Vantage Point Article Library
“Sales tools are overrated,” I was told a few years ago by an IT consulting firm executive. “The only tools my sales reps need are a telephone and the yellow pages.”
In the early 1990s, this approach may have had some merit. Today, though, sales cycles are longer, buyers are more discriminating, and vendors need to go the extra mile to differentiate themselves from the competition. As a result, sales tools have become critically important.
Two of the best ways to ensure your sales tools actually help shorten the sales cycle and land more business are: 1) Don’t lose sight of your buyer and 2) Align your tools to your sales cycle.
Don’t lose sight of your buyer
All of your sales tools—brochures, website, proposals, call scripts,
etc.—need to speak to your buyers about the things that matter to them.
They must be compelling, relevant, and timely.
It’s a simple rule, but it’s ignored every single day. How many PowerPoint presentations have you sat through—or even delivered—that began with a “History of Our Company” slide?
Here’s what your buyers are thinking during that slide: “Who cares?”
You need to uncover what’s compelling to your buyers. And to do that, you must put yourself in their shoes. What’s important to them? What critical issues are they dealing with? What are their MBOs? What keeps them up at night?
You train your salespeople to understand your buyers’ point of view; your sales tools need to do the same. If they address your buyers’ most pressing issues—and explain how your products or services can overcome them—buyers will sit up and take notice.
Align your tools to your sales cycle
Be very intentional about what tools you develop and how you use them. Consider
your sales process. It has specific steps and milestones—and your
buyers have specific information needs at each step. How do they hear of
you? When do they first engage with you? What questions do they ask at
what points in the process? What objections do they raise?
Create sales tools that add value at each step in sales process. For example, if buyers consistently ask how your product compares with a competitive product, develop a competitive matrix that shows them. Or, if your services are unique because of a proprietary framework, draft a whitepaper that outlines the value of your approach so your VP of Development isn’t called into sales calls too early in the cycle. Or, if buyers always ask to talk to a subject matter expert at the same point in the sales process, beat them to the punch by providing an FAQ.
Creating sales tools to align with your sales process helps you meet the information needs of your buyers and will even help close deals faster. What’s more, creating compelling, useful sales tools means you can build a scalable sales channel without over-relying on “heroic” salespeople to grow your business.