Download - Marketing, Sales, or Buyer Alignment

MAKING THE CHOICE:

MARKETING AND SALES ALIGNMENT

OR BUYER ALIGNMENT

https://youtu.be/OsQrBptivHQ

http://youtu.be/OsQrBptivHQ

http://youtu.be/OsQrBptivHQ

AGENDA

Introduction

Where are you in the Alignment Spectrum?

Potential Options for Alignment

Marketing & Sales or Buyer Focus?

Marketing & Sales Alignment

State of the Union

Best Practices

Buyer Journey Integration

Integrating the Buyer into Alignment

Building the Alignment Model

Charting the Buyer Alignment Course Forward

SETTING THE STAGE

Struggle to align processes, tools, approach

Who owns what?

Buyers are hijacking the sales process

Channels are multiplying faster and faster

Alignment is getting more elusive

ALIGNMENT CHOICE

Aligning marketing and sales?

Aligning with the buyer?

Keep the focus on ENGAGEMENT

Buyer Alignment Framework

Drive alignment within your marketing and sales teams from a buyer perspective

M S +B

Lean Growth

More with Less

Hidden Sales Cycle

Inconsistent Lead

Definition

Growth of Channels

Pressure on ROMI

Tight Budgets

WHERE ARE YOU IN THE ALIGNMENT SPECTRUM?

What is the current relationship?

Set Sales & Marketing Alignment

Goals

Integrate Buyer Focus for Optimal Alignment

87% of the terms sales & marketing use to

describe each other are negative.

Corporate Executive Board

Only 45% of companies have established a

company-wide definition of a sales-ready lead.

MarketingSherpa

Companies with strong sales & marketing alignment get 20%

annual revenue growth.

Aberdeen Group

Organizations that integrate sales and

marketing outperform those who do not by 25%

Sirius Decisions

ALIGNMENT BEST PRACTICE OPTIONS

SHARED DATABASE & SYSTEMS

ON DEMAND ACCESS TO ALL ASSETS

JOINT DEFINITION OF LEAD TYPES

REGULAR GROUP

MEETINGS

COMMON METRICS

DUAL BUDGET &

TARGET INPUT

JOINT DEFINITIOIN

OF LEAD TYPES

CMO & CSO

MEETINGS

INTEGRATE PROCESS

& SYSTEMS

Resource

Define

Communicate

WHERE IS YOUR ORGANIZATION?

Option Unaddressed Implementing In Place

On Demand Access to all Assets

Shared Database & Systems

Joint Definition of Lead Types

Common Metrics

Dual Budget & Target Input

Regular Group Meetings

Regular CMO & CSO Meetings

Process/System Integration:

Quick Assessment


PRODUCT PLANNING

PlanASSCESSING CUSTOMER

NEEDS

VALUE PROPOSITION

DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAM & CAMPAIGN

INPUT FROM SALES

DEVELOP JOINT

METRICS TargetANALYZE &

SELECT TOP TARGETS

INTERNAL LAUNCH -

PROGRAMS &

CAMPAIGNS

INTEGRATE ACTIVITIES

Message



Assessing Customer Needs

Product Planning – Dual Input

Value Proposition Development

Together

Program & Campaign Input from Sales

Internal Launch – Programs &

Campaigns

Analyze & Select Top Targets

Develop Joint Metrics

Integrate Activities:

Quick Assessment


PUBLISH & EMPHASIZE

JOINT METRICS

SHARE RESULTS:

INDIVIDUAL & JOINT

INCLUDE MARKETING

IN KEY ACCOUNT STRATEGY

FOCUS MARKETING:

FIELD, CORPORATE,

CHANNEL

CHIEF CUSTOMER

OR REVENUE OFFICER

TIE REWARDS

TO RESULTS

CHIEF CUSTOMER

OR REVENUE OFFICER

ENFORCE USE OF

SYSTEMS

INFLUENCE CULTURE

Review

Focus

Lead



Share results – individual & joint

Publish & emphasize metrics

Marketing Role in Key Account Strategy

Enforce use of systems

Split/Focus Marketing: – Field,

Corporate, Channel

Chief Customer or Revenue Officer

Tie rewards to results – both teams

Influence Culture:

Quick Assessment

KEY AREA: SLA FOR MARKETING & SALES

M A R K E T I N G T O S A L E S

Amount and quality of leads

delivered

# of Marketing Qualified Leads a

sales rep need to make quota

What % of sales opportunities will

marketing originate?

What % of sales opportunities will

marketing influence?

S A L E S T O M A R K E T I N G

Speed and depth of lead follow-up

How many call/email attempts should sales make for every lead

With X leads and Y hours / month, how many follow-up attempts should sales be able to complete per lead?

How much prospecting will sales do on their own?

KEY AREA – MUTUALLY DEFINE LEAD TYPES

Almost 75% of all leads are

never sales ready.

- Marketing Sherpa

Visitor Marketing Qualified

Lead (MQL)

Sales Accepted

Lead (SAL)

Sales Qualified

Lead (SQL) CLOSED DEAL

Nurture Lead

MARKETING METRICS TO CONSIDER

# of net new companies (key identified targets)

# of net new contacts (right role, not just anyone)

# of contacts being touched with a marketing message by week - net new contacts vs. those in nurture programs

# of inbound requests

# of people hitting a landing page, then jumping to corporate site for product/service info.

# of people originating at blog and jumping to site (product

pages, solution pages)

# of new sales meetings set from marketing lead generation

# of marketing leads moved to QUALIFED in sales pipeline

# of marketing leads moving to a proposal

# of marketing leads moved to close

MARKETING METRICS THAT DRIVE SALES

WHY BUYER ALIGNMENT?

