“Larry was already running late for his meeting with the IT manager of Wood & Co, one of the biggest real estate companies in San Francisco. He was feeling lucky to have gotten an appointment in the first place. Reaching into his briefcase he realized that he didn’t have the updated version of his catalog. Now what? The manager was right in front of him and he was feeling the stress, a typical catch-22 situation. With 8 years’ experience in sales, he quickly recovered the situation and began telling the story of one of his happy client’s and how his product had helped the customer hit gold.”
A sales representative’s job is about helping people and understanding their options. It’s about breaking down the complexities into digestible pieces. From Larry’s example we can see how even an experienced sales person can feel the pressure when they do not feel prepared. Fortunately for Larry, he covered it up with his story telling skills.
A sales rep is the person representing your company in the field. It is necessary that they are well equipped with the right sales tools. Their job starts from understanding the product or service they are selling and it does not end until the purchase has been made. They have to be resilient enough to carry on when customers say “no”. The pressure of making sales is shared by the company as well.
The typical problems of the man on the street are as follows:
- Many times your sales reps are not well informed about updates made to your products and services, and therefore are not as confident as they should be.
- They spend more time managing data than on actual sales.
- They are unable to access the sales collateral they need at anytime.
- They have limited presentation techniques.
- Customer engagement is an effort.
An interesting sales statistic from ‘Impact Community’ says, “After a presentation, 63% of attendees remember stories. Only 5% remember statistics during a presentation.” We witnessed that in Larry’s case earlier. There has to be a way in which we can empower our ‘Man on the street’ to make the sales experience for his potential customers a remarkable one.
One study stated that companies spend over one trillion annually on their sales force. Imagine if we spent a quarter of that amount on sales enablement tools that would allow us to plan for 100% success for the sales team. .The truth is, however, that over 50% of sales managers are too busy to train and develop their sales teams. In such a scenario a sales manager could have sales enablement software to assist in filling this gap. A couple of years back, ‘sales enablement’ was not a popular term. Today sales enablement has changed the way in which sales managers function within a company to augment and equip their team.
Sales enablement software can foster:
- Content creation.
- Organized information.
- Interactive presentations.
- Intelligent use of information.
- Reduce sales management costs
- Access to updated information at all times.
- Ensure a quicker Return On Investment (ROI).
- Seamless distribution of content.
- Measure customer engagement.
Check out the newest sales enablement solutions. Assisting with the basic challenges faced by the sales rep is the responsibility of the company. We can boost their performance by taking one simple step. Brandificant allows you to move quickly from presentation to storytelling, making more effective pitches coupled with powerful analytics. Visit Brandificant to move your sales force to the fast track.
For more information on how we can empower your sales organization, contact us today.
