15 Things Every Salesperson Needs to Know About Marketing

Marketing is a crucial part of the sales process.

How will your potential customers know how amazing your products and services are if you don’t tell (market) them about it?

To market your products and services effectively, a lot of listening and careful thought is required. Here are 15 things every salesperson needs to know about marketing:

1. Marketing creates a desire to buy

No one likes to be sold, even though they’re dying to buy. Many marketers are still using the traditional (high pressure) sales tactics to force people to buy. Guess what? It won’t work.

It will only backfire you and your business reputation. Yeah, sure, you may make a sale, but you may also jeopardize a long-term relationship with them, especially if the product fails to deliver as advertised.

Marketing helps by creating a desire to buy, paving the way for the sales team to add value without actually having to be outright aggressive to close the deal.

When a prospect is ready to purchase (from a marketing initiative), they’ll only require few questions answered by a knowledgeable salesperson. It’s that simple!

2. Marketing plays a huge role in creating an emotional bonding.

Before you make a purchase, what do you? You want to know if the product is right for you. You want to “feel” connected (emotional bonding) with the product.

For example, before you buy a house, you want to fall in love with it to justify your purchase to your partner, don’t you?

It’s the same thing with any other purchase.

You see, people buy on emotion and back their purchase using logic. Marketing helps build that emotional connection (or emotional bonding or the “sex appeal”) that compels people to buy your products and services, especially when the prospects are not ready to buy yet.

3. Marketing helps tell great stories about your brand, products, and services

Behind every marketing, there’s a simple and compelling story, which is also one of the reasons why we have managed survive for over 10,000 years.

How does marketing tell a great story?

If you need inspiration, think about the great story about Jared losing weight by eating Subway’s sandwiches. Think about Apple emphasizing their customers to “Think Different.” Or, the “Diamonds are Forever” message by De Beers.

So what these stories do? They all help people make buying decisions with confidence.

4. Marketing uses “user data” to eliminate “noise” and help sales team focus on knowing when a prospect is ready

You probably must have heard a lot about the term “user data.”

What is it?

Well, the marketing team can leverage “user data” (grabbed by Google Analytics, e.g.) to eliminate all the “noise” and help you and your sales team to focus on knowing when a prospect is ready to buy.

A few years ago, Adobe did this brilliantly. They created an entire system around these events, which fires up when those events are triggered. It’s one of the reasons why they have been spending a lot of their resources on technology and not on their software that made them super famous.

5. Marketing is a strategy, science, and an art of persuasion.

Have you read Robert Cialdini’s book “The small BIG: small changes that spark big influence”? You haven’t?

In his book, Robert unleashes 52 small changes that can instantly make a BIG impact on your business… and most of the small changes that drive sales UP are usually marketing techniques.

And, guess who benefits from all these at the end: yeah, that’s right, the sales team.

6. Word of mouth marketing inspires sales.

Do you know why people choose to share their opinions online and in real life? If you don’t, I highly recommend you to read Jonah Berger’s uplifting book, “Contagious: Why Things Catch On.”

In his book, Jonah explains why people like to share their opinions on the web (or in real life).

If you read the book, you’ll find your answers about why people love to talk about products, services, and brands, that help BOOST sales. (This book is also jam-packed with great marketing examples that created buzz for the business.)

7. Marketing helps your prospects to know, like and trust your brand (or at least your business)

Before I buy anything from you, I want to know you, trust you, and like you. If people are going to buy from you, they need to know “who you are” and “what you offer” and “how what you offer benefits them (and their life).”

Let’s say, I want to purchase a “customized” credit card for my business. I visit a website (Cardzgroup’s products, for example) that provides “customized” cards for individuals and businesses.

Now, once I land on their page, before even purchasing any card from them, I want to do few things immediately. Personally speaking, I want to know instantly different card types they offer, any special offers they provide for, let’s say, bulk purchases, what other customers are saying about the company and its products and services (clients testimonials). Or maybe, even read company’s blog… to get a “feel” for their products and services.

You see, I want to be sure that I like this company. Otherwise, I will never buy a single thing from them.

Same is true with your prospects. Your prospects need to be sure that they like you – and ultimately must feel they can trust you.

Marketing helps you reach these goals by building your brand and offering the social proof.

8. Marketing people respect and love you

The marketing team knows that you (salesperson) drive sales that help pay their bills, rent, and personal expenses. That’s why they always appreciate salespeople’s skills and knowledge to drive sales.

Marketing people, unlike any other department in your company, understand all the challenges of the salespeople and they have a deep respect for people who deliver the results.

9. Marketing can help you create a solid relationship with the customer.

Marketing is just like having an experienced “wingman” who introduces you to everyone at a party. Even you may not know anyone at the party, marketing has already made your path easier and established a solid “emotional connection” long before you have even met your prospect.

This leadership (initiated by marketing) have eased salespeople to build a strong relationship with the prospects.

10. Marketing’s job isn’t possible without sales team’s support

Marketing people cannot do their job efficiently without the help and support of the sales teams. Likewise, the sales people cannot drive sales without marketing.

Without marketing, you’ll have to do all the tackling yourself – telling a story, persuading prospects, establishing an emotional connection, qualifying the lead, handling objections – and almost everything else.

Simply put, it’s almost impossible and incredibly challenging to grow the company – and drive more sales – without the help of marketing.

11. Marketing plays a huge role in driving sales.

Without marketing, sales teams cannot find and qualify prospects and maintain contact with prospects during the sales cycle.

Although sales and marketing are different and reside in various parts of the organizations, when integrated together, they can help each other improve the overall performance of the company regarding profit and revenue.

12. Marketing builds a brand name recognition.

A business becomes amazingly successful when they have a solid reputation.

Marketing helps improve brand name recognition (or product recall) with a company.

And, when the company is capable of delivering the high expectations of the people, it’s reputation goes through the roof dramatically. And as the company’s reputation soars, the sales explode, and the business thrives.

Effective communication and quality products or services build company’s reputation, which is supported by marketing efforts.

13. Marketing facilitates healthy competition

Marketing helps spread the message out on pricing about the products and services, which reaches not only to the targeted audience but also to other competing businesses.

Without healthy competition, top companies would have no problem selling while small and medium business would forever struggle to become successful.

Marketing fosters the healthy competition (by keeping the price competitive) which makes it easier for small business owners and new businesses to be successful and grow in their market.

14. Marketing helps sales team make effective presentations

Marketing can help salespeople in a company deliver effective presentations about the brand, products, and services to potential customers.

Sales guides, for example, can assist a sales rep with in-depth knowledge of prospects, product information, buying factors, product benefits, and strategies on how to overcome buying objections.

Marketing can also help create and prepare presentations that can be individualized to each prospect.

15. Sales teams can significantly benefit from lead nurturing (a marketing process).

The marketing people send emails containing valuable content that makes the prospects aware and understand your company and its products and services.

The content may be anything – from seminar reports to briefing papers to case studies to “how to” guides, among other authoritative promotional materials.

During this critical phase, the sales team should NOT contact the prospects.

These emails might also contain a system (“CTAs” for example) that enables prospects to ask for detailed product information or a sales visit if they wish to.

When prospects ask for that request, that’s when the sales team can jump in and arrange for appointments, being entirely confident that they’ll be dealing with “hot lead.”

So what’s the bottom line?

The bottom line is this: marketing provides the “air cover” for salespeople working hard on the ground to close more deals and improve profits and revenues for the company. It’s a partnership worth the investment.