If there’s one thing 2020 taught us, it’s that time is of the essence: in life, as well as in sales.
One solution for making the most of our time during this uniquely digital age has been “sales engagement,” the careful sequencing of interactions between sales reps and their targets, designed to accelerate seller output and expand a company’s reach.
But are acceleration and expansion enough? Can messaging be made more impactful by making it louder? Can the quantity of your outreach attempts take the place of thoughtful selling practices?
The short answer to these questions is a resounding “no.” The long answer involves a play-by-play of how best to strengthen your sales engagement strategy so your brand’s messaging will be more likely to hit home.
Here’s a five-step guide on how to revitalize your existing sales engagement systems, as well as look at some of the benefits you can expect along the way.
1. Start With a Complete Review
Your sales process is a living organism with many moving parts. And like any living body, its systems have to integrate to function efficiently. Blockages must be removed. Circulation and transmission of information must be optimized. (You get the idea.)
Begin enhancing your sales engagement systems by initiating a thorough review of all sales components: including content silos, communications chains, email templates, current best practices, and techniques for interdepartmental alignment. Only when you have this bigger picture at your disposal will you be able to get down to the details (and fine-tune your messaging for greater impact).
2. Enlist the Aid of Tech
Sales technology has been a necessity for quite some time. And this applies across the board. Even when you narrow your focus to engagement specifically––as opposed to sales in general––technology can still prove one of your most potent assets.
From amassing critical consumer data to scheduling email campaigns and mapping customer journeys, there’s no end to the streamlined advantages sales tech can bring to the table. Some digital platforms that can help meet the demands of your ever-fluctuating sales landscape and boost sales engagement effectiveness include:
- A sales engagement platform: A no-brainer, but a good bet all the same. A comprehensive sales engagement software can facilitate email/call/SMS sequencing, monitor engagement, and maintain well-oiled workflows throughout your sales department.
- A sales enablement platform: This will support the efficacy (rather than just the efficiency) of your sales processes by empowering customer-facing teams with knowledge of what to know, say, show, and do in any given customer conversation.
- A digital CRM strategy: Best when used with one (or more) of the above, a CRM houses the hard data that will better inform your outreach by acquainting you with the who/what/where of your buyer demographics.
Note: These platforms should be integrated wherever possible. This will guard against isolated information silos that can slow down and/or derail your sales processes… or, worse, confuse your company message.
3. Get Personal
Once your tech systems kick your operations into gear, it might feel like your work is over. Do everything you can to resist this feeling.
Instead, redirect your energies toward maximizing messaging potential. Leveraging the analytic feedback offered up by your sales engagement and enablement platforms, start embedding strategies for personalization into your outreach. Be warned, though: This doesn’t just mean activating the automated “name” field on your email templates. It also means incorporating quality buyer data – i.e., who’s opened your emails, who’s engaged with your pitches from start to finish, and who’s downloaded your educational materials – into every sales interaction. Such critical information should be used consistently to recalibrate your plan of action (i.e., “When should I send that case study?”), tone of voice (“Will this customer appreciate my humor?”), and choice of content (“Would this buyer find a white paper useful?”). We promise your prospects will appreciate the effort…and we’re pretty certain your ROI will, too.
4. Spread the Word
“Spreading the word” is part of your basic job description, after all. But taking steps to amplify your words so they reach even further? That’s strictly for star players who know how to reap all the benefits of their sales engagement plan.
You can join the ranks of these star sellers by widening your net using a broad spectrum of outreach channels, from email, to video, social media, phone, and even print (among others).
As SMM explained previously, “a one-size-fits all approach” to sales simply “will not work.” So, while it’s good to reach as many leads per hour as possible, it’s just as important to appeal to them via the platforms where they live and work. In other words: Demand the most of your sales engagement systems by programming them to schedule and trace a variety of communications––all spread out over as many different venues as possible. Since tastes and behaviors always vary from prospect to prospect, this bigger, more diverse net will likely translate into more leads…which means more opportunities for your messages to resonate on a deeper level.
5. Turn These Practices Into Habits
Say you’ve completed a cycle of outreach using new and improved methods of engagement, and your messaging is hitting its mark.
Congrats! Now, do it again. And again. And again.
The strength of your sales engagement optimization will depend on your perseverance…and your adaptability. Once you’ve implemented the techniques above, be sure not to abandon them. Observe your re-energized sales organism in action. Use your findings (and corresponding metrics) to redraw your road map going forward, particularly when it comes to renewals and up- or cross-selling activities. Identified a content gap? Work on filling it in for the next campaign. Noticed some continual misfires among your communications? Find new avenues of approach for the future.
Parting Thoughts
If you can find the right cocktail for your sales engagement system, your messaging stands a better chance of making an impression––and your sales team stands a better chance of hitting its quota year after year. A carefully blended combination of sales practice inventory, sales technology, buyer personalization, sales channeling, and continued surveillance might be just the booster shot your sales organism needs to achieve peak performance in 2021 and beyond.
Eleni Hagen is a content strategist for Highspot, a sales enablement platform that helps organizations close the loop across marketing, sales and customers.
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