Update Your Sales Materials for the Upcoming New Year
1/6/2016
| admin
The New Year is a time that everyone looks forward to, simply because it signals a fresh start: a new opportunity for you to put your best foot forward and kick off the year right. If you’re a small business owner, the New Year is a prime time to consider approaching your sales and marketing materials with fresh eyes and a plan for the future. For many, this means making updates accordingly so that you’re ready to sell, sell, sell over the next calendar year!
Getting the right information out there
The problem many small businesses have when it comes to sales and marketing materials is that their products and services are rapidly evolving to meet the demands of their customers and, as a result, the information associated with them is constantly in flux. It’s a good problem to have!
Having up-to-date materials and information in regards to your product and service brochures is essential to the sales process, however. Falling behind on updating this information means not being able to give prospects accurate information, which can lead to miscues during the sales process or worse, a lost sale altogether. If your business is still growing out of its infancy and depends heavily on new sales to fuel that growth, these are troubles you can’t afford to have.
On the flip side, having a spec sheet or sales brochure prepared, complete with current information and clear selling points means cultivating a transparent relationship with a sales prospect. You’ll be giving them everything they need to understand your value proposition and you’ll be generating sales in a passive, yet powerful way by letting these materials speak on your behalf.
Updating your materials the right way
You might look at your sales materials and think, “these are fine, why would I update them,” but it’s important to realize that how you perceive your materials and how your customers view them may be very different. Having the right information, images, layout and design are all integral to the creation of great sales materials:
• Content/information: Hand your existing materials off to someone outside of your industry and ask them to take a look at them—if they can get all of the information they need at a glance, you’ve done your job well. If they’re left asking questions, it’s time to revisit the content of your materials.
• Images: Images and visuals are critical in selling your products and services. Products of course need to be displayed predominantly and in a manner that makes them enticing. Services should also follow this trend, with images supplementing the sales pitch put forth in your copy.
• Layout: Cluttered images, big blocks of text and jumbled sections are all detractors from your sales materials and can convolute someone’s understanding of these materials. Make sure everything is laid out appropriately, in a professional manner that’s appealing to browse and read.
• Design: Do your materials proudly display your company’s branding? Does the color scheme create brand cohesion? Are the text and pictures synergistic in the way they work together on the page? Design is critical in creating superior sales materials.
Unless you’re a print and design specialist, getting all of the above variables can be a major challenge when it comes to updating your sales and marketing materials for the year ahead. To make sure you’re going about a refresh the right way, consult with your local AlphaGraphics professional. We’ll help you transform your sales sheets and brochures into critical components of your core sales strategy and make sure they speak volumes about your business, in a way that attracts sales and closes deals.