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Autumn is “Go Time” for Marketers

Late summer is often for reflection as marketers gear up for the fall sprint.  Your company’s annual revenue projection is within reach, yet demand generation activities need to deliver big time results in the coming weeks.

Inside sales is hungry for leads.  The channel is ready to chase new opportunities.  Enterprise reps want account insight and intelligence.  It’s “go” time.

Here are three, easy to implement best practices you may want to consider:

  1. Is a white paper, case study or research report suffering from lack of interest and few downloads? Try putting the topic in context. One of Strategic Communications Group’s (Strategic) editors ties this focus report about technology preferences to the government buying season.

 

  1. What is a sure-fire way to validate a bold industry prediction? Back it up with hard numbers, of course. Pitney Bowes Software supports its contention that chatbot technology will reshape how insurance claims are processed by citing Amtrak’s $1M savings with a comparable application.

 

  1. Has your content marketing program become flat and stale? Spice things up for your subject matter experts, customers and prospects with video. Oh yeah, it doesn’t have to be a Hollywood production to resonate.  A field sales leader at SYNNEX tells his company’s digital transformation story in this video.

 

Interested in additional ways you can elevate the impact of your demand generation and content marketing efforts?  Join the more than 300 marketers who are members of the Modern Marketing Today LinkedIn group.

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Lessons from Bloomberg’s Maiden Sale

Michael Bloomberg in the 1980s. (Photo source: HollywoodReporter.com)

It’s 1982.  Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger dominates the pop charts.  Imagine you work at financial services firm Merrill Lynch.  A young Michael Bloomberg arrives unannounced at your office with a cup of coffee for you.  What do you do?  Give him 15 minutes to pitch his product.

It is now 2018.  You are humming Ed Sheeran’s Perfect at your desk.  A bold and brash sales rep barges in.  What do you do?  Dial security.

Last week, entrepreneurs from across the United States gathered in Washington, DC for the 10,000 Small Businesses Summit, hosted by Goldman Sachs.  Billionaire (and former New York City mayor) Michael Bloomberg was among the A-list speakers.  He shared a wonderful story about how he scored his first customer for Bloomberg LP.

Every morning for nearly a year, Bloomberg scoured Merrill Lynch’s office chatting up anyone he stumbled across with the goal of building relationships.  One of his targets turned out to be the company’s chairman, who eventually approved funding to trial Bloomberg’s product.

“No matter how much digital we have, people are what make businesses,” Bloomberg told attendees at the conference.

While Bloomberg is spot on that the world works on the relationships, the approach to foster connections has been dramatically recast.  There is no walking the halls of customer accounts.  Cold calling is unproductive.  Unsolicited Emails get minimal response.

That is because broadband adoption, the searchable Web and social networks have empowered customers, and given them more control than ever before on how and when they consume information about products and services.  Gartner Group refers to these customers as enlightened buyers.  Forrester Research uses the phrase the buyer’s journey.

Today, it is incumbent for companies like yours to meet buyers on their terms.  Thought leadership content is the vehicle to accomplish that.  When combined with targeted distribution and analytics to assess engagement, lead generation and account based marketing becomes more disciplined and measurable.

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What Sales NEVER Tells Marketers

I just had the most unexpected phone conversation with a new business prospect.  My head is still spinning.  Here’s the story…

Each week I set aside time to dial marketers who I have yet to meet.  I quickly introduce Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) and, since I am calling unannounced, attempt to schedule an initial phone conversation at a later date.

Yesterday, the North American field marketing lead at a global technology products company picked up her line.  We chatted for a minute and agreed to compare calendars via Email.  Then, she hit me with a surprise.

“Hey, while I have you on the phone.  You are in sales.  Tell me, what does my sales team not share with me when it comes to their expectations of marketing?”

Imagine that!  Rather than simply rushing me off, this marketer viewed the conversation as an opportunity to gather insight and intelligence to help her be more successful.  I was happy to oblige.

  1. A comprehensive view of a prospect helps me initiate a dialogue. Provide me intelligence based on the prospect’s digital footprint and social engagement. How are they engaging with content?  Where do they interact?  By understanding areas of possible need, my rate of success in securing a first meeting will skyrocket.
  2. Sales cycles have gaps in time. Help me fill them. I don’t want to contact a prospect to just “follow up.”  Develop thought leadership oriented content I can use to maintain a dialogue when they are not ready to buy.
  3. Steer me away from unproductive activities. I want to attend events…organize Webinars…sponsor conferences. Help me understand if these tactics are misguided and will fail to reach the right audience.
  4. And perhaps most important…

That’s when I stopped.   The line remained quiet for a good 10 seconds.  You could practically feel the anticipation.

“Well?”, she finally asked.

I will tell you during our introductory call, I explained.  That’s because the goal of each step in the sales process is simply to reach the next step.

What is my final (and most important) expectation of marketing?  Look for an update to this blog post in the next few days.

 

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What is my last “sales guy” expectation of marketing?  Help me develop a voice on social media. 

Sales reps identify and qualify more leads when they are actively engaged in social networks, especially LinkedIn.  Unfortunately, many refrain from social engagement because they are unclear of how to do it in a disciplined and a professional way.  This is an area where marketers can help.

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Should Marketers “Tip” B2B Sales Reps?

During college I supported myself as a waiter at the Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chi-Chi’s.  I recognize how challenging it is to work in food service so, nearly 25 years later, I still generously tip when dining out.

I embrace the same view when receiving a sales inquiry.  This is my chosen profession.  I appreciate the fortitude required to reach out to a prospect and initiate dialogue.

As long as the sales rep has conducted an appropriate level of due diligence on me and Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), I give them a listen.  (It is important to note I have little patience for the “smile and dial” methodology employed by some organizations when it comes to sales.)

This is why I am disappointed when I receive this type of response from a new business prospect:

Hi Marc, can you please unsubscribe me from future mailings and put me on your do not call list?

It is true this marketer’s message is polite and professional.  And each person absolutely has the right to make this type of request.

Yet, this person’s job is to drive demand for her organization – lead generation, account based marketing programs and sales enablement.

How does she think her company’s sales reps identify new business?  How should the thousands of contacts in her marketing automation and CRM databases react to her company’s Emails?

The inherent nature of B2B sales is intrusive.  Yet, when a rep is sincere, diligent, professional and best practices oriented, marketers should consider “tipping” by investing a few minutes of their time.

I have included below a brief clip from the movie Boiler Room I thought you’d enjoy.

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