Blogging = Closed Deals

Picture this; a sales rep at your company is on a call with a hot prospect who is coming up with some particularly tricky objections. The rep knows that he’s being tested and with some additional information and reassurance that your company is the right fit, the deal would probably close.

Now picture this: for the past several months preceding this call your internal team has been interviewing the sales team and developed a list of the top questions and concerns prospects come up. Your team then took those questions and concerns and developed several reassuring answers to each one. Next, they developed a blog post around each objection and the corresponding answer being sure to include links to third party experts or customer testimonials to add credibility.

Now snap back to the sales call currently in progress. Your rep quickly and easily drafts a quick email with a link to the post and sends it over to the prospect mid conversation. The prospect takes a quick look, the objection is overcome and your rep has just gone from sales person to valuable resource in the eyes of the client. Deal closed.

Bonus Tip #1

If you’re using a CRM system such as Salesforce.com, create a series of pre-formatted emails with answers to major objections and link to blog posts that over come each one. That way your reps can save time when they’re on the phone with prospects and your company looks like a top-notch organization that knows what’s up.

Bonus Tip #2

When considering a blogging platform, skip the evaluation process and choose Wordpress.org. It’s easy for your IT department to install and for your designer to skin to match your corporate website. It also has a huge following in the developer community and has many marketing oriented plug-ins. It’s pretty much the best platform out there so why waste time thinking about others? Get it today.

1. Market to your in-house email list of current leads and past customers
2. Run a Search Engine Optimization campaign (SEO) in concert with a Pay-Per-Click marketing campaign
3. Get publicity from online portals and blogs relevant to your industry. A write up or mention that includes a link to your site is key
4. Market to a partner’s list or through their website to their in-house list of clients and prospects. If they’ve been in business longer and have a robust list, so much the better.
5. Build a site that is packed full of relevant content to your prospective client and current clients.

Bonus Tip:

#6: Market your business on facebook. For starters, sign up at www.facebook.com. After creating your profile, click on the home page link at the top of the page then scroll to the bottom and look at the business and advertising sections.

Facebook will continue to grow in its importance to businesses. As an example, did you know that for every person you meet in BC they have a 50% chance of being on facebook? In a future article I will go into the details of why this is important and will cover topics such as Facebook’s ad targeting system. In the mean time - go sign up!