Storytelling is a popular topic among marketers. But you know what rarely comes up? Sales. Or selling, for that matter. We might admit that we aim to inspire customers to take action with our storytelling, but selling rarely gets a mention. Sales, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have marketing's thirst for stories.
As always, great post! I found it super helpful that you included links to awesome marketing and sales assets. These assets are great to pull inspiration from and get a perspective of how other product marketers are tackling the same challenges. It would be great if you did a post dedicated to your favorite market assets that you've seen - from website messaging, ads, explainer videos, sales assets, whitepapers, and more!
I have been fortunate to have great relationships with Marketing professionals where I was selling. I could never use their material - just like you said. It was too fluffy and broad.
BTW - I did try to use it at the beginning but that was not fruitful so I learned to work with Marketing,
Your spot on that positioning needs to be unique differentiations that has value to the buyer. I found partnering with marketing and tweaking what they created (because they did all the research and hard work. It just wasn't tailored to my specific audience) was a more efficient process that delivered results.
Fantastic. Especially the point about having a POV, something I hammered on in my media sales training, where projecting a strong and credible POV about marketing instantly set you apart. April you could make a killing in just the media sales space with this process :) Cheers, Jim (jimknappaz on LI)
"Marketers are from Disneyland; sales folks are from Glengarry" - love it!
So true! It is hard to do but I think getting some sales experience, even just by woking closer with the sales team, can help a marketer bridge that gap between getting attention and the rest of the purchase process.
I love the distinction between marketing and sales made here.
We mostly do consultancy sells with clients and our process isn't too far from what's been outlined here.
1. Create unique value and build the case for change
2. Present options for working together.
3. Review proposals with the client to uncover objections.
4. Solicit a decision
When we're involved in an RFP though - we definitely begin with the 'story' we're going to tell. What is the single word (or couple of words) which makes us unique and then build the entire respond around that.
As always, great post! I found it super helpful that you included links to awesome marketing and sales assets. These assets are great to pull inspiration from and get a perspective of how other product marketers are tackling the same challenges. It would be great if you did a post dedicated to your favorite market assets that you've seen - from website messaging, ads, explainer videos, sales assets, whitepapers, and more!
I have been fortunate to have great relationships with Marketing professionals where I was selling. I could never use their material - just like you said. It was too fluffy and broad.
BTW - I did try to use it at the beginning but that was not fruitful so I learned to work with Marketing,
Your spot on that positioning needs to be unique differentiations that has value to the buyer. I found partnering with marketing and tweaking what they created (because they did all the research and hard work. It just wasn't tailored to my specific audience) was a more efficient process that delivered results.
Fantastic. Especially the point about having a POV, something I hammered on in my media sales training, where projecting a strong and credible POV about marketing instantly set you apart. April you could make a killing in just the media sales space with this process :) Cheers, Jim (jimknappaz on LI)
April, this should be on your YouTube channel! (I know you are taking a break and relax. )
Gonna take me some time to absorb this. Will probably have to read this 10 times, but storytelling got my attention.
"Marketers are from Disneyland; sales folks are from Glengarry" - love it!
So true! It is hard to do but I think getting some sales experience, even just by woking closer with the sales team, can help a marketer bridge that gap between getting attention and the rest of the purchase process.
I love the distinction between marketing and sales made here.
We mostly do consultancy sells with clients and our process isn't too far from what's been outlined here.
1. Create unique value and build the case for change
2. Present options for working together.
3. Review proposals with the client to uncover objections.
4. Solicit a decision
When we're involved in an RFP though - we definitely begin with the 'story' we're going to tell. What is the single word (or couple of words) which makes us unique and then build the entire respond around that.
Would definitely recommend others read this.