Customer Experience Library - Tip #6 Tools to Sell

Do your customers have delightful tools to sell? In many business to business environments, the decision may not lie solely with one individual (as is more common in B2C products). If a team is making the decision, it is KEY to have an internal advocate. Someone who has been DELIGHTED, and sees the value your tool can provide. If you don’t have an internal advocate in this environment, get your hiking boots on because it’s an uphill climb. If you do have an advocate, we should let that person sell your product for you to their counterparts alone, right? Wrong. You need to come alongside your advocates with tools they can use to communicate your value clearly internally. You need to creatively think of ways you can share the DELIGHT your advocate feels to their counterparts. It’s creative. It’s fun. It’s challenging to do well.

Let’s try an example.

You are a sensor company that sells vibration sensors for motors so you can detect early failure modes (when the motor starts to vibrate over a certain threshold, you can predict or deter failure by preventative maintenance).

Seems like a solid B2B market and boring sales process right?

You have an internal advocate named Jorge at a barring manufacturing plant upstate. Jorge uses all the sensors and dashboard diagnostics on his vehicle, and he knows the value they can bring. His 8-year-old vehicle has never broken down due to his maintenance plan based on sensor data. He’s exactly the type of guy you want advocating for your product on the inside. Only one problem, Jorge is the maintenance manager, and communicating to the VPs is not his strong suit. He knows what you offer, and he wants to buy, but he needs to convince his higher-ups that the investment is worth it.

So you pitch to Jorge and he loves it – then you try to get a meeting with the VPs next, but some organizational dynamics get in the way. Jorge says he’ll bring it to them at his end of the month review meeting.

So what do you do?

Sit back?

Say, “Ok, let me know if the decision makers have any questions?”

I’ve done that in the past – it’s a gamble with long odds.

Here’s something you could you.

Give Jorge the tools to sell.

In this example, you might send Jorge or the VPs a smart watch, or an Ora ring in the mail ahead of the meeting. And say, “Just like this smart watch helps you collect health data so you can make adjustments to hit your fitness goals, our sensors will help you watch machine data so you can hit your production goals.”

This type of creative way to tell your story using and analogy and a gift is one way to show that you’ve thought through your value and the EXPERIENCE of your potential customer. Similarly, I regularly advise all the common selling companions as well.

You should consider providing Jorge with your sales material that clearly explains your value prop – hopefully with a picture or corresponding image. I recommend using video links, landing pages, infographics, and digital media along with physical collateral where appropriate.

Second, make sure he has a price sheet or guide that accurately conveys how much the investment will cost.

Third, and most frequently missed, arm Jorge with stories or case studies, with other similar customers that have seen a huge benefit from your solution. Provide quantitative metrics to the benefit where possible.

Arming your advocate with clear stories and analogies is one of the best ways to convert a skeptical team, to a committed partner – all with the power of focusing on the Customer Experience.

Simple takeaways on providing the tools to sell.

Arm your advocate with stories and analogies to use.

Give them clear marketing material, links, videos, articles, etc.

Provide them with case studies, examples, and data driven evidence that your solution can deliver meaningful impact.

Focusing on this level of detail during the sales process is an intentional way you can demonstrate how much you care about the CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE from the very beginning. Now, it’s your product’s job to back it up!

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