I am very excited to have Ryan Shelley, the founder of Shelley Media Arts, on this episode of Inbound Sales Journey.
Ryan has had tons of success with sales this year. By June of 2016, he had already surpassed the revenue his agency had brought in in 2015.
In this interview, we break down what he has done to step up his sales game. We dive into what allowed him to become more profitable each year and given him the confidence to continue to raise his prices.
One of my favorite parts of the interview is when Ryan explains how he created, what he refers to as, the value-added sales funnel.
But first, let’s take a look at the three steps that Ryan shared that led to him growing his agency.
Three Steps That Lead to Growth
It seems like every agency struggles with identity at the beginning of its journey. It was the case for us with GuavaBox, the same story for Shelley with Shelley Media Arts (SMA).
When you are desperate for revenue sure, you can learn social, and PPC, and web design and etc…. etc… etc…
I get it, I’ve been there. So has Shelley. But when we had this conversation and he began to share the trend of his revenue numbers I began to realize three important facts during their time of growth.
Step #1: SMA chooses specific verticals and services.
Step #2: SMA transitioned from projects to retainers.
Step #3: SMA got serious about developing scalable agency processes.
Processes aren’t just for client deliverables. Shelley took a hard look at their sales process and worked to create a value-adding funnel to turn prospects into clients.
The Value-Added Sales Funnel
How do you bridge the gap between marketing and sales at your agency? The transition between the two departments needs to be smooth. Ryan Shelley created the value-added sales funnel to help the transition at SMA.
Here is how it works:
Ryan gives an in-depth explanation of each phase in this article.
Just Do It
Why do you listen to podcasts and read articles?
I do it to gain knowledge and better myself and my company.
Every time I listen to a podcast I look for what I call my “just do it” point. What can I take away from that episode and apply to better myself and my company?
Talking with Ryan Shelley helped me to understand that there needs to be a documented process in place for transitioning our inbound prospects from going through marketing automation to personal contact.
Not having a specific process in place to know exactly when that transition should happen means that it won’t happen.
The transition isn’t really from marketing to sales. The transition is from automated to personal. The change is the personal connection.
Using marketing automation that is value-adding and then moving to a personal hard sell just because they hit a certain number of “points” isn’t a winning sales process.
Continue the inbound approach when you sell. Continue to prove valuable when you make that personal connection. That is how you truly develop a value-added sales process that will work for your agency.
