7 HABITS

for Highly Effective

Sales Content
IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF SALES ASSETS AND INCREASE SALES
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INTRODUCTION THE SNAPSHOT

Inspired by Steven Covey’s seminal business and self-help book,

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, this white paper is
intended to present specific — and actionable — best practices
today’s sales content professionals can use to improve the quality
of sales content in their organization.

THE SEVEN HABITS FOR

HIGHLY EFFECTIVE SALES CONTENT:

HABIT #1: Know Your Audience

HABIT #2: Personalize Your Content
HABIT #3: Don’t Forget Design
HABIT #4: Promote the Value
HABIT #5: Make it Accessible
HABIT #6: Present it in Context
HABIT #7: Measure Results
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INTRODUCTION
LET’S STOP “CONTENT FOR
CONTENT’S SAKE”
Today, companies in all industries are churning out sales-related
content at record rates, and as demand for it grows, the volume
will only increase.

For content consumers — prospects and customers — this may seem like good news. After all,
with access to so much more information, they should be able to learn more about products
and services and make more-informed buying decisions.
Yet the jury is still out on just how valuable all of this new content really is. Sure, companies
are producing exponentially more content, but are they creating high-quality materials —
personalized and delivered at precisely the right time — that prospects actually want to
receive? Or is this yet another example of companies doing more of the same and wasting
valuable time and resources?
Buyers’ expectations have changed today, and companies need to evolve with them. Gone
forever are the days of producing “one-size-fits-all” content. Instead, these organizations need
to produce educational, accurate, and highly engaging content that is tailored to show an
understanding of the prospect’s specific challenge and a path to the best solution.
Making the issue more challenging, most organizations look to existing employees to produce
seemingly infinite variations of content. Too often, these employees already have a full work-
load, and simply may not have the time, skills, or interest required to create the high-quality
content customers and prospects demand.

In the following pages, we will outline “Seven Habits for Highly Effective Sales Content.”
By following these best practices, today’s sales, content, and enablement professionals can
improve the quality of their sales content and achieve their most critical business goals.
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HABIT #1 KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

“If you try to speak to everyone, you’ll communicate with no one.”

Knowing your audience is the foundation of a successful content development strategy

(which is why we are listing it as our first habit). Or to think of it conversely: If you don’t know
for whom you’re creating content, how do you know what to say? In most cases, you are only
setting yourself up for failure. This may seem obvious, but it is often overlooked.

But how can you thoroughly know your audience? First, you should attempt to segment
prospective buyers into persona categories such as business role (e.g., end user, manager,
consultant, or C-level executive) or department (e.g., IT, finance, HR, sales, or marketing).
This exercise helps you begin to visualize each group and understand what criteria are most
important to them in the buying decision.

It then becomes easier to begin to develop content that aligns with each segment and the
various touch points of their buying journey. For example, if you are selling to someone in
finance at an executive level, you should consider creating materials that highlight hidden
costs (associated with their current approach), cost savings, ROI calculations, and customer
examples such as case studies.

But you should also go a step further by considering the prospect’s specific preferences.
For example, if they are tech savvy, you may want to consider serving up content that they
can open on a mobile device. Or, if not, create content that can easily be viewed on a
computer or printed.

The bottom line: Endeavoring to clearly understand your audience is a positive first step
in aligning with buyers as early in the buying process as possible. In turn, this helps sales
professionals provide the most compelling assets, in context with where each buyer is in their
process in order to begin to be seen a trusted advisor.
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HABIT #2 PERSONALIZE YOUR CONTENT

If you’re not fully customizing your sales content yet, we have

some good news for you: You’re a lot closer to getting started
than you may think.

Chances are good that you already have much more data at your disposal than you may think.
Between the standard information you have as part of sales and marketing lists; CRM data,
including geography, industry, and demographics; and even behavioral data, your content
team is ready to start creating personalized content.

Still, it might take a little thought and creativity. Personalization is so much more than
simply inserting a customer’s first name into an email. Today, creating dynamic, effective
personalized content requires a deep understanding of your buyer and a commitment to
help them get what they are looking for.

Knowing your buyers’ preferences can be extremely valuable. You can use this information
to create compelling messages or even dynamic content to best meet the prospect’s
specific objectives.

Keep in mind that personalization is more than just an arrow in the sales teams’ quiver of latest
tools. Instead it’s something customers and prospects demand. Whether you’re creating a
datasheet, a presentation, or a proposal, remember to treat the buyer as an individual and not
a group. This will help you tailor content that hits home — not impersonal mass messages that
fall flat.
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HABIT #3 DON’T FORGET DESIGN

You invested countless hours in making your content perfect.

Understanding the buyer’s needs. Tracking down answers from
subject matter experts. Writing umpteen drafts. And finally —
finally — getting the copy approved.

Think you’re done? Think again. Don’t forget about the design, visual conceptualization,
and other efforts that really make your sales tool truly stand apart.

It’s sad but true: If your content doesn’t look good, or present information in a compelling
way that the reader will embrace, it will never be read. Instead, the prospect may find it
too intimidating and cast it aside — along with all of your hard work that went into it.

Formatting and design can make all the difference between success and failure. For example,
good graphic design, which includes elements such as clean white space, images, graphics,
sidebars, callouts, tables, and more, make it easier for the prospect to consume information.
It also says a lot about your company by making you look much more professional and like
someone your buyer wants to do business with.
Remember, a prospect is reviewing collateral and proposals from many different vendors.
Regardless of how valuable your content is, if it doesn’t look great and stand apart, it will
be ignored.
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HABIT #4 PROMOTE THE VALUE

Why don’t sales reps hit their quota? The number one reason
is not lack of leads, training, social selling skills, or even product
knowledge. Instead, it’s an inability for sales reps to effectively
articulate your value, according to research from SiriusDecisions.

In fact, more than 60% of buyers are disengaging with sales teams because the sales reps
didn’t present value or really understand the buyer’s business challenge.1

All of this is evidence of a gap that exists between today’s more empowered, skeptical, and
even frugal buyer and sales reps who can’t move beyond a product-focused sales approach.
Looking for proof? You see this impact every day with too many deals stalled at “no decision,”
longer sales cycles, and more discounting required to win each deal.
But there are strategies to overcome this gap, especially when it comes to content.
Sales teams need to deliver content that:

• Proves you understand the client’s business problem or need.

• Offers a recommendation for a specific approach, program, or solution that will
address the problem and produce positive results.
• Gives a compelling reason for the client to choose your recommendation over
any others.
• Demonstrates evidence of your ability to deliver on time and on budget.

Remember, it’s not about you, your products, or your services. It’s about the prospect and
the benefits or results they will achieve by partnering with your company.

1) The State of Sales Execution: 2015 Trends Report, Qvidian, 2015.

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HABIT #5 MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE

This seems like a simple concept, but you can’t use what
you can’t find.

In today’s content world, 83% of salespeople report that they have a hard time finding
the content they need.2 And when they can’t find what they need, they usually abandon their
search and rely on outdated content instead. Sounds like a frustrating experience, and one
that is doomed to failure.

If this sounds familiar, and your content portal needs help, consider the four dimensions of
more effective content access:
• E
 xpert delivery functionality that dynamically delivers the most appropriate resources for
each selling situation aligned to the buyer’s journey. In other words, expert delivery offers
the guidance of when to use each content item to improve conversations with buyers.
• I ntelligent search that allows sales reps to search based on context. Note that this should
not provide the “kitchen sink,” but provide a list of the most updated assets for unique
situations. In just one click, a rep should be able to access all content related to a particular
product and select the one they need.
• W
 ildcard search capabilities that let reps filter through each and every content asset to find
exactly what they are looking for. Making this simple and quick with fast search results is key
to keeping up with the latest generation.
• P
 ersonalized assembly capabilities that use CRM data to personalize content for the buyer
in real time. When sales reps deliver tailored sales proposals, presentations, and other doc-
uments, they stand apart from the competition — and demonstrate they really understand
the prospect’s challenges and goals.
When it comes to helping reps find exactly the right content and getting it to prospects quickly,
is your sales portal as effective as it should be? If not, make sure you’re doing all you can to
improve the portal’s overall user experience or even replace it with more advanced technology.
Your reps will thank you for it later.
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HABIT #6 PRESENT CONTENT IN CONTEXT

Get ready for a new dimension in content development: Context.

