FAQ Sales

Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies help identify patterns that can lead to more intelligent business decision-making, which can lead to cost savings and increased revenue generation.

Today’s buying process is more complex than ever. It’s important to develop sales collateral that aligns with the buyer’s journey and supports prospects as they move from stage to stage. We also suggest:

1. Assessing your current sales materials to see what’s missing
2. Talking to your sellers to understand what content is the most useful
3. Considering the buyer’s unique needs and situation
4. Looking at data and analytics to see how effective existing content is

Selling your products and working with buyers online can be challenging. So, when it comes to selling virtually, we recommend these best practices in order to best engage with buyers:

1. Be prepared — know who your buyer is and where they are in their journey.
2. Deliver personalized and relevant materials.
3. Use data to see what is working.
4. Test and optimize your content over time.
5. Prepare to add value over the long haul.

Personalization is the key to better buyer engagement. When sellers understand a buyer’s needs and pain points, they can create meaningful experiences. Personalizing content with relevant company and industry data can improve buyer engagement and generate more productive interactions with clients, customers, and prospects.

A sales enablement tool such as content management software is a great way to keep sales collateral organized and easily accessible. It also tracks engagement metrics so you can see how sellers are using content, what content may be out of date, and how buyers engage with materials.

Measuring your efficiency is simple if you follow the sales efficiency formula. First, you need to gather these numbers:

1. The gross revenue earned during the amount of time you want to track, such as a quarter or fiscal year
2. Sales and marketing expenses including salaries, training, and tools from the same time frame

Once you identify both figures, divide the gross revenue by expenses to calculate your overall sales efficiency metric.

Sales playbooks are a quick reference guide for your sellers, so keep it simple. Templates make it easier for enablement teams to standardize and repurpose sales playbooks. Incorporating visuals and video help make playbooks a more engaging experience for your sellers. Once you’ve created your playbook, use analytics to understand how sellers access and leverage its content so that you can update as needed.

The first rule of social selling is that it isn’t about selling – it’s about building relationships and enabling trust. Successful social selling strategies are built on authenticity. Over time, these relationships can mature into opportunities and customers.

Digital sales rooms should be used to complement 1:1 buyer engagement. DSRs can be used to share hyper-relevant deal-related content following a client meeting, including pitch decks, product sheets, case studies, and more.

AI enables marketers to create more effective campaign assets and empower sellers to have more productive conversations with buyers. Because AI provides sellers with insight-driven recommendations, it also eliminates the guesswork so sellers can ultimately build stronger relationships with buyers.

Content is the name of the game in DSRs. Sellers should include hyper-relevant content that provides answers to follow-up questions from buyers so the conversation can continue. Sellers should ensure that a DSR includes up-to-date content for each stakeholder on the buying team as the conversation progresses.

Buyer engagement begins before a prospect even engages with a seller. It starts when prospects are researching solutions on websites and social media. Then, sellers engage buyers through meetings and content as they navigate the consideration and decision-making stages of the buyer journey.

Here are a few characteristics that make for a compelling pitch:

1. Thorough research
2. Personalization
3. Storytelling
4. The right content delivered through the right channel

The exact components of your sales playbooks will depend on a number of factors that range from your products and services to seller needs and preferences. However, every sales playbook should help employees identify:

1. What they should know about the product, service, or campaign that the playbook focuses on
2. What they should say during specific scenarios or conversations
3. What content and information they should share to better engage with prospects
4. What else they should do — like watch a webinar, complete training, or practice a pitch — to be better prepared

There are several virtual selling tools that organizations should offer their sellers for maximum productivity. These include video platforms, social selling tools, content management systems, and online training. Remember, sellers should also know how to best use each tool before interacting with a buyer.

The exact tools your sellers need will depend on your organization and industry, but generally every GTM team needs:

1. Customer relationship management software
2. Tools for internal communication and productivity
3. Lead generation tools
4. Account-based sales software
5. A content management system
6. Sales engagement software
7. Learning and coaching tools
8. Data and intelligence software

Since 95% of purchasing decisions are directly influenced by sales collateral, it’s an important tool in the sales cycle. Sales collateral helps sellers and organizations build credibility, drive engagement, and close deals faster.

AI is designed to help make sellers’ lives easier, not replace them. In sales, the winning combination includes human intelligence and machine intelligence — and any tool that helps sellers become more productive is good for the business.