Could PR be the secret weapon for every sales team?

PR and communications supports the sales team more than any other marketing function…perhaps I am bias as a PR expert but I don’t just ‘think’ it to be true I ‘know’ that it is.
 
But, how can leveraging the power of PR and communications support the sales team and build revenue?
 
From my time building a PR presence and sales team at my previous energy technology business t-mac Technologies, my focus was on how to leverage the power of PR to build brand awareness and feed a sales team that would ultimately beat the ‘big boys’ - the large corporates across the UK and into Europe and Asia Pacific (oh - and we did beat them!).  
 
Corporate communications was at the heart of our sales and client communications strategy.  How we engaged and the tone of voice we embraced, both internally and externally to the business, helped with client relations and new customer engagement. This approach spanned into exhibitions and when delivering seminars at conferences.
 
During my time promoting and selling the energy and software as a service (SaaS) solutions from t-mac, I noticed that our competitor’s sales teams were large and well resourced. They had call centre support and bid managers, they had great marketing collateral and big budgets, yet when in front of the customer, they often lacked compassion and understanding of the customer’s needs, drivers and pain points.  From the feedback we received, it seems their discussions revolved very much around hard sell on the product and service, as opposed to promoting the benefits and opportunities the solutions would provide to the customer.
 
Communication style and approach is imperative for sales success.  Simply selling the product and the service as if it were a commodity and as if the customer ‘needed’ it, is not enough. 
 
We need to engage with the customer, filter through all the noise that they are facing from their own business and from the competition. We need to understand them, their needs, drivers and pain-points. We need to empower them through the services and solutions we are selling, that with the solution they can do more for their business and for their own career.
 
This is where PR comes in.  The ability to read a situation, create a tone of voice and a communication style that suits the customers you are approaching. A style that embraces thought leadership; making you – the sales team – knowledgeable about not only the product and services you are selling, but the market and the customer drivers and pain points.
 
PR tells a story that makes you stand far above the rest of the competition. You become the go-to for the customer; you have engaged with them and are helping them with their problems even before you have made a sale.  
 
PR is the secret weapon for sales success – it is the power behind sales strategy and external comms, by helping create customer engagement via powerful story telling.
 
Top tips for PR supporting sales:

• PR professionals should collaborate with the sales team to boost company revenue and also ensure a consistent message and communications voice to the outside world from the PR, marketing and sales teams.
• PR tells a story that shows you understand and have empathy for the customer’s needs now and in the future, with opportunities delivered from the solutions and services.
• PR ensures you communicate in a clear, concise, informative and engaging way – that’s the PR and corporate communications'  way of working.
• PR and communications professionals look to understand the market and client needs, the opportunities they can leverage from the products, services and solutions and then inform the client as such.
• The PR professional is not just concerned with simply knowing your product but what makes your product or service the best.  It also creates a story that shows you understand how the external influencers such as government legislation, market movements, competitors and tech advancements can affect the ability to sell. Knowing the customer and how they will or could use your product or services - what’s the benefit to them? What market movements are affecting your customer or legislation and how can you service, product or solution help.
• PR helps with the fine art of storytelling.

 
Most importantly, and in my professional opinion and past experience, PR offers a softer edge to sales – because of the story telling element of PR and the narrative it creates it is less hard sales; it is much more subliminal.
 
When we tell a good story we engage the customer. They are hooked into what it is that we have and how it helps them. The problems it solves, the new revenue streams it provides, the way in which it enables them to work smarter and faster.  Whatever the product or service, your ‘story’ needs to be customer focussed.
 
If you would like to know more about how PR and communications experts can help facilitate your sales teams, do get in touch with the team at 3-Eight Communications Ltd
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