Date post: | 13-Feb-2017 |
Category: |
Marketing |
Upload: | fusion-marketing-partners |
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Are you Practicing Sales Enablement or
Sales Disablement?
By Christopher Ryan, CEOFusion Marketing Partners
Six ways to increase sales enablement effectiveness and marketing department’s value.
Perception versus actually doing
Marketers like to think they’re making a big contribution to revenue.
…BUT…
may be doing all kinds of interesting stuff but being perceived as inefficient when it comes to truly enabling sales.
Perception…
To put this another way…• we not only have to
do the right stuff
• but also prove that the stuff we are doing has beneficial impact on sales.
The operative word here is “perceived.”
…regardless of what we are actually doing (and accomplishing)…
perception is what will guide our future in the organization.
…versus actually doing
Marketer’s Job
• Minimize complexity
• Help simplify the salesperson’s job
• Don’t overcomplicate it with more systems, processes and digital paperwork
So what can we do to enable sales without
making their lives more difficult?
Here are six suggestions that are guaranteed to increase your sales enablement effectiveness and marketing department’s value.
1. Provide Quality Leads
Generate a steady stream of qualified leads.
Good leads are the lifeblood of the B2B sales organization.
2. Great Website
Have a great website that educates prospects, makes them more receptive and shortens the sales cycle.
3. Efficient Lead Qualifying Process
If marketing is responsible for the lead qualification process, do this:• Quickly• Accurately• Relentlessly
Sales will love you for this!
4. Message Correctly
Help the sales team message correctly: • Timely product
training
• Compelling branding statements
• Provide messaging templates (e.g. compelling & consistent email/ presentations).
5. Produce Quality Collateral
Produce quality collateral that helps optimize every stage of the sales process.
6. Organize Collateral
Organize collateral in a simple content management system (CMS) that lets reps quickly find the latest assets. Choose one that is easy to use, not full of overly-complex features.
By giving more…we are producing less
David Brock, President at Partners In EXCELLENCE, offers this recent post, Stop!, Your Help Is Killing Me!. The tools below help sales people be more informed, prepared, productive, effective, and efficient. But they’re making lives more complex and difficult! Giving sales people more overwhelms them…causing them to produce less.
training
SALES
toolssystems
programs
processes
support teamscontent management systems
marketing automation
social sellingresearch tools
account planning
call planning
e-learning territory management
Simple efficient processes first…then automate
The systems we foist upon the sales department are so complex and burdensome that they damage productivity and frustrate reps that would otherwise make their numbers.
Maintain SLA Agreement
The person/people who will be most vocal about marketing’s contribution (or lack of contribution) to
revenue may not always have your best interests in mind.
• The Sales VP who missed his/her numbers and wants someone else to share the blame.
• The CFO who thinks the company finances would benefit from cutting your budget in half.
This is why you must be impeccable not only in carrying out your mission but also in collecting the metrics that prove that you are keeping up with the service level agreement (SLA) you negotiated with your Sales counterparts.
About Fusion Marketing Partners
Christopher Ryan, CEO
We Do This: Brand building/messaging Website optimization Content creation Lead Generation
You Get This: Much greater levels of awareness Higher quantities of qualified leads Ability to generate faster revenue
Lots more information at: http://FusionMarketingPartners.com/http://Greatb2BMarketing.com
(blog)
719-357-6280