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When was the last time you took an inventory of your sales
tools? What do I mean by sales tools, you ask? Sales tools are
the "knowledge libraries" accessible by your sales channel,
including partners, that support closing new business. The
library may include customer references, white papers,
competitive analysis, robust product information, business
case models and collateral for starters.
Step back and conduct a thorough review of everything your
sales team and your partners have readily available to support
a sale. Is the information current? Do the messages align with
your strategy? Does the content speak to the customer's top of
mind issues?
Have you tweaked your overall strategy- perhaps you added a
new market segment or changed the emphasis from the product's
capabilities to the economics derived instead? Did you update
the collateral, presentations, competitive information and
training as well?
Many businesses put great effort into the initial sales
tools, particularly at launch, but fail to keep the content
fresh. Or worse, assume that each product/service is created
equal and use a one size fits all approach.
So you have taken the inventory and have confidence in the
content but can not understand why you are not closing more
business. Now what?
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To kick start new business, brainstorm new ideas with your
sales channel. Ideas to consider:
- Create customer demonstrations that visually reflect the
value your product delivers for the customer. Provide the
demos to the sales channel via CD and as a feature on your
website.
- Conduct competitor war games to bring the knowledge base
to optimal levels and to anticipate the competitor's next
move. Better yet, role play your counter move.
- Develop content for sales training with notes including
audio playback capability.
- Create a customer reference program. There is no better
testimonial than happy customers.
- Augment your product library with objection handling,
evaluation checklists, feature matrices, roadmaps, and RFP
response templates
New ideas are just a brainstorming session away. Engage
with the sales channel and determine priorities. Most ideas
can be implemented with limited budget. The first step is to
take an inventory of existing sales tools and determine what
is working and what is not. Then get creative to drive new
business. |
