Make your B2B Marketing Count

Nurture potential buyers before you engage

Steve Crepeau sent me a couple of funnel management articles this week. One simply posed a question (Do you know where your sales pipeline is?); but it's the other that I want to comment about

In asking "Who changed the sales funnel", he suggests that the market has changed, and I agree. Customers do much more homework before engaging with sales people now, and this is a great opportunity for Marketing to make a big difference.

Being on the list (positioned in category) is no longer enough. While you are positioning as a credible provider with valid opinions worth sharing, you also need to shape the buyers' concept. If you sell a product or service that is faster, slower, more expensive, less expensive, you need to build the case for this in the form of the customers' concept, rather than yours.

That is, use thought leadership to help potential buyers to believe they need a solution which is faster, slower, more expensive, less expensive before they discover that yours is. Otherwise, by the time they discover how yours is different, you've probably already lost the deal.

Our in-house team of writers are busier than ever writing content for clients because savvy marketers have realised that they need to offer valid opinions worth listening to, before they offer valid solutions worth buying.

But there's lots to do before you start writing, and that is the role of the sales and marketing plan. It should detail:

  • your objectives
  • the problem you are in the business of solving
  • who most has this problem (your target)
  • what best solves it (your product / service)
  • who can best uncover this problem (your channel)
  • how many need to become interested / troubled / clear / biased every week, month, quarter and year of your plan (your velocity)
  • how you will achieve this (your tactics), and
  • how you'll know how you're tracking (your measurement)

Without this clarity, then any fool can write you a few words. Great thought leadership is engaging (for sure), but also directional. Are you clear where are you trying to take your buyers from and to with each piece you build?


 

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Are you ready to get your Funnel flowing faster but don’t know how to make it happen?

This month, the MathMarketing blog will focus on DemandCon, the world’s first conference dedicated to managing the complete sales Funnel, from top to bottom. The blog will give you an insider’s guide to speaker presentations as well as access to special discount offers to the conference itself.

DemandCon provides world-class training from B2B experts who will teach you to successfully apply proven solutions to the challenges you face every day. To advance this knowledge, MathMarketing will host a Black Belt Funnel Plan Training Workshop at the end of the conference. In it, you will build a coherent plan incorporating advanced techniques and best practices for increasing revenue volume and velocity which will help you:

  • Manage your funnel more effectively;
  • Increase your marketing profitability; and
  • Improve your sales conversion rates.

The workshop is designed for marketing and sales professionals involved with lead and revenue generation who can use our special promotion code to receive a 15% discount on their registration.

Bonus offer:
If you are a marketer and you register for both DemandCon and the Black Belt Funnel Plan Workshop, you will receive one free workshop pass to invite a senior colleague from your sales team. Simply email Stephanie Jeanmougin at sjm@risingmedia.com after you have registered for both DemandCon and our workshop to receive your free workshop discount code to register your sales colleague.

Don’t wait, register for DemandCon now and learn how to turn your good business into a great one.

 


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