At Gabriel Sales, a B to B sales outsourcing company, we know that selling digital can mean great results and improved ROI.
Some of the Wins for the Buyer
- They can get a feel for whether our product or solution is a fit when they have a window in their day. (The upside for the seller is that we generally see them viewing the content within 24 to 48 hours as opposed to waiting 7-10 days to get on their calendar).
- They are able to share the content and get others involved in the decision making process sooner rather than later. We generally see that with this approach if it is a “right fit” that our first business discovery session generally ends up with more of the stakeholders involved.
- If they are not the right decision maker/champion they can forward us on. There are two advantages we see with digital content. With digital content about 40% of the time we actually get that persons contact info, as opposed to I forwarded it on and “we’ll get back to you if we are interested.” You can see if the new person has accessed the content, as opposed to a sell sheet in an email.
- When some or all of the initial digital presentation is given by a product specialist, executive or engineer it gives the prospect a sense of the caliber of the team they will be working with beyond sales. We hear over and over again that this increases their level of trust and our overall likeability. Now the sales person is becoming a facilitator of a potentially mutually beneficial transaction. This pays off significantly during discovery downstream.
- Finally it gives the gatekeeper the confidence that if they become a champion for us that we will be able to support their efforts to become an internal advocate for us. We will be able to supply them with the tools they need to be successful helping to sell us into the organization.
The bar has already been raised and if you are not convinced this is the right way to go just consider:
Netflix’s direct streaming now takes up 20% of online bandwidth in the United States during prime time so consumers can digest content when the mood strikes them.
- When is the last time you watched a prime time show at its scheduled time as opposed to going to the DVR?
- Do you still buy CDs or do you download tunes you want after sampling on Pandora.
- Do you still read newspapers daily or are you subscribing to New York Times on your iPhone for 99 cents a month (I still get the Sunday NY Times in print because anything else would be sacrilegious).
If you are not providing your prospects with the ability to at least meet you are missing the boat and you are going to lose more prospects in the early sales cycle then you are going to win.
For more on B to B Sales Content Development, please feel free to contact us.
