How to Use Content in the Sales Process [Assignment Selling]

by Eliza Spain on Mar 28, 2023

Content marketing has been a buzzword in the marketing industry for a while now. 

The strategy involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant, consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. 

But what about using content in the sales process? 

That's where Assignment Selling comes in. 

Assignment selling is a powerful sales approach that utilizes content to guide prospects through the buying journey.

By leveraging content, businesses can provide valuable insights, build trust, and create a sense of urgency that can increase sales and revenue. 

We will explore the key steps in using content in the sales process and provide actionable tips to help you master the art of assignment selling.

Understanding the Concept and Process of Assignment Selling

What exactly is assignment selling?

We’re glad you asked.

Assignment selling uses content to address major prospect objections and questions to speed up the sales process.

Assignment selling aims to create a series of steps the customer must follow, each designed to move them closer to the sale. 

This is where you’ll give the buyer the “assignment” of reading or watching educational content, which will help you learn much about them.

By tracking what they've watched and read, you will see what information is essential to them and what is not.

This will allow you to quickly identify who is and is not a good fit and provide them with the content they need around your offerings. 

By using content to answer 80% of buyers' objections and questions when considering purchasing your products or services, you can effectively eliminate the need for a sales appointment focused on educating the buyer.

This approach saves time and resources for both the buyer and the seller. 

With a well-crafted content strategy addressing common buyer concerns, you can provide valuable information to potential customers anytime and anywhere. 

This empowers buyers to make informed decisions about your offerings without the pressure of a sales pitch. 

By leveraging your content in this way, you can establish trust with your audience and ultimately improve your chances of making a sale.

Now that we have established what assignment selling is let’s dive deeper into the key components of a successful strategy and explore some best practices to help you get started.

We'll discuss the following:

• The benefits of assignment selling
• Steps to implementing assignment selling in your organization
• Tools that can be used for effective content 
• Advice and next steps for getting started

The Benefits of Assignment Selling

Assignment selling offers a range of benefits for businesses looking to improve their sales process. 

One of the main benefits is that it helps to build trust with potential customers.

By providing valuable content at each step of the buying journey, you demonstrate your expertise and willingness to help customers make the best decision for their needs.

This builds trust and establishes your credibility as a trusted advisor. 

So, what can assignment selling do for your business?

Assignment selling can lead to the following:

• Better informed leads: Because leads are being shown exactly what content to consume for their needs, assignment selling allows them to be better educated about your business, service, and offerings. 
• More effective sales conversations: Since leads are better informed, sales conversations can focus on the prospect's specific needs and issues. There's little need to go over general background information, as that was covered by content shared earlier. 
• Faster sales process: Less time spent on educating means the sales process can move along more quickly. In other words, deals can close faster—while leads that aren't a good fit can be disqualified sooner.

Meanwhile, for the buyer, assignment selling means:

• They're empowered to do more research independently: Modern buyers want to control their journey. They want to research products and solutions independently without going through a salesperson. Assignment selling helps enable that. 
• They can qualify or disqualify themselves. When you share educational content, buyers are better equipped to determine if your solution is the solution they need. When you create and share high-quality, honest content about what it's like working with you, they can decide if you'll accomplish what they need. 
• Less wasted time in sales meetings: When people can self-qualify or disqualify, you'll waste less time in sales meetings that go nowhere. This can also ensure their time is better spent on questions and solutions specific to their needs when they reach out to sales.

Now that we have explored the benefits of assignment selling, let's examine the key steps to implementing this powerful approach to sales and marketing.

Where to Implement Assignment Selling in Your Sales Process

By working with your leadership, sales, and marketing teams to develop a script for each stage of the sales process using assignment selling, you are educating your customers by giving them as much value as possible.

Not sure where to start?

Here are the three stages of implementing assignment selling:

1. Pre-sales appointment

Before the initial sales appointment, it’s essential to eliminate as many potential questions as possible. This is where the power of content comes in.

By creating educational content that addresses common concerns and questions, you can eliminate up to 80% of the questions you know your prospects will have.

This approach helps establish credibility and trust, streamlines the sales process, and lets you focus on the most crucial issues during the sales appointment. 

2. Post-sales appointment

The follow-up conversation after the pre-sales appointment is an excellent opportunity to dive deeper into buyer concerns and answer any remaining questions.

During this stage, it's essential to address any issues that arose during the pre-sales appointment and ensure that the buyer feels comfortable moving forward.

Addressing buyer questions and concerns can establish a positive relationship and increase the chances of a successful sale.

