Email threads don’t work

UserGuiding Account Executive Joud explains that for the modern seller, closing deals has been getting more and more complicated, with an ever-increasing number of materials, actions, and stakeholders involved.

Which meant related tasks, like informing customers, defining the next steps, looping in all stakeholders, and so on, are also getting more and more difficult.

And emails were falling a bit short for this big challenge.

“I used to just follow up with a regular email after my meetings, but it felt like it wasn’t the best medium to drive deals forward. After a few emails back and forth, it would just turn into a dysfunctional mess.”

And with mess comes disconnect and poor flow of information - which a recent Garther research proves to be crucial for purchase decisions.

In fact, customers who receive helpful information during their journey buy more and buy faster. About as much as 3x.

Making that critical information readily available for customers was something Joud struggled with.

“I could tell that customers wouldn’t check out the links - not that I had a way of being sure even if they did. I would often resend materials over and over again any time a new stakeholder got involved.”

“Overall things would just slip through the cracks, because there was always someone out of the loop, and another person asking me where that document was which I had sent weeks ago.”

Nailing the first impression

UserGuiding is all about making processes smoother for businesses and their customers.

Their primary goal is helping companies create effective onboarding processes and product walkthroughs, so there’s less need for hands-on help from their teams.

“Essentially what I’m selling to my customers is an effortless solution that ensures there’s less work for their teams while their customers get a smooth onboarding experience. So it would only make sense the way I’m selling to them also matched that. But it felt like at times it did not.”

“When you promise people ease and efficiency but your sales process doesn’t flow as smoothly, it doesn’t make the best first impression.”

And how you sell absolutely matters. According to a recent Salesforce research, 88% of B2B buyers say that the buying experience is just as significant as the product or service itself.

In other words, if all else is equal, how you sell can be a major competitive advantage.

Dragging deals across the finish line

Just having a frictionless line of communication with the buyers and delivering materials easily wasn’t enough - Joud also had to make it frictionless to purchase, so her customers wouldn’t drop off after the demo.

“The reality of sales for a lot of Account Executives is that most of the time you’re left chasing after buyers even if they were super engaged and interested during the initial meeting or demo.”

“They have no questions, no concerns, everything sounds good to go when you’re on a call, but after that, sometimes it’s radio silence. It’s like they cannot seem to take that next step.”

There was a need to lower the barrier for action for prospects. Turning the process into an easy-to-follow, step-by-step seemed like a good start.

How does Flowla help UserGuiding?

“When I first saw Flowla, my first thought was, ‘oh this really flows’. The tool just takes you from one step to the next, so there’s no room to get distracted because everything is right there, organized for you. It was like a mini journey. It felt incredibly new and exciting.”

For them, Flowla went beyond bringing everyone and everything together - it also made it easy to take action.

“It lets you lay out the process in a super linear way. Customers know exactly what they need to do, from which link, using what materials. There’s no room for confusion.”

And clarity did indeed lead to action. With the implementation of flows, UserGuiding observed an 34% improvement in their close rates. Customers were no longer getting lost along the funnel - deals were being closed.

Clients love it

While Joud has streamlined her process with Flowla, what’s more important is that her clients also love the experience and are much more engaged.

“Several of our customers have expressed how convenient and sleek the entire experience was. They found it very cool.”

“Perhaps the most interesting feedback I got was one of my customers assuming Flowla was a part of the UserGuiding’s platform and they loved it. Since flows feel so intuitive and natural, I think it adds a lot of indirect value to your company and your sales process as well.”

The aftermath

With Flowla, UserGuiding achieved 3 key goals:

1 - Better flow of information

“I noticed that flows improved the flow of information significantly. People were no longer asking me ‘what’s next’, or ‘where is this document?’ And any time a new person got involved in the process, I could just send them the flow and they were up to date on everything.”

“I was spending less time on explaining things and ensuring we were on the same page. Things were flowing more smoothly.” 

2 - Closing more deals

“Because I can visualize the sales process for our customers in a linear way, break it down step-by-step, and arm them with resources, I found that they were taking action faster and more easily.”

“I had to chase them down less and less, while our win rates saw an uptick of about 34%. We were objectively closing more deals.”

3 - More customer engagement

“We understand the value of a smooth process very well at UserGuiding - it’s what we sell. So being able to provide that same level of convenience for our buyers felt amazing. And most importantly, they really did appreciate it and were a lot more responsive and engaged.”

Joud's use case of Flowla

In Joud’s case, her post-demo follow-up includes a recap of the meeting, clarifying the next steps, as well as info about the customers’ free trial process.

“For me, the most important thing is to make sure my follow up flow answers any and all questions my prospects either already asked me, or might ask before they even arise.”

“To do that, I tend to embed a lot of stuff. We already have so much material for our prospects lying around, so it’s a matter of bringing all of them together. And I love how every type of content looks very natural on Flowla once you embed it.”

“The free trial link, UserGuiding University, help center, as well as spreadsheets & forms that they need to align with their team all go into the same flow to essentially organize the process for them.”

Below is Joud’s flow for post-demo follow-ups. Check it out from the link, and steal it with a click to use the same outline for your business!