Is a coach necessary to implement They Ask, You Answer?
You've read They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan and/or attended one of our Lunch & Learns and got all excited about They Ask, You Answer. You may also have seen that we offer a TAYA workshop and a TAYA Mastery program and may be wondering: do I really need that? Can't we do this ourselves?
After all, it seems so simple: be obsessed with your buyers' questions, fears and problems, create helpful, honest content and use this content to shorten the sales cycle. A kid can do the laundry, right?
But when most business leaders try to put They Ask, You Answer into practice, it turns out to be much more cumbersome than it first seemed.
These questions - and many others - swirl around in the minds of business owners faced with the reality of putting into practice They Ask, You Answer.
Although with some research and a lot of trial and error, you will also discover the right answers to the questions, you will progress only slowly in the process.
With a coach, you can take steps much faster and save yourself costly beginner's mistakes.
The power of a They Ask, You Answer coach
Buzzlytics coaches are experts who focus on only one thing: helping companies implement They Ask, You Answer as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Clients working with us can master They Ask, You Answer in 18 months.
Could you do it all without a coach? Again: it can be done. But it will be slow, you will make many mistakes and it will bring you more and more frustration.
Moreover, there is another danger in trying to do it yourself. You might think: we'll try it ourselves first, we can always hire a coach later if we can't figure it out.
But how much motivation do you think there still is to get started with They Ask, You Answer when the first attempts have failed? You're much more likely to come to the conclusion that that whole They Ask, You Answer (for your business) doesn't work as well as claimed after all.
Wondering exactly how a coach can help you implement They Ask, You Answer? Thanks for asking! Below we provide some examples.
How a Buzzlytics coach can help you with content strategy
At Buzzlytics, your coach is your main strategic point of contact. He works with other experts at Buzzlytics to train your team on how to implement They Ask, You Answer.
Developing a content strategy is a complex process with a lot of interlocking elements. A coach, along with content experts at Buzzlytics, can help you with this.
Here's how.
1. Hire a content manager and define his or her role in your company
The content manager is central to your entire content marketing effort. But if you've never hired someone for this role, how do you know if they're doing it right? Exactly, you don't know. Instead of having to figure this all out for yourself, your coach can help you with this. Buzzlytics also helps you induct the content manager.
2. Develop a long-term content strategy
A long-term content strategy begins with the questions your sales team receives, but then extends to producing content that actually drives organic traffic to your website.
First, you need to write content that we know will bring revenue to your business. We call these topics the Big 5.
Next, it's about developing a content calendar that will help you achieve your goals. Your Buzzlytics coach will provide you with templates and other tools that can help you do this.
3. Keyword research
There may be hundreds of keywords for your industry.
How do you know which ones to select? What kind of content is most likely to get you to the top of the search results? How does page authority affect your ability to rank for certain keywords?
An SEO expert from Buzzlytics will help you be more efficient.
4. Building a video culture
To create a lot of video content, your company needs to develop a video culture. This means hiring a videographer, making sure your employees become comfortable in front of the camera, purchasing the necessary equipment, and more.
As with the content manager, your coach will guide you in recruiting and onboarding this person and coordinate training with our video experts who can answer all your questions.
5. Accurate ROI tracking.
HubSpot, if set up properly, can track prospects' behavior on your website, including the time they spend on different types of content, downloads, completed forms, and so on.
The moment you close a deal, you know what content won the prospect over - but only if you know how to use HubSpot correctly. You'll learn this in They Ask, You Answer Mastery.
6. Improving transfer from marketing to sales
Do your marketing and sales teams agree on what a sales qualified lead (SQL) is? How do you do lead scoring? Is the experience for a customer seamless?
A coach looks at all aspects of internal communication to maximize efficiency.
7. On-page SEO best practices
Search engines are getting smarter and smarter. To keep up with SEO best practices, you need to follow Google's core updates, delve into search intent, incorporate so-called LSI keywords into your content, and so on.
If you put so much time and energy into your content, you also want to be sure that this content is performing optimally.
How a Buzzlytics coach improves your sales
But Buzzlytics doesn't just work with your marketing team. We believe sales and marketing need to be on the same page. So for a successful implementation of They Ask, You Answer you need sales too.
1. Documenting, evaluating and optimizing your sales process
Your coach will work with your team to document your current sales process and standardize it across the team to best fit your company's needs - and to ensure that a buyer has something to learn at every touch point with your company.
2. Unravel and address key sales challenges.
In addition to challenges for the entire team, you may also run into individual challenges with specific employees. Some may be reluctant to adopt new ways of working; others may have difficulty using technology. Your coach can help them with this.
3. Sales training and role-playing
Simply put, role plays make your team improve quickly. If you take the time to practice how you want to communicate and learn how to effectively conduct a sales conversation, it will feel like second nature when you start having the real conversation.
You are then much better prepared for the real conversation. Then when you go into that sales call, you feel comfortable. You've done what it takes to understand who the other person is, what his or her potential fears, concerns and problems may be - and how to deal with them in the conversation.
Your coach leads role plays and provides comprehensive sales training to your team.
4. Training in 'assignment selling'
Assignment selling involves sending prospects certain content to read or view before you enter the sales conversation. This leads to better informed prospects and better closing rates.
But how do you know what content to send to a prospect and when? How do you know if you're not sending him too much, or too little?
Getting this wrong can actually discourage a prospect. So it is crucial to have an outside expert to help you perfect your "assignment selling" process before you try it with a client where the stakes are high.
5. Video-in-sales training
By integrating video into the sales process, you build trust with prospects. This leads to more sales appointments with more suitable prospects. No idea how to go about this? No worries. Your coach knows the tips and tricks to get this off the ground.
With a coach you learn faster and suffer less from blind spots
What a Buzzlytics coach can offer you is simply an expert outside perspective that will get you through the growing pains associated with implementing something new within your business faster.
You don't just want to They Ask, You Answer apply it, you want to master it.
You want to master every aspect of They Ask, You Answer. Whether it's the emails you send as part of 'assignment selling' or the articles you write, we'll help you become an expert at teaching your buyers.
But without the trial-and-error associated with trying to do it yourself.
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April 12, 2024
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