Are you looking for a way to further differentiate yourself and your sales team in the marketplace? Do you need an edge that can help build credibility with potential customers and demonstrate the value of what you have to offer? If so, thought leadership and insights and your ability to position this with customers could be your winning advantage.

Thought leadership is increasingly becoming recognized as one of the most powerful tools in the modern sales team’s arsenal, helping them gain prospects’ trust, establish their reputation as experts within their industry, and educate current/potential customers on how they can succeed through their offerings.

What is Thought Leadership? 

Thought leadership is an approach that emphasizes the idea of becoming an expert in your field. It’s about educating your potential customers by providing them with useful information that helps them make informed decisions. This can include topics such as industry trends, thought-provoking questions and insights into consumer behaviour. This is simply about positioning yourself as a Category advisor to your customers - looking forward with them and providing them with insights about their business.

Example

Your brand has entered the alcohol category to revolutionize how we think about wine-based ready to drink beverages. For your wine buyer, it's not just a matter of different types of Malbec anymore - now there is a new dimension to the wine consumer… your Cherry Explosion in a can! 

To ensure your customers understand and take advantage of this potential opportunity with their shoppers, you must equip them with insights that will turn their heads and capture their hearts. Help buyers embrace change by enlightening them on what younger consumers are looking for in occasions like never before - perhaps disrupting the way that they think about a traditional form of product.

So what are the results?

It helps you establish yourself as an authority in your category and demonstrates that you are knowledgeable about the consumer and shopper. Remember, the average retail buyer is a mile wide and an inch deep on a lot of things so your role here is to educate and help them! This builds credibility and trust with your customers, which makes them more likely to purchase from you in the future. 

Remember - insights are not your competitive advantage - anyone can commission market research!  But the way that you deliver your insights will differentiate your sales teams from other competitors who may be hoping from powerpoint slide to powerpoint slide. 

Getting it Right 

In order for thought leadership driven selling to be successful, there are a few key points that need to be taken into consideration when designing stories for customers: 

• Keep your story up-to-date – Make sure that the insights you share are current and relevant so that retailers feel like they are getting valuable advice that they can use right away; 

• Make sure it adds value – Always make sure the story adds value by focusing on solving customer challenges;  

• Be consistent – sharing new stories regularly establishes consistency and builds trust with potential customers - don’t wait for the next JBP;  

• Measure success – Track metrics such as how the insights are landing so you know what’s working (and what isn’t).  

Thought leadership through storytelling can be a powerful tool for sales teams when done correctly. By educating potential customers through high-quality research that focuses on solving their challenges, you can build credibility and trust—which will ultimately lead to increased sales down the road. 

With these tips in mind, your sales team will soon find themselves reaping the rewards of thoughtful thought leadership!

see6 is an AI enabled platform that helps sales teams transform their insights into compelling stories to grow sales.