Jack Meisinger
If you’re a building product business with limited resources, creating marketing materials for your sales team may not be your first priority.
But I've seen many building products businesses whose marketing is actually working against their sales teams' efforts.
Outdated websites, lack of supporting materials, few leads... It's hard for sales to be successful if they don't have the tools they need.
Selling without great marketing is like doing DIY without a toolbox.
In a time when we're all connected digitally - it’s important to create marketing materials that will enable your sales team by giving them the tools they need to get more orders and specifications right now.
Here are 5 important marketing resources for sales enablement A Conversion Website
#1 Website
Let me ask you a question.
Would you be happy for me to take a look at your website?
Often, people direct me to their website as if it's something they're not particularly proud of. They qualify it with something like "well, it's not quite up to date" or "it's a work in progress" or even "it's not really that important in our industry".
If that's how you feel about your website, then your sales team probably doesn't feel great about it either.
However, when they email a prospect the next thing a prospect does is Google your business.
An outdated or poorly designed website can leave a negative impression.
On the flip side, a well-maintained website can impress and guide prospects.
The support this gives your sales team on initial contact alone is worth the investment.
But it's even better when every part of the website is designed to convert prospects. Then it really works for sales enablement.
Here are a few things you can do to make sure your website is designed to help convert your audience, whether they’re architects, contractors, or quantity surveyors:
- UX – give your prospect everything they need, easily. Anticipate their needs and questions and structure your website around that. Make sure the aesthetics are at least “intact” – if not excellent. Preferably excellent.
- Voice - Speak to them. Use words like “you”. Highlight the real benefit of your service to them. Resist the instinct to discuss your brand, except in the context of the benefit to your buyer.
- Accessible CTA's – make sure it’s easy to take the next step in the buyer's journey. Put CTA’s in very visible places on every page of your website that will take them to the ultimate goal. That may be a contact us form. Or a get a quote form. But make sure it’s easy for them to take the next step.
- Social proof – client reviews are everything. Highlight these on your homepage. Develop a large collection of case studies. These work very well as links in prospecting emails.
We don’t have time to go into this topic thoroughly, but your website is a vitally important resource for your sales team. If they don’t have a great website to send prospects to, they’re working without the tools they need.
#2 A well-maintained blog
Of course a marketing blog is going to tell you to blog. But here are the reasons it’s important for SALES.
FAQ Crushers – if your sales team get the same questions over and over, then it means those questions are very important to buyers.
Spend the time to create blogs to thoroughly answer those questions.
Then, when a prospect asks that question, the sales representative can answer and say “I have some supporting materials on that question that I’ll send through after this”. They couldn even open the document and look at it together during the call!
Demonstrate expertise – Dump your industry knowledge into a blog. It may seem mundane to you, but your team will find it invaluable.
The expertise demonstrated positions you and the company as a knowledgable guide, a wise sage in your industry.
This gives your sale teams confidence knowing that they’re selling from a position of strength.
#3 Webinars
Your sales team is likely desperate for a fresh source of leads. You can leave them to their own devices, or consider doing something new.
You may not be comfortable hosting a webinar, but the engagement they generate and the personal connection they establish is incredible. It may be the most personal of all marketing outreach. During a time of social isolation this is even more important.
Personally, I continue to get enquiries through a webinar I did in November. They don't really expire if you keep a recording of it on a landing page and your YouTube channel.
And it’s relatively easy to do.
All you’ll need to do is:
- Come up with a topic
- Set up a platform (Zoom works fine)
- Invite some guest speakers if it’s helpful (these could be owners of building products businesses that are related to what you do, but not direct competitors)
- Develop an outline and content (this can just be a series of questions posed to the speakers)
- Market it – send out invites and get people there!
A webinar is a very valuable piece of marketing content that works hard for sales.
They can send an invite to contacts from lost deals, former clients, and current prospects.
It's a great, relevant way to engage without directly talking about sales and generally gets good interest.
#4 CPD
Continual professional development is a huge area of opportunity for building product businesses.
The right CPD can:
- Provide valuable material to your target audience
- Showcase expertise in your field
- Be the start of valuable relationships with specifiers
The do require a little bit of technical set up, but they are a key way building product businesses are connecting with buyers.
They are great to link to in the “P.s.” of prospecting emails – it’s a subtle way to provide value and demonstrate expertise from the initial contact.
For more info check out: The Ultimate Guide to Digital CPD's for your Building Product
#5 The Unicorn of Sales Enablement - inbound leads
This is not a single piece of marketing content. This refers to the gestalt of all of the above. A digital revenue engine. A stream of qualified inbound leads.
It’s not the product of one channel or tactic. Not one blog or webinar.
It’s the cumulative effect of sustained marketing efforts that are focused on sales enablement.
It sneaks up on you.
You may feel like you’re not getting anywhere.
But then you’re website is pulling more traffic.
Your blogs are working harder.
Your conversations are getting better.
And leads are being converted.
What makes it happen? Time, strategy, and consistency – and it’s the real goal of marketing for sales enablement - a predictable stream of qualified leads.
So as you create marketing resources for sales enablement, commit time, thought, and consistency to it. You'll reach the holy grail of building product marketing before you know it.
Conclusion
Sales enablement is all about giving your sales team what they need to succeed.
What can marketing contribute to this?
They can build out a library of resources for the sales team to use as they engage with prospects to gain interest and build trust.
Ultimately, this library of resources works passively to draw more leads.
Sales enablement is all about giving your sales team what they need to succeed. And in this day and age, sales cannot function well without strong marketing support. Hopefully the above ideas gives you an idea for how you can do this. And how you can provide them with a steady stream of inbound leads.
Need help?
Does this sound great but you don't know where to start? please book a consultation with our team and we can help you get started today.