If we were to pick just one trend in the post-Covid world, it would be the increasing expectations of B2B buyers and B2C consumers, especially when it comes to personalization. Find out how Sales Enablement addresses this demand and how it can significantly improve your sales performance.
Why is personalization important in sales and marketing?
Numerous studies have shown that buyers expect a certain level of personalization from sales and marketing:
- 71% of customers surveyed by McKinsey expect personalized interactions from companies. More than 76% say they are “frustrated” when their contact is not aware of their situation;
- The most successful companies put 40% more effort into personalizing their sales approach (McKinsey);
- According to a study by Evergage, 96% of marketers believe that personalization is a major asset in moving leads through the funnel;
- According to Gartner, Smart Personalization tools can increase profits by 15%.
As competitive intensity rises, companies are now operating in what McKinsey calls “an environment of non-loyalty.” Buyers have plenty of choice to address their issues and are willing to shop around, even when they have an established provider. Through a customized sales approach, companies position themselves as credible partners for their prospects and existing customers.
According to an Evergage study, personalization provides:
- A measurable lift in business results for 88% of companies.
- Increased conversion rates (63%).
- Improved customer experience (61%).
- Increased visitor engagement (57%).
Here’s how Sales Enablement meets your prospects’ desire for personalization
#1 Personalization requires availability
Sales representatives need time to carefully prepare their presentation so that they can personalize their approach in sales meetings. They have to gather information on their prospect’s industry, the business problem they are trying to solve, their competitors, etc. This preparation work requires time… and salespeople are sorely lacking in time.
As we discussed in our white paper “The Real Face of Sales Enablement,” 65% of sales managers believe their salespeople spend too much time on non-sales related activities (SalesFunnel). Also, according to McKinsey, salespeople spend on average half their day on administrative and/or non-sales related tasks. Last but not least, Forbes found that American companies spend $68,352 per year per salesperson on non-sales related tasks.
With the right Sales Enablement solution, your salespeople save time on content research and sales pitch preparation. They’ll be able to spend more time customizing their sales presentation to each prospect and therefore increase their conversion rate.
#2 Personalization requires alignment
Marketers are typically the most skilled at personalization because of their deep understanding of the top of the funnel with experience in producing blog posts, infographics and white papers for specific industries/audiences/issues. However, this knowledge is not shared with Sales due to misalignment. This siloed setup actually has some other drawbacks:
- 65% of the content produced by marketing is never used by sales (Sirius Decision). HubSpot puts the figure at around 90%;
- 28% of the content produced by marketing is not accessible to salespeople (Data Dwell);
- 40% of salespeople create their own content, “for lack of anything better” (HubSpot).
To bring a personalized experience to prospects, marketing and sales must be perfectly aligned:
- Marketers help create content and profile prospects;
- Salespeople bring their knowledge of the field. As they are in direct contact with prospects, they know their expectations, concerns and expectations and can therefore drive content creation.
Sales Enablement allows to bridge the gap between Sales and Marketing. And companies have definitely understood that according to the G2 Learn Hub figures:
- Sales Enablement adoption in B2B has jumped 343% in the last 5 years;
- Sales Enablement query volume is growing at an annual rate of 51.2%.
#3 Personalization requires tools
To personalize their sales presentation, salespeople need flexible and easy to use tools that allow them to:
- Search for the right content using advanced filtering (business type, industry, company size, etc.);
- Easily access updated versions of all content;
- Easily access content at any time, even offline;
- Easily create a personalized sales presentation;
- Have reliable data, especially regarding the performance of the content delivered to the prospect at the end of the meeting
Touch & Sell, the French pioneer in Growth Enablement
According to the G2 Learn Hub, 84% of salespeople who use a Sales Enablement tool hit their sales quotas. You too can boost the capacities of your sales force! Touch & Sell, a pioneer in Sales Enablement in France, is now the French leader in Growth Enablement. Our mission is to optimize processes, activate synergies between Sales and Marketing and achieve sustainable growth.