BUYER FOCUS

STRATEGY

MARKETING

ALIGN

TACTICS

SALES

25% HIGHER

QUOTA ATTAINMENT

20% HIGHER

WIN RATES

5X

LESS DISCOUNTING

3X COMPETITIVE WIN RATE

THE INFLUENCE OF THE

HIDDEN SALES CYCLE

Source: The 2012 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey , Demand Gen Report

http://www.demandgenreport.com/industry-resources/research/1782-the-2012-b2b-buyer-behavior-survey.html

BUYER CONTACT TRENDS

POSES CHALLENGES FOR:

TARGETING

MESSAGING

CONTENT


BUYER TYPES CRITICAL TO

ALIGNMENT


TIMELINESS

RELEVANCE

CONTENT AMOUNT

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RECOMMENDATIONS



IMPLICATIONS FOR MARKETERS & SELLERS

Define buyer stages (not the same as sales stages)

Content at every stage, usable for building business case

Awareness & Education content is NOT enough

Later stage content for both

Buyer and Sales Team

Problem/Solution Focused,

not Feature/Benefit Focused

Train for Consultative Conversations,

not Presentations

Source: Opus #1 © 20089- 2010

Key Shared / Overlapping Areas

Role for Marketing throughout

the Sale & Beyond

How can Sales help here?

GETTING THE LAY OF THE LAND

Stage 1 – Marketing & Sales Alignment

Stage 2 – Integrating the Buyer

Stage 3 – Align Messaging & Content with Buyer Focus

Market

Assessment

Lead

Definition &

Qualification

(MQL)

Lead Gen &

Nurture

Customer

Retention

Programs

Customer

Relationship

Development

Lead Gen &

Opportunity

Development

Lead

Definition &

Qualification

(SQL)

Territory &

Account

Assessment

Marketing SalesBuyer Aligned

Buyer Personas

Joint Systems

(CRM, SFA)

Joint SLAs

Market &

Channel

Planning

Territory &

Account

Planning

Go-To Market Strategy

Key Accounts Strategy

Buyer Centric

Messaging

Buyer Centric

Enablement

Value

Proposition

Development

Value

Proposition

Development

Renewals

Account Penetration

Upsell / Cross Sell

ASSESS

SEGMENT

PLAN

MESSAGE

ENABLE

OPPORTUNITY

MANAGMENT

Prod/Serv

Training,

Playbooks

Sales

Process,

Methodology

& Skills

MESSAGING - 3 TYPES OF VALUE PROPOSITIONS

Benefits Driven

Alternative Driven

Customer Driven

FUNCTIONDoes this

And this

And this

BENEFIT

# 1

# 2

# 3

FEATURE

# 1

# 2

# 3

Make the Choice!

Get Input from Marketing, Sales,

Product/Service Lines

3 TYPES OF VALUE PROPOSITIONS

Benefits

Driven

Alternatives

Driven

Customer

Driven

Includes All benefits of your

product

Differentiators

versus next best

alternatives

Points that deliver the

most customer-defined

value

Answers Why should I buy

your product?

Why should I buy

your product

instead of

competitor’s?

What is most important

for me to consider in

making a decision?

Requires Product

Knowledge

Product and

competitor

knowledge

Product, competitor, and

customer knowledge

Issue Benefit

assumptions

Value assumptions Depends on customer

research

Shift the Question and Have the

Conversation the BUYER Needs

to Have

MAKING VALUE DRIVER CHOICES

AnalysisRegulationsChallengesObjectives

NegotiationValidationEducationJustification

Tune Messaging to the Buyers’ Drivers

CONTENT TYPES BY BUYER STAGE

General Education

ProductService Info

Industry White Paper

Seminar / Webinar

Interactive Topical Games

Analyst Magic Quadrants

Business Case

Solution Whitepaper

Case Studies

Seminar / Webinar

Social Media

Case Studies

Evaluation

Product Service Review

Technical White Papers

Demo / Trial

Analyst Reports & Reviews

Assessment Tools

Shortlist

Buying Guide

Competitive Comparisons

VideoTestimonials

Action Oriented

Check Lists

Decision

Customer References

ROI Calculators

Pricing Models

ProposalPresentation

CONTENT SELECTION DRIVES

BUYER & SELLER CONVERSATION

FINAL THOUGHTS

Get your Marketing & Sales house in order- Solidify and communicate Lead Definitions

- Ensure systems are available and usable by both teams

- Develop SLA for Marketing & Sales people to commit to

Then Integrate Buyer Focus into Alignment

Foundation- Account Planning

- Messaging – by Buyer Type, Industry, Title

- Turn Sales Training into Buyer Enablement Training

KNOWLEDGENCE OFFER360 Degrees of the Customer

Strategies & Tactics for Marketing, Sales and

Service

By Lisa Dennis, Charles Dennis and Lori

Richardson

Marketing, Sales and Customer Service are three

disciplines that all overlap at the same point: the

customer. All customer touch points should be

integrated with each other, a theory that makes perfect

sense in the abstract, but is hard to do in the

reality. Presents strategies & tactics to keep the

customer promise.

Price: $19.00

Go to:

http://www.knowledgence.com/Ondemand.htm

Available Today!

Thank

you

very

much

Companies I've worked with: