I’d like to focus on how you can systematically create great content in your sales proposals. After all, even the most beautiful and well-designed sales proposals will fall flat on their face if they’re not backed by well-written content.
What are two words that get every salesperson’s pulse racing? Budget approval. Want to know the secret to securing budget approval? Simple. Create the right kind of business case to include with your proposal. The right kind of business case will win the respect and approval of the CFO (or whomever your stakeholder/prospect will request budget approval from). However, not every selling situation requires the same kind of business case. In general, there are three levels of selling situations, and each requires a different kind of business case: simple, standard, or in-depth. Here’s a breakdown of each one.
Ask the VP of Sales and the VP of Marketing at any company how well their teams get along and you’ll likely find some level of friction. Salespeople complain that marketing doesn’t provide enough leads, and that leads are not “sales ready.” Marketing complains that salespeople fail to follow up on leads properly and bungle their own opportunities. The complaints have been around for some time and there’s a bit of truth on each side. One thing is clear: if companies want to maximize revenue potential, they need to make sure sales and marketing are putting forth a coordinated effort. Here are five solutions to get your sales and marketing teams on the same page.
Do you know the difference between “ROI” (return on investment) and “ROMI” (return on marketing investment)? Occasionally we’ve noticed that some of our discussions about ROI have led to some confusion among our readers. I suspect this is because when people hear “ROI” and “marketing” they primarily think of “return on marketing investment” (ROMI).
Do you ever feel like you're losing control of the conversation during a prospecting call or sales appointment? Use what I call the "Statement, Benefit, Probe" technique to regain control.
