tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57614781081683082762024-03-19T08:45:41.198-05:00Technology | Media | Telecommunications - David H. Deans, GeoActive GroupDavid H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-11502616708041411532024-03-18T07:05:00.029-05:002024-03-19T08:45:09.890-05:00Lessons Learned from Go-to-Market Pioneers<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1DFcjMTPHa-PtRyNmGJfhqI0j0M0NwWft527eogrFMlBx99703yOPy7BufqzVTL1VD6e5EtT7hXiCeOM3XkGho4Aq_I0ynGBcn4AxAlmMqXxAjlDbjCgf0ve030WU-K_pQYFwTSM8VMBLks4_bqQoxI4PKqglO6vXSRA6lPtkMt4C48GDuOtpOOeBbI/s1024/Sales%20and%20Marketing%20GTM%20Pioneers.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1DFcjMTPHa-PtRyNmGJfhqI0j0M0NwWft527eogrFMlBx99703yOPy7BufqzVTL1VD6e5EtT7hXiCeOM3XkGho4Aq_I0ynGBcn4AxAlmMqXxAjlDbjCgf0ve030WU-K_pQYFwTSM8VMBLks4_bqQoxI4PKqglO6vXSRA6lPtkMt4C48GDuOtpOOeBbI/s320/Sales%20and%20Marketing%20GTM%20Pioneers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Are you prepared to compete in the GenAI-powered, omnichannel future?<p></p><p>For senior leaders steering their teams through today's turbulent economy, a harrowing question looms: Are we doing everything required to master B2B sales excellence before <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/services/b2b-saas-go-to-market/ai-prompt-engineer/generative-ai" target="_blank">Generative AI</a> (GenAI) disrupts our strategies?</p><p>New research from McKinsey reveals sobering realities about the modern sales capabilities separating global organizations. GenAI breakthroughs have created profound changes to how B2B companies must engage buyers through hyper-personalized and intelligent customer experiences.</p><p>Make no mistake, this disruption demands thoughtful planning and bold actions to transform people, processes, and technologies.</p><p>McKinsey's latest global B2B Go-to-Market (GTM) survey provides valuable insights into the inevitable change. They reveal five key tactics outperforming companies are leveraging together for significant market share gains:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Deploying Advanced Sales Technology Tools</li><li>Delivering Hyper-Personalized Marketing</li><li>Increasing Hybrid Sales Capabilities</li><li>Optimizing Third-Party Marketplace Strategies</li><li>Investing in Owned Online B2B Marketplaces</li></ol><p></p><p>These five tactics are being embraced by Tech and Telecom GTM leaders more aggressively than in most other B2B sectors. For example, 75 percent of tech/telecom market share pioneers have adopted advanced sales tools compared to only 43 percent of laggards. Hyper-personalized marketing is utilized by 62 percent of pioneers versus just 31 percent of laggards.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Emergence of Omnichannel Excellence</h3><p>What separates the market leaders, however, is their recognition that mastering just one or two of these modern sales and marketing GTM approaches is no longer enough. Rather, sustainable competitive advantage requires pursuing omnichannel excellence across all five fronts simultaneously.</p><p>McKinsey survey data clearly demonstrates the powerful "multiplier effect" achieved when companies optimize their capabilities across this entire spectrum of advanced B2B GTM motions. Companies proficient at all five tactics are twice as likely to be growing market share by over 10 percent annually compared to those focused on just one area.</p><p>Other key findings point to omnichannel as the new imperative:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Two-thirds of B2B buyers are now prepared to spend over $500K in a single eCommerce transaction.</li><li>70 percent of tech/telecom companies increased eCommerce budgets in the past year.</li><li>73 percent believe their sales model is more effective at reaching customers compared to a year ago.</li><li>Market share winners are 3x more likely to have built their own online marketplace.</li></ul><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Overcoming Barriers to Omnichannel Success</h3><p>While many Tech and Telecom companies are already adopting these modern selling practices, significant barriers remain. Customer confusion from channel conflicts, lack of IT development resources, inadequate pricing strategies, and talent gaps were cited as major obstacles to accelerating digital selling motions.