Are you a marketer and salesperson at once? You’re not the only one. It’s hard to find a good balance between these two roles, and sometimes the two are at odds. I will discuss how these two roles can be combined to increase revenue and business. Let’s start with the basics. What’s the role of marketing and salesperson?
Selling
If you’re in sales, you probably understand that one of the most effective methods for bringing new products to market is to build relationships with prospects. Relationship selling involves a high degree of personal contact and is particularly effective for products with an introductory life cycle or those that require after-sales services. Relationship selling is most effective in small markets or for companies that cannot afford to advertise. Here are some of the most effective selling methods.
The process of selling can be defined as the art of persuasion. This is different from manipulation, which involves trying to persuade someone to buy a product in their best interests. Persuasion comes from a customer-centric process in which the seller establishes trust and answers questions to build rapport with the prospect. Once the buyer has trusted the seller, they can provide recommendations that address their concerns and emphasize the benefits of the solution.
Content creation
Many salespeople are reluctant sharing their knowledge. This raises the question: How can they help with content creation? While salespeople are not usually the ones on the front lines with customers and prospects, they are still essential to the content creation process. Here are some ways you can enlist the assistance of a salesperson to help with your content-creation efforts. Use their customer service knowledge as a springboard to better content creation.
Imagine an enthusiastic salesperson approaching a potential customer. The potential client may not have heard of the company, its products, or services before. Therefore, he or she must convince him or her to buy. Content marketing can be used to convince potential customers that your product or service stand out from the rest. It can also help salespeople close more deals in a shorter time. Content marketing is essential to this process.
A solid sales enablement strategy is essential for content creation. It is important to have a common understanding about the content you need, the tools that you will use to create them, and how you will use them. You should also automate and standardize the content creation process to ensure consistency and easy follow-up. Finally, if you are a salesperson, you should be able to effectively leverage the content creation process for the benefit of both departments.
Marketing used to be the only one responsible for content creation. Nowadays, salespeople understand the sales process better than anyone else. However, they may wish that they had content for their prospects. Creating sales enablement content helps your sales team better align with your marketing efforts, break down walls between departments, and lay the groundwork for future content-centric collaboration. The salesperson should be aware of the content-driven customer journey and understand how the content can benefit the entire organization.
When developing sales enablement content, you should focus on creating content that will answer both questions posed by the buyer and the salesperson. It is important to remember that salespeople can find it difficult to enable them to write content. But it’s important to note that content creation isn’t a one-time task, but a continuous process. You should consult your sales team if you are unsure how to create content for your salespeople.
Management of accounts
A successful account management program is key to retaining customers and turning them into advocates for your brand. This can be achieved by focusing on customer-oriented activities that add value to your customers. Consider this: a company that has a high level of customer service and satisfaction will have higher customer retention and a higher rate of repeat business. Your chances of customer retention will be higher if your customer service program is focused on improving customer service.
Email communication is the best way to keep in touch with customers. Almost 75% of customers prefer email communication for general communications. This preference is universal across all ages and genders. Email communication should be part of your account management program as it is the most reliable and convenient channel of communication for customers. Regular email communication builds rapport with customers and fosters loyalty. Customers will be engaged if you provide genuine value and reach them at the right moment.
An account manager is responsible for a specific group of customers. He or she also determines the strategy and long-term goals for those customers. Salespeople are responsible for generating leads and bringing in business. They also inform account managers about the goals and transition customers out of the relationship. This strategy increases customer retention and minimizes the risk of churn. And best of all, it is efficient and cost-effective. Account management is about increasing the lifetime value of existing customers rather than attracting new ones.
Your salesperson must be able to work with the company that they represent in order to make account management successful. But this shouldn’t be the only goal of account management. Many successful marketers have created special programs to assist their customers. Some offer assistance with site selection and store layout. Others assist dealers in managing their inventories. Many more offer sales training services to dealers. There are many ways that a salesperson can help a company manage their accounts.
Conflicts between sales and marketing
A common conflict between a salesperson and marketing manager is the lack of alignment between the two groups. Although these two teams are supposed to work together to achieve the same goal, they often get in each others way. Oftentimes, this rivalry can lead to poor decision-making, which can lead to lost opportunities and potential revenue. These problems can be avoided by aligning the two groups. Here are some ways that your salespeople can work effectively with your marketing managers.
Clarifying the roles of each group is the first step to avoid conflicts between salespeople, marketing managers, and other staff. Often, this conflict is caused by cultural and economic friction. For example, salespeople complain when marketing is spending too much on three of the four Ps (product, price, promotion, and promotions) while marketing wants to make as many sales as possible. Salespeople also complain that marketing doesn’t spend enough on certain products, believing that the prices are too high and that there is no room to negotiate. This causes organizational tension.
The second way to avoid conflicts between sales and marketing is to increase visibility. Misaligned strategies can result from a lack of visibility between the departments. These misaligned strategies can result in significant pipeline gaps, massive process inefficiencies, and missed opportunities. Marketo estimates that companies lose $1 trillion annually due to misaligned sales and marketing strategies. How can companies overcome these conflicts, Marketo says? They should create a culture of open communication among both departments and appoint a liaison officer.
Another problem between salespeople, marketing managers, and salespeople is that salespeople may call on marketing leads without verifying their validity. Likewise, marketing managers may complain that salespeople do not follow through on internal leads. Vice versa. This can lead to a hostile work environment that hampers revenue. This problem can be solved by both sides being aware of their strengths and weaknesses. The two teams should have an even playing field, so that each party benefits from each other’s expertise.
