According to CEB, 53 percent of sales executives claim that consistent messaging is a significant challenge. Research conducted by the CMO Council found that 40 percent of sales reps’; time is spent creating messaging and content, resulting in a mere 11 percent of sales conversations considered valuable by executives. If these statistics do not catch your attention, you need to read them again.

According to ES Research Group, one of the biggest sales effectiveness problems is that the majority of salespeople are left to develop their own messaging. This ad hoc, situational messaging development results in a fragmented customer experience that not only fails to develop trust and loyalty, but jeopardizes revenue growth.

With more than 57 percent of the sales process occurring before a customer ever speaks to a sales representative, delivering a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message has never been more important — and that includes the communications your sales representatives have with your potential and existing customers.

To ensure messaging continuity throughout every touchpoint of the buying journey, companies must employ a sales enablement methodology that weaves strategic corporate messages into the sales process and situational selling conversations. This methodology includes five phases:

  1. Develop a Corporate Messaging Platform that includes core messages that can be used as building block for consistent customer conversations
  2. Implement a sales behavioral analysis process designed to gain complete line-of-sight into your sales process, so as to surface the most effective tactics used to engage your key customers
  3. Create customer conversation maps that link specific messages and sales tools to persona profiles for individuals involved in the buying process, enabling sales reps to deliver the most compelling messages and use sales tools that are designed to meet the needs of reoccurring selling situations
  4. Design sales tools that foster maximum customer engagement and ensure messaging continuity throughout the sales experience
  5. Train the sales team so they can utilize the right tools at the right time and are able to conduct the most compelling customer conversations

Corporate messaging that creates a differentiated customer experience does not happen by mistake. It is strategic and intentional.

If only 11 percent of sales conversations are considered valuable by executives, you must ask yourself: Are you infusing effective messaging into every selling situation? If not, are the conversations your sales professionals have with prospective and current clients helping or hurting your business?