How Content can play as your hidden sales force

Your product or service may be something to write home about. But it is the content you “write” about that product or service that will drive your sales target “home”.

Yes, content marketing is the new strategy that has become inevitable for your overall marketing strategies or plans.

Content as a concept has moved from its prevalence in just lead generation process for a business, and has gained immense importance in processes beyond.

Erstwhile content driven sales qualified leads pass into the periphery of the sales team whereas in the subsequent stages of sales, the content passes into almost nothingness.   

This often leaves the potential customers or buyers in a maze of indecision due to lack of answers for his/her corollary questions once the interest about a product or service is generated. This is resulted from the lack of coordination between sales team and marketing side, results in a long and cumbersome sales process and buyer or customer mulls over the value your product will add or whether he/she needs that product.

Here comes much decisive power of your content that can actually assure your customer about the value your product and service will add or guide your customer or buyer in his or her decision making, conveying the answers that customers or buyers seek. So, how to fully unleash the potential of your content to boost your sales force.

The answer is simply creating content for each stage of sales process. No doubt, the companies have realized the important role your content can play at each stage of sales process, making it faster for your potential customers and your company.

What more, scope of content marketing can be manifested through traditional as well coming of age medium such as Social media, blog articles, websites, videos etc. 

To generate content that can make impact on sales better coordination between marketing and sales teams is a prerequisite. Content is invariably considered to be a creation solely for marketing purpose. Yes, it is. But creation of a good content takes into account the perspective of customers and sales team equally.

Often sales team members are found lacking in keeping a track of the content created by the marketing team that is available for use to them, and often even if they need content customized content for their sales strategy, the marketing side is found lacking.

Sales and marketing may be independent of each other but when it comes to the question of creating content that can seal the deal, the sales and marketing teams must put their acts together.

Inputs - such as sales insights, target audience, questions they face upfront from customers – all can from the sales team can help marketing team create precise content for every step of sales and a buyer’s journey with the company. This will also help unraveling gaps in your content, identify questions at each stage of the sales cycle and weather doubts about the products via content.

Creating content with these inputs will give you the opportunity to address them and if your sales people didn’t see the content beforehand, they are now armed with relevant content that they can use to help close the deal.

It is a continuous process which is refined with the changing company goals and market dynamics.

Now, with equal measures, content can be better synchronized with potential buyers or customers, their needs and ways to reach them.

Identify your target customers or buyers, followed by identifying their needs and their sources or channels for accessing information related to products and service that fulfill their needs. Accordingly, the platforms can be used for delivering customized content laden with right information that they need. 

Customer experience is of utmost importance in a business which starts from a potential customer or buyers’ interests in your product and services but continues with the product life cycle. Hence, delivering right value right through is a commitment which starts with delivering right content. Selection of content options (Website, Blog, White papers, Infographics, Social media, Conferences, Case studies, PR, Sales sheets, Videos) based on target audiences and platform plays a key role. These exercises will surface the best content options to drive your business forward, and make it easier to decide what to focus on.

Right content, created in tandem with sales insights can make great impact on target customers or buyers to drive your sales performance.

Time-for-a-New-Sales-Strategy

Gone are the days when a client would call you with his complaint, he would rather post a review on social media badmouthing your company. So, when your customers have moved on to the digital world, why should you be struggling with old ways of communication?In the past few decades – with the global technology ushering in sweeping changes in the economy – the dynamics of the Manufacturing Industry has changed dramatically!

However, this has not yet translated into hyper-growth for the Indian Manufacturing Industry. There is a tremendous pressure from the competitive and substitutive forces in the Red Ocean of similar products. Still, the challenge is not the production of the product (we all aim to create the best out of given resources, don’t we!); it’s the sales that have lagged behind. It could be because of competition, undervalued product, or lack of serious efforts. Here’s the thing: It is none of these reasons, it is the communication that is not getting channelized properly!

Word-Of-Mouth Isn’t a Thing Anymore

It’s the world of busy - half the people don’t have time to listen to you and other half are not interested in what you are saying; by all means, your word is getting unheard. Yet, word of mouth seems the only way out for many businesses, especially B2B sector.
The manufacturers may be oblivious to the potential of marketing in the current scenario - contented with the word-of-mouth or cold calling and settle with the same.
But, the news is that the world doesn’t operate on the old ways anymore!
The world is evolving with the technological advancement- digital and compact. The size of the screen of our laptops, mobile phones have become small significantly only to have the world on our tips, a few clicks. The world, now accessible through social networking sites, operates on view-of-eyes.

Cold Calling Should Not Be Your Sales Strategy
Reaching out to someone is as simple as punching few buttons on a cell phone. Be it personal or official call, people enjoy the fancy the device can provide – it connects us to the people that are important– connections that matter.
The device with such a potential does appear as a good prospect for attracting clients, while you may be just pushing them farther. It is likely that your potential client blocks your number or even marks you as spam, dumping all the possibility of actually reaching out to him.
The mistake that most of the salesmen make is not to care for personal space. You may be barging in your customer’s space with your repeated calls. Your customer has a job too!

Tune in the digital channels
The rigorous social interaction today is impeccable. Be it debates for a social cause or voicing personal opinions, social media has always come to the rescue. Digital space has ushered marketing into its future
In 2004, when Facebook had gone live, as a social portal for casual interactions, revolutionized the communication altogether. Today, it is being used for personal and business promotions extensively, from the start-ups, small business, to global business and MNCs. What is more amusing is that Facebook is just a piece of the whole. To name few – there are portals – Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram, etcetera.
The new era calls for a different strategy for your sales. The time and space have shrunk and so should our communication. Instead of badgering your customers into a conversation, the attention must be gained in a time window of few seconds, with a human touch and play of words and colors & creative. The focus should be on the exchange of ideas than pitching the customers, and that must be done on a subconscious level. Instead of getting unheard and hung up, the business should focus on leveraging the channels where your prospective customers are!

If you are facing a similar problem, get Impalsified!