As companies get on board with inbound marketing to remain relevant and profitable in today’s digital age, many begin to see a new problem emerging: low sales volume. They think “inbound marketing was supposed to increase sales!” and don’t understand what’s going on.
It’s a common problem among companies implementing inbound marketing, and it has a simple solution.
Your marketers aren’t the only ones who need to change their methodology, strategies, tools, and mindset. Not only has the way people shop changed, but the way they buy has also changed. That means your sales people need to get on board with the inbound methodology and learn new ways to sell to today’s customers.
How can you turn your sales people into inbound sellers? With sales enablement.
Sales enablement consists of giving your sales reps the training, tools, technologies, knowledge, and content they need to succeed in an inbound world. Here’s how it’ll help them.
1. Inbound Sales Techniques
Imagine a lead that has been cared for and nurtured throughout the entire sales process by your marketers being sent to a sales person who uses aggression and manipulation to try to close the deal. Obviously, this isn’t going to fly. The customer wants a consistent customer experience throughout the entire journey—they need it in order to feel confident and comfortable enough to buy.
Your sales reps need to learn all about the inbound methodology and today’s new customers. They need to learn why their old-school outbound sales tactics don’t work anymore and why they need to stop using them. And they need help learning new selling tactics and strategies that will help them close deals, like social selling and thought leadership.
Through sales enablement, your sales reps will get the sales training they need to become inbound sellers with the right sales techniques that will help them close.
2. More Valuable Conversations
The role of the sales professional has changed. Now, sales reps must take on a consultative approach to selling. With buyers having access to virtually all of the pre-research and information they need, sales reps must figure out how to add value in order to stay relevant. In addition, sales people must now build strong relationships with customers to get the sale. Generic, one-size-fits-all conversations simply won’t work anymore.
With sales enablement, your sales people will learn how to have valuable conversations with buyers in order to increase their sales volume.
They’ll learn about their new roles in the sales process. They’ll learn how to bring value to the table. And they’ll learn how to customize and personalize conversations. They’ll also get the content and tools they need to make this happen. In the end, this will increase sales.
3. Heightened Productivity and Efficiency
Many sales reps spend the majority of their days on mundane administrative tasks like data entry, call sheets, and reports. When they’re at their desks working on these tasks, they lose their focus on selling. And they lose out on too much time as well.
Sales enablement will help your sales people embrace automation. It’ll equip them with the tools and technologies they need to eliminate the unnecessary busywork and get back to selling. With sales enablement, your sales people will learn how to use tools and tech, such as CRM, and learn how to leverage automation to improve their sales numbers.
Sales people who do not transform into inbound sellers will soon become irrelevant and obsolete. Your sales reps need to update their skills, knowledge, roles, and functions in order to match the way people buy today. Your business needs sales enablement to survive and prosper, and your sales people need it to succeed in our digital world.
About the Author:
Matthew has over 20 years of sales and sales management experience. He is the founder of SalesHub, an inbound marketing agency that helps companies generate leads, boost revenue, and adapt to the new way customers buy. When he’s not helping companies improve their revenue, he trains and competes in half ironman distance triathlons to “relax”.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly those of the author. CPSA does not endorse any of the companies, products and services mentioned within this article.
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