</p><p><b>The Future Impact of Generative AI Tools</b></p><p>As formidable as these challenges may seem, a new generation of GenAI tools promises to be a powerful catalyst for achieving true omnichannel excellence at scale. While the full potential of Large Language Model (LLM) technologies is still being realized, they are already demonstrating remarkable capabilities across several key fronts:</p><p><b>Hyper-Personalized Engagement at Scale</b></p><p>By training LLMs on vast datasets of customer interactions, preferences, and behavioral patterns, GenAI can dynamically create highly personalized content and experiences for each unique buyer at any point in their journey. Digital ad copy, website experiences, sales emails, chat dialogues, and more can all be instantly tailored and optimized.</p><p><b>Intelligent Hybrid Selling Capabilities</b></p><p>GenAI-powered virtual assistants and chatbots can seamlessly transition between self-service and human-assisted selling motions. Conversations and context can be dynamically handed off between virtual and human agents. Sales reps are upskilled with real-time battle cards, next-best-action recommendations, and other augmented insights.</p><p><b>Advanced Marketplace Technologies</b></p><p>For vendors or service providers building their own digital marketplaces, GenAI can enhance merchandising with powerful recommendation engines, automated product tagging and descriptions, and modern search or navigation capabilities. GenAI can optimize marketplace economics through dynamic pricing, supply vs demand forecasting, and more.</p><p><b>Rapid Innovation and Experimentation</b></p><p>Perhaps the biggest opportunity for GenAI is streamlining innovation cycles. These tools can rapidly ideate new products, go-to-market strategies, and business models. New channels, campaigns, and sales plays can be launched and iterated at high speeds by leveraging the GenAI ability to generate text, images, code, and other digital content assets on-demand.</p><p>Overall, GenAI has the potential to accelerate companies' progress in mastering all five of the modern sales tactics that McKinsey identified as critical differentiators for market leaders.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Time to Prepare is Now</h3><p>While GenAI is still in its infancy, companies that move swiftly to explore its possibilities and build foundational artificial intelligence capabilities will be well-positioned to pull ahead of competitors. Those who delay will likely struggle to catch up with their industry pioneers.</p><p>Senior business leaders would be wise to make GenAI exploration, education, and initial use cases a top priority in the coming months. A strategic roadmap for infusing GenAI into sales, marketing, and customer success teams will be essential for remaining competitive as these technologies rapidly advance.</p><p>Now is the time to commence change management initiatives to:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Build organizational GenAI literacy through training programs.</li><li>Conduct audits to identify high-impact GenAI use cases.</li><li>Initiate proofs-of-concept with leading GenAI providers.</li><li>Attract and cultivate AI/ML talent and centralized COEs.</li><li>Define ethics, governance, and risk management frameworks.</li><li>Prioritize data readiness to fuel GenAI and LLM development.</li></ul><p></p><p>While the GenAI adoption movement is still in its earliest stages, it's already clear that these tools will fundamentally reshape B2B buying and selling paradigms. Forward-thinking leaders must move expeditiously to understand GenAI's disruptive potential and build the skills and capabilities required to maintain competitive advantages in the <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/about-us/global-networked-economy" target="_blank">Global Networked Economy</a>.</p><p>For those ready to embark on this journey, seeking expert guidance and lessons learned insights will be critical first steps. GenAI is poised to transform B2B sales and marketing. Leaders postponing their transformation initiatives risk being disrupted by the innovators. Don't wait, act now.</p><p><b>Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" target="_blank">Contact us</a></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-48744673546086014432024-02-03T11:25:00.008-06:002024-02-04T09:02:47.543-06:00The Power of GenAI to Transform B2B Sales<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP1o_EDk573Q9dpfAzfUEHR-TVzXUzaZ8OqHj1syGTdKqqO1QMYOWHkHww3zDDtPPHZRLJ37tqRF5tmyqA3mbUywN177O2lzyhGkeb3wFZeILUOjIJR4cpUtzjtKAQSw2qJ_1PwTh6-fJ4-NExAYLOvlt0qg1t1a-UsnFK_IFpHAngAEuprcE0NBkFgc/s1075/GenAI-Sales-Transformation.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1075" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP1o_EDk573Q9dpfAzfUEHR-TVzXUzaZ8OqHj1syGTdKqqO1QMYOWHkHww3zDDtPPHZRLJ37tqRF5tmyqA3mbUywN177O2lzyhGkeb3wFZeILUOjIJR4cpUtzjtKAQSw2qJ_1PwTh6-fJ4-NExAYLOvlt0qg1t1a-UsnFK_IFpHAngAEuprcE0NBkFgc/w320-h214/GenAI-Sales-Transformation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The rapid pace of advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies over the past decade has been astonishing.<p></p><p>From beating humans at complex strategy games like Go to churning out remarkably human-like conversational text, AI abilities are approaching a stage where machine cognition looks increasingly comparable to our own.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Generative AI Takes Center Stage</h3><p><a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/services/b2b-saas-go-to-market/ai-prompt-engineer/generative-ai" target="_blank">Generative AI</a> (GenAI) represents the leading edge of this advance, with models like DALL-E for image generation and GPT for natural language tasks exhibiting creativity, insight, and judgment conspicuously reminiscent of human practitioner competencies.</p><p>GenAI offers transformational potential across industries, but few stand to benefit more profoundly than B2B sales teams aiming to improve productivity, gain insights, and boost revenue growth.</p><p>As a B2B management consultant focused on business technology strategy, I’ve been closely tracking GenAI's capabilities as they relate to enhancing enterprise performance.</p><p>A new in-depth market study from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) provides compelling evidence that GenAI will bring exponential value to B2B sales organizations in three key areas:</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Augmenting Sales Team Capabilities</b></h3><p>The most immediate opportunity is to use GenAI to augment human sales reps by automating tedious administrative tasks. As the report shows, off-the-shelf GenAI assistants integrated into CRM platforms can readily:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Generate call summaries, freeing up time for customer-facing interactions.</li><li>Prepare insightful briefings to support customer conversations.</li><li>Maintain meticulous CRM data hygiene to keep records current.</li></ul><p></p><p>With GenAI seller personas handling time-consuming sales support work, human sales reps gain back hours every week for high-value selling interactions. Boosting productivity directly correlates with increased deal flow, larger contract sizes, and greater commission earnings.</p><p>Contrary to fears that AI will replace jobs, GenAI aims to empower B2B sales employees. BCG found that 66 percent of sales reps believe GenAI will make them more productive.</p><p>Moreover, savvy B2B sellers who embrace rather than resist upskilling and retooling to utilize GenAI will propel their careers to new heights.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Streamlining Workflows</b></h3><p>Within a year or two, I anticipate that GenAI adoption will shift from augmenting sales reps to transforming routine workflows across sales teams.</p><p>By reimagining processes that touch multiple systems, groups, and customer touchpoints, GenAI can execute intricate workflows from end-to-end far faster and more accurately than cobbling together disparate solutions.</p><p><b>Workflow innovations BCG identified as holding great promise include:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Dramatically expediting lengthy configure-price-quote processes to get deals done quicker.</li><li>Qualifying leads instantly at scale to route hot prospects to closers rapidly.</li><li>Responding to complex RFPs comprehensively to drive more and better bids.</li></ul><p></p><p>As one pioneering BCG client experienced, reinventing B2B sales workflows can increase RFP response volume by 60 percent without growing the bid team.</p><p>Bold and brave reengineering with GenAI boosts revenue markedly while keeping staffing lean. Adopting this key change can create an immediate and sustainable competitive advantage.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Scaling Impact Enterprise-Wide </h3><p>Looking five years out, BCG foresees GenAI permeating the marketing-sales-service lifecycle. GenAI personas engage customers conversationally at each touchpoint, seamlessly progress opportunities, anticipate needs, and promote loyalty. </p><p>Sophisticated models like Anthropic’s Claude draw on massive datasets covering company products, previous interactions across channels, market events, CRM records, and more to deliver eerily insightful dialogue.