Episode 410: 7 Buyer-First Content Plays to Power Every Stage of the Sales Funnel

Intro

0:00:18 – (Bob Woods): Welcome to the Making Sales Social podcast featuring the top voices in sales, marketing, and business. Join Brynne Tillman, me, and Bob Woods as we each bring you the best tips and strategies our guests teach their clients so you can leverage them for your own virtual and social selling. This episode of the Making Sales Social podcast is brought to you by Social Sales Link, the company that helps you start more trust-based conversations without being salesy through the power of LinkedIn and AI. Start your journey for free by joining our resource library. Welcome to the show.

0:01:20 – (Bob Woods): I’m Bob Woods. I’m joined by Stan Robinson Jr. And Brynne Tillman. How are you all doing today?

0:01:29 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Doing excellent, excellent.

0:01:30 – (Brynne Tillman): Very excited for this topic.

0:01:33 – (Bob Woods): Yeah, very excited, Sarah. So there’s a problem with many sales funnels out there. They prioritize the goals of the seller rather than the realities that buyers face. And if you’ve got one of those funnels, you’re probably thinking to yourself right now, I wonder which one mine falls in. And I bet it’s the former rather than the latter. So, creating a content engine from the buyer’s viewpoint creates momentum from within the funnel.

0:02:05 – (Bob Woods): This leads to conversations, conversions, and even long-term partnerships. The reason why I like this way of thinking, guys, it’s a truly holistic view of the sales funnel. I’m sure you guys would agree with that.

0:02:21 – (Brynne Tillman): Yes, it would be sad if we.

0:02:23 – (Bob Woods): Didn’t right now, wouldn’t it? Although controversy is never a bad thing. But I think we all agree with.

0:02:30 – (Brynne Tillman): Absolutely. Yeah. I do believe that one of the big mistakes, as you mentioned, is that as salespeople, we tell our buyers what we want them to know instead of meeting them where they are and sharing content that they want to consume that will lead back to our solution. So I think you’re spot on with that, Bob.

0:02:54 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Totally agree. Look forward to diving in.

0:02:56 – (Bob Woods): Yeah, so let’s. So let’s actually do that. So, so we’ve got seven here total. We’ve got them split up into kind of general, where they fall within the funnel, because everyone’s funnels are obviously different, and hopefully, after this, yours will become even more different. But as of now, you know, you’ve got before the funnel, the funnel close, and then after the funnel, which some people don’t even think about.

0:03:22 – (Bob Woods): So the first one that we’re going to talk a little bit about is in the before the funnel category, which is before they even know that they need you. And that’s probably the best place to come in because they’re searching, and if your stuff pops up and it’s structured in that right way, you immediately become the expert in their minds. You’re also creating curiosity and sparking awareness. So when buyers start by sensing friction in their work and realizing that their goals are slipping through the cracks, this is a perfect place to not only have your content appear for them, but to anticipate what the friction in the work is and, you know, addressing their goals just in general too, because they’re identifying their inefficiencies, but they may not exactly know how to phrase them exactly, if that makes sense. Brynne.

0:04:21 – (Brynne Tillman): Yeah. So before they know they need you. This is something I learned, I’m probably going on 15 years ago from David Newman, who wrote the book Do It Speaking, Do It Marketing, Do It Selling, Do It Everything. But you know, when I worked with him, he was probably the first course I ever took as an entrepreneur, and he talked a lot about getting to them early. Like, the goal is if you can be the one that’s influencing their buying decision, the chances are you’re the one they’re going to go with.

0:05:00 – (Brynne Tillman): So, you know, that’s also kind of from the challenger perspective. You know, it’s like you had it. So getting them before they need they know you is about content at the stage before they even consider that you have the problem you solve. So for us, it might be, they’re not necessarily looking for LinkedIn training. They may be out there saying, you know, our pipeline has dried up, or we, you know, our sales reps are losing traction with scheduling conversations, or we haven’t had client referrals in a while.

0:05:44 – (Brynne Tillman): None of that is saying LinkedIn, none of that is saying I need LinkedIn training. But they’re looking for solutions to the challenge. Our goal with our content in the buyer-first content strategy is to meet them there. So five things sales leaders can do when they they’re team’s pipeline starts to shrink. And in that is LinkedIn, and in that is education that gets them to say, Wow, I wasn’t thinking in that way, but now I am.

0:06:23 – (Brynne Tillman): So, just quickly, and this is for all content that’s built for Social selling, needs to do five things, and I’ll say it fast, needs to resonate with the buyer. They have to go, oh, this content’s for me. It has to create curiosity. Bob, use the word create. Spark awareness. Right. So it’s got to create that curiosity. It needs to teach them something new that they didn’t know coming into this. It doesn’t have to be like magic, but it has to create what my friend Michelle calls the pug. Till where they go, oh, right.

