Before you redesign anything, talk to sales

When I come in to help a business get its visual brand and sales materials in order, I like to make friends in 'sales'.

‘Sales’ because depending on how the business sells, it could be a salesperson, product manager, or application engineer.

I want to know what customers are asking, what sales keeps explaining, and which materials actually help them do their job.

I also want to understand what success looks like to leadership. Are we trying to support a new market? Make a complicated product easier to understand? Bring several acquired businesses under one brand?

That gives the work a purpose. Talking to sales helps me see where the materials need to do a better job.

Three questions I like to ask

1. What do customers keep asking that our materials don't answer?

Maybe customers struggle to understand the difference between two products. Maybe they don't realize the company offers a particular capability.

If sales answers the same question in every conversation, I want to look at where that information appears and how easy it is to find.

For a technical manufacturer, that might mean a clearer product comparison, a diagram, or a sales sheet that makes the application easier to understand.

2. What do you have to explain because our website or presentation makes it unclear?

Sometimes the information is there, but it's buried.

A presentation might lead with company history when the customer needs to understand whether the product fits their application. A brochure might give every detail the same visual weight, making it hard to find the important ones.

That's a design problem worth solving. The order, hierarchy, and visuals should help someone follow the conversation.

3. What materials do you actually use, and what have you stopped using?

I want to see what sales sends after a call. I also want to know whether they've made their own version of a presentation or stopped using a brochure altogether.

There's usually a reason.

Maybe the approved deck is too long. Maybe the sales sheet is outdated. Maybe the template is difficult to work with.

Those workarounds help me understand what the existing materials aren't providing.

What I do with those answers

I look for patterns, then use them to decide what needs attention first.

If several salespeople are making their own product comparisons, a shared comparison sheet may be a priority. If everyone skips the first ten slides, the presentation may need a different structure.

And if the website, presentation, and sales sheets all look like they came from different companies, I want to establish visual standards that connect them and are practical for the team to use.

The answers also help me work with the company's marketing team and existing providers. We have a clearer picture of what needs to change and why.

A place to start

Before your next redesign, ask someone in sales to show you the last three things they sent a prospect.

Then ask: “What did you still have to explain?”

That's where I'd start.