"Selling" credit services to the sales team: building your message part 2.(Required Reading)

Selling credit services to the sales team is no easy task--if you're not prepared. Building your credit message requires a positive approach and a mind for details that speak to the sales team.

In the June 2003 issue of Business Credit, I provided an overview of how to get invited to a sales meeting and how to have a positive impact once you're at the meeting. Sales meetings provide you with a unique opportunity to deliver a pertinent and well-prepared credit message that hits the right "hot buttons" of your sales team. You must customize your presentation so that it speaks exactly to what your sales team focuses on each and every day--their customers, their revenue, their commissions and their bonus checks.

The How-To

When you build your presentation, your approach and the details you choose to highlight your credit message will determine your success at winning the sales team over. As you think about your approach, include these details into your presentation:

1. An "easy to understand" picture of your order process. Be sure to highlight the areas that create challenges for the company (usually the steps where sales is involved).

2. Your credit policy highlights. Be sure to include how and at what point of the order process you will keep the sales team informed about their customers.

3. A brief explanation on how ...