Avoiding a Sales Conversation Divide

Research shows that if sales reps are not happy with the messaging content or slide decks they receive from marketing, sales reps will create their own presentations. 

The “State of the Sales Rep” study by Brainshark (2013) states that of sales reps who receive content from marketing 42% say that marketing “rarely” or “never” makes them part of the development process. Sales reps report that they end up creating 51% of the content they use on their own. Sales will take ownership of generating the messaging when they are not being given the right tools and content.

In daily sales conversations, sales reps will say something, and it can either be the right message to differentiate your company or not. The right message is in line with the vision of the company and how the company wants to be positioned in the marketplace—including all the competitive research provided by marketing. But, if sales and marketing teams don’t work together to establish the right conversation messaging, research shows that sales does their own thing—makes up their own slide decks, tells their own stories, drafts their own whiteboards, and asks their own questions. 

How are you ensuring that the messages sales delivers are in line with the vision and positioning of the company? 

What collaboration steps are in place for sales to be a part of the development process for sales messaging collateral? 

To find out more about avoiding the consequences of a Sales Conversation Divide, read our eBook "The Sales Conversation Divide".