When I first joined Mural, I’d start with a blank canvas and use basic features like stickies. But when I saw how pro Mural users designed, I was wowed. Themes, methods, templates!?
Amelia Jones, Principal Customer Success Manager at Mural, is one of those pro designers. She works with customers, including sales teams, and uses Mural to quickly close deals. (You may have seen her webinars.) Lucky for us, she shared a peek into how she helps sellers get better results.
Common challenges for sales teams
Sales teams in particular are under pressure to move quickly to land deals, on top of blockers like communication gaps, misaligned goals, and inefficient processes.
Ineffective customer discovery
Bad discovery habits can lead to a poor understanding of the customer. John Graham, head of account management, shares, “Sales reps might ask questions, but they don’t peel back three layers deeper.” To his point: If sales teams don’t dig deep, customers won’t feel heard. This can be a major waste of time and energy.
Lack of real-time collaboration
Sales teams who work in silos have gaps in their strategy and will miss opportunities for brainstorming. Remote sales collaboration is essential for global teams to succeed, but can be tricky without the proper tools.
Inefficient communication
Slow communication can lead to delayed decisions, misunderstandings, and misalignment within the team, all of which complicate the sales process. Reps dealing with changing market conditions and customers need solid sales team communication tools.
Limited access to customer insights
Sales teams might not have the right tools or processes to look at important customer data. Sellers are stuck guessing, which means missed opportunities or uninformed decisions.
Lack of alignment between sales and marketing
Without collaboration between sales and marketing, the customer experience is disjointed. Buyers will get mixed messages or too much (or too little) communication. Collaboration between these functions is important for a seamless customer experience.
Why real-time collaboration with Mural matters in sales
Using tech for better workflows can result in a 48% improvement in speed for sales teams. But when should you use visual collaboration within your own sales process?
John explains how sellers at Mural do it:
“Mural is the collaborative tissue that enables synchronous and asynchronous work across a globally dispersed sales team. It helps us create a culture of cross-functional collaboration that is hard to achieve in sales.”
Sales teams working in remote and hybrid contexts need to create, plan, and execute digitally and visually. Mural has important features like sticky notes, help features, diagrams, templates, integrations, and AI features that make sales conversations more compelling.
“Mural is oriented around idea sharing,” says John. “It makes it an easier venue for sales reps to ask more questions and document the things the customer is saying.”
Let’s take a closer look at how Mural helps sales teams win:
Close deals faster
- Get prospect buy-in quickly. Visual tools for real-time collaboration help get buy-in from the very start. Your prospects are much more likely to feel aligned with interactive and collaborative processes.
- Shorten the sales cycle. Align with your prospect for a shorter sales cycle and faster wins. You can see your progress with co-created content documented in one place.
- Win higher-value deals. Buyers are more engaged as high-impact solutions are created collaboratively.
- Boost win rates. Buyers can feel invested in the sales process because you’re creating a compelling and engaging experience.
- Improve buyer engagement. Connect with buyers; don’t sell to them. Involve your prospects in discussions where you’re truly engaging, not clicking through 87 slides.
Ease of use
Sales reps want to spend as much time with their customers as possible. Simple tools mean quicker adoption by your buyers, and a faster learning curve for your sales team. Templates and pre-designed workflows ensure everyone can contribute easily, reducing time spent on learning how to use the product.
Streamlined information
A big challenge for sales teams is that information is everywhere. Mural improves sales rep productivity with a single view of their accounts where others can contribute. Teams can use visual collaboration tools for sales process optimization, too.
Instant feedback
Mural makes real-time feedback easy, and decisions move faster. No more back-and-forth messaging or waiting around — teams can work just as well on their own time, across time zones, and live during calls. This not only speeds up the sales cycle but makes sure everyone is on the same page.
Visual thinking
When sales teams can visualize their plans and strategies, they can execute them more effectively. Mural’s features are great for sales team alignment. Sticky notes, diagrams, and templates help in brainstorming and planning, and will foster better relationships and outcomes.
Transparency and trust
Transparency is key to trust, both within the team and with clients. Visually map out commitments or next steps for a buyer so everyone knows what to expect and when.
Cross-functional collaboration
Collaborate in the same virtual space to bridge communication and decisions between sales, marketing, product, and other teams. Better collaboration across functions speeds the sales cycle.
How visual collaboration improves your sales process
Here are a few use cases relevant to sales teams:
Account and stakeholder mapping
Account mapping and stakeholder mapping visualize who your clients are, what their core needs are, and what’s important to them. Know who your stakeholders are connected to so you can navigate the sales process much faster.
Deep-dive discovery
“If a sales rep has an understanding of three or four basic frameworks, like Rose, thorn & bud, they can quickly deploy, it's really effective for going deep early,” says John. “It gives you a venue to ask, to look for more, and ask more.” Try a simple template instead of a blank doc the next time you are in a discovery session.
Requirements and needs gathering
Lead a co-created process with human-centered design methodologies. Start with a template like Interviewing or Walk-a-mile as you complete your discovery. Then Experience diagramming or Affinity clustering can help you understand the problems your customers are experiencing. This collaboration will help you get better buy-in from your customers.
Mutual action plans
Visually document your mutual action plans to get you to that close date faster. Features like comments can be helpful for sending reminders to buyers as deadlines approach.
Sales enablement and revenue operations
If you have a sales enablement workshop coming up, digital whiteboards are great for engaging learning experiences. Or improve your internal processes within your revenue teams with clearer (and more beautiful) documentation.
Team meetings
Save time each week using templates like Weekly team meeting, Weekly calendar, and SWOT analysis. Ready-made templates speed up the planning and execution of sales. Teams can focus more on closing deals instead of creating presentations or documents from scratch.
Get started to close deals faster
Your sales teams can use visual collaboration to:
- Work with clients in synchronously and asynchronously
- Present roadmaps, pitch decks, and pricing conversations
- Co-create solutions and plans for clients and prospects
- Deliver clear communications and timelines
- Have fun with tailored, themed experiences
Get started with our collaboration software for sales professionals by trying a free template!
Co-author: Amelia Jones is a Principal Customer Success Manager at Mural. With 10 years in startup SaaS and a background in design thinking and HR, Amelia excels at driving client success through change management, tech education, and innovation. Based in Park City, UT, she’s a snow sports enthusiast and mom of two "interns."