3. Post-sales process

Even after the sale is complete, looking for further moments to educate is crucial. This could include providing additional resources or offering follow-up support to ensure the buyer is delighted with their purchase.

Educating and supporting the buyer can establish a long-term relationship that may lead to future business and referrals.

In addition, you can refine your strategy by continuously looking for opportunities to improve the buyer experience.

The goal is to give as much value as possible in educating your customers.

From a marketing standpoint, you should ensure that you have created and produced all of the content before starting the script-building process.

Choosing the Right Format: Video and Written Content in Assignment Selling

Incorporating a mix of video and written content in your strategy is strongly advisable. 

Videos are powerful tools that can significantly impact your audience. 

If you're starting out and only have written content, don't worry. It's essential to start with what you have and work towards incorporating video content.

The good news is that video content doesn't have to be overly professional and doesn't necessarily have to be produced in advance. 

Your sales team can produce uncomplicated and successful videos using their laptop or webcam. This approach can make the content more authentic and relatable to your audience. 

So, don't hesitate to experiment with video and written content to find what works best for your business.

Take a look at these powerful video marketing tools that can help businesses create and share engaging video content:

• HubSpot Video offers a comprehensive video marketing platform that enables businesses to host, manage, and track their video content.
• Vidyard is a video platform that gives businesses the tools to create, host, and share videos. It also offers advanced analytics and integrations with marketing automation tools.
• Wistia is a video hosting platform offering in-depth video analytics, customizable video players, and lead generation tools.
• Loom is a video messaging tool that allows businesses to easily create and share short video messages with their team or customers.

Each tool offers unique features and benefits, making it a great addition to any business’s video marketing strategy.

The idea is to help your sales team be seen as educators, not just salespeople.

Also, remember, during this process, to be sure you're creating unbiased content to assure the prospect that they are working with an organization with their best interest in mind.

Steps for Effective Assignment Selling

Now that we have covered the basics of assignment selling, let's explore steps to help you start your journey.

1. Understand the types of content you need, whether video, written, or a combination of both.
2. Start with sales. Prepare content for the sales team beforehand. Once the content is produced, salespeople will see the value of another tool in their toolbox.
3. Be sure to involve sales in content creation from the beginning. When creating the content, you can use it as a resource for understanding customers' common questions.
4. Content should be based on addressing customers' fears, objections, and questions.
5. Align marketing and sales and ensure salespeople see the value in content. If sales aren't using the content or don't see a need for it, you may need to evaluate it and see if it needs to be created in the first place.
6. At least one person from marketing should be a part of every sales meeting. This lets them hear about prospects' questions and concerns during those meetings. This is especially effective for closing calls.
7. At least one salesperson should attend every internal marketing team meeting. They should understand your messaging, the campaign you're focused on, and the content you create. This allows them to validate that your content addresses a problem.

Taking these steps will help ensure alignment and ensure that the subject matter experts (primarily members of the sales team) know that producing content is their responsibility.

Subject matter experts are in-house team members with significant expertise and knowledge. The content manager can interview them to produce high-quality, in-depth content. 

Related: 97 Topics for Engaging Blog Content 

Once you have implemented the practical steps for assignment selling, it is essential to measure the effectiveness of your strategy using the right tools.

Let’s take a look at how.

Measuring Effectiveness and the Tools You Can Use

To ensure the success of your assignment selling strategy, it’s essential to measure its effectiveness. 

Tools like HubSpot and a content repository sheet (like the image below) are great ways to provide valuable insights into your sales process, helping you optimize your strategy and achieve your goals.

HubSpot offers tools that can help you streamline your assignment selling efforts and measure your success.

Analytics tools that allow you to track your assignment selling performance, such as the number of prospects you've contacted, the engagement level of your materials, and the conversion rates of your assignments. 

Another tool that can be utilized for this purpose is a content repository: a centralized platform that houses all of your marketing materials, such as emails, presentations, case studies, and white papers.

source

You can easily access and share materials with sales team members by storing your content in one place.

You can optimize your assignment selling strategy by utilizing these tools and continuously measuring your progress.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, using content in the sales process through assignment selling is a highly effective way to sell your products or services. 

By identifying the pain points of your target audience, developing content that educates and informs, building trust, and guiding potential customers through the sales process, you can create a more effective and personalized approach to selling. 

Remember, the goal is not to push your products onto potential customers but to provide value and help them solve their problems. 

Doing so will make you more likely to establish long-term customer relationships and drive sales.

Have questions?

Are you interested in more information on why you should consider sales and marketing training and coaching for your business? 

Schedule some time to talk with our team today!