In the digital world, all of the information we need is generally available at our fingertips. We can gather more information about a company we are thinking about buying from, we can research our competitors and we can look up specific information about prospects in our lead management software. But what can’t be automated and grabbed from the Internet is the human touch that is needed for sales organizations to glean actionable insights and make reasonable conclusions. That’s where the quality of the sales team comes in.
In order for our sales teams to be able to make conclusions about data, they need to have access to data that will help them make educated decisions -- not only for individual sales reps, but for the sales team in general. Here are the types of data sets that sales organizations need to gather relevant information:
- Highest performing sales and marketing content management
- Demographic and psychographic data on people who download assets
- Who is viewing sales proposals and for how long
- Sentiment towards the brand
- Which channels prospects are engaging with the most
In concurrence with these types of data, the Sales Enablement Aberdeen Study1 finds that:
- 52% of sales organizations are trying to improve positioning and differentiation in messaging in order to tell a more unique story.
- 36% are looking for a better understanding of which content to promote and use, when to use it, who to target, and how to present it.
- 26% are increasing marketing’s visibility into the sales activities and pipeline, which also provides information on deals closed from marketing-generated leads.
Based on these findings, the overall objective of the current sales industry is to adjust and customize their content solution based on the activities and profile makeup of the ideal prospects. In the words of Peter Ostrow from Aberdeen, companies need to “upgrade from transactional selling to adaptive sales enablement.” The prospect isn’t going to change their preferences; you need to change your approach. This is how we improve sales collaboration.
Looking for a tool that will provide you with the data and information you need to make better content and sales decisions?
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1. http://www.aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/8669/RA-sales-marketing-alignment.aspx
