What Role Content Plays In The Sales Process w/Dave Koslow @DocSend
In marketing circles, they say “content is king.” In this episode of Sales Secrets, I interview Dave Koslow of DocSend on the what, whys, when, and hows of content and what role it plays in the sales process.
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In this article:
- About My Guest — Dave Koslow of DocSend
- Your Sales Content’s Place in the Sales Funnel
- Who Has Eyes On Your Content and Why It Matters
- Sales Content: Engagement Where It Counts
- Sales Content Strategy: Activating Content As A Resource To Close More Deals
Sales Content Visibility For Maximum Sales Enablement
About My Guest — Dave Koslow of DocSend
Dave Koslow is the COO of DocSend, a San Francisco-based tech company focused on enabling salespeople to develop better sales relationships through better digital communication.
DocSend achieves this through its sales content sharing platform that has built-in tracking and analytics. When salespeople share their content through a DocSend link, the technology provides the dealmaker with data on how many people in their prospect’s organization had access to the asset and when.
The kind of visibility this technology provides is game-changing since it allows a salesperson to see what kind of traction their content is making and if signals point to the dealmaker closing the sale.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
– How content be used in the sales process
– What research is there about content and what it’s doing in the sales process
– What content works best to push the sales process forward
Your Sales Content’s Place in the Sales Funnel
Sales Funnel Definition: It is also known as the sales process. Others call it revenue funnel or purchase funnel. Sales funnel refers to the marketing model. It illustrates the consumer’s journey from product awareness to buying the goods.
It’s no secret that the Internet brought on an explosion of information and media. Before the Internet boom, people had very few options to view content so advertisers basically only had to go a specific paper or channel and they’ll get a locked-in audience.
Now, consumers have their pick of the litter on what kind of content they’ll consume, how much, and when they’ll view it.
The Internet has also empowered the average person to perform research using just their fingertips. Some people prefer this instead of face-to-face interaction.
Basically, companies offer more touchpoints to customers that go beyond emails, sales emails, and sales interactions. Content can serve a salesperson’s needs by providing information to potential clients when they’re out of touch.
Koslow says it better: “When you need to tell a compelling story in your absence, that’s where content fills the gap.”
Who Has Eyes On Your Content and Why It Matters
Great content will sell for you when you’re not selling. This is why it’s important to find out who consumes your content and how they choose to interact with them.
The DocSend team performed research on the impact of sales content on deals using an aggregated data set across 13,000 accounts and 700,000 interactions. This is one of the first times data science has provided insights on what market and sales surveys teased out of the average prospective client in previous decades.
Based on their investigation, they found that, on average, 5.4 people are involved with a deal. This refers to the number of stages the deal has to go through.
Koslow stresses the importance of this insight, “If you’ve gone through 4 stages of the deal but only have two touchpoints, you are at risk. What happens if one of those people go on vacation or resigns?”
Sales Content: Engagement Where It Counts
The DocSend team’s next area of interest revolves around engagement:
- What kind of content engages prospects the best
- Amount of time they spend on them
According to Koslow, each campaign garners 14 views, and it’s entirely possible that it’s only a set of 4 to 5 people viewing the sales documents twice. The total time prospects spend on sales documents is 37 minutes, which translates to 7 minutes per person in a 6-person team, 95 seconds per document per person or roughly 2 minutes.
At this point, he emphasized the importance of pushing the right content in front of your prospects. “If you don’t have the right content in front of them, then it’s a waste. Those two minutes is your time in the sun.”
As for the best sales content, Koslow revealed that case studies have it over proposals and decks. This shows prospects don’t just want numbers, they also want the faces and the stories.
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Sales Content Strategy: Activating Content As A Resource To Close More Deals
When it comes to which stage in the deal content worked best in pulling the prospects towards closing, Koslow didn’t give any numbers but provided a key observation that their sales professionals aren’t using enough late-stage content at the latter part of the sale where most opportunities exist.
Salespeople definitely need to learn how to use content in their sales process since the Internet has shaped the way we communicate meaning instantly and ad hoc. Technology guarantees the explosive growth of content well into the future.
Koslow ends his time on the podcast with key pieces of advice on how sales departments can make use of content in their deals.
- Encourage salespeople should treat content assets like proper business assets. This attitude will bolster their appreciation for the content and increase their desire for more quality in their content.
- Synchronize sales content creation and management between the marketing and sales teams. These teams should work together to make sure there’s someone creating content for the pipeline and whether the salespeople could actually use the pieces of content the marketing team churns out.
Content can be used to fill in the gaps for clients who are out of touch. However, note that not all content can do this—it has to be the right content that will engage your prospects.
When it comes to using content for a sales team, Koslow offers two tips—encourage salespeople to treat content assets like proper business assets and ensure that sales content management and creation are in sync between both marketing and sales teams.
I hope this podcast has been helped you understand more about how content can be used in the sales process. If you’re interested in having a conversation with Dave Koslow, you may email him at dave@docsend.com.
What kind of sales content are you using in your deals? Please share your experiences with us in the comments section below.
Up Next:
- 4 Fascinating Sales Research Studies You Should Know by Heart
- How to Use Content to Sell w/Will Barron @The Salesman Podcast
- Five Secrets to Using Video in Sales
Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
– Dave’s LinkedIn
– DocSend.com
– State of Sales Development Infographic
– Subscribe to Gabe’s Content
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