Sales navigators play a critical role in guiding prospects through the sales process to become customers. There are a few common types of sales navigators that serve different purposes:
Account-Based Sales Navigators
Account-based sales navigators focus on nurturing relationships and guiding specific target accounts through the sales process. Their goal is to land major deals with strategic accounts that have been identified as high-value opportunities. Account-based sales navigators typically have the following responsibilities:
- Researching and developing deep knowledge of assigned accounts
- Coordinating sales activities across multiple stakeholders in account teams
- Crafting targeted messaging and collateral for each account
- Planning executive briefings, events, and meetings to engage accounts
- Monitoring buying signals and facilitating the development of account-specific proposals
Account-based selling is highly personalized, so having navigators that understand each account’s unique needs and challenges is critical for driving conversions.
Buyer Persona Sales Navigators
Buyer persona sales navigators specialize in specific types of prospects based on demographic or firmographic data. They become experts at moving certain personas through the sales funnel. Responsibilities may include:
- Researching their designated buyer personas
- Creating targeted content and messaging that resonates with each persona
- Engaging prospects through preferred channels based on persona behaviors
- Tailoring sales conversations to persona needs and pain points
- Shaping product positioning around what matters most to each persona
Having persona-focused sales navigators allows companies to take a personalized approach at scale. Sales reps can hand qualified leads off to navigators that know exactly how to guide common prospect types.
Channel Sales Navigators
Channel sales navigators are experts in specific sales channels or programs. Their expertise lies in converting leads or driving growth through defined sales channels such as:
- Retail partnerships
- Resellers
- Affiliates
- Digital commerce
- Events or tradeshows
They understand the unique strategies, processes, and best practices required for their assigned channel. Channel sales navigators are focused on maximizing pipeline and revenue through their specialized area.
Customer Success Navigators
Customer success navigators engage with customers post-sale to drive growth through retention and expansion. Their responsibilities may involve:
- Onboarding new customers
- Conducting training and providing support
- Managing renewals and minimizing churn
- Identifying and developing expansion opportunities
- Gathering customer feedback and fostering advocates
Customer success navigators build strong relationships with customers to encourage ongoing purchases. They play a key role in customer retention and growth.
Technical Sales Navigators
Technical sales navigators have specialized knowledge in complex, highly technical products. They are skilled at:
- Communicating technical details simply to non-technical buyers
- Conducting technical demonstrations and proof of concepts
- Answering technical questions and resolving concerns
- Building rapport with technical audiences
- Guiding technical evaluators through pilots and trials
They help prospects navigate the intricacies of assessing technical products and drive adoption among engineering and IT stakeholders.
Renewals/Upsell Navigators
Renewals and upsell sales navigators focus on retaining revenue from existing customers. They aim to:
- Manage contract renewals
- Minimize customer churn
- Identify and sell expansion opportunities
- Drive add-on purchases and upsells
- Build customer loyalty through exceptional service
Renewals navigators play a key role in customer retention while upsell focused navigators increase revenue from existing customer accounts.
Competitive Sales Navigators
For companies that engage in aggressive competitive sales strategies, competitive sales navigators can be highly effective. These navigators specialize in:
- Identifying prospects considering competitor solutions
- Researching and positioning against competitors
- Crafting targeted win-back and switcher messaging
- Orchestrating competitive displacements
- Rapid proposal development and deal conversion
By focusing specifically on taking business from competitors, they are able to execute swift competitive sales maneuvers to close deals.
Sales Development Rep (SDR) Navigators
SDR navigators are focused on progressing leads and contacts through sales qualification to become sales-ready opportunities. Typical responsibilities include:
- Inbounding and outbound lead engagement
- Data enrichment and profiling
- Appointment setting and lead qualification
- Demand generation and nurturing
- Handing off qualified opportunities to account executives
Strong SDR navigators effectively bridge the gap between marketing and sales by fostering and qualifying new opportunities.
