In my first post on sales and marketing alignment, I shared a demand generation alignment checklist I’ve created and have continually refined over many years of marketing with many high-growth software companies.
Here, I’ll dive into the first two items of the checklist:
Get marketing ready by understanding the buyer persona, the buying cycle, and the competitive landscape. And make sure you know the differences by region and distribution channel. Interviewing the sales team (sales reps, SEs, etc.) and answering sales calls helps greatly. Also, interview partners and customers, including ones who have just bought. This process can take months and be quite formal, but you can get started quick ‘n dirty in days. The bottom line is this: marketing can’t play an effective alignment role unless they understand and help create a structure for the buying process.
Create a Marketing Qualified LEAD (MQL) definition. Not all leads are the same. Marketing creates leads in many ways –email campaigns, the website, webinars, trade shows, etc. An MQL is a lead that marketing has qualified and is passing to sales as having a high probability of converting to a Sales Opportunity. But, defining an MQL may not be nearly as simple as it seems. It requires understanding the maturity stage for each of your products and then educating and getting the revenue team’s agreement on the type of lead that best maps to that product stage. It also requires mapping leads to target geographic regions, company size, prospect job roles, etc.
You’ll need some patience here – both in understanding the MQL concept and getting agreement. The lead definition concepts are new to most people, and they’ll need time and education to overcome historical biases.
Check out Sirius Decisions’ research on Demand Types. They’ve been thought leaders in this area for years and have excellent reports. I’ve successfully used their research and analysts to help educate and select the proper lead definitions for my company’s products.
Historically, sales teams want BANT (Budget – Authority – Need – Timeframe) leads. And what salesperson wouldn’t? However, BANT leads work best in replacement markets (think toner, paper, office furniture, and other commodity-like products), where buyers already have the product, have the budget to buy more, and often buy on price or convenience. However, the replacement market is a tough one, and most companies don’t want their products in this category.
Fortunately, most software products fall into the New Paradigm category, where the product performs a function differently and hopefully better than previous solutions. But, because it’s a new approach, waiting until the buyer has BANT is not a good idea. Wait that long, and competitors have likely guided them to that point, and you’re just sales fodder. New Paradigm leads map better to prospects with Need and Interest. Sales reps may resist, but Sirius Decisions research shows that in this market, you’ll get more leads if you focus on Need and Interest, and that opportunities will close at a higher rate and for more money than waiting for BANT leads.
The third type of software product market is the New Concept. New Concept products address a problem that most buyers must be aware of. Wait around for BANT or even Need and Interest in this market, and your sales team will have lots of free time. You want to find people in specific target markets who can sponsor change for New Concept products.
If you’re unsure of what category a product falls under, take a quick survey of sales reps and other members of the revenue team to clarify key questions in the buying process.
A note of caution: if you have multiple product lines, they could fall into different market categories. Training teams to qualify one product on BANT and another on Interest and Need, for example, is difficult, but it’s necessary.
Once you identify the correct lead definition, you must educate and convince the sales team. Marketing can carry most of the education load, but sales management must take ownership of the convincing. It will take group and individual discussions and then monitoring to ensure compliance.
About the author: Jeff Whitney is a B2B software marketing executive with extensive experience – from early-stage start-ups to achieving marketing equity. Jeff has a passion for building a world-class marketing function, starting with the organization, demand generation programs, sales enablement tools, and aligning sales and marketing.
After years of cold-calling and prospecting, your sales team is now (or soon to be) receiving inbound leads for the first time. The question is, are they ready? In our experience, most sales teams are not; they ignore the key differences between inbound (warm) leads and traditional (cold) leads – and in doing so, squander countless opportunities.
Read on to find tips to help you and your sales team avoid these mistakes.
Tip #1: Adjust your sales pitch
When making cold-calls, the salesperson has a lot of ground to cover. They’ve got to make it through the “survival stage” – introduce themselves, the company, its products & services; they have to understand the prospect’s pain points and gauge their level of interest – ideally, before they hang up the phone (or delete the email). With inbound leads, this conversation has already taken place by the time you contact them.
If done effectively, the inbound leads will already know the basics about your company. They will know about your services and products. More importantly, you will already have a good idea of their level of interest, depending on their conversion point(s). So, the conversation (or email thread) should focus on providing additional information; to answer their remaining questions and move toward closing the business. The salesperson will be able to quickly position themselves as a trusted advisor based on the useful content that has already been seen by the downloader.
Tip #2: Know the offers
Most sales teams are more than happy to receive an influx of inbound leads, but if they don’t know where the leads are coming from – and what the prospects are interested in – the conversations will be shallow, short and unproductive.
