A very interesting report, called State of Sales Productivity Report, has just been released by Docurated. Compiled from anonymized data from the Docurated sales productivity solution and a survey of 127 sales and marketing executives, the report examines the state of sales productivity from both the sales rep and sales management perspectives.
In our first blog in this series, we took a look at the 5 Keys to Improving Sales Productivity, based on the report’s first finding. Our second blog focused on the importance of investing in sales productivity.
Another of the points brought up in the report was the value of high quality content and value messaging to sales productivity. In the top drivers of winning deals, 70 percent of respondents stated “Ability to convey value message” as most important. Second, at 57 percent, was “High quality content.”
As I’ve been pointing out for several years, the sales landscape has seen drastic changes since the proliferation of the internet. The buyer now has the advantage of being able to conduct plentiful research on a company’s product or service before contacting a salesperson, which levels the playing field considerably.
Adding Value with the Sales Process
What does this mean for a company? Right from the beginning value must be made very apparent to the prospect, in order to bring the prospect into the sales pipeline to begin with. It’s not enough for the value to be general, it must also be tailored to that prospect and their specific issues.
The sales process itself must be designed to add value at every single stage. That’s the only way, in today’s fiercely competitive sales environment, that an opportunity is going to make it all the way to a close.
Collateral Materials
Written materials add an element of authenticity to any sales effort. That is why Marketing is heavily relied upon to provide effective collateral materials. Such materials are used for nurturing leads to bring them up to a level of sales qualification. They are then used at every stage of the process, all the way up to the close.
Materials are even used beyond the close—you’re going to sell that new customer more of your product or service, and additional products and services as well.
What CRM Means for Adding Value and Quality Content
There are 3 ways CRM can be indispensable when it comes to adding value and providing quality content.
- Today’s CRM solution must be totally customizable to a company’s sales process. That way the members of a sales force can follow the process easily and without fail. Additionally, the CRM solution must be flexible enough that it can be changed on the fly, as the sales process changes.
- Today there is often the requirement for more than one sales process. For example, there could be:
- one for nurturing leads
- the main sales process for opportunities
- another to care for a new customer; you’re going to continue to service them, and it’s a whole new journey
- the need for different sales processes for different product lines or services
For these reasons and more, a CRM application should allow for multiple processes with a common database.
- With today’s CRM, you should be able to add content to every stage of a sales process, where it belongs. Reps should be able to access this content with 1 click, when needed.
Note: Pipeliner CRM fulfills all 3 of these qualifications. In fact, it was designed with such qualifications in mind.
As you can see, content and value messaging have a crucial impact on sales productivity. Make sure they’re very well cared for.
If you haven’t done so, I recommend you give Pipeliner CRM a spin. Get your free trial of Pipeliner CRM now.
