Using Your Blog to Avoid the Dreaded “Check In”

Remember the last time someone trying to sell you something called or emailed to check-in? Weren’t you glad they did?  Didn’t it make your choice to buy from them so much easier?  I mean, they checked in!  

Sigh.

Check-ins are for teenagers to let their parents know where they are and when they will be home. Check-ins have no place in sales motions.  I’ve been doing this a long time and never have I seen a sales playbook or outreach cadence that suggested something like “Day 11 – Check-In.”

For reasons that defy common sense, salespeople continue to use the vaunted “check-in.” As a long-in-the-tooth salesperson myself, I can say confidently that calls or emails to “check-in” are not a recent phenomenon but rather something that’s been plaguing the profession since phones and email were invented. And in my experience as both a salesperson and a sales leader, the reason for such empty and ultimately useless activity is simple: salespeople simply don’t know what else to do.  

Believe it or not, this is not always their fault. 

How You Should View the Role of Your Salespeople

Avoiding the “just checking in” email or call isn’t as easy as it sounds. As a salesperson, you want to stay relevant to your prospect, and absent anything specific to talk about, checking in seems appropriate. You need to do something, right?  But no one likes receiving the check-in call or email.  No one.  Even when the prospect picks up and says, “I’m glad you called” that positive sentiment has more to do with your fortuitous timing than with the content of your message.  

Identifying the problem is easy, but what is the solution?  Salespeople should be building value with every interaction, creating stronger rapport, and working to move “not yet” in the direction of “yes” rather than in the direction of “no.”  There are countless ways to do this other than calling to “check-in.”  For example, your salespeople can interact with the prospect’s social media posts or invite them to a webinar or event.  These are gentle, low-pressure touches that let the prospect know that your salesperson and your company are staying present.  They can send a handwritten note or a small gift, like a relevant book.. These touches take a little more effort but can be very effective in letting the prospect know that the salesperson is trying to build rapport and solidify the relationship.

But none of those tasks is moving the ball forward when it comes to closing a deal.  Is a prospect more likely to buy from you because your sales rep liked their tweet?  Probably not.

Framed like that, it starts to become clearer and clearer that supporting sales with tools that help create value and improve the client relationship should be a priority.

What does this have to do with your company blog?  

There are a number of great ways to materially improve the relationship and rapport between salesperson and prospect and ALSO move the prospect closer to buying.  And of course, our favorite is by sharing relevant blog posts! Are you using your blog to support sales?

Your company blog is not about solely attracting new prospects. It is also about educating existing prospects more and more in your direction. If your blog is planned out and executed properly, then your library of posts should answer almost every question the prospect might have. Not questions about features or benefits, those belong on your website. But questions about the industry, the sector, the competition, and the problem they are trying to solve?  That content belongs on the blog.

Additionally, your company blog allows you to clearly and confidently tell the story of why your offering is the right choice for the prospective customer. Blog posts can help validate a purchasing decision in your direction just as easily as they can invalidate a decision that was not going to go your way.

Connecting the Blog to Your Sales Team

If your salespeople are not sharing relevant blog posts with prospective customers then something is wrong.  It is possible that the problem is salespeople that do not recognize how useful the blog is in their sales toolbox. If that is the case then you would be well served to educate your sales team on what is at their disposal to help with a deal.

However, it is also possible that the salespeople crave great content to share with potential prospects but what you have published simply doesn’t align with what they need.  This is an overlooked but very real and, sadly, very common problem. All too often content strategy is developed to fill the top half of the funnel (demand generation). But what about content to support the bottom half of the funnel (closing time!).  By now it should be clear that you can and should use your blog to support sales

Use your Blog to Support Sales and Reap the Benefits

It is often easiest to declare that the salespeople are the problem and call it a day. But that is rarely accurate or fair. Salespeople are not, by nature, stupid.  Doubtful any actually wants to email or call just to “check-in.” Understanding that, some reflection on your blog strategy can pay off in huge ways.

The company blog provides a wealth of information that educates your prospect in the direction of the sale. It gives salespeople a way to stay in touch and build value without resorting to the empty, unfilling, and hated “check-in.”

Arming your salespeople with posts that address concerns and answer questions is a fantastic substitute for the dreaded “check-in.” If your sales team isn’t taking advantage of sharing posts then it is critical to ask if your content strategy is the problem. Ask yourself if you are using your company blog to support sales?