After one of your prospects becomes a sales lead, what’s the next step? You might be familiar with the basics – their contact information gets passed on to your sales team and they attempt to persuade them of a need for your product or services. However, do you have a clear understanding of how exactly that conversation gets started?
Having recently taken the HubSpot Inbound Marketing exam, one of the main topics I got the chance to explore deeper was the sales process. Many businesses may think that the essential part of this process lies at the end – actually making the sale. While this is important for business and revenue growth, it’s even more critical to start your sales process off right. Keep reading to understand how your sales team can get the conversation going and persuade prospects with a sales positioning statement.
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A positioning statement should act as a reference document for any branding activity you do at your organization for any particular service or product. Typically, the positioning process consists of identifying an appropriate market niche for your product or service and getting it established in your industry.
A positioning statement is a key component of any sales call, and can help spark further conversation when done correctly. Before you start constructing your positioning statement, though, you should fully understand who your prospect is and how you can help them. This way, you can strategically tailor your positioning to suit their needs and pique their interest.
Do Your Research
You wouldn’t walk into an important meeting unprepared – so why would you jump into a prospect call without any prep beforehand? It’s easy to get a little over excited about a new lead that has just come in, but knowing exactly what to say before engaging is an important first step in communicating your positioning statement. Here are some steps you can take to ensure you will play your cards right during the beginning of this sales process:
1. Know your buyer
Avoid just knowing the general types of people that your company typically sells to. Get familiar with the specific person that you are going to get into contact with, who their company is and what their role is. What vertical (if any) is the business in? Do they have compliance regulations you will need to help them adhere to? When you better understand who they are and what their buyer’s persona consists of, you can better position your offering in a way that appeals to their specific business concerns.
2. Know their company
Knowing the ins-and-outs of what a prospect’s company can help figure out which aspects of their business might be failing and can further enable you to persuade them in why they need your help. Do they have any specific pain points you can help them address? If you don’t know, or see, any immediate issues their company needs help with, you might need to do a little more digging. Review their website and research their company on LinkedIn to fully understand your prospect and their needs before reaching out. Getting familiar with your prospect’s company is just as important as getting familiar with your actual prospect.
3. Know your competitive advantage
Chances are that if a prospect has been looking into your company or a specific offering, they’ve probably been looking into your competitors’ as well. When speaking with a sales lead, you need to be able to share why your offering is the best fit for them. Does your product have specific features that improve productivity? Are your services paired with a fully managed Help Desk that can assist in their everyday IT needs? When you share information with prospects, make sure it is unique to your company, so there is a clear differentiation from the other offerings out there.
Writing Your Positioning Statement
At some point in a sales conversation, your prospect will typically ask you what your company does. A great way to answer this question is with a well thought-out positioning statement. Communicating your positioning statement is only the beginning of the complete MSP sales process, but getting it right can help convince prospects of your value and set you apart from your competition. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind when creating your positioning statement: