Most company blogs? Entirely forgettable. They talk about themselves instead of what their audience cares about. This four-part series will show you how to avoid that, and instead, teach you how to plan, write, and publish blogs that people actually want to read.
Last week, we covered the jump from creating unique and engaging content to getting the reader to take action. In this last step, we pull it all together and connect content to action to making the sale!
Step 4 — Integrate Your Blogs Into the Sales Process
If you listened to ten cold calls from ten different sales professionals, would you hear ten unique presentations? Sadly, they would all sound eerily similar. And let’s not blame it all on the salespeople. It’s not that they don’t work hard or that they don’t take time to prepare. No, they’re just singing from the same sheet of music. The problem is that prospective clients have the lyrics of that song memorized because they’ve heard it so many times.
So how can something new and fresh be introduced into the selling process? The answer is your blogs!
Yes, I said your blogs. The thing that marketing keeps cranking out and sales believes is “just for the website or social media.” But what if I said that your blogs might just be one of the most powerful weapons in your sales arsenal? Not just words, but actual differentiators in conversations that would otherwise end up feeling like every other sales conversation.
Here are four arrows you can draw from your sales quiver:
1. Sales outreach emails.
Instead of the same old tired line in your email outreach to prospects, try dropping in a link to a recent blog. Suddenly, you’re not just another salesperson begging for time; now you’re a thought leader offering something of value.
2. Leave behinds.
Print some of those published blogs and hand-deliver them. Stop by with a short, well-written piece that speaks to the prospect’s pain point, and leave it behind. You just turned another pitch into unique insight.
3. Email follow-ups.
Not only can you use your blogs for initial outreach, but they can also become an essential part of your routine follow-up. Mix them in with your regular check-ins. Instead of “just circling back,” you're sending relevant content that keeps your name (and your value) top of mind.
4. Conversation starters.
An important part of the sales process is building rapport. Rather than struggling for something to say, open with an interesting blog topic. “We just published a piece about…” Flip the script from selling to discussing. That’s what builds relationships. Then, after the meeting, send them a thank-you note along with a link to that very blog.
When you start integrating your blogs into the sales process, you take it to a much higher level. You stand out. Your conversations, and ultimately your relationships, deepen. Prospects see you less as just another vendor and more as an advisor. A true professional.
So stop letting your blogs just sit there on your website and social media platforms. Put them to work. Make them part of your sales cadence. Instead of sounding like everyone else, be the one who brings fresh insights to the table.
That may be the very thing that gets you across the finish line.