If you’re generating leads from whitepapers, eBooks, and webinars, your sales team must also be familiar with these materials. Often, the marketing team will create a new piece of content and distribute it internally, via email as a “heads up.”
We suggest administering a short quiz on the contents and then letting the sales person follow up on these leads after they’ve passed the quiz. This is tough love, but it will ensure the salesperson can have an intelligent conversation with the prospect.
Tip #3: Know their behavior
If your company is leveraging inbound marketing, there’s a very good chance that you’re collecting and analyzing data on user behavior. So before your sales team reaches out to an inbound lead, make sure they can answer some basic questions. What steps did the prospect go through as they converted to a lead? What offer did they convert on? What other pages were viewed on your website, and for how long? How should I approach this conversation? Have a tip ready to give to a prospect based on the information they are downloading.
A little research upfront on the part of the sales team will save them a great deal of time down the road, which brings us to our next pointer.
Tip #4: Prioritize
Not all inbound leads are created equal. A lone whitepaper download will be lower on the inbound totem pole than, say, a “request a demo” conversion, which shows more legitimacy of a prospect.
While your sales team should be following up with all leads, it goes without saying that they should spend more of their time on the leads who have expressed more interest in the product or service. Inbound leads are not “beggars” anymore; they are “choosers”.
Tip #5: Give it time
A typical sales team will hit the ground running with outbound leads, calling and contacting leads almost immediately. With inbound leads, however, they need to take their time (in more ways than one). For example, when a prospect downloads a whitepaper, don’t call them immediately – they probably haven’t even opened the document yet! Instead, set a reminder to contact them, depending on the nature of the lead.
A pricing inquiry, for example, should get an immediate response.
Give them at least a day for a whitepaper or case study download. Don’t be too eager.
These are just a few quick tips on enabling your sales team to excel in an inbound marketing environment.
For a more in-depth look at how you can get your sales team ready for inbound business, reach out to us!
I recently hiked two 4,000-foot peaks in the White Mountains. This may not seem like a big deal to many – unless you’re afraid of heights like I am.
Regardless, I decided to join in on a trip to the White Mountains, thinking, “How difficult could this be”? I learned there’s a big difference between walking or running seven miles and hiking seven miles!
Call it blind faith or dumb luck, but we made it there and back – and learned a few things along the way.
Lesson 5: Celebrate Your Wins
When we reached the top of the first peak, a fellow hiker opened his backpack and cracked open a bottle of Moet champagne. Although he had been through these mountains many times before, he realized that for many of us, this was our first time. We raised a glass and celebrated our first victory as we moved cautiously downhill to the second peak.
Lesson 6: If you’re Not Prepared, Improvise
Ignorance is bliss, and traveling with experienced hikers is the way to go. In retrospect, I probably could have been more prepared for the “simple seven-mile hike in the White Mountains”, but we improvised along the way. My fleece jacket became a towel after a while (we were thoroughly drenched from start to finish). I borrowed two walking sticks from another hiker (he had brought an extra pair). The phrase “tree hugger” took on a new meaning as I grabbed every branch in sight and slid down a 45-foot incline.
Lesson 7: When in Doubt, Keep Going
Throughout the day, turning back never occurred to me; in retrospect, we only stopped twice. Some of my fellow hikers sometimes questioned daylight availability and argued about which paths to take. I was a bit nervous when the compasses came out, but we appeared to stay on course. There was a critical point where we might have retreated and called it a day – the point of no return, but we didn’t.
Lesson 8: Never Underestimate How Long Things Take
The guidebooks estimated that our trip should be completed (under normal conditions) in six hours, and it took us nine hours. When we started, we didn’t understand all the variables that would affect our progress: fog, rain, slippery terrain, eroded trails, and slower hikers. When we returned, our friends were about to contact the state police to report us missing. Would we do it again? Sure. And this time, we’re so much wiser!
Which of these lessons sound familiar to you? We’d like to hear what you think!
I recently hiked two 4,000-foot peaks in the White Mountains. This may not seem like a big deal to many – unless you’re afraid of heights like I am. Regardless, I decided to join in on a trip to the White Mountains, thinking, “How difficult could this be”?
I learned there’s a big difference between walking or running seven miles and hiking seven miles!
Call it blind faith or dumb luck, but we made it there and back – and learned a few things along the way.
