Sales support refers to any activities or resources that are designed to help salespeople be more effective in their roles. This can include sales training, sales enablement, sales collateral, lead qualification, and deal closing. The goal of sales support is to ensure that the sales team has everything they need to successfully sell products or services to customers.
In this post, we will answer the 7 most popular questions about sales support, including what it is, why it's important, and how it can benefit your business.
Sales support encompasses all the tools, resources, and activities that help your sales team be more effective. This can include things like training programs, marketing collateral (such as brochures or product sheets), lead qualification processes (such as scoring leads based on their likelihood to convert), and deal-closing techniques (such as negotiating strategies).
Sales support is important because it helps ensure that your sales team can do their job effectively. Without the right tools and resources, a salesperson may struggle to close deals or may not have the knowledge needed to effectively communicate the value of your products or services.
There are numerous benefits to providing strong sales support for your team. These can include:
Increased conversion rates: When your team has access to the right tools and resources, they are more likely to close deals successfully.
Improved customer satisfaction: By providing your team with training around customer needs and pain points, you can deliver a better overall experience for customers.
Faster time-to-market: With effective lead qualification processes in place, you can identify potential customers more quickly and start working with them sooner.
More efficient use of resources: By enabling your team with the right information and tools, you can help them work more efficiently and make better use of their time.
There are many ways to provide sales support to your team, including:
Sales training: Providing your team with regular training sessions can help them stay up-to-date on product knowledge, sales tactics, and industry trends.
Sales collateral: Giving your team access to marketing collateral (such as brochures or product sheets) can help them effectively communicate the value of your products or services.
Lead qualification processes: Developing a strong process for identifying and scoring leads can help your team focus on the most promising opportunities.
Deal-closing techniques: Providing guidance around negotiation strategies and tactics can help your team close more deals successfully.
There are several metrics you can track to measure the effectiveness of your sales support efforts. These might include:
Conversion rates: How many leads are being converted into customers?
Average deal size: How much are you selling on average per deal?
Sales productivity: How much revenue is each salesperson generating in a given period?
By tracking these metrics over time, you can get a sense of how effective your sales support efforts are and make adjustments as needed.
To ensure that your sales support efforts are effective, consider following these best practices:
Involve stakeholders from across the organization in developing and implementing sales support programs.
Regularly review and update training materials to ensure they stay current with changing market conditions and customer needs.
Continuously collect feedback from your sales team to identify areas for improvement and adjust your support programs accordingly.
There are many resources available for learning more about sales support. Here are five books and ebooks worth checking out:
"The Challenger Sale" by Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon
"Sales Enablement: A Master Framework to Engage, Equip, and Empower a World-Class Sales Force" by Byron Matthews
"The Art of Closing the Sale" by Brian Tracy
"Sales Management Simplified: The Straight Truth About Getting Exceptional Results from Your Sales Team" by Mike Weinberg
"Sales Enablement Defined: A Modern Approach to Empowering Sales in 2021" by Highspot
