Question: What does your sales team think about the content on your website?
Do they:
- use content to help close deals faster?
- use content to close more deals in general?
Mostly, the answer I hear is a resounding, "NO".
One of the biggest complaints from sales teams today is that they're not happy with the quality of leads they get from the marketing department. (I bet you never hear that at your company. 😀)
In fact, sales teams typically report that only 25-30% of leads they get from marketing are deemed to be "qualified".
Yikes - That is no bueno!
Would you like to learn how you can improve lead quality, and make your sales team happier?
In this article, you will learn:
- Sales Enablement: The Definition
- What is Sales Enablement Content
- Sales Enablement Topic Ideas + Examples
- What is Assignment Selling
- What Lies Beyond Sales Enablement
Let's get started.
Sales Enablement: The Definition
Sales enablement is the process of providing resources to your sales team that they can then share with prospects which will help close deals faster.
And no, this is not just some off-the-rack brochure or pitch deck.
At a high level, sales enablement will:
- Bring sales and marketing teams into alignment
- Educate prospective customers and get them closer to a buying decision
- Reduce wasted time on sales calls that are going nowhere
- Shorten sales cycles
- Increase close rates
- Increase revenue
Sounds pretty good right? Now let's discuss the content itself.
What is Sales Enablement Content?
Sales enablement content is designed to do the tedious part of your sales team's job, day in and day out. It's content that gives them more time in their day to spend with highly engaged prospects.
Sales enablement content is designed to answer all of the generic or repetitive questions from your prospects about your products and services. These are typically answers that never change, no matter the buyer.
Some repetitive question examples are:
- What is your cancellation or refund policy?
- What are the next steps in your buying process?
- How does this optional add-on compare to that optional add-on?
- How does your product or service compare to your competitor?
- How long does installation take?
- How much money will your service cost me?
- and hundreds more
When the marketing team creates this content, with input from sales (yes you, dear sales team) it helps answer the questions almost all prospective customers ask, and when used during the sales process this makes for a more educated buyer, which increases the quality of leads, and ease of closing more deals.
Sales teams can share this content after an initial call with a prospect to provide more insights, or they can share the content ahead of a sales call to answer any major questions before the first meeting with a prospect.
Sales Enablement Content Topics (Ideas + Examples)
This is where obsessing over any and all questions your customers have is critical. If a customer asks you a question, it probably should become a piece of content on your website.
Here are some of the common topics that fall under sales enablement content.
- Price: Yep, the biggie! Explain to potential buyers what they could expect to pay for your product or service. Are there factors that could impact the price? Make it go up or down? If so, what are the factors? (If you don't discuss the price on your website, someone else will.)
- Comparisons: Show different options available to your buyers. You could compare a couple of your products side-by-side, or be brave and compare your product against your competition.
- Your sales process: What are the logistics of buying from you, start to finish? Anything that may be a surprise during or at the end? Let your prospects know.
- Problems, drawbacks, and limitations: Buyers are going to ask you this anyway, or they will search Google. So, you may as well address it on your site. Your product or service may not be a fit for someone, and that is OK. Be honest and transparent about it.
- Customer testimonials: Provide social proof from delighted customers. How did your product impact them, change their life, save them money, or improve whatever situation?
These content topics can be created in multiple forms, such as:
- Blog posts
- Site pages
- Videos
- Ebooks
- White papers
- Buyers guides
- and others
Here are some real-world examples of sales enablement content, where the company is using the They Ask, You Answer framework
- Welded Chain Slings vs. Mechanical Chain Slings…What’s Best for Me?
- Which is the Best Pool: Fiberglass, Concrete, or Vinyl Liner? (Video included)
- Is a Sub-Zero Refrigerator Worth the Money?
- What are the Best Exterior Wall Insulation Options?
- What Causes Horizontal Cracks in a Foundation Wall?
- Cost to Hire a Commercial Project Leasing Broker
When you create sales enablement content, like those mentioned above, that is laser focussed on transparently and honestly answering your buyer's most pressing questions, your sales team can turn around and use it immediately in their sales process, and possibly use another sales tactic that we call assignment selling.
What is Assignment Selling?
Pretty simple... it's when your sales reps literally assign a prospect homework of consuming specific content, blog posts, videos, buyers guides, etc, in advance of any upcoming meetings they have with the prospect, or in follow-up conversations, based on the needs identified during an initial sales call.
The benefit of assignment selling is that your sales reps will have prospects show up to calls more educated, allowing the time on the sales calls to be spent more wisely by discussing things that are specific to the prospects' situation, that were not necessarily answered in previously shared sales enablement content.
To recap: Instead of wasting time answering all of the mundane questions, assignment selling allows sales reps to focus on being more of a personal guide, create a better sales experience for the prospect, and in turn close more deals.
Advanced tip: Increase lead quality even more by assigning a prospect something to read, but be specific, and ask them if they can commit to reading it before your next meeting. Get confirmation by reaching out prior to the meeting and see if they have indeed read what you asked them to. If not, cancel or reschedule your call. Focus on the prospects who are truly engaged and interested in what you have to offer.
Beyond Sales Enablement
One question I always get is "How long will it take for content marketing to work?"
Well, it depends. If you are creating content only for the search engines to rank your site, it could take months. However, if you are creating content for sales to use immediately, you could get an ROI on your content just days after it's deployed.
That's no joke!
An added bonus: As you continue to create content that is sales related/customer-focused (think bottom funnel), this will of course improve your ranking in search as well, as you become the most trusted voice in your space.
You'll begin to see more organic traffic, more pages being viewed, lower bounce rates, and most importantly, more educated buyers who trust you and are ready to buy rather than be sold.
Just Scratching The Surface
Stay tuned: In upcoming posts, I will delve deeper into other topics that complement sales enablement content, such as:
- Reverse engineering content marketing
- Sales enablement process (more details)
- How sales enablement works within a revenue team (WTF is a revenue Team? I will teach you)
- Tools to measure success with sales enablement.
- Data, KPIs. and Reports tied to REVENUE
- How to hire a content manager
- How to revive old or dead leads
- and much more
In the meantime, I hope this article sparked some inspiration for how you can implement sales enablement content in your business.
Until next time, I'm rooting for you.
- Doc
PS: If you're a small business with a desire to become the most trusted voice in your industry and achieve radical growth, learn more about our coaching framework here >>.