Lesson 1: Start with a Committed (and Experienced) Team
I knew that I would be with hikers who were more experienced than I was – one of our companions was looking to complete his list of “4,000’ Peaks Climbed”. In fact, the reason that I had signed up for this hike was to join a friend of mine – a nice way to spend a Saturday, right? When we arrived at the trailhead, it was cold, damp, foggy and rainy. Two of our members (including my friend) opted to stay back and enjoy a warm fire and lunch and drinks at a nearby restaurant. I decided to continue on and do the hike with 6 other strangers. After all, it was only seven miles, the rain had stopped and I figured we’d be home before dinner.
Lesson 2: Be Ready for the Pitfalls
Each hiker shared thoughts about the upcoming adventure as we prepared for our journey. The experienced hikers talked about routes, rain, wind, and fog. The novices (like me) talked about bathroom facilities, warm clothes, and lunch. We were all anxious to get started. Little did we know what was ahead of us. John Assaraf of “The Secret” fame describes the road to achievement and self-development much like driving a car in the dark: you may not be able to see what lies beyond the range of your headlights, but as you come closer, you can see more clearly. We were ready.
Lesson 3: Take Things as They Come
We planned to cover two 4,000 foot peaks in the White Mountains: Mt. Osceola and its counterpart, East Osceola. We scaled the first peak and forged ahead. Stepping over rocks and trying to stay on eroded paths, we encountered unpredictable trail conditions. At each turn and elevation, the terrain presented a new challenge (especially for the novices in the group, like me), and we plodded along, chattering the entire way. I noticed that when the chatter stopped, the terrain became more treacherous – a sign that we needed to pay more attention to what was ahead.
Lesson 4: Find Your Own Pace
The hiking group included novice and seasoned hikers alike. As time went on, the more seasoned hikers trudged ahead of the rest of the group, acting like scouts who returned to report what was ahead. It was not unusual for others in the group to drop back and wait for those of us who moved more slowly across the challenging terrain. We developed a kind of rhythm throughout the day, with smaller groups moving together, each at our own pace.
Have you conquered a challenge and applied it to business? What sort of business lessons have you learned?
We originally posted this Healthy Business Checklist in 2008.
The checklist items are still valid over three years later, but there are a few significant adjustments…
1. Keep Your Plans Current
In 2008, we talked about taking a look at your sales funnel, and closely examining whether or not it needs adjustment.
Have customers put off purchasing until this year? Have any of your prospects indicated a significant shift in their business? What’s the current buyer behavior and has it changed? How/are you reaching your prospects and customers along the way? Are your sales, management and operations plans up to date?
The goal here is to settle on a planning method that works for you. It can be a formal mechanism (like a strategic planning initiative), or an approach to managing a particular piece of your business (like a faltering product line or an emerging new partnership). Need some thoughtstarters to get going? No matter the approach, take a fresh look.
2. A ‘We Rise And Fall Together’ Culture
In 2008, we wrote: “It’s often true that there’s safety in numbers, so encourage your team and the rest of the organization to look at positive, thoughtful ways to get handle the current economic climate. Engage the organization to work together with a team challenge, for example, to come up with five new ways to improve productivity.”
In this blog, Sam Fiorella of Sensei Marketing says, “My biggest wish for marketing in 2012 would be for marketers to have the courage to link the social media activities they are funded to deliver to the business’s bottom line: profit.”
With the widespread use and availability of social media business tools in 2012, you can’t help but find ways to improve productivity and work together toward a common goal.
3. Reach Out And Touch Someone
Shifts in global economic and business markets are often a great conversation starter. Over the past several weeks of this new year, I’ve received calls, emails, and tweets from vendors, clients, and clients who were “just checking in” to see how my business was running.
It’s always wise to keep communications open with prospects and clients in good times and in challenging ones. All it takes is a bit of discipline to get in the habit of checking in.
4. One Person’s Trash Is Another Person’s Treasure
I’ve often heard this saying regarding garage sales, which can also apply to your business.
Look for competitors who may abandon market segments where you can fill a need. Then, take another look at customers that may be underserved. Where in their lifecycle are your products and services? Can you reposition your products or services in a new or different way to appeal to a new/similar/extended audience?
5. Leading Change = Leading By Example
In 2008, we used examples from an interview with Fred Hassan, former CEO of Shering-Plough, about transforming an organization and leading by example – a year before Shering-Plough was merged with Merck & Co.
Today, lots of the same leadership qualities still hold true – and leading change means leading by example. Mike Myatt states it nicely: leadership is pursuit.
“Smart leaders understand it’s not just enough to pursue, but pursuit must be intentional, focused, consistent, aggressive, and unyielding.”
Mike Myatt
Now is a good time to lead change in your organization that can have a long-lasting impact.
