We know everyone wants to give sales content tips, and there’s a ton of resources out there.
A billion, to be exact.
But, many times, that content can be high-level, vague, and unhelpful. Instead of serving you a bunch of “definitive guides” and best practices, we compiled 9 resources that you can start using tomorrow and implement quickly to make your content more effective throughout the sales funnel.
Top of Funnel: Sales Email Writing Resources
We know you probably have plenty of templates, tips, and resources at your disposal to personalize and optimize your sales emails. But, once you have a final draft, do you have a way to check it? Instead of giving vague tips, we’re offering three of our favorite email graders — tools that act as content editors to provide that final check before sending it off to your prospect or customer.
Paid: Lavender
Lavender is a paid browser extension combining writing analysis & AI, social data, inbox tools, and mobile preview. Right in your Gmail or Sales Engagement platform (like Outreach or SalesLoft), you’re able to spot-check and optimize your emails.
Quick: Email Grader
SalesLoft created a free tool you can copy + paste your email text into to break down insights on your email’s content and body structure and how you can optimize it further. They also have a similar Subject Line Grader tool to optimize those subject lines.
Comprehensive: Cold Email Grader
Not to be outdone, Outreach (in conjunction with Sales Hacker and Regie) created a similar tool. In the Cold Email Grader, they combined the subject line and email optimization into the same tool and gave the option to optimize based on the seniority level of your recipient.
Top/Middle of Funnel: Sales Proposal Creation Resources
In virtually every sales cycle, you’ll need to provide a proposal to outline your solution, the benefits, and the ways you’re better than and different from your competitors. We’ve all created and received the stuffy early 2000’s proposals that are wordy, jargony, and long. Which could have your prospects feeling like Picard:
Instead, learn from these three resources how to craft sales proposals that delight and surprise your prospects.
Actionable: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Kick-Butt Sales Proposals
Resourceful Selling gets straight to the point in this article, giving the framework of an exceptional proposal, common mistakes, and best practices. They also offer some cheap and free tools for small teams who do not have a proposal management solution in place.
In-Depth: 14 Tips, Steps, and Templates to Help You Write the Perfect Sales Proposal
This article from Pipedrive runs the whole gamut from the base-level “what is a sales proposal?” down to specific examples and templates to emulate and use. Coming in at over 3,000 words, the article dives deep into every aspect to ensure your proposal is of the highest quality.
Quick: 19 Strategies for Creating a Sales Proposal that Closes for You [Infographic]
If “content is king,” HubSpot is the Prime Minister. In this particular HubSpot article, they offer quick guidelines and considerations to jump-start your proposals in an easy-to-digest format. As a bonus, they also give you an infographic you can share with your team so everyone can benefit.
Middle of Funnel: RFP Creation Resources
RFPs can often be a love-hate relationship. They can take a lot of effort but, if done well, can set you apart from your competitors. To help demystify and optimize this often arduous process, we’ve compiled 3 of the top resources we’ve found.
RFP Response Writing: The RFP Response Formula That Gets an 80% Close Rate
You know we had to put more than one HubSpot article in here —there’s just so much good content over there! In this article, they tackle the exact tactics, sections, and writing formulas you should use to boost the effectiveness of your RFP responses.
RFP Qualification: Qualify RFPs like a Poker Master
PreSales Collective is a new organization founded on the principle of elevating the PreSales profession. If your team doesn’t have a dedicated proposal function, chances are they’re the team that manages the bulk of the RFP process. With that in mind, they write from the Sales Engineer’s point of view and have an entire session on their blog dedicated to RFPs (all written with that SE flair we all know and love).
Full RFP Strategy: Winning The Business Blog
APMP is the world’s premier association for proposal management professionals — and their blog lives up to that title. In Winning the Business, they tackle topics from business writing to current trends so you can stay up to date and stay ahead of the competition.
Our favorite reads:
- Simple Words, Easy Fixes: Quick Tricks to Make a Stronger Proposal
- The Case for Empathetic Proposals: Writing to Client Needs and Outcomes
- There Is No Proposal Template: How Developing Blended Content Makes Your Proposals More Dynamic
- RFP Red Flags: How to Spot a 'Rigged' Bid
Out-Write Your Competition
If you’ve been here before, you’ll know that we believe sales content is your company’s most important asset. Taking the time to invest in the effectiveness of your writing and content instead of just getting it done quicker pays off when the end of the quarter comes.
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