0:07:05 – (Brynne Tillman): It’s got to create that moment that gets you to. Gets them to say, That’s interesting. And now the next thing you need to do is get them thinking differently about the way they’re doing it today. You’ve planted the seeds, and now they’re going, oh, I didn’t realize. The reason my pipeline isn’t here is because our LinkedIn strategy is not X. And now you are absolutely driving the way that they’re thinking about their challenge.

0:07:42 – (Brynne Tillman): Right. And so. And then the last thing is that it needs to create a compelling moment. So now you’ve done this. We’ve got to have that call to action that gets them to the next step. But before they know they need you is the very top of the funnel.

0:07:57 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Yep. So, studies have definitely shown that buyers are most likely to go with the seller who is the first to offer them value. And Brynne, you always talk about leading to your solution, not with your solution. And before buyers know they need you is when you need to lead. Because if you lead with. It’s just another pitch. They’re not even thinking about it. They don’t know that they need you, and you’re gone.

0:08:28 – (Brynne Tillman): I love that.

0:08:29 – (Bob Woods): Absolutely. Absolutely. So now let’s move into more of the top of the funnel. Although this could be pre-funnel. It’s. It’s more for the top of the funnel. So this is when they’re, then they’re, when they’re actually exploring solutions. They kind of know what they need now. And it’s like, okay, now I need to get down to the nitty gritty. You need to guide their thinking without selling, and that is huge.

0:08:54 – (Bob Woods): So, because they’re seeking clarity, they’re not seeking pressure to buy. You are looking to spark those sales conversations without being salesy. That’s what we say all the time. This is a prime time where you want to do that, you want to spark conversation, but you don’t want to be salesy while you do it, because they’re now beginning their research, because they’ve identified their problem, or they think they’ve identified their problem.

0:09:22 – (Bob Woods): Sometimes that happens as well. So with that, you know, this is when you want to really start guiding their thinking without selling. And hopefully, hopefully at this point you know who they are and you are, you know, you’re either a little more actively talking with them or they’re just about ready to, especially if they come to you from a funnel page where, where they’re downloading some of that top of funnel content and hopefully you are grabbing some of their contact information at least.

0:09:53 – (Brynne Tillman): Yeah. So I think this looping in influencers and stakeholders can be done in two stages, the pre-first call and the post-first call. So the first call we might. So we got them to opt in. They, you know, we got them. Oh no, we’re exploring solutions. When they’re exploring solutions. Apologies, I jumped ahead.

0:10:22 – (Bob Woods): It’s okay.

0:10:23 – (Brynne Tillman): All right, so rewind, start over. So when they’re exploring solutions. Right. So now they’ve opted in at that first stage. Right. So before they know they need you. When they’re exploring. So now they know they need this solution. Or, or maybe you weren’t even influencing at that before they knew. I’m a little tongue-tied now. Let’s start over. After they’re in the funnel. So these are the two stages.

0:10:54 – (Brynne Tillman): The first one is they’re in the funnel, and it’s that drip campaign that helps them to better explore the solution. After they’re in the funnel, we can control kind of the way that we’re delivering insights to help them better identify the problem internally. Maybe it’s a checklist to help them see if this is where the challenge is falling. Maybe it helps them to seek clarity internally. Maybe it’s an internal survey that they can give their salespeople to identify things.

0:11:38 – (Brynne Tillman): Right. This is content that helps move you closer and closer to your solution. But there’s also for the person that’s looking for your solution, never got to the point before they know they need you, they know they need you. And so they’re coming in one stage down in the funnel. And so a lot of this is How do you know content? How do you identify content? You know, the three approaches to the ultimate guide to solving this problem.

0:12:16 – (Brynne Tillman): And all of that again leads to your solution. So I know we’re live, but if I could have edited out a section, I would have.

0:12:24 – (Bob Woods): Yeah, no worries, no worries. We got that down. So now let’s go to number three, which is more of a mid funnel look at the type of content that, that you know, ideally you’re either providing or after hearing this, you’re going to want to provide and that’s looping in other influencers within your company, especially stakeholders within your company, because you know, depending on the size of your company, you may be doing everything yourself or, or I mean your prospects may be doing everything themselves because they’re a small company.

