Photos can help you get to know your prospects better—that means fewer “cold” leads and more successful relationships.
By Francisco Fisher, Sherpa CRM Writer
Sales software is moving away from quotas and towards a much more viable method: relationship building. You aren’t selling to a number in a phone book, and so your sales software should reflect that. Add a profile photo, put a face to the name, and bridge the gap between the person and the page.
Sherpa, a Senior Housing Forum partner, does things a little different than most CRMs, with the ability to create holistic profiles and track time spent, not calls made. This is what Sherpa calls The Selling Zone℠.
Salespeople who spend more time to get to know who they are selling to—real people with real stories—have achieved higher conversion ratios than those who don’t, according to a ProMatura study of Sherpa data. Statistics also show that the top performers are more likely to upload photos to their prospect profiles.
That Extra Edge
“It just gives us that extra edge to get to know somebody,” says Reed Davis, Director of Marketing and Sales for Elk Ridge. “They’ve come in for a tour, and you don’t even need to look at the sales notes. Because you automatically know exactly who that person is.”
In the world of digital services, photos are crucial in linking what you see on your device with the real world. Hail a ride with Uber, and you’ll instantly see what your driver looks like. Book a stay with AirBnB, and you’ll have a better idea who is meeting you at the door. LinkedIn says that a profile with a photo is 14 times more likely to be seen.
Really, pictures are important. In hospitals, using charts with patient photos can prevent mixups, sure, but at least one study has found that photos increase empathy between doctors and patients. In turn, this has been found to reduce errors and make healthcare providers more meticulous. If this is the kind of thing you want from your sales counselors, then it may be time to let the shutterbugs shine.
Establish Trust
But your salespeople aren’t paparazzi, right? It takes a certain amount of trust for a prospect to invite someone into their home and agree to be on camera or have their surroundings photographed. Once that trust is established, photos can be a portal to your prospect’s life. Maybe take a photo of another photo, one that inspires them or you. And don’t forget to document a homerun creative follow-up, upload it and share it with the team. They should get inspired, too.
Sherpa encourages sales counselors to try new things, get out of their comfort zone, and ask important questions that get to the core of who their prospects are and what drives them. Visit sherpacrm.com or click on the button below to find out more about how photos can make better prospect profiles.
