Your marketing messaging is a masterpiece. You painstakingly crafted it so it practically sings to your customers. It tells your company story in a way that makes people want to do business with you.
Then your sales staff undermines it by talking aboutfeatures and benefits. And price.
This is a problem that gets overlooked by a lot of companies because they don’t know how important their company story is to the sales process.
Why your story is important
In just about every industry, customers are better-informed than ever. They do their research online, and they have a pretty good idea of what they’re looking for in terms of features, benefits and price.
They’re also overwhelmed with data and marketing claims of “we’re the best!” You might think you have the best solution, but so do all your competitors.
There’s one thing that can set you apart: Your story.
But the important thing is, how do you make sure your sales organization continues that story?
3-Step Process
Making sure your sales organization faithfully carries your company story into the marketplace involves three steps: consistent communication, listening for feedback, and adjusting.
Consistent Communication
Your sales representatives can’t share your story if they don’t know it. And just telling it to them once at the annual sales meeting won’t cut it.
Company leadership needs to continually reinforce the story on a monthly, weekly, even daily basis. Use “official” channels like internal emails, as well as informal channels like the executives’ personal LinkedIn accounts.
Repetition helps people remember.
Listening
Your company story is a two-way street. Your salespeople shouldn’t see it as something that’s being dictated from on high. They’re the ones who have to reinforce it with customers.
Make sure you’re getting feedback from your customers, through your salespeople. This will help you make sure your story is resonating.
Or if it’s not, help you find out why.
Adjustment
Once you get that feedback, make sure you have the flexibility to adjust your story. For example, if you learn a message of sustainability just isn’t landing with your customers, you need to find a way to make it relevant to them.
Wrap-Up
In order to sell effectively, there needs to be a seamless connection between the stories marketing creates and the sales process. Your brand and your story need to get out there in front of the sales messaging. Then sales needs to be able quickly evaluate how much customers know and find the parts that may or may not have resonated.
By having that kind of understanding of the brand story, and what the clients respond to, then salespeople can do a better job of selling based on what’s important to the client. Not just price.
When you’re ready, I can help you (and your team) with storytelling ideas, advice, and execution. Schedule an intro call here.