While every team member in an organization is important – from those on the front lines to the back end – the fact is, and has always been, that sales NEEDS to be successful for ongoing success, and long-term survival.
Indeed, sales are the doorway through which revenues flow into an organization, and fund everything from staff salary increases, to the cool new espresso machine in the lunchroom.
Of course, this isn’t to say that the sales team should get all the credit for “making it rain” – or be exclusively blamed when there’s a dry spell. Everyone directly or indirectly plays a role, whether their function is to help customers solve problems, create marketing materials, make decisions regarding new product/service development, and so on.
But at the same time, the sales team is where the proverbial rubber hits the road. They literally can’t afford to fail, because it’s not just their success that is on the line: it’s the whole organization. To put it differently, while excellence is important on all teams and at all times, for sales it’s absolutely vital. After all, there’s a reason why skilled sales professionals are worth their weight in gold, and have skills that are utterly recession-proof. In fact, the worse the economy gets, the more in-demand these virtuosos become!
And so, given the fact that (as mentioned) sales NEEDS to succeed – there is no other alternative or option – the big, booming question becomes: what can organizations do to help make this happen? Below, we highlight 3 key contributions:
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More Qualified Prospects
Contrary to what some folks outside of the sales world believe, sales professionals don’t want more leads. What they want – and frankly, what they need – are more qualified prospects, which are people who are either ready to buy, or are close to making a buying decision.
Organizations should therefore focus on creating and distributing marketing assets (web content, datasheets, videos, social media content, articles, ebooks, infographics, etc.) that help develop qualified prospects.
It’s also necessary to have a system that scores leads, so that it’s clear when they graduate from marketing qualified to sales qualified – and get handed off to sales teams to close the deal.
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More Prospect Education Assets
The bane of most sales professionals’ existence is answering the same questions over and over again – and it’s even worse when it’s with the same prospect! It’s not just a waste of time, but it can derail the customer journey and kill momentum.
To avoid this scenario, organizations should supply sales teams with a suite of updated education assets that can be easily sent to prospects via email. This can include FAQs, product datasheets, demo videos, and so on. The goal is to enable sales to spend more time on targeting prospect needs and overcoming objections, and less time (or better yet, virtually no time) answering important, yet routine and common questions that can clearly answered through branded assets.
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More Reasons to Brag
Last but not least: sales needs reasons to brag! Not about themselves of course, but about the products and services they’re trying to sell, as well as their organization as a whole and where is stands in the marketplace.
Basically, it comes down to this: some prospects have a tough time – or frankly, are just unwilling – to spend time trying to distinguish one seller from another. As a result, they tend to over-focus on price. However, sales professionals armed with reasons to brag (i.e. an inventory of competitive advantages, a deep awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the competition, etc.) can spin out from this dead end and have the conversations that prospects SHOULD be having, which is the one that focuses on solving their problems and achieving their goals -- not one that starts and ends with “are you the cheapest company around?”
Learn More
To learn more about how we can help you hit a home run on ALL of these sales needs, contact the Leap Clixx team today. Your consultation with us is free. For more information about inbound marketing best practices, download our FREE eBook:
Topics: Inbound Marketing
