I know we have all heard a potential say, "Send me your information or brochure." They truly want to give you the impression, "I'm totally interested in your product (or service). Just send me your brochure so I can make an informed purchase decision." Really? Sorry to say they are giving you the royal run around! It is stagering because so many salespeople interpret this as a buying gesture, and mail out or give the prospect a $10 to $30 marketing package.
No one likes to say no. It's uncomfortable. It feels disrespectful. So prospects look for easier ways to turn away salespeople. They ask for flyers or proposals, since it's the plausible next step in the sales cycle. It's a soft promise, but doesn't really mean anything.
Proposals, on the other hand, are a indispensable process in most sales cycles. Customers expect them, since they would like a real report of what they will acquire, the conditions of service and what it will cost. A brochure on the other hand is not needed. You can give away a brochure without any responsibility at all: No meetings, no follow up, zero. A prospect can ask for a brochure off of a simple cold call, and then never have a word to the sales person ever again. What a massive waste of money and money.
Set your promotional material under lock and key. Create a company rule: No more promotional material. Take them away from the sales force, and don't let anyone distribute them. Brochures are sales crutches. Are your sales people that unskilled they can't speak to prospects and customers on their own? Do they really need a glossy booklet to facilitate a conversation? The answer is no!
Take the crutches away. Let your salespeople stand on their own two feet, and ask the customer about their wants and needs. What they are looking in features and benefits. If the customer asks, "send me your literature," the representative can ask, "What kind of information are you specifically looking for?" That down-to-earth question takes the sales process in a absolutely new direction. That being understood, you will get push back. Just as prospects and customers don't like to say, no, salespeople don't like dealing with resistance.
It's uncomfortable telling a prospect, "Sorry, we don't use brochures. There's heaps of information on our website. Is there something particular you're looking for?" Focus on sales velocity If for no other reason, get rid of your brochures as they slow down sales. Every time a salesperson sends out a brochure they predictably slow down the sales process. First it takes two to three days for the material to arrive at the prospect's office or home. Then the sales rep follows up with a call a week later. Best case scenario the representative gets the prospect on the line, and they schedule next steps. More likely though, they miss each other and play phone tag for another week or so.
Meanwhile, the competitor that didn't use a brochure has already qualified the prospect. They know if there is a real opportunity here, and if so they are scheduling presentations or delivering quotes. They accomplish a significant lead in the sales process, and greatly increase their chances of winning the deal.
This does not come without a cost.
If you don't distribute your brochures as before, your website has to astound your prospects. Your website has to say everything a brochure can and then may times more.
Customers still need to validate their buying decisions. They are looking for proof outside what the salesperson says. In the pre-Internet days, they might have used a brochure to evaluate the brand and get a number of cues on the strength and stability of the company. Today, they go online. People Google everything you can imagine. I am sure you do the same. You can guarantee your customers will be visiting your web site and using the information they find online to support their business decision. Treat your website like another salesperson. It should be able to do everything a salesperson will in an introductory sales call: Convey your value proposition, share testimonials and produce a lot of product information. The prospect should feel comfortable with what they find online, and then get a richer more contextual perspective from the salesperson.
Give the promotional material back to marketing I'm not suggesting throwing away your brochures. You spent good money on them, and there is a time and a place for them. You still want to use them for tradeshows and events where you need a giveaway. But do not allow them to be distributed in the sales process. Change your sales process and your sales training to operate without the crutches. Get your reps asking more questions, and being comfortable sending prospects to the website. One, it's a far more cost effective approach. Two, it forces your salespeople to really qualify a lead, and determine how best to sell to them. Three, and most valuable of all, eliminating the sales crutches makes the sales process faster.
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