When sales and marketing teams are entrenched in separate camps, it’s often at the expense of front-line sales reps. Over time, this disconnect manifests as missed opportunities when the people who are face-to-face with your potential customers don’t have the tools they need to demonstrate the value of your company’s products or services.
The remedy? As a B2B marketer you can help reverse that trend by collaborating with Sales to provide high-quality, content-driven sales enablement assets that range from memorable elevator pitches and strategic battlecards to compelling case studies and succinct product briefs.
“But do sales enablement assets really result in higher ROI?” you might ask. Case in point: Resources Global Professionals (RGP), a leading global consulting firm, turned to sales enablement assets to help empower their sales teams, fueling $7M in additional pipeline growth.
Sales Enablement Assets
Here are five sales enablement assets that can help your front-line workers demonstrate the unique value your company brings, build rapport with prospects, and close deals faster.
- Battlecards: These one-page visual aids are crucial tools for sales teams that clearly lay out how your product or solution stacks up against the competition. They should include persuasive language and be transparent so your sales team understands the competitive landscape and can realistically set expectations, tout strengths and provide explanations for weaknesses. Customer-facing battlecards typically include categories like product features, customization options, product ROI, customer support, proof points, and cost. You can also customize these for different industries and buyer personas.
- Case Studies: Who better to convince prospects to go with your product or service than current clients? Case studies champion the successes of your solutions, without being overt, by presenting that success from the perspective of your star customers. These are typically generated from an interview that provides background on a client’s situation. They present the obstacle the organization had to overcome, detail the action they were able to take thanks to your product or service, and finish with amazing results. Case studies can also be repurposed as content within executive briefs and white papers or as video testimonials.
- Elevator pitches: A much sought-after lead peeks their head into your booth during a trade show and your sales team has 30 seconds to convince them to stay, which comes out to about 75 words. Do they know what to say? A great elevator pitch succinctly explains what makes your organization, product, or service uniquely qualified to bring value. It’s memorable enough for your sales team to recite and intriguing enough to stick with a potential customer after the meeting is over. Marketing can create an elevator pitch as a short narrative paragraph or a series of easy-to-remember bullet points.
- Product briefs: Some buyers want to jump straight into the nuts and bolts of a product or service and get a clear, no-nonsense understanding of what your company provides. Product briefs explain who your product or service is for, what it does, how it helps, features, benefits, and, in some cases, costs. These are usually one-pagers that sales teams can share as a take-away guide during sales meetings or in an email that invites a follow-up conversation with the prospect.
- Thought leadership content: B2B thought leadership comes in many forms—from articles and blog posts to executive briefs and white papers. They are bylined by leaders in your organization to enhance the credibility of your content while promoting your colleagues as leaders in their fields. Q&As, articles on niche subject matter, and longer content exploring industry trends from the perspective of your internal subject matter experts can be an excellent way to establish awareness and build trust in your brand among members of the buying committee. During the sales cycle, these assets can provide value to prospects in follow-up emails or nurture campaigns. They can also be referenced to highlight your organization’s innovation and knowledge when sales reps discuss a prospect’s challenges.
For B2B marketers, a solid collection of sales enablement assets can lead to real pipeline growth and more successful conversion-to-meeting rates. When Marketing is attuned to the needs of the sales team, reps can more effectively communicate the value of your products or services, provide buyers with relevant information when they need it, and reduce customer acquisition cost.
Build a more effective library of sales enablement assets with PMG
PMG partners with tech and SaaS marketing organizations to drive business value through high-impact content, demand generation, and digital marketing programs—helping companies define their strategies, deliver on their objectives, and smash their KPIs. Contact PMG today for a free 20 minute consultation.