Decision Process Navigators
Decision process sales navigators guide stakeholders through complex, multi-level purchase processes. For example, they may manage:
- IT/engineering evaluations
- Extensive RFP/RFI processes
- Procurement and purchasing workflows
- Budget approvals
- Legal terms and negotiations
They keep deals progressing through elongated sales cycles with many influencers and decision makers.
Industry/Solution Navigators
Industry or solution sales navigators develop specialized expertise in specific verticals or product solutions. Their skills may include:
- Deep knowledge of industry trends, challenges, and terminology
- Creating targeted collateral for verticals
- Engaging with industry associations and events
- Crafting industry-specific value propositions
- Cultivating deep relationships with industry influencers
They become trusted advisors that prospects can turn to that intimately understand their needs.
Sales Process Navigators
Sales process navigators double down on excelling at a specialized aspect of the sales process. For example:
- Lead generation
- Prospecting
- Presentations and demos
- Proposal development
- Negotiations
They focus on perfecting specific sales skills and lend their expertise whenever needed to progress deals.
Conclusion
In summary, there are many potential types of sales navigators that can be specialized to streamline the sales process. Companies can choose to invest in the specialized navigator roles that align closest to their sales objectives and processes.
Some of the most common sales navigator types include account-based, buyer persona, competitive, customer success, channel, technical, and decision process navigators. Each focuses on excelling in a specific area to progress qualified deals towards a close.
The key benefits of implementing dedicated sales navigator roles include increased deal velocity, higher conversion rates, larger deal sizes, and improved customer retention. Sales navigators allow both sales development and account executives to focus on what they do best while relying on navigators to guide complex sales processes.
When structuring an effective sales team, sales navigator roles help divide specialized sales responsibilities to conquer all aspects of guiding prospects from lead to loyal customer. They provide the support and expertise needed to navigate today’s complicated sales landscapes.
Here is an overview of some of the most common sales navigator roles:
Sales Navigator Role | Focus | Key Responsibilities |
---|---|---|
Account-Based | Major accounts | Account management, coordinated sales activities, tailored messaging |
Buyer Persona | Prospect personas | Targeted content and outreach, guides specific personas |
Channel | Sales channels | Expertise in partner/reseller/events models |
Customer Success | Post-sales, growth | Onboarding, support, upsell, advocacy |
Technical | Complex products | Demos, answers questions, builds rapport |
Renewals/Upsells | Existing customers | Churn reduction, expansions, add-ons |
Competitive | Taking share | Displacements, countering competitors |
SDR | Lead qualification | Lead gen, appointment setting, handoff |
Decision Process | Multistep deals | Navigates RFPs, approvals, negotiations |
Industry/Solution | Vertical expertise | Industry trends, targeted messaging |
Sales Process | Sales skills | Excellence in specific sales tactics |
There are a few key steps companies can take to implement sales navigator roles successfully:
Identify Needs
Assess sales challenges and gaps to determine what type of navigators would be most beneficial. Are deals stalling at technical evaluations? Or is lead follow-up and qualification the biggest bottleneck? This will reveal the needs navigators can fill.
Define Responsibilities
Detail the core responsibilities for each navigator role and how they will interact with SDRs, account executives, and other functions. Map out how navigators will guide the sales process end-to-end.
Hire Specialized Talent
Sales navigators need specific skillsets to excel in their focused roles. Take care to hire and train people with background and experience tailored to the role.
Integrate into Process
Clearly document when and how navigators get involved in opportunities in the sales process. Ensure sales and marketing understand how to leverage them.
Measure Effectiveness
Track metrics like deal progress, win rates, churn, customer expansion and technology adoption mapped to sales navigator activities. Analyze data to refine their deployment and impact.
Following these steps will allow organizations to build an effective navigator model that streamlines sales and helps convert more prospects to customers. Specialized sales navigators are force multipliers that increase sales velocity, deal sizes, and customer lifetime value.