How do your salespeople tell your company’s story? Inconsistently? Make it up as they go? You don’t know? What kind of training do you give new salespeople in your company’s story and the important ways to differentiate themselves and win. What is your 30-60-90 day sales plan for their start and how is the company helping them build a bigger pipeline faster? Find yourself feeling a little insecure?
The good news is that most of your colleagues and competition are equally insecure. And don’t look at the flip side as bad news, but instead as an opportunity. We have a simple sales “quick start” program for you that should drive more a more consistent sales approach, an early connection with the benefits and tools of marketing and fatter pipelines.
- Messaging Blueprint: Provide in written form (infographic, standard decks, etc) the company’s key messaging, value proposition that differentiates the business from your competition and adds value. Let the rep hear your approach to the story. Encourage them to ask questions and be interactive about how prospects and customers react to the messaging.
- Run with the Geeks: Lawyers, service, credit, doc, ops have to be an integral part of the onboarding process. Make sure all new reps bring a mock deal through the system including use of all systems and departments.
- Data Dunk: A detailed review of the database for their market. Spend significant time on strong existing customers, referral relationships that both your company and the rep possess. Identify some easy appointments of businesses comfortable with your company. Great way to practice the story before you walk into colder opportunities.
- Email Marketing: Target a wide variety of current and new prospects from the Data Dunk. Send emails of great thought leadership content every 2 weeks for at least 90 days, driving leads. Introduction announcement, personal note to the market, thought leadership emails, Personal follow up to leads, phone follow up.
Do these 4 simple things and your pipeline will fill faster, your salespeople will find success sooner, and you will have stumbled upon a way to build a more integrated sales/marketing effort and engaged salesforce.
- Our messaging is not extremely differentiating, we just leave that to sales people
- We have no real tools to hand them to learn our story
- Our data is pretty poor, so we just leave that to sales too
- Email marketing is something we do kind of spotty and marketing is kinda non-existent or ineffective there.
- We don’t really have “thought leadership” content per se.
- How do we get leads from that effort?
If you find yourself saying any, or God forbid all, of the above…it’s time to grow up. Get some steam behind your sales development, sales management and marketing effort. This program is a minimal investment for your company if any, so get it done. If you ever wanna chat about getting the sales folks out of the starting blocks faster, give us a holler.