0:12:56 – (Bob Woods): It’s more than likely, though, that they need to get sign-on and sign-off from others, other stakeholders within the company. That, that 6.8, which I’m sure has increased since then, but that 6.8 people who generally sign off on a B2B deal. You need to equip your champion to advocate for you because you’re not going to be there all the time. In fact, you’re probably hardly ever going to be there unless you’re specifically in a meeting with them.

0:13:25 – (Bob Woods): So they require your champion rather than requiring materials to facilitate those internal discussions. So, you know, one-pagers, explainer, slides, mini case summaries, that type of thing to really help your champion advocate for you when you’re not there. So that you know, not only are they convincing them. When these champions hopefully get on a call with you, they’re already somewhat educated on what you do, and then you could advance things further, further at that point.

0:13:57 – (Brynne Tillman): So I’m going to say, Stan, if you could go in, I want to take this a little bit deeper. So this is the content. Yes, you can talk a little bit about how to help identify and loop in those influencers and stakeholders and LinkedIn. I know you’re amazing in Sales Navigator, but generally, rather than leaving it to your champion to figure out who, talk a little bit about how folks can identify those people and guide the champion to whom.

0:14:26 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Yeah, ideally when you’re speaking to someone, you will be asking them who else is involved in the decision making process. And that group keeps getting larger and larger. But you can use LinkedIn to do some of the research yourself beforehand because you should have a pretty good sense of, at least by function or title, who else is involved in the decision-making for your solution. So you can do some searches beforehand and pull up the profiles of people you think may be influencers, such that when you do have a conversation with your champion, you can say, Oh, by the way, in most cases Bob Woods would be involved in the decision like this.

0:15:11 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Is that true for you? So the more you can help them along, the better.

0:15:19 – (Bob Woods): I also like that because it actually shows that as the salesperson you are invested in helping them to the point where you even potentially know the people who might be Able to or who are also involved in the decision process, which means that you’ve taken enough care and enough time to actually research this stuff and maybe be a step up on maybe your competition, who may not know this stuff, who probably doesn’t know how to do this stuff on LinkedIn and Sales Navigator. So I think that’s fantastic.

0:15:53 – (Brynne Tillman): So I’m just going to guess and that. And I’m going to go back to what you said in the beginning, Bob, which is like, build that one-pager explainer slide. This is a perfect opportunity to have one for the cfo, one for the CHRO. One for what? Like all of the different stakeholders or influencers, if you have different content for each of them that you know, the CFO cares about saving money, but the CEO cares about attracting top talent. Right. Like, so they all have.

0:16:28 – (Brynne Tillman): So what does your solution do for each of these influencers and to segregate your content out for each of them so that your champion, when they’re making an introduction, can provide that one pager that’s specifically for that CFO and what they’re expecting from a vendor like you.

0:16:51 – (Bob Woods): Absolutely brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

0:16:53 – (Brynne Tillman): Oh, I love brilliant.

0:16:55 – (Bob Woods): Brilliant, brilliant. Absolutely brilliant in my terrible, terrible British accent. So, number four, we’re still at mid-funnel at this point. Let’s talk a little bit about case stories, but specifically case stories that make the buyer the hero. So this is all about telling stories that they can see themselves in. In other words, buyers want proof that someone like them has achieved real results from your product. And not just people saying, hey, great product, without actually saying, you know, specifically, it. You know, decreased the sales cycle, increased revenues, whatever it is you’re selling, that helps the potential buyer because they have purchased your products.

0:17:40 – (Bob Woods): So this is all about transforming your client’s journey into a compelling story, like I said before, with measurable wins and relatable challenges, with the focus remaining on their accomplishments rather than your actions. Because again, it’s all about them, not about you.

0:17:57 – (Brynne Tillman): Love that. Love that. Stan, do you want to add to.

0:18:02 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Case stories only with the case stories? Bob mentioned specific examples, metrics showing how your solution has helped in a quantitative sense. And just keeping in mind that the hero in the case story is the buyer, not your solution.

0:18:22 – (Bob Woods): Right.

0:18:23 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): So the better you can make them look, the better it will be for.

0:18:28 – (Bob Woods): You and the buyer, when they bring the stuff on, too. I mean, because we’re about truly helping people, so we should show how that works by how we’ve helped other people. And like Stan said, do it do it in a way that’s very numbers driven and quantitative for, for the person who is, who’s reading this stuff.

0:18:46 – (Brynne Tillman): So if I can just throw in, and you know, we’ve got crispy prompts for all of these, and we’ll have a blog post and an ebook coming out soon. But I do want to say if you’re struggling to build that case story, I’m going to quickly go through this, and we’ll make sure that it’s in the show notes as well. But you can create, you can use one of our crispy prompts to help you convert a case study into a case story where the buyer is the hero.

