Does Simple Mean Better?

Greg Sterling’s recent post focused on Local.com‘s effort to simplify the value proposition for SMBs. With good reason, Local.com and others selling into the local SMB market are pursuing strategies and approaches that take the mystery and complexity out of the selling equation. Data from BIA/Kelsey affirms that SMBs are inundated with offer upon offer. Some SMBs have counted that they are getting as many as 40 sales pitches a week. This while SMBs face dozens of other more important challenges – recruiting and training new employees, learning the latest tools of the [particular] trade, securing financing and paying insurance premiums.

So maybe simple does mean better. The proof of course will be in the implementation and execution of a simpler, more straight-forward value proposition. But there’s more to market success than a simplified value-proposition. The sales reps who are serve as the “last mile” also need tools which reduce the time the spend preparing for a sales discussion and generating a proposal. Taken together, a simpler value-proposition and tools that leverage the sales reps time and enables them to make recommendations that meet the needs of the customers can alter the precipitous downward spiral facing many local media sales organizations.