Sales Aids and Your Sales kit
Sales Aids
What brochures, information packages, video presentations, needs-analysis and other sales aids will be part of your Sales System? While there is cross-over between sales and marketing, especially if your salespeople make cold calls, you designed your marketing tools such as advertisements and promotional brochures in Marketing. So here we will focus on the sales aids designed to support your sales process.
You'll need to organize and schedule the development of the sales aids you will need for your Sales System to function properly.
Your Sales Kit
A “sales kit” can be thought of as a tool kit for salespeople. It is a collection of brochures, question and answer lists, samples, hardware and other assorted items designed to support a salesperson in their work. Basically, it contains everything a salesperson needs to make a sale.
If your business incorporates salespeople, what resources must they have readily available to them in order to do the best job possible? Review the following list, noting any resources that would benefit your salespeople.
Marketing materials — This could include items such as brochures, business cards, or computerized presentations such as slide presentations.
Information sheet (or visual aids) — This could serve as a handy reference for the special features or important details of your products or services.
Scripts — Your sales employee manuals should contain all of the sales systems and scripts, but copies could be included here as well for instant reference.
Sales forms — This could include any official sales forms such as contracts, invoices, or bills of sale.
Sales tracking mechanism — This should be done as automatically as possible. Otherwise there is a very real possibility of it not happening as consistently as necessary. If this happens, you could end up with a collection of useless data.
Prospect list — This is a list of leads your salespeople will pursue.
Product samples or testers — Since people make their initial buying decisions emotionally, it is always a good idea for them to have the opportunity of experiencing your offering as first hand as possible. If you sell physical products, then samples may work. For large-scale products, visual representations such as small-scale models or photographs may be substituted, but the real thing should always be your first choice.
If you provide a service, you may need to be more creative. You may wish to offer some free advice, for example, or you may offer some mini-version of your service as a trial. In-depth testimonials can sometimes serve as examples of service as well.
Tools and hardware — What tools might your salespeople need to do their jobs? Are there minor services they might provide for a prospect while on a sales call? Perhaps the products or services you are demonstrating require on-the-spot alterations in accordance with your prospect’s needs. Adjusting the seat and handlebars on a bicycle, for example. Whatever your situation, consider the tools or hardware your salespeople may need.
Other
Depending on your business, you may even wish to explore the possibilities of setting up most of this package electronically (i.e. on a laptop computer or on the Internet).
Use the space below to design an effective “sales kit” for your business.