The influence of marketing on sales – writing sales content that

I’ve often heard it said that everyone has a book in them – thankfully most of the time, the book stays there.

It has always been my position that the relationship between sales and marketing goes beyond symbiosis.

The two functions are not one and the same except they are. They serve different purposes but ultimately one is nothing without the other.

A sales department simply cannot function without support from a marketing department when it comes to writing sales content, sales cadence and social selling.

Why writing good sales content is important

So many times it has been clear that neither the sales or marketing team communicate effectively but the one area where communication is critical is in the positioning of the brand and the subsequent messaging that follows form that relationship.

Positioning is important relative to the competition and the marketplace in general and messaging is ultimately gives potency to the sales pitch.

Crafting sales messages either as sales scripts or developing value propositions is a skill not readily found in every sales person or business owner for that matter.

Not much of marketing is subjective these days.

Creativity gets the statistician and numbers treatment as much as a search campaign but that doesn’t stop anyone having an opinion on how to write sales content.

The ‘marketing’ I studied at University is so far removed from the marketing of today – 4 Ps became 8 and in some literature, that list now suggests well over 30.

The principles of marketing might have changed over the years but the value of your opinion (and mine) is as irrelevant now as it always has been. Having an opinion does not the same as a qualification or experience.

Getting business owners and sales leaders to step back from the canvas and to see the virtues of progress over victory is a skill in itself.

Similar to brand storytelling, writing good sales content is not about lists of features or benefits or grandiosity and superlatives.

It’s about articulating relevance, differentiation and value and then being able to support that with proof.

I would argue that the single biggest challenge for sales people is the fact that they do not fully understand the value they bring and as a result they are unable to communicate that value.

Which leads to discounting and price discussions that deflect from the main issue.

If your business doesn’t have a marketing department or if it does and it’s not communicating with the sales team then how can you ever be effectively represented in the marketplace?

Do you need help with your sales content?

Sales cadence, referring  to the sequential connection of sales people to new prospects through either social media, email or telephone.

Sending out the right number of emails, at the right times and then following that up with the appropriate telephone call is not the epitome of science but it’s scientific enough to need good planning and better execution.

For me the activity is designed to get prospect and sales person talking as soon as possible.

Sales content is a frontline tool for sales people used in email, letters, messaging or telephone calls.

Writing sales content – be it sales scripts or value propositions – is a skill.

Get in touch to find out how Shift Control can add value to your sales effort or if you need help writing effective sales content, email info@shift-control.co.uk