the mark: they focus too much on the last 10% of potential customers who meet all the criteria—budget, authority, need, and timeline, or BANT-qualified leads. By fixating only on these prime prospects, they’re ignoring a whopping 90% of their market!
The real trick is to build relationships with all types of potential customers, from the ones who aren’t quite ready to buy to the ones who are already evaluating their options. By doing this, you lay the groundwork for future sales and make sure you’re not missing out on anyone who could benefit from what you offer.
Exploring the 5-Step Process of “Professional Nudging”
The heart of “professional nudging” is about gently guiding potential customers through the different stages of their buying journey, helping them get to a point where they’re ready to make a change. While you don’t want to be too in their face, you want to be professionally persistent.
Here’s how it breaks down into five key steps:
Step 1. Verify Target Market
Good communication starts with knowing who you’re talking to. When you identify the people who call the shots—Key Decision Makers (KDMs)—you set the stage for having meaningful conversations that can lead to real results.
Step 2. Identify Segmentation
Knowing where potential customers are on the buyer spectrum helps you customize how your sales development approaches them, so you can better connect with them and ensure you meet their product or service needs.
Step 3. First Meeting Attempt
Whether they seem genuinely interested or not, it’s crucial to at least aim to set up a sales meeting. This is the first step in turning them from potential customers into actual ones. If they say no, don’t fret or get discouraged. You’ll get them another time.
“You miss 100% of the sales meetings you don’t ask for, so shoot your shot.” – Eric Watkins, President, Abstrakt Marketing Group
Step 4. Progressive Nurturing
From here, it’s all about keeping in touch through friendly phone calls and personalized emails. These help to build a rapport and keep the conversation going, so you stay top of mind when they’re ready to make a move.
Step 5. Tailored Follow-Up
Each follow-up should be crafted to the prospect’s wants and needs based on previous conversations or email engagements. Drawing upon past conversations and call notes allows your sales development team to deliver a personalized touch that resonates with the prospect.
Following these steps empowers your business to smoothly move prospects through the different stages of the buying process, making sure they eventually become customers. And not only does this help grow your business in the short term, but it also sets you up for long-term success in the ever-changing world of business.
Key Takeaways
At Abstrakt Marketing Group, we get it. We know it’s not just about snagging those last 10% of perfect leads. It’s about connecting with everyone along the way—from the ones who aren’t even thinking about buying to the ones who are ready to make a move.
That’s where our expertise comes in. We’ve got strategies to reach every kind of potential customer, from the first “not interested” to the final “ready to buy” stage. We call it professional nudging—helping guide prospects gently toward becoming your customers.
So, whether you’re looking to grow your customer base, boost sales, or just keep those relationships strong, Abstrakt Marketing Group is here for you. Reach out to a sales rep at Abstrakt when you’re ready to accelerate your approach to sustainable business growth!