0:19:16 – (Brynne Tillman): So I wish to write a case story positioning the client as the hero while demonstrating the impact of our solution. AI, you are the B2B storyteller. Creating credibility-driven customer narratives. Create a four-part structure, challenge action results, and a takeaway. Draft one story of 250 words using this structure for a LinkedIn post or engagement, or whatever you want that to be. Avoid naming the clients unless they’ve given you permission, and then ask me all the questions needed to complete this prompt in my voice and perspective, one at a time.

0:19:59 – (Brynne Tillman): And now, when you run that prompt, it will walk you through a success story and word it in a way that makes that buyer the hero. So, because sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do, we can say here’s the challenge they were going through, here’s the solution we provided, here’s what the outcome was. But how do we make the buyer the hero use a crispy prompt?

0:20:26 – (Bob Woods): 100 we, we love our prompts that are crispy around here. So that’s absolutely perfect. That’s great. That’s great. And that’s a T-shirt too. Number five. Yeah, I will absolutely. 100%. So let’s get to the close now. So what you probably hear about, you probably hear objections throughout the entire process, the sales process. You’re especially going to hear them, I bet, during the close. So this is about overcoming objections that lead to clothing closing, not clothing. You just said clothing in my mind. Yeah, exactly.

0:21:07 – (Bob Woods): That led to closing. And this is about addressing the hesitations before your buyers and their, you know, and the people who they’re trying to influence within the company before those even get voiced. So, you know, you can proactively address them and build trust through pieces on like, you know, cost risk. We have one example here. What a skeptical client. What? My God, I cannot talk today. What skeptical clients said before they signed, and what changed their minds, is that it’s probably a great content piece that anyone can make about their product at all.

0:21:47 – (Bob Woods): And, you know, really, really gear that towards any objections that will come out. And because you are bringing them up ahead of time, you’re fostering empathy and transparency and you’re actually integrating objections into the conversation, which I think is important because I think most salespeople have an aversion to objections just because they don’t want to deal with the friction where, where objections can actually, when handled properly, objections can actually help bring about the closing, sometimes even faster.

0:22:19 – (Brynne Tillman): I could not agree more. I’m going to even say, because you said something that was really important is objections are coming up all the time. But all the time you have an objection, there’s an opportunity for a mini close to the next step. So while we have this as the step that leads to the ultimate close, this content, really, to Bob’s point, should be used throughout the entire process for mini-closes.

0:22:47 – (Brynne Tillman): So when are you getting objections? Maybe you’ll have an objection. We currently have a vendor. We’re not looking for new insurance. We have property and casualty insurance. We’re not. We’re not. So what can we do that’s going to overcome that objection early on, maybe in the context of when they’re exploring solutions or even earlier? Actually, this one is probably all the way at the top before they know they need you, because they say they already know we can combine before they know they need you, with overcoming objections.

0:23:25 – (Brynne Tillman): So most companies are not aware that they are either overpaying for property and casualty insurance or PNC insurance, or they’re underinsured, putting them at risk either way. So now you’ve opened up like me. So now I’m overcoming the objection of I already have insurance. Now, do I have the right? Insurance becomes the mindset. Right. And so if at the top of the funnel, the close is a conversation, that’s great. That’s still close. It’s a mini close all the way through at this point. Now, what I’d recommend is, as you’re going through your sales process, write down every objection and when it’s happening, and create content so that you can proactively share content that will overcome that objection before you ever get on the call.

0:24:24 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Yep.

0:24:26 – (Brynne Tillman): Stan, any remarks on that before we move to number six?

0:24:31 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Only that the materials that we provide, that we talked about before, that people can share internally, can help overcome the objections that some of their colleagues may bring up. No matter how good your sales presentation, no one can give it as well as you. So the More support that you give to your internal champion to help them, quote unquote, sell their colleagues, including handling objections, the better and the more the sales process will move along.

0:25:03 – (Brynne Tillman): I love that you just did something I wasn’t thinking of, which is now in that next like overcoming objections that lead to closing in the next step of looping in influencers. So it’s almost like number five is threaded throughout the entire process.

0:25:20 – (Bob Woods): Can be.

0:25:21 – (Brynne Tillman): Even your case stories can help to overcome an objection that you know is coming down the pike.

0:25:28 – (Bob Woods): Yeah, 100%. 100%.

0:25:30 – (Brynne Tillman): I love these guys. You’ve got my wheels going.

