[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Marketers are told time and time again that the first order if business is KNOWING YOUR CUSTOMER. You can write fabulous content, lay it out in a beautiful spread and send it out via multiple channels, but if what you have written doesn’t resonate with the needs of your audience, it is all for naught – and at great expense.
There is no reason why this logic should be restricted to marketing.
Everyone in a company (from the top down) needs to understand what makes their customers tick. Only then will you be able to quickly react to shifts in the marketplace and jump out ahead of potential problems before they have a chance to fester.
Ideally, the best source of the information you need to stay ahead of the curve is your sales team. If they are doing their job properly, they are the ones “with feet on the street” on the front line communicating with major players daily.
- They know what objections they hear – and what the competition’s best selling points are.Top Selling Guide – Recondition Battery .com – 75% Commission
- They know what their product’s biggest strengths and what their clients value most about it.
- They know what their best clients have in common.
- They are in a perfect position to uncover their clients’ “wish lists” which may impact future product development.
That information, so critical to the success of any business, cannot be held captive in the sales department.
In order to make any sort of impact on marketing, customer service or product development, it must be systematically rolled up to management, consolidated, evaluated and passed on to each department.
Sales managers should insist that their reps document each of the following weekly, monthly and quarterly:
- Key conversations in market
- Meetings with prospects
- Sales cycles & overall sales pipeline
- Key major objections
- Questions you are hearing from the market in general
- Feedback on marketing pieces and/or collateral
This act of collecting and disseminating knowledge needs to be part of the culture of your organization – it should be as ingrained in your employees as the daily trip to the coffee pot.
Set the systems in place, make it a habit and create a culture of knowledge sharing. You’ll be glad you did.
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