Quick Win + Pro Tip: Leverage the Strengths of Your Team for Shared Resources & Processes

Most salespeople probably have a list of sentences or phrases they use again and again (and again and again) when they’re communicating with customers.

We’re not referring to a fully fleshed out script that they launch into during meetings with customers (in fact, we’re pretty sure we’ve extensively warned against this in previous blogs). This list is much less formal.

It may involve words or phrases they use to introduce themselves or the company they work for. It could be how they explain specific products, services, or differentiators that their team offers. Maybe it includes phrases they use when transitioning from one part of the meeting to the next or what they say when the meeting is coming to a close and they’re trying to schedule a follow up call.

These phrases are likely short and sweet. After all, they aren’t pulling out a notebook and reading them verbatim during a meeting. It’s more of a reference - something they can quickly review before a meeting as a refresher so they can communicate as clearly as possible.

Some old school sales folks might have it jotted down in their notebooks, but for most people, it will exist in a note on their phone, saved as an email draft, or on their clipboard. Really, it could exist on any device that is easily accessible and can be pulled out at a moment's notice.

If you’re a salesperson without one of these personal banks, make one! It’s easier than you might think. Go through past communications, think of frequent questions customers have and the best ways you’ve answered them, and jot down some phrases you felt represented you or your company well or that you got a positive response from.

But here’s the best practice: instead of each salesperson having their own individual list that nobody else in the company has access to, create a shared resource that the entire team can use.

Creating this resource won’t take a long time, especially if you don’t overcomplicate it. Prior to your next sales meeting, ask everyone to come prepared with a list of phrases in their personal library. Then, go around the room and have each person share some of their favorite or most used phrases and add them to a master list that the whole team can access and use as a resource.

The idea isn’t that each person will start using each other’s talk track verbatim. Instead, it gives them a resource that they can draw inspiration from, but can be easily adjusted to sound more authentic to their own voice and selling style.

Another great resource to share is how individual salespeople are finding prospective new customers that fit their ideal profile, are likely to be in need of the team’s services, and that come with a higher chance of conversion.

One of the AV companies Karl worked with was able develop a great strategy with this method of idea sharing.

Somebody on the team had started doing venue based research. Essentially, they’d look into events being held at one of their favorite venues, as they knew those events were typically the ideal size and scope for their team based on the space they were using.

After learning this, the team developed a process where they would look into upcoming events at their top venues, Google the organization hosting the event, find contact information for the event organizer or somebody else working at the company. They’d reach out to them as quickly as possible.

As they talked about outreach techniques (and, yes, used shared resources, like introductory email templates), somebody mentioned what a disappointment it was that they couldn’t find any contact information online for an upcoming event they’d be a really great fit for.

Karl thought for a moment. “Do they have a contact form on their website?”

“Probably,” the salesperson answered. “But I’m not sure that’s what it’s really for.”

“So what?” Karl said with a shrug. “The worst they can do is not respond.”

The very first form they filled out resulted in a response. Within a few days, the president of the AV company was on the phone with the organization’s CEO to talk about the event. The best part? No AV partner had been contracted yet. Suddenly, the AV team, which had done nothing more than fill out a contact form, was first in line.

When sales teams share resources and build processes together, we often find that all the pieces of the puzzle are already there - they just need a little intentional collaboration to see the whole picture.