With the economic rebound in play and knowledge and content gaps at an all time high, a sales information portal can transform process activities efficiently and effectively with just in time information. Let’s first lets talk about the components, Figure 1 identifies a typical work flow of a sales information portal:
Sales: Current inside and outside sales force and marketing.
Legal: Current terms and conditions document
IT: Technology used to support process
ATS: available to sell
WIP: work in process (product)
AR: accounts receivable
SME: Subject matter expert
CRM: Customer relationship management
The integration points is a taxonomy, process activity and anticipating what is in the mind of the buyer, i.e. is product engineering information is required during the sales process.
Account-based marketing is a strategic approach to business marketing where messages and communications are targeted to individual accounts. We use the term “account” to signify personal service; sales are specifically driven toward each account, based on each account’s specific needs and the unique solution we provide for that account. This is not about a template-driven, “cookie cutter” approach to merely giving lip service to creativity, contents or the accounts themselves. Nor is it about merely “tweaking” a more traditional form of broadcast-marketing you may have had success with in recent years. This is about understanding what each account needs and giving it to them through content delivered specifically to, and for them.
I recently had a conversation with Chris Brogan, co-author of Trust Agents. Below is Chris’s thoughts on the future of sales and marketing:
Talk about how you see a direct sales force fitting in to the trust equation and how that directs sales force can leverage the trust equation that the marketing communication folks come up with..
Obviously Chris there is a lot of animosity between them so how do we get sales trusting marketing to sit down at the same table so that they can go out there in March to the same tune
CB this is a second golden age for sales I think . I believe the social tools gives sales a better set of tools than they ever had before for reaching out and being really connected with the people that really matter to them and sales people for ever known that it’s all based on relationships.
What waters this down a little bit is that we all have quotas, we all have a certain number to hit, so sometimes we get crazy, we get a little cutthroat and we want to get hit the sale and move on. This is now a world where there is a memory of this, a digital footprint that leads from that experience and people will remember that about you, so you do have to throttle back a little bit and understand that there is a lengthier relationship process.
Marketing has veered away a little from their golden experience, I mean Dave Ogilvie said a long time ago: “that this is all in the support of the sale, “ we moved away from this, marketing became, how do I shock you out of your boring day to get your attention and then I am going to do something with it. Well after awhile we got that you were screaming, we got that there were monkeys and balloons, but it was not in service of a sale but in was in service of screaming attention and then the salesperson would try to rush in and make something happen. There were lies on one side that a salesperson would have to deliver against, you know sell the dream implement the nightmare, on the other side salespeople with a forced quota were being told get the sale no matter what, and I think in both instances this is a moment of trust, this is an opportunity where marketing can say, “I can better equip you with a better story than you can tell and this is going to help you serve your brand, this is going to help you get better sales
Meanwhile please help me in representing this it in a way that we are talking about it. And I think there is a better chance for dialog now, where sales can connect back and forth. Three things to consider in this would be as a salesperson you are now forever in amber, you are trapped in amber like bugs in the ice age because everything you do online leaves a footprint and we see it , so if you are scummy, if you are using inappropriate methods, then it shows up and everyone has a voice now so we all talk amongst ourselves as customers. As a marketer you know have to trust that your sales people has the relationship like they always had and augment them and serve them. Marketing is no longer about winning an award, it is in the short term, if you think about it, but its not going to get you further because really, I am seeing more and more companies, very much on the larger scale companies saying “I don’t get this, it’s to frilly, I need sales, make sales happen,” so you need your salespeople more then you every have, and you need to go back to what is going to equip a sale versus what is going to get more awareness. It’s not an awareness game any more, it’s awareness that turns to attention that turns to reputation that becomes trust.
B2B sales can be extremely complex as most solution providers have large portfolios with multiple marketing messages and value statements. This can lead to confusion because the prospect doesn’t see how the solution will fit or can’t connect the dots and recognize the unique differentiation of the provider.
In a buyers market, to get attention, it is imperative that you differentiate and articulate your unique business value. Sales and marketing must march lock step and provide valuable information addressing the individual targeted prospect or a key client business issues before presenting products or solutions. Account-based marketing can solve this issue by creating personalized messages and communications that are targeted to individual and key accounts. To be effective sales, marketing and solution experts team-up internally to develop separate marketing plans for key accounts. At the heart of each marketing plan is the development and coordination of content that addresses industry or role based, preferably both, business issues, this insures that your messages resonates with the prospect,
Because account-based marketing goes beyond generic marketing messages and product selling, those companies who focus on solving unique business issues and the relationship, are often positioned as a trusted advisor and thought leader. For many, account-based marketing is a new way of thinking about client relationships. It moves away from broad-brushed marketing messages and delivers content that will resonate with your prospects and draws them to your solution. To learn more about account-based marketing click here.
According to a recent survey from Spencer Stuart, the length of a CMO’s tenure has continued to decline to 23.2 months, giving the chief marketing officers less than two years to make an impact, significantly less than any other executive in the C-suite.
With so little time, the CMO needs to make an impact as quickly as possible. It is also critical that the CMO sets realistic expectations and makes sure that everyone understands what marketing can and can’t do. With top line revenue growth important to most companies, it is our opinion that the number one goal of the chief marketing officer is accelerating sales and making sure that buyers understand your company’s unique value and differentiation. It is also important that marketing provides the tools that sales needs to close deals and understand what processes need to be in place that gives each and every customer a unique buying experience.
Recently Forrester Research published a report on the hidden cost to support sales. Some of the tell-tale signs that lack of alignment in the marketing department is driving up costs are:
• No measurable ROI for programs like lead generation and public relations
• Sales has a high dependence on functions outside marketing’s direct control such as IT, product management, sales or executive management
• Marketing spends an inordinate amount of time justifying activities instead of planning and value creation
Marketing must unite with sales to understand the business issues that buyers are trying to solve and provide deliverables at each step in the buying process. Sales and marketing integration is critical to creating profitable customer relationships. Internal communications across the organization must be clear and consistent. To see how your company is aligned take this short assessment
In the March 2009 Harvard Business Review, there is article called “In a downturn, provoke your customers.”
Geoffrey Moore (Crossing the Chasm) contributed to the article, its premise, “the companies you serve are slashing their budgets- but you can still make the sale.” Using what they call provocation-based selling, this new (ehemm) process can persuade customers that the solutions your firm brings to the table are “not just nice but essential”
The article states to begin a provocation-based sale must do three things well;
• Identify a problem that will resonate with executives in the target account.
• Develop a point of view about the problem
• Engage a decision-maker who can take an implied action
I don’t mean to be a stick in the mud, or even challenge the article, but it seems to me that’s what custom whitepapers and Account-Based Marketing have been doing for years. One caveat, going to a senior level executive with a generic white paper is not going to work. That’s where it ties to the ITSMA’s Account-Based Marketing process, where the paper is developed to be very specific to the account’s business issues. Any sales approach requires you to do your homework, find out what is keeping the CEO up at night and develop your firm’s point of view on the business issue and your unique differentiation on how you can solve the problem.
To see the article in its entirety click here:http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org
