Effective Marketing Tactics for Salespeople

No matter if it's door-to-door salesmen or kiosk operators at the mall, consumers often feel uneasy around salespeople. Be it due to pressure, flattery, or misguidance from salespeople, many of us dislike being sold something.

Marketing and sales teams work in concert to convert potential prospects into paying customers, but both must adjust their strategies to optimize the sales process.

1. Learn copywriting

Copywriting is at the core of almost every digital marketing campaign, making it essential for salespeople to learn how to write compelling copy that generates conversions and more leads with less effort, so they can focus on closing deals more easily.

Learn copywriting using any number of methods: enrolling in a workshop or course, reading books on the topic, reading articles about it, or watching webinars and video courses are all effective approaches to mastering copywriting.

Copywriting success requires understanding the buyer's journey and crafting content accordingly. By employing persuasive language and storytelling techniques, copywriters can make their copy more enticing to readers and increase conversion rates.

Copywriters with skill have an uncanny ability to render complex topics easily digestible and understandable for readers. They take technical information produced by manufacturers of products and present it so non-technical consumers can comprehend it - Columbo used to refer to this process as "explaining it like I'm five". This technique works particularly well when selling, as it helps build trust between prospects and sellers and spurs action from both.

2. Join communities

Sales professionals face many unique challenges and obstacles daily, so to be successful you should surround yourself with like-minded individuals and learn from their experiences. There are many online communities dedicated to sales training that provide helpful tips and advice; perhaps your challenge lies with cold calling skills development or building your sales pipeline.

There are both local communities of salespeople near you and niche communities focused on specific industries or topics; one such niche community for tech salespeople could provide an excellent resource that provides answers to your queries.

This highly active community provides many benefits to its members, such as live webinars and chats with sales experts, curated events, a searchable knowledge center, as well as being an excellent place to ask questions that are promptly answered by moderators. There is even a dedicated forum in this community where members can obtain advice from other salespeople - particularly helpful if new to sales careers!

3. Build a brand

Salespeople's primary marketing tactic should be building their brand. This involves taking ownership of the company brand and using it to form their identity - something that allows for more effective consumer engagement and makes them feel at ease with buying decisions.

Brand development also helps salespeople stay relevant in an ever-evolving industry. Many industries have been disrupted by technology, and salespeople must find ways to adapt.

Modern salespeople wear many hats and are expected to perform duties beyond simply selling products. Their primary task now includes informing consumers about the product and helping them determine whether it's suitable for them; an additional responsibility that becomes increasingly complicated when companies introduce new offerings; it typically takes 35% longer to sell new products than standard ones.

Personal branding can help salespeople stand out from their competition and demonstrate their personality and knowledge in an authentic yet compelling manner, ultimately building long-lasting relationships with buyers that go well beyond leaving their current jobs.

4. Study consumers

Studying consumers is one of the key marketing tactics for salespeople, as this allows them to gain insight into what motivates and changes people's needs and desires over time. This data is instrumental in every stage of the sales process from creating product messaging and selecting distribution channels.

Storytelling is an effective sales technique to increase customer engagement. By placing the message within context for prospects to understand and remember easily, storytelling also can stir emotion within an audience and serve as a motivational force.

Email communication can be an excellent way of keeping prospects up-to-date on company developments and news, such as new products or industry insights. Furthermore, email can serve as an ideal medium for offering incentives like discounts or time-limited promotions that could prompt them to upgrade their current plans - something particularly effective for SaaS companies with multiple pricing tiers or features.

5. Improve active listening

Your salespeople, whether in an office setting or selling remotely, must have the ability to form rapport with customers and prospects to convert them into clients. Active listening is one key way of doing this - this involves listening carefully to customer comments, their tone of voice, and body language to understand what the person is communicating.

Many salespeople miss opportunities to build trust with potential buyers by not carefully listening to their needs and challenges, leading them to present solutions that don't quite align with those of the prospect. Active listening can help increase sales performance by positioning themselves as experts on certain subjects while discovering the goals of prospective customers, handling objections more easily, and closing more deals.

Active listening can serve as a source of invaluable feedback to product teams. By using meeting recorders such as tl; DV, salespeople can capture insights from customer conversations and incorporate them into product pipelines, creating better products while expanding business.

6. Understand the product

Asserting their knowledge of a product helps salespeople respond effectively to customer queries and objections, negotiate deals more successfully, and close more sales. They should be able to discuss its features, advantages, and benefits to customers and how it may solve their problems.

However, it is crucial to distinguish between product knowledge and understanding. Knowledge refers to facts and figures; understanding refers to knowing how these factors impact customer needs and goals. For instance, salespeople selling apps for smartphones should understand all their features and capabilities as well as how these features may make the lives of customers simpler, more productive, or pleasurable.

Employees need various resources to gain knowledge of your products, such as online forums, customer feedback, and company literature. When training employees on these products, role-playing or simulation exercises may also help build their confidence to effectively explain them to potential customers - this will give them the confidence to explain clearly to customers why it is an excellent fit for their needs.

7. Focus on solving problems

Salespeople usually follow a set process when engaging customers. This may include steps such as prospecting, qualifying, discovering needs, negotiating, and closing. But modern customers don't follow predetermined steps when making purchasing decisions; instead, they take a "Customer Deciding Journey", where asking the right questions and offering innovative solutions are crucial components of their decision process.

Concentrating on solving customers' problems is an effective way to foster their trust, create brand advocates, and generate more sustainable revenue streams. By understanding consumers' pain points and providing solutions via your products, you can disrupt industries while creating more stable revenue streams.

Employing contextual metaphors and stories during product pitches can increase customer engagement. You might share personal tales about your business or use analogies to show how its products could assist a lead's business, but be wary when using these techniques - otherwise, they risk appearing unauthentic and driving away prospects.

8. Present professionally

Effective salespeople know how to present their products professionally. They prioritize brevity and incorporate storytelling techniques in their presentations to capture audience attention, creating deeper relationships with leads that could potentially turn into repeat buyers.

Note that buyers don't necessarily want to hear about your product, but rather how it can help them reach their goals. That is why it is essential to find testimonials and real-life examples of how your product has assisted others.

As part of any presentation, it must be professionally recorded to create a permanent record of it. This is particularly essential when selling large or technical products where customers might be unable to see all details from a salesperson's perspective. With Showell's digital sales room solution it is easy to record, share, and track presentations with your audiences in a branded environment so your presentation stays on-brand while your target audiences receive all information in one place.