How To Sell More B2B Software…By Giving One Of These Away
High-end B2B software costs a lot of money. A LOT of money. That’s why so many software companies hire battaliions of highly trained software sales people to sell their software. But regardless of how effective and motivated your salespeople are, they need something more to stack the odds of success in your favor. That’s why the most astute software companies sell more software by giving something away…
As counterintuitive as it sounds, you’ll sell more software by giving away information. Information that communicates your software’s features and benefits in a proven, effective way. I’m talking about sharing your vision for your customers’ success in the form of a technical white paper. And if you write it effectively enough, your white paper can multiply the effectiveness of your salespeople by an order of magnitude.
Why Technical White Papers “Lead” To More Sales
Because B2B software is very complex, it requires more explanation and clarification than most other B2B products or services. Often times, it’s so technical that the average software salesperson isn’t able to explain the benefits in a way that that truly resonates with your prospect.
This is why it’s nearly impossible to sell software via direct mail. Your product is too expensive and too complicated to expect a business buyer to make a purchase from one printed sales letter, regardless of how well written it is.
How do successful software companies overcome this? They take a more sophisticated approach. Instead of selling their software in print, they promote a free technical white paper as a way of generating warm leads for their salespeople.
A Warm Lead is More Effective Than a Cold Call
If your printed sales promotion does its job, your prospect will want to get ahold of your white paper to get more information about your software. That’s why you’ll be happy to give him your white paper…in exchange for his contact information.
Once your prospect has had time to read and digest your white paper, she’ll have an idea about the unique value proposition your software brings to the table. This improves your salesforce’s odds of success in a big way. It’s a lot easier to get an appointment with a prospect that knows something about your product and your company than one who has never heard of either one.
The more white papers you can get into the hands of interested prospects, the bigger your sales pipeline will be. And the more prospects you have in the pipeline, the more money you’ll make for yourself and your company.
Because technical white papers are so important to your success in B2B software marketing, it’s important that you hire an experienced B2B copywriter. They aren’t always easy to find. You want one that has a unique ability to communicate not only with business manager, but also technical decision makers as well.
And when you find one, hang on to him. He is worth his weight in gold for your career success in marketing high-end B2B computer software.
Tags: Lead Generation, Software Copywriting, White Papers
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