Build Sales Effectiveness Your Marketing Team Can Be Proud Of
Sales and Marketing don’t always get along – but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from each other. As sales professionals, how are we able to best utilize the materials that marketing gives us?
Thinking about such things are people like Alex Lee, Head of Marketing at Cantina. Alex is a stickler for sales and business effectiveness. He’s spent over two decades in sales and sales management – so he’s spent a lot of time pondering on how to make his reps more effective. (He should have told them to use Spiro’s sales automation CRM!)
Having sat on both sides of the table, Alex was able to offer us some good insight on sales effectiveness. He was nice enough to walk us through his top tips for success.
Do Your Homework, And Apply The Specifics
You need to let the other person know that you’ve done your homework. That means if you’re going to visit them repeatedly on LinkedIn before a meeting (for those of us even on it), make sure you know your stuff when you show up. You should be prepared to talk about the prospect’s business, and about their role specifically.
Alex says that the best sales professionals can do this with ease. They have their content prepared in such a way that it creates a sense of comfort with customers. And this doesn’t mean just regurgitating easily found self service help either – you need to show how the value add applies specifically to the customer.
This will result in trust – and we know that when you can demonstrate that you are trustworthy you are much more likely to make the sale.
Come In With The Right Level Of Energy
Sales professionals should come with energy to their meetings and calls. How off putting is it when you are dealing with someone who is just going through the motions? Imagine if April Ludgate was running all of your sales calls.
This does not mean you should be hyperactive, though. As a sales professional you need to be calibrated to your customer. A natural and fitting enthusiasm will go a long way with building sales effectiveness and good rapport with the customer.
Have A Repeatable Process (But Break The Pattern If You Need To)
There are many processes and methodologies out there that tell sales professionals what they should be doing next. Effective sales managers will often have repeatable techniques with measurable outcomes that are designed to help their reps be effective. Having a repeatable process is a great way to keep you on track and focused on the important things.
On the offhand chance that all the normal things aren’t working, then sometimes it can be helpful to change it up. Of course you should keep doing all the right things, but sometimes you need to be just a little different to stand out from the pack.
There are many ways you can break the routine. Emails getting stale? Try some hand written notes. Packed schedule? Try communicating after hours or on weekends. Sending gifts to gate keepers and administrators is also an effective way to stick out (we’ve got great insight on some famous assistants here). Out of ideas of what to send? Make sure to do a quick scan around the office, or a quick poke around on social media.
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Some pattern breaking is good, especially if you don’t want to sound like a sales robot. Keep in mind – while you’re on your way to world domination, try not to sound TOO much like a sales guy.
