BNI Corporate Strategic Partners

When you think of sales materials, what comes to mind?

Most would answer a company folder or sales kit is the standard usually left after a sales call or sent as a follow-up to a trade show. Many argue that there isn’t much value in them these days – I am of the opinion that this kit has value, but instead of being a stand-alone it’s just one piece to a system.

The Buying Process is the Starting Point

The buyer’s process is the root of all sales activity. A good sales person knows that to be truly successful you need to be in touch with clients when they are thinking about a change, actively looking to buy and then doing the right things to enable the close of business. The challenge with many company sales tools is they tend to target those in the active buying phase only, but like a strong investment portfolio – diversity is the key to success.

Sales Touch Points

In my industry of business communications, we use the term touch points. This term is used to describe any vehicle that is used to reach or communicate with a client. Anything like calls, emails, brochures, PDFs, web site, direct mail, advertising, packaging and so more are all taken into consideration.

When evaluating a company’s sales tool arsenal it’s best to start with sales 101 and first ask – Are you putting out materials and touching clients for each of the three buying phases?

Renee Brisson-Khan is the owner of RBK Artworks, a boutique graphic design company that specializes in branded sales material for print, interactive and exhibits for B2B companies. She has been an active member of our corporate chapter for 5 years and will be the speaker on March 5th, 2013. This post was originally written for her blog in January 2013, click the following link to read her follow-up post: Targeting the Three Buying Phases

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