To really enable sales teams, you need to go beyond creating “cool” and interactive content
by defining the real context in which to use it. For example, fancy videos are great, but if sales
shows a product tutorial to a prospect before they understand the business value your company
provides, the message will be lost.

The concept of context is really about timing and awareness of the situation. Remember,
delivering the right asset at the wrong moment is still the wrong action in the prospect’s eyes.

Content development teams need to do all they can to guide sales when and how to use
content to its maximum value in any selling solution. Additionally, the content needs to
engage buyers into valuable conversations — with a true ebb and flow — so they can access
information, digest it, and get more as they need it.
For example, you may be able to take advantage of existing data in your CRM to provide the
right context for sales to deliver the right content. By aligning content delivery with different
buyer stages, and then tailoring it to each unique selling situation, you will help sales accelerate
sales cycles and close more deals.
Focus on how sales can use existing content and what can be created to support them, not just
continuing to create the same types of content. When you do, you’ll see the intersection of
“content” and “context” can lead to some amazing results.
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HABIT #7 MEASURE RESULTS

Remember the old adage, “you can’t manage what you

can’t measure?”

In the past, analyzing content usage and effectiveness was most likely a foreign concept.
Yet in today’s sales environment, almost everything can — and should — be measured,
including content.

Quality content is one of the most important factors in your selling strategy. But it is not
always easy to distinguish what works and what doesn’t. Without real and actionable
insight into how your sales teams are actually using content to win business and which
materials produce the best results, your content strategy may not be as effective as
you may think.

For content developers, this means that they must be disciplined about establishing, and then
monitoring, key metrics for their content and assets. These can include quantifiable results,
such as the number of times used, downloads from the sales portal, or sales wins. Additionally,
these metrics should also factor in more “anecdotal” evidence, including feedback from sales
as well as responses from customers and prospects.
All of this adds up to a real opportunity. If your company can gain visibility into the performance
of their content — down to the asset and individual user levels — you gain the ability to create
more effective content. Not only does this reduce waste, increase efficiencies, and improve
team productivity, but it helps the organization focus on producing content that actually wins
more business.
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CONCLUSION MORE THAN CONTENT

One thing is clear: It’s not just about content —

it’s about the buyer, the context, and personalization.

Yet to improve the overall quality and effectiveness of content and sales tools — and win more
business — your content development teams can’t rely on the same methods they’ve used in
the past. Instead, they must embrace new technologies and approaches to make content better,
more easily accessible, make sure it works for sales, and measure how well it performs.

At the same time, you can’t afford to try to pick and choose a random few best practices to
implement, or you’ll quickly fall behind. For example, it’s not enough to try to segment your
audience or start with a few small personalization tactics. You have to become skilled in all
facets of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Sales Content, starting with knowing your
audience to measuring results and everything in between. If you don’t implement such a
holistic approach, the competition will.

Yet there is a positive outlook. By following these seven habits, your sales, content, and en-
ablement teams can improve content creation, access, delivery, and management processes.
Not only does this help educate and engage prospective buyers, but it delivers result that add
up where it matters most — increased sales and a stronger bottom line.
While this report describes ways you can improve your content effectiveness, the overarching
selling strategy itself may be on point in order to win repeatedly. Strategic end-to-end sales
execution is a methodology that incorporates vital selling points such as content automation
to maintain and perfect selling.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

Please check out our 2015 Content Automation Trends Report
or our 2015 Sales Execution Trends Report now.
ABOUT QVIDIAN
Qvidian provides cloud-based sales execution solutions that save sales and content teams
time while improving effectiveness and optimizing productivity. From content automation
for managing sales assets to digital playbooks that guides successful sales behavior, Qvidian
enables teams to more easily access, assemble, deliver, measure and manage sales content.
Qvidian’s innovative software and advisory services offer real-time insight to ensure selling
teams do what’s needed to win, by driving repeatable methodologies and making organizations
more agile.

With over 1,200 global customers including Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), Citi (NYSE:C), ADP
(NASDAQ:ADP), CA (NASDAQ:CA), and Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK), Qvidian is helping
organizations significantly increase their profitable revenues while eliminating waste
and reducing costs.

For more information, visit qvidian.com or call 1-800-272-0047 or +44 (0) 870-734-7778.