0:25:34 – (Bob Woods): This just gets hotter and hotter as we go along. So now let’s talk a little bit about the post-close. And yes, you should absolutely have content for after they sign the signature. If you don’t, I don’t know what you’re doing in business. So number six is, you know, you need to provide insights that support strong adoption within the organization that you’re selling to. So you’re helping them succeed. Beyond that final signature adoption content fosters retention because if you’re selling the type of product or service where you need retention and a vast majority of people are like that, you absolutely need that through things like you know, a post sales checklist, onboarding videos or something like top five mistakes to avoid in month one of implementing whatever product it is that you’ve implemented.

0:26:29 – (Bob Woods): Because at that point, you’re transitioning from just a provider, just like any other provider that they have already, to a true partner because you’re showing commitment to their long-term success. You’re proving that you’re there for the long term rather than just getting the signature on the contract and then bailing.

0:26:47 – (Brynne Tillman): Do you want to add to that, Stan?

0:26:49 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Only that these different pieces of the process build on on each other. So that’s all I’m going to say because what we talked about now leads to the next one. So I won’t start talking about that yet.

0:27:03 – (Brynne Tillman): The only piece I’m going to add to this because I think that’s. That’s great is right and, and I know Stan, this is where your head is. Adoption, first of all, we. Adoption is so critical. And, depending on what you do or sell, sometimes adoption is the hardest piece. Like closing, it is sometimes easier than getting people to use it or do it. So the better that is, the better number seven will be as well.

0:27:33 – (Brynne Tillman): So now I’ll send that back to Bob to go on to the last one and then Stan, you can talk before I do on that one.

0:27:41 – (Bob Woods): Okay, yeah. So number seven is cross-solving and a warm introduction. So you really want to see conversations beyond the first department that you’ve already been into, because chances are what you’re selling can be used in other departments besides the one that you just entered. So this is all about creating new opportunities for you if you provide these valuable resources for others. So this is about sharing insights about use cases in other departments, successes in integrating into other departments, or you know, just simple, you know, hey, here’s how.

0:28:23 – (Bob Woods): If you’ve got a sales type of thing, but it can also be used in a marketing type of thing. How is marketing using this sales-based tool, and then, you know, include referral copy, so they can easily forward it. Your champions can easily forward to other departments as well because this offers your buyer a simple way to connect you with others while continuing to add value. Because you’re going to be doing this only if you can add value to other departments, which, like I said, chances are you probably can with your product or service.

0:28:57 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): Exactly. And your product needs to do what you’ve promised in order for number one, it to be successful, and number two, for your champion to be able to give you introductions both internally, if your product or solution can be used more broadly internally, and externally.

0:29:21 – (Bob Woods): Yes.

0:29:23 – (Stan Robinson, Jr): So it is definitely to your advantage to do everything that you can to make sure that the adoption process goes as smoothly as possible. Because it’s the next step to introductions, referrals, repeat business, and all of the above.

0:29:40 – (Bob Woods): Yep.

0:29:41 – (Brynne Tillman): Fantastic. Well, all I can say is when you’ve got the content to help you move the buyer through the funnel, it makes the sales process so much more streamlined. It helps you move it to the next level without you having to say everything over and over again. Your content is, is information that they can share internally and can help get buy-in, can help get adoption, and can help you cross-solve and get more business.

0:30:23 – (Brynne Tillman): So guys, thanks for this really fun event.

0:30:27 – (Bob Woods): Yeah, yeah. And one quick thing that I’m going to add, it also just helps people. All of this content that we’re talking about helps people. And I mean that’s, I mean if that’s not enough reason to do it, just above and beyond everything that we’ve already talked about, you know, it should be, I mean, you know, I always talk about, stop talking about how you help people and just help people. Everything that we mentioned here, prime examples of that.

0:30:53 – (Brynne Tillman): Love it.

0:30:54 – (Bob Woods): Perfect. Perfect. So, whether you’ve been with us live or recorded, thanks for joining us for this latest episode of Making Sales social sponsored by askssl we do our live sessions here every week. So you know, join us, and we’re glad that you joined us today again. If you’re listening to us on our podcast, though, and you haven’t subscribed already, you know, subscribe or follow whatever it is on whatever platform that you’re listening to us on to access all of our previous shows and be alerted when new ones drop.

0:31:24 – (Bob Woods): We like likes and comments as well. So, besides these LinkedIn lives, we also interview leaders and experts in sales, marketing, business, and many other areas. So be sure to catch those episodes as well. More info on our podcast is available@SocialSalesLink.com podcast again, that’s SocialSalesLink.com all one word slash podcast. Easy peasy URL there. So when you’re out and about this week and every week, be sure that you’re making your sales social excellent. Excellent work and thanks to everybody. Have a great week. Bye-bye.

Outro:

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