One of our newest employees, Justyna Valencia, comes to StorySlab with over 6 years of marketing experience in the manufacturing industry. We asked her what marketers can do to better support the sales team and earn more credit for their work in the process. Here’s her perspective on why sales enablement is crucial to uniting marketing and sales.

What gets in the way of sales teams using marketing content?

The content that marketing produces is rarely in one place, and sales reps usually have too much on their plates to dig for files while they switch gears from one customer project to the next. Between hosted and revision-controlled brochures that exist on a company website and purchase order histories that exist on separate platforms such as Oracle or Epicor, much of the content needed to close a sale is stored within various places on a company’s network. 

For a sales rep, anything that takes more than two clicks to find, it’s easier (and faster) not to include. Even if all materials are provided during kickoff, a few days later, sales still inquires: Where’s that spec sheet? Where’s that brochure? Or they go rogue and make up their own materials, which in many cases deters from consistent brand messaging that the company has set in place. This is just in the instance of one project/campaign. Now multiply this by two to four different campaigns per quarter. 

In addition, even if sales could find the right marketing content, that’s just the half of it. In many cases, all their pitches are customized to fit the client so they really need a blend of other supporting materials such as forecasts and purchase order information that exists in other places. On top of that, when a new sales rep comes in, they’re left to sift through emails to determine where the old conversation left off, and what materials were sent. 

What advice would you give to marketers to create better sales content?

Close the marketing and sales gap. Ask what pain points your sales reps are having. Ask what they want to show when they’re with a customer. Financials? Forecasts? Comparison charts? If your content isn’t useful to sales, they’re not going to use it. 

Why would you recommend StorySlab to marketing teams?

StorySlab puts everything at your sales team’s fingertips so reps don’t need to look around for information to help them close the sale. It integrates with the most popular video chat platforms to make remote calls easier. It’s also a gigantic plus that the content is preloaded, so the need for Wi-Fi is eliminated when presenting in person.

The platform also provides analytics on what sales reps are sharing and what customers are engaging with to help you determine the ROI of your content and improve. You can even see when reps add their own materials so you can make sure they meet your brand standards. 

And, most importantly, it’s not another project. Everything is set up for you in just three weeks. All you have to do is tell StorySlab where to find your content.

To see StorySlab in action, request a demo. If you think it’s a fit for your team, StorySlab will create a custom mockup so you can see your company’s content and branding in the app before you commit.