How to simplify and amplify your company's sales message
Your messaging - also known as a value proposition - is a key part of the sales process. A strong, clear message is how potential clients understand what you offer and how it benefits them.
Too often, companies - especially those in the technology and professional services sectors - can trip over their messaging. It gets in the way. It can be too complicated, focusing more on what something does. Talking about features instead of benefits.
When messaging and the marketing and sales materials that convey this message are weak or too wordy, conversion rates go down. Sales pitches fail. Potential clients get confused and go elsewhere. Whereas, companies with a clear, consistent and amplified pitch are more successful at pulling in leads and converting them.
If this is something you are struggling with then this article is for you: let’s look at how to sampling and amplify your messaging.
Keep messaging simple
Start with asking why:
Why was the company founded?
Next, consider what problems the company is trying to solve?
What are your customers key pain points and how does your company solve them?
Now you have your why, what and how. Key building blocks in a strong and sturdy messaging platform. If your company’s website, marketing and sales material doesn’t make any of this clear then that could be part of the problem.
Now you have a who factor to consider. Clients like to know how they’re doing business with. People buy from people, so this is where sales professionals play a key role in establishing and building relationships. Clients also like to know who’s going to look after their accountant and do the work they need, so team bios, LinkedIn profiles and other details are always useful.
And secondly, clients want to know who else you’ve worked with. Ideally, a key selling point is that they can see you’ve worked with companies similar to themselves (e.g. same sector, similar size, etc.) and solved similar problems. Known as social proof. It is a key selling point.
With this information you can construct a clear message strategy:
- Why the company was founded?
- What problems are we solving for clients?
- How we solve these pain points for clients (and therefore, how we add value)?
- Who we work with?
For example: “We are a software company that automates payroll, making it easier for mid-sized professional service firms in the U.S. and Canada with 100+ employees to manage payroll, pensions and tax contributions, saving them and their clients time and money.”
Next, you need to focus on how the message is amplified.
Amplify the message
Standing out in a crowded noisy market is not easy.
Social media makes marketing easier, in some respects. But not in others. Every business is fighting for the attention of potential clients.
If you aren’t getting enough warm or partially warmed up leads - or many these leads aren’t suitable, then marketing needs to steps its amplification game up.
Firstly, you need to make sure the messaging is clear and consistent across the board.
Secondly, as part of a marketing strategy that generates useful leads - and a steady flow of them into the sales funnel - marketing needs to get that message to your potential clients. Whether through social media, articles in industry media outlets and newsletters, content marketing, and the use of lead generation content, a message that doesn’t reach an audience isn’t much use.
In order to achieve what you need, marketing needs to be consistent and proactive. A clear message, amplified and consistently promoted, will achieve positive results for a sales team.
And finally, make sure there is a quick easy way for a potential lead to have a demo. Modern buyers have short attention spans. Buyers are also busy. So if someone has the time to have an instant demo, make sure you’ve got the software that makes this possible, quickly and easily.
Being able to do that first demo instantly improves conversion opportunities and reduces the time from first contact to a sale.