10 Tips for Supporting the Sales Team in Today's Environment
A previous boss of mine thought attending sales presentations was so essential that it was a required part of my job to go to several each month. I would also pair up with new reps to contribute to their training. After a time, I was able to participate in the presentations and overcome objections in a true partnership with our salespeople. Today it is more likely we'll have virtual sessions but the conversations are still very informative. I learn things like the specific terms retailers use for their marketing materials, reducing the chance I'll sound like an outsider when I write marketing content for the segment. Once introductions are made, I also try to connect with retail contacts on LinkedIn, comment on blogs and monitor Twitter.
7. Create new materials and revise existing ones
Considering all the groundwork you've done at this point, you should have the basis to update the collateral you have now and understand the gaps you need to fill. You want to have a complete range of demos, presentations, brochures, fact sheets, proposal templates, guides to handling objections, etc. If you have the capacity, it's best to customize materials for prospects and contacts.
Recently, when there were some meetings with very large prospects, sales reached out to me. I was able to research the companies and provide some solid information. We included the detail in the PowerPoint presentation when we talked about their goals and challenges. Their name was featured throughout the document. Even better, Mel customized all our marketing production samples so that we featured the companies' logos and designs.
8. Employ social media
Write informative blog posts based on what you learned about the target market through both your research and your ongoing dialog with sales. Encourage sales to share links with their prospects. This gives them a reason to reach out without using a heavy pitch (and even for business-to-business companies like Affinity Express, social media improves sales productivity!). Plus, if you are writing posts that provide value and educate, it will enable your team to form a relationship that is far more productive than overt requests to buy.
