The world has changed. Most sales messages have not.
This is a problem because the seller’s message is often the first chance they have to engage a lead. Despite this problem, few sellers have been able to draft compelling messaging that speaks to the customer’s current needs.
This is not because sales professionals do not recognize the problem. Many are well aware that their messaging needs to be updated. Therefore, the question remains: Why does most sales messaging fall flat today?
The answer is that the speed of change in the customer’s setting is intensifying. As a result, sellers are struggling to keep pace and draft new communication that addresses the customer’s latest challenges. Understanding the customer’s most pressing needs, then drafting clear messaging takes time. Sellers need a new approach built for speed.
Here, we offer three steps for doing so. Together, each of these steps forms a single strategy for creating an up to date, relevant sales message that ignites lead generation.
Map the Customer’s Change Trajectory
It is not enough to know where the customer is today. Drafting resonant messaging means understanding where the customer wants to be tomorrow. With this insight, sellers can get ahead of the customer and articulate the value of their solution in the context of the future.
The best way to do this is to explore the customer’s approach to change management. Has the customer adopted an agile approach to change management? Or have they settled on a multi-stage model? Answers to these questions reveal where the customer is headed. With this information the seller’s messaging can position their product or service in that downstream setting.
Understand the Customer’s New Metrics
The customer’s business model is changing as they adjust and adapt to the pandemic and post-pandemic setting. As their priorities change, so do the metrics used to gauge success. The most impactful sales messaging speaks to the metrics that matter.
Even the most aggressive businesses can only focus on a limited number of key performance indicators (KPI). Therefore, knowing which ones matter to the leadership immediately helps the seller isolate the drivers that will grab the customer’s attention. While the customer’s different initiatives are likely to change, the core KPIs often have less variance and therefore provide a more stable picture of where the business is headed.
Reduce the Message to its Simplest Form
Using concise language communicates respect for the listener’s time and advances the dialogue by getting to core issues fast. The benefit of mapping the customer’s change trajectory, and understanding their new metrics is that it enables the seller to simplify the message by getting straight to the issues that matter.
Sellers can keep the message concise by signaling the structure. Doing so means stating the key points that follow. Some call this approach “signposting.” This structured style keeps the message short because it does not require the communicator to attempt to transition from one point to the next. Signaling the structure also anchors the individual to a framework which prevents drifting from the core message.
To learn how effective sellers are taking a new approach to driving leads and winning the sale, download our latest white paper, Accessing Growth With Sprint Prospecting.
Ben Taylor is the content marketing manager at Richardson Sales Performance, a global sales training and performance improvement company focused on helping you drive revenue and grow long-term customer relationships.