</p><p>They enable responding contextually to customers in-the-moment in highly individualized ways no manual approach can match.</p><p>With infinitely scalable GenAI handling messaging, outreach, and Relationship Intelligence across the enterprise, human employees focus squarely on high-level strategy, creative messaging, and building meaningful customer experience (CX) connections. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Embrace Exponential Change or Face Irrelevance</h3><p>The rapid pace of GenAI's progress demands equally dynamic adaptation from B2B sales leadership and their frontline organizations. </p><p>With capabilities advancing exponentially year after year, companies that hesitate and implement gradually risk being left hopelessly behind. </p><p>Sales leaders must radically rethink outdated assumptions, processes, and structures in their go-to-market (GTM) strategies.</p><p>Building separate GenAI functions rather than integrating artificial intelligence throughout sales workflow risks walling off the transformative power of these tools. </p><p>Likewise, failing to develop sophisticated in-house GenAI platforms tailored to company offerings and linked to enterprise data risks ceding strategic advantage to more technologically adept competitors. </p><p>Resisting moves like deploying GenAI personas as core B2B sales team members due to fear of the unknown could severely handicap revenue growth.</p><p>In short, B2B marketing and sales must wholeheartedly embrace emerging GenAI capabilities as an integral part of competitive strategy and revenue operations (RevOps).</p><p>Enterprise sales leaders who delay risk irrelevance. In contrast, fearless pioneers who harness GenAI's exponential power stand to dominate markets.</p><p>I believe the time for timid half-measures is over - the GenAI-empowered sales revolution has begun. Are you prepared to join this transformation?</p><p><b style="background-color: white; color: #3e3b3e; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 20px;">Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" style="background: transparent; color: #004b96; cursor: pointer; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-76887539859843078552023-08-22T11:47:00.008-05:002023-11-30T07:44:05.788-06:00The Unification of Buyer and Sales Enablement<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVOCUW9iEFlOVn8TvbavQGcU5lrxIGrl-Ds1QwvjxlWGV3WTLbIWz1IWhFZPW0JfBzoXcdWak7NpCbSAZw3lXUSRuw6ahVN2T28l8vYnjLrBEAb3lb4FdKqQQHzd7P-y6OyB1muWy7DL3gXWt_QeQUK3CZfn5TM6lwRHmItG5x23Lp4YUzjXWok5dh6Y/s1096/GTM-reset-thinking.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1096" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVOCUW9iEFlOVn8TvbavQGcU5lrxIGrl-Ds1QwvjxlWGV3WTLbIWz1IWhFZPW0JfBzoXcdWak7NpCbSAZw3lXUSRuw6ahVN2T28l8vYnjLrBEAb3lb4FdKqQQHzd7P-y6OyB1muWy7DL3gXWt_QeQUK3CZfn5TM6lwRHmItG5x23Lp4YUzjXWok5dh6Y/s320/GTM-reset-thinking.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I’m now anticipating a radical reset of the legacy IT vendor go-to-market mindset for B2B SaaS.<p></p><p>Why? A recent survey by Gartner found that 60 percent of buyers involved in decisions to renew or expand “as-a-service” agreements regret nearly every purchase they make.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Evolving Landscape of Procurement</h3><p>In the world of B2B SaaS procurement, the traditional dynamics between buyers and IT vendors are undergoing a significant transformation. Today, buyers are no longer passive recipients of sales pitches. They conduct SaaS solution assessment through self-directed online research.</p><p>It’s why vendors need a unified approach that combines Buyer Enablement and Sales Enablement — an approach that recognizes the intrinsic connection between these two critical <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/services/b2b-saas-go-to-market" target="_blank">go-to-market skill sets</a>.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Power of Buyer Enablement</h3><p>Buyer Enablement, while often overlooked, has become an essential part of the modern business technology buying process. Teams of buyers now demand empowerment in their purchasing journey, seeking access to information and tools that enable informed decisions.</p><p>The initial stages of this journey involve independent online research, where buyers aim to align their choices with desired business outcomes. To meet these expectations, