Preventing sales opportunities slipping from one month to the next will be a familiar exercise for all of you involved in the commercial side of business. Forecasting effectively takes skill, experience and intuition. When qualifying it is important to decipher which information is relevant and accurate over that which is not. 

Whilst most of the "selling" will be complete when you near quarter/month end, tactically executing the final stages to get the deal over the line takes an acute understanding of influence.

On our weekly forecast call at Passle we discuss the opportunities we are focused on closing and map out the pathway to success. By prodding at the gaps and understanding where the pain points are, it gives us the opportunity to use content as one of the ways to address these challenges. 

For example: We get the relevant subject-matter expert to create a piece of content that is going to resonate with the prospect, showcasing that: 

1. we are taking their problems/challenges seriously 

2. our entire firm, not just the prospect's contact at Passle, is thinking about their issue 

3. we are experts in our field and are trusted advisors to the prospect

Whilst of course there are more tools in your armoury to influence your prospects, for example meeting face-to-face, picking up the phone, sending an email, etc. what content can offer is the ability to influence your prospects at a level above and a level below the decision-maker.