|
Home
Up
Ask the Expert
New E-Book
Books in Print
Get Coaching Help
Corporate Services
Keynotes/Seminars
For the Media
Home Office Facts
Contact Us
| |
Create Great Sales Tools
Follow these three steps to create a
hard-working family of tools you and your salespeople will love.
By Kim T. Gordon
Whether you have one salesperson or
ten, outfitting your front line with the right tools is critical to your
company's success. Production of collateral materials often falls to marketing
staffs that design in a vacuum, without true insight into the day-to-day
operational requirements -- and just plain hands-on, grab and run nature -- of
salespeople. The result? Some studies suggest that as much as 80 percent of
materials created by marketing for the use of salespeople go unused, while
salespeople often create their own less-than-stellar tools on-the-fly.
Meanwhile, important branding and selling messages can fall by the wayside and
sales may decline or stagnate.
So how can you create tools you and
your salespeople will love -- and want to use? It all comes down to these three
essential steps:
1. Get Front-line Input
Eliminate the disconnect between
your marketing and sales teams by getting them talking. Salespeople can offer
tremendous insight into customers’ needs and objections as well as your
company's competitive challenges. Ask your salespeople to brief the marketing
staff on the product or service elements that are most critical to the customers
or clients they meet. Listen to them recount the objections they face most often
during the selling process so you can create marketing tools and materials that
support their efforts to overcome them. Salespeople should also tell your
marketing team about any changes in customer demographics or hot buttons, so
that old tools can be revised to evolve along with the needs of your customer
base.
Salespeople are continually butting
heads with competitive products and services. Ask them for insight into new,
emerging competition to help you create marketing materials that are a step
ahead.
2. Add Up All the Touch Points
Your salesforce requires a full
family of tools that carries a consistent look and message. Each time they have
contact with a customer or client these tools must work hard to reinforce your
company image and support the sales process. Many small-business owners fail to
take into account the true number of touch points throughout the sales cycle --
intersections between the sales staff and customers or clients -- where
collateral materials are needed.
For example, your salespeople may
use sales letters, business cards and note cards,
company brochures, presentation tools, proposals, contracts, sell sheets, email,
printed and online forms, catalogs and other materials. It's essential that all
have a consistent company message and use your logo or company identity
properly. Take the time to investigate and make a comprehensive list of the
day-to-day touch points between your salespeople and customers, then supply your
people with every item they need to be successful.
3. Enroll Salespeople in Your Mission
Once you've gained all the input
you need from your front-line salesforce and have created new collateral tools
and materials, make a presentation to your sales staff that highlights how all
the tools will work to help them win more sales. Rather than merely handing over
boxes of tools, share the strategy behind the key marketing messages to get
everyone on board with your campaigns and materials. If they reflect the input
the salesforce shared with you and your marketing team, your salespeople will be
enthusiastic about using the tools you’ve created.
Schedule ongoing joint meetings
with sales and marketing people to obtain evolving customer information and
preview upcoming promotions and specials. Let your salespeople know where and
when your advertising will run so they can be ready to respond. And include them
in any changes in future creative materials and strategy. This will guarantee
that the tools you create are positively embraced by your sales staff and
successfully support the sales effort.
Get In-depth
Coaching on this Topic>>
Kim
T. Gordon's columns and articles are read by more than
3 million small-business owners each month. She is a small-business expert
and the author of four books, including Maximum Marketing,
Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business.
Copyrighted material. May not be reproduced in
whole or part without expressed permission from the author. |