How to make your sales staff produce content

Engaging Your Sales Staff in Content Marketing

You must be wondering how your sales staff can be related to content production?

Well, if we see in a nutshell, content marketing, nowadays, is all about having and managing conversations with audience – with content being the medium. And needless to mention, your sales staff has been doing it for years face to face – with conversations being the catalysts.

So, will it be wrong considering your sales staff to churn out content that is connecting, engaging, entertaining as well as useful? I think, no.

In fact, it’s a really good idea as it is your sales staff who knows your customers in and out. What excites them; what they don’t like; what turns out to be average for them – all these questions can be best answered by your sales staff. While marketers work on building the strategies on how to establish and manage relationships, your sales people actually do it all the time.

Well, if you’re convinced with this explanation, we can move on to the next stage of our discussion, which is, convincing your sales people to churn content.

How to Make Your Sales People Work on Content Development?

This can be your most difficult job. Unless you talk to them, communicate with them personally, you really can’t make them sit to pen down their ideas or draft a post for you.

Although you may have a feeling to make them work just because you tell them to, but let me tell you this will never work. Initially you can get detailed information from them and make someone else to work on their ideas and suggestions.

However, at the same time, it’s important to establish harmony among sales, marketing and content development departments. You can’t expect all your sales people to understand the need and value of creating content while there may be some who look really interested. Those who understand the importance of content marketing, they can really help. But for others, you will have to give them time to prepare themselves. In the mean time, keep demonstrating what’s in it for them explaining how you and they benefit from it.

Information Capture

Your main aim should be to capture the right information on continuous basis. It all depends on how willing your sales team is to do it for you. They may orally offer you complete information but to get real news, make them write, fill up a form or involve them in market research or strategy development. They not only will provide you with the right information but will also be geared up do more. Don’t forget to reward them for their contribution.

Maintain Two-Way Communication

Easier said than done! Each organization preaches to maintain a two way communication but practices centralized communication. To get more from your sales team, you will have to listen to them equally well. There is no denying in that. You won’t get anything substantial for your content marketing if you don’t communicate with them.

So, work on the idea of engaging your sales people in content marketing and look for feasible ways. We will come up with the new post explaining how to make your sales team work for content marketing campaign.