Is Your Sales Team Misrepresenting Your Brand?

November 20, 2017 8:20 pm

Your company’s sales team is the core voice of the brand. All the elements that contribute to your brand need to be echoed by the sales force when they are prospecting and selling. Your sales team may be misrepresenting your brand but how do you know and how do you get them aligned with your brand?

Determining if your sales team is off brand

1.) Are the sales and marketing departments connected?

Sales and marketing should work side by side. The sales staff should be providing input into the marketing. The sales reps hear the needs and want of the prospects and that message should be communicated to the sales and marketing departments for a stronger, more effective marketing campaign. The marketing campaigns will, in turn, allow for the sales team to close more deals.

The marketing team should be regularly updating the sales team to any changes being made. When new content is created, a website becomes updated, or the brand message is changed, the sales team should be consulted shortly after.

2.) Are your sales representatives part of the content creation?

The sales department is at the forefront of customer experience. The sales reps directly interact with clients and have an understanding of the type of people your target audience is. Ask sales for their opinion or insights into previous or new content that is being developed.

You may even want to allow for your sales staff to produce their own industry insights into the company’s social media pages. This will permit a greater brand presence as well as help build the sales representative’s reputation.

3.) Are you talking to your sales representatives?

Do your sales reps understand your brand’s positioning and messaging? The best way for your sales department to have brand awareness is by you having meaningful conversations about the brand’s stance, vision, and message.

Talk to the reps and ask them what they think about the marketing materials. Find out if they really think the marketing is working or what they would change to make the marketing work better for themselves.

When to solidify your brand’s message with the sales department

The conversation about your company’s brand should be ongoing between yourself and the sales department. There are vital times when the brand messaging should be reinforced with your sales team.

1.) New product/service is being released
2.) Adjustments to the brand or the brand messaging
3.) New piece of content has been created
4.) The marketing department publishes new material for the sales reps to use
5.) Huge client success or huge client mishap

Each one of these situations is a perfect time to discuss the brand positioning, messaging, and presence.

Keeping your sales representatives aligned with the brand

A.) As the marketing department is going to be continuously working on the brand’s message, the marketing staff will stay aligned with the brand’s vision. The sales and marketing departments should cohesively work together and that will help keep the sales staff brand aware.

B.) Encourage your sales representatives to be thought leaders and produce their own content. Allow for the sales reps to publish their own content onto the company’s social media pages. Even go as far as having reps be trained on different social media platforms from the marketing department to ensure they properly interact, represent themselves and the company in a professional manner.

C.) The head of the sales department should have internal audits to monitor the communication between employees and from employees to clients. The head of the department may want to attend a sales meeting to make sure the communication reflects positively on the brand. Plus, the client may feel special as the head of sales is in at the meeting.


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About The Author

We specialize in b2b, supporting the clients who are the "The Brands Behind the Brands." These are the supply chain partners of brands, either in Tier 1 or Tier 2 positions, who drive value through the delivery of goods, services and technologies. We enjoy blogging about all things related to Branding, Marketing, Inbound, Tradeshows, etc... And we're always happy to talk about any ideas you may have that might Get You To Your NEXT!