Today’s post is by sales-enablement pioneer T. Melissa Madian

Sales teams are constantly being barraged with directives from management. “Challenge prospective customers!” “Provide them with unique insight!” “Shake up the status quo!” If you are a sales rep trying to hit your sales numbers so you can put food on the table, it’s a challenge to put these directives into practice without any guidance or training.

SiriusDecisions reports that 71 percent of sales leaders say it is the salesperson’s inability to articulate value to the customer that separates high performers from low performers. Which means only 29 percent of sales conversations hold any value to a customer.

The idea of providing a unique, valuable experience to your customers should be at the top of every seller’s mind. Yet organizations do not provide the seller with the materials or training they need to create unique insights or experiences, according to the CEB. The company may train on the product; but what customers really care about is how to be better at their business, and not what the supplier is peddling. In other words, if the roles were reversed: as a sales person would you appreciate the sales call and be inclined to continue the conversation?

The responsibility for providing that unique customer experience lies with both Sales and Marketing. From the moment a prospective customer engages with your brand to the moment they close the sale, the customer’s experience should be consistent and considered.

As modern marketers, we should be out in the field with our sales professionals, hearing the language of the customer and understanding the customer’s journey so we can create materials that support our sales teams. It is the best way for Marketing and Sales to be on the same page when it comes to providing unique insight and experiences to the customer.

As sales professionals, we are the subject matter experts on our accounts. We know what has worked well for customers just like them and how our solutions can help them grow their business. We have the power to challenge our customer’s way of thinking, because we’ve seen it all before with our other customers. It’s our job to feed that information back into Marketing so they can craft the messaging and materials to support that insight.

Are your Sales and Marketing teams aligned in the customer experience? And are you providing your sales team with the materials and training they need to be successful?