SalesVPI

Sales Guy Gets Lead Management

Over the last year I've realized a personal epiphany about lead management using marketing automation for companies of all sizes, even smaller companies.

As a long time seller I've always felt confident of my ability to sell my way to business success.

In the last few years the world has moved from the rhetoric of the internet to the reality of the internet.

Let's look at three changes this new web reality and the availability of marketing automation impacts:

• Selling Scope
• Buyer Behavior
• Competitive Realities

Selling Scope

The web has expanded target markets, even for smaller companies. The reach provided by phone and web communications makes it practical for businesses to expand targets beyond a regional focus previously served by in person meetings as a primary selling method, to national and even international markets.

Along with geographical expansion comes vertical market expansion. This means businesses are now communicating with more and different buyers than ever before.

Buyer Behavior

With this has come a shift in how B2B customers buy. The internet provides access to most of the information buyers need to start their buying process. This means they often operate in stealth mode from vendors far into their buying process.

This raises a significant challenge of finding appropriate prospects, or even being found by new buyers investigating solutions to new business problems.

Previously, buyers viewed sales reps as the access to important ideas and buying information. Today, that is much less the perception. How often do we hear, "I'm not ready to talk to a sales person yet," translated, "I'm not yet ready to buy, to give you an order."

Competitive Realities

While only about 10% of business-to-business sellers have implemented marketing automation to support defined lead management programs, it is clear to those following the results of these initiatives that this is a real game changer.

Lead management programs, supported by good content and marketing automation, fill the top end of the selling funnel more effectively and efficiently than ever before.

Ultimately, they will enable the complete shift of the B2B sales professional from "hunter" to trusted advisor, by providing the time and interested prospects for sales people to engage and support.

Said negatively, those who fail to embrace and effectively implement lead management programs will miss opportunities, discover potential opportunities too late, experience diminished brand, and realize in-efficient selling that will put them at a significant competitive disadvantage.

Is Your B2B Marketing Helping or Undermining your Sales Organization?

B2B marketing organizations may be unintentionally undermining the credibility and effectiveness of their expensive and important direct sales professionals.

I'm talking about the "ICBM approach" of launching content over the heads of the sales organization directly to customers and prospects with whom sales people are actively engaged.

If a company has a direct sales force, and marketing is allowed to operate this way, it is unproductive and dangerous.

What message does this send?

1) We (marketing) are not aligned with sales
2) We don't really care what sales are up to
3) We know what the customer wants better than the sales person does
4) We don't trust sales to deliver our messages

I don't care for military analogies but this seems relevant: in previous wars, bombing campaigns were conducted primarily by dropping large numbers of dumb bombs from aircraft. This method accomplished some objectives, but was not precise and produced a lot of collateral damage. Modern warfare has used laser-guided missiles to more surgically attack precise targets with minimal collateral damage. The missiles are often guided by a soldier on the ground with a laser pointed at the target.

When marketing organizations prepare content so it can be easily selected and even tailored for individual customers, and delivered using the customer's preferred method by the sales professional, everyone wins.

Marketing controls the message, brand, and content while optimizing the impact on customers. Sales professionals use the content to create value for the customer. This improves the sales person's brand and image as a valuable resource for the customer and sets the groundwork for becoming a real (trusted) advisor. The customer experiences relevant content, delivered conveniently and at the right time, and an appreciation of the service provided by the sales professional.

This isn't hard to do. But it does require a different mindset and operating process on the part of marketing. Given the direct investment companies make in the their sales organization, and the amount of business they expect those resources to produce, at lot is at stake.

If marketing can accomplish the business revenue objectives going directly to the customer, they should, and the direct selling organization should be disbanded. But if a direct selling organization is required, marketing should help maximize the effectiveness of this expensive resource, and consider how any direct campaign will affect this objective.