Sales collateral, also referred to as marketing collateral, is a set of resources and tools that give your team the opportunity to nurture relationships and push deals forward. These resources can also be used to reignite conversation with previous customers or develop trust with business stakeholders, helping your marketing and sales efforts.
Essentially, this kind of collateral helps move prospects through the sales funnel and can include a variety of digital and printed resources, media or content that is designed to support the sales process.
The purpose of these resources/materials is to provide prospects with the information they need in the decision-making and purchasing process of the buyer's journey. The resources also assist your sales team as the sales collateral toolbox supports the sales cause through a variety of materials such as case studies, testimonials and presentations. This kind of content has the ability to drive a sales-forward and equip your sales team with the knowledge they need to convert a lead into a client.
In this article, we take a look at the sales collateral needed to help your sales team achieve greater results.
We live in the digital age, and today’s consumers are more informed than ever. To put it into perspective, 70% of the buyer's journey is completed before the buyer even contacts a salesperson or sales team.
With such an informed customer base, salespeople need to be ready with the right resources to close deals. This is why businesses create sales collateral and use this to move leads through the buying process.
So, what are the types of sales collateral businesses need to drive more sales?
A sales deck is a vital component of the sales process. In fact, it is a touchpoint that has the power to make or break a sale. This is why all businesses need to take their sales decks seriously.
A sales deck is essentially a PowerPoint or Slide presentation that attempts to persuade a lead through a sales presentation designed to close a sale of a product or service. These are often used during the first big meeting or communication with a lead and will outline the problems a buyer is facing and how a service or product can help them overcome these issues.
A sales deck is usually divided into 3 parts:
Top Tip: Your sales deck presentation should include data, data visualization and imagery and should tell a brand story that has the power to convert a lead into a client.
A white paper is a guide or report that informs a reader about a complex topic or issue and provides thought-leader knowledge on these topics or issues. Essentially, a white paper is designed to help the reader understand a topic, make a decision or solve a complex issue.
These research-filled, long-format content pieces take time to develop and create; however, they are essential in the lead generation and sales process. This is because this piece of content is downloadable and a reader will have to provide their contact information or related data in order to access the document. This helps marketing and sales teams collect data from high-quality leads and this data can be used for further marketing and sales tactics.
As a business, you need to create a detailed white paper that should be made available on your website and to your sales team (of course). These documents not only guide leads through the sales pipeline, but they also give your sales team even greater insight into why the prospect downloaded the paper and what they are looking for - driving the sales process forward on a more personalized and genuine level.
Top Tip: A white paper is not a blatant advertising opportunity for your business. It should be designed to provide thought-leadership in order to help the reader. This is a way to provide your knowledge and direct the reader through the sales pipeline without blatantly offering or selling your services. Essentially: it should provide valuable information on a topic without pushing a sale. The lead nurturing comes after.
If you sell a product a product data-sheet is an important sales collateral to have in your toolbox. This is a document that contains descriptions, benefits and images of your products and then outlines detailed features and benefits of said products.
The information contained in your data-sheet content should include:
Datasheets are a powerful resource for both buyers and sales teams as these documents answer most buyer questions and this speeds up initial sales meetings.
Top Tip: Your marketing and product teams should work side by side when creating the datasheet, ensuring it covers all the relevant information and is easy to understand and navigate.
Salespeople need to have a strong reference point in order to communicate and converse effectively with potential customers. They need to have the tools to direct the conversation and guide a lead to make a purchase decision. This means your sales team should be clued up on your business’s value proposition and this is where sales scripts come into play.
Your sales script should contain a list of important talking points that can help your sales team make meaningful conversations and connections with prospects.
Top Tip: Your sales scripts don’t have to be lengthy and can be different for different salespeople. For example, a junior sales rep should have a more detailed sales script than that of your senior salespeople.
Sales teams need to have a set of pre-designed email layouts or templates that are designed for greater open rates. These templates will test the marketing and sales outreach campaigns and help your teams decide which templates work and which don't.
The testing should be done by marketers and they need to make sure your sales team is provided with the best email templates designed for various stages of the buyer's journey including:
Top Tip: A strong Customer Relationship management system is a great way to ensure your email templates are stored safely and sent automatically to your leads at every stage of the buyer's journey. A CRM will also ensure that your emails are personalized to your leads, ensuring greater open rates and a sense of trust between your company and client.
There are a variety of sales collateral materials that should be included in your marketing and sales toolbox. These materials help drive the buyer's journey and ensure your sales team is informed about your business and your individual leads.
Nexa is a digital-first company and we know that the most important word in business is GROWTH. Marketing collateral plays an important role in the growth of any business and we are here to help you create the ultimate marketing and sales collateral for your business.
Contact us today for all your marketing needs - and get growing!