Sales Enablement

• Web visitors are >100 times more likely to enter into a dialogue if they are contacted within 15 minutes of visiting your Website or opening your email, than 2 days later.
• Cold calling to generate leads hasn't gone away, it's gotten harder and salespeople must deliver value in exchange for a request for a buyer's time.
• Inbound Sales and Marketing aligns sales and marketing teams as one cohesive unit to facilitate the buying process around the common purpose of revenue generation.
• Technology is finally here to facilitate true sales and marketing alignment and enable companies to speak with one voice.

1. Start with Clear, Aligned Messaging

Selling in the Internet Age starts with creating clarity in your value creation capabilities on your Internet site; in the minds of your sales and support people, partner teams and in all of your internal and external communication.

2. Generate Leads using an Inbound Marketing Methodology

We have been using the HubSpot methodology and their proven inbound lead generation platform for 11 years and can vouch for it. When actively used with appropriate skill, has the potential to generate between 1-2 orders of magnitude more Web traffic and inbound leads than prior methods.  

3. Engage with Storytelling, learn Connective Listening

The window of opportunity for engaging prospects has narrowed. Buyers have less need to directly engage sales people. When a buyer does engage a sales person; communication, language, interpersonal skill and an understanding of human psychology are soft skills that are critical for successful communication. Generating more leads will be wasted on a sales team lacking skills to engage Internet era buyers. Only 2% of salespeople have been formally trained in listening, yet this is the most important skill in selling.

4. Alignment with the Buyers Risk-profile and Buying Process

We know that early adopters have very different buying behaviour than early majority buyers. The challenge for companies is to adjust their sales and marketing and value chain to match buying behavior which is governed by your product maturity. Value-created Selling and an understanding of the IMPACT Cycle will help sales and marketing teams attract, engage and sell early adopters.

5. Give Salespeople Tools for Responsive Engagement

Whether your sales process is tribal, random or structured, the challenge is to provide sales & marketing collateral, scripts, stories, proposal and pricing tools that will get used.

 

Responsive sales enablement means information is available at the point of use and moment of need, over any device, whether online or offline, to ensure salespeople get what they need, when they need it without having to dig for it. Getting everyone using sales productivity tools and one version of the truth helps companies amplify their message and speak with one voice..