No matter what industry you’re in, there are always challenges that come with running a business. Innovative IT providers are constantly inventing new software and technology solutions for B2B clients. However, wrapping up your research and development and testing phases is only the first step in growing your business. Now, it’s time for a new challenge: selling your services.
When you’re trying to sell high-tech products, there are a few major issues that can get in your way. For starters, your consumers don’t necessarily understand the technical details that make an IT product great. Plus, it can be hard to capture the attention of B2B prospects. If you want to sell as many products and service contracts as possible, it’s crucial that you optimize your sales process using sales collateral.
Sales collateral might be on the bottom of your priority list when it comes to lead generation, but it shouldn’t be. It can help you make a lasting first impression on potential clients, keep them in the pipeline for an extended period of time, and convince them to sign a service contract.
Here are the five types of sales materials your IT business can use to get ahead in the B2B lead generation game.
Company Brochure
In the past, corporate brochures came in physical form only as paper flyers. These days, using innovative digital tools and platforms, you can design and distribute brochures online. Brochures showcase essential information about your company’s products or services in a visually appealing format. And unlike longer forms of sales collateral, such as eBooks or magazines, brochures concisely highlight your company’s main attributes. Most importantly, they allow viewers to understand your company’s offerings without doing too much research, which is exactly what new leads want.
Effective brochures use an easy-to-read layout that guides readers through your information. They also include compelling copy, eye-catching graphics, and a call-to-action statement encouraging prospects to reach out. Company brochures are an excellent way to introduce your IT company and help readers get to know you early on in the sales pipeline. Plus, your sales reps don’t have to put in much effort to distribute them—they can drop a PDF link into an email and send out your brochure within seconds.
Sell Sheet
Often mistaken for a brochure, a sell sheet differs in the amount of content available to the prospect. The main difference between the two is that sell sheets typically have all their information on one page. Because of this, you can use sell sheets to home in on exclusive products and their specific technical features. They’re a great way to connect with prospects with certain needs and pain points that your product can solve.
Like brochures, you can create sell sheets in a digital or offline format and easily distribute them at sale environments such as roadshows, offices, and meetings with potential clients. They typically work best during the lead nurturing process when a prospect expresses interest in one of your products and wants more information. Instead of droning on for minutes about your newest software offering during a phone call, you can email a sell sheet and get your point across more succinctly and effectively.
While sell sheets contain technical information, it’s important not to overload the reader with jargon and complicated descriptions. Prospects aren’t going to stop reading your content to Google a term they don’t understand, so your copy needs to use easily understandable terms and flow effortlessly.
A well-crafted sell sheet that combines clean copy and sharp design is like a salesperson who never stops selling. It’s an invaluable addition to any IT B2B lead generation program.
Case Study
There’s no better testament to your products than a satisfied client. You can tell leads that you have the best IT products money can buy, but most won’t agree to buy your product until they read a real-life review from a customer similar to them. This is where a case study comes into play. Clients may be looking at more than one IT solutions provider during the consideration stage. Having a portfolio of success stories can give you a leg up on the competition.
Before writing a case study, you should get in touch with a few long-term clients and ask for their perspectives on your partnership. Then, you can use your conversation to guide your case study content. Past clients can give you valuable insights into their pain points, any learning curves they faced when using your product, and the benefits your products provided. Integrating these perspectives into your copy is a great way to show future clients that you understand their IT problems and have experience providing a successful solution.
Having a few different case studies on hand during sales meetings is a great way to connect with clients. You can pick the story most similar to their situation and help them envision a future partnership with your company.
Testimonial Video
Using videos as marketing collateral has been shown to drive user engagement and help with retention. Videos bring your stories to life and add clear context to your sales conversations. Plus, video collateral opportunities are endless—you can create “About Us” videos, product advertisements, tutorials, commercials, and testimonials.
Video testimonials add credibility to your existing case studies by showcasing interviews with past clients. Product highlights explain how to use your high-tech terms using helpful diagrams and carefully written scripts. Additionally, video collateral humanizes your brand by giving leads the opportunity to connect with your employees and past clients.
Video marketing is a dynamic way to combine text, audio, and visual elements to evoke viewers’ emotions. Be careful, though—poorly produced videos can hurt your credibility and make viewers reconsider a partnership. You should only showcase videos from professional production experts that contain eye-catching graphics, clever voiceovers, and supporting text.
Sales Deck
A sales deck is a presentation that directly explains to prospects how your company can solve their pain points. It gives leads a rundown of the products you’re pitching and explains how they address common challenges. Before attending a sales presentation, you can tweak your pitch deck to meet the needs of your current lead and provide a personalized sales experience.
The key to a successful sales deck is attention to detail. By incorporating points from past conversations, specific information about a lead’s company, and custom product recommendations, you show your lead that you care about their needs and have an in-depth understanding of their business. Sometimes, all it takes to secure your next big contract is a personal touch.
Sales decks usually contain a combination of these elements:
- Title page containing key points you’ll discuss in the presentation
- Company history slide with a brief overview of your business
- Pain points and your solutions
- A “Why us?” slide explaining your key differentiators
- Your product and service offerings
- A “Meet the team” page introducing leads to their points of contact
- Pricing and onboarding information
- Next steps
It can be tempting to dump large amounts of text on your slides. After all, there’s a lot to say about your products and your company. However, your leads don’t want to interpret paragraphs of text during a sales meeting—they want to hear what you have to say. Your slides should contain critical text only, and you should provide the bulk of the information.
A well-crafted difference can provide the final push your lead needs to choose your business over a competitor. As a result, it’s an integral piece of sales collateral for IT companies that want to grow their operations and generate more revenue.
Partner With Abstrakt for Sales Collateral That Boosts Conversions
Most IT business owners don’t think of sales collateral as a vital component of their sales program, but it can make a significant difference in your lead conversion rate. Your leads don’t want to spend hours on the phone listening to sales reps pitch your products—they want to explore your offerings on their own time by reading engaging collateral.
If you’re not sure how to integrate marketing collateral into your sales program, Abstrakt can help. Our copywriters and designers have years of experience creating eye-catching marketing collateral for IT clients across the nation. We can turn any idea into a piece of marketing collateral that fits your sales needs.
Get in touch to learn more about our custom marketing collateral for IT companies.
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