The first step was to ensure the HubSpot CRM was being used correctly and by all members of the CMC team involved in the sales process. This meant that the actual sales pipeline was reevaluated and changed based on the actual CMC sales process. We also performed training and dialogue sessions with other senior members of the CMC team to ensure the deal stages and properties were clearly understood.
Below: The new CMC sales pipeline, with sales processes attached to each stage.
We also set up Databox ensuring that we created a meaningful pipeline dashboard that everyone could see and understand.
Being able to track sales performance against the previous month's performance has been a key indicator of success for CMC each month. Plus, having easy access to mobile and weekly email reports helped to keep everyone up-to-date.
Once we had meaningful high-level targets in place and we were sure we were capturing the correct qualification information through the GPCTBNI framework, we worked on ensuring we had a way of categorising existing leads.
Below: Example of smart contact lists to segment lead quality and engagement
We created lists and views of qualified (MQL/SQL) leads that had recently been active, followed by dormant ones. Now that contacts were organised – and many quality contacts simply hadn’t been touched beyond our interest-based lead nurturing campaigns – we created a follow-up architecture that both Oxygen and CMC could follow. With Oxygen providing first up lead generation and consultation and CMC providing the pre-sales meeting and close.
We architected several scenarios based on leads that had come from inbound, outbound such as Import Genius and through various other touchpoints. This way, we had a clear SOP for what to do when certain ‘types’ of leads came in from how to respond and the effective response rate.
Below: Example section of the CMC sales follow-up process.
To keep both Oxygen and CMC honest we created a specific dashboard in Databox that records and benchmarks’ salesperson activity over time. This allowed us to keep track of the individual performance of each salesperson and the overall team.
While CMC does have dedicated China-based consultants, they were often busy and were not experienced at making follow up calls or engaging with leads/MQL's using a softer, 'help first' sales approach that is compatible with the inbound sales methodology. In order to improve Chinese sales conversion rates, Oxygen began supporting CMC in early 2019 with Chinese sales support with our team in Shenzhen, China.
The Oxygen China sales team were able to effectively engage and follow-up with leads from mainland China (using the system created by our English-speaking sales team) which meant CMC's time had more time to work with existing customers and didn't need to worry as much about generating new business.
"Since we've partnered with Oxygen, the company has grown 4-5 times – which is quite an accomplishment in less than 3 years. I can say that this has been driven mostly by the excellent marketing and sales systems that were put in place by Oxygen. We were looking for an agency partner precisely to build a repeatable system for generating leads and helping us convert these leads in to clients. Oxygen helped us set up a strong base and a strong foundation helping us to convert at a higher rate, and we say... wow!"
President, CMC
Our success with CMC is mainly the result of an excellent management team. CMC's willingness to adapt and overcome has been paramount to the success of this campaign thus far. We can't wait to see what the future holds.
CEO, Oxygen
