Four Must-Dos for Bigger, Better Deals
There's a fundamental shift happening in businesses around the globe today, as the formerly adversarial relationship between Sales and Marketing is being replaced by a new level of collaboration driven by the need to achieve shared goals. Marketing can accelerate this transition-and fuel overall customer acquisition and loyalty-by equipping Sales with tools that help them identify and qualify prospects, understand needs, propose solutions, and overcome obstacles. Every Sales Enablement program should include the following four essential components:
Consider the following four strategic contexts in defining your campaigns:
- Prospect diagnostics and dialogue mapping. In a fast-moving and complex selling environment, all but the most sophisticated sales reps are challenged to stay on top of changing customer-buying dynamics. Sales playbooks provide a powerful framework for teaching the field how to recognize potential prospects, engage in dialogue around current trends, and propose value propositions that speak to the unique situation of each customer.
- Credibility-building content. Closing the deal often comes down to a question of confidence, as customers must feel safe that they're making the right decision. Case studies, analyst perspectives, and other evidence of your company's track record help the field address customer concerns and close deals.
- Contextual solution-selling tools. Sales reps must make your solutions relevant in the context of each customer's characteristics and care-abouts. Customizable solution templates — including modular PowerPoint presentations and proposal templates as well as account-specific collateral — can help them position your offerings from the perspective of the customer's industry, role, and pain points for a more compelling business case.
- Qualification standards and scoring. Clear criteria and scoring models help align Sales and Marketing around a common definition for qualified leads and ensure smoother hand-offs. But BANT isn't enough to determine if a prospect is truly sales-ready-add demographic profile (company type, role in the organization) and behavioral history (frequency and type of interactions) to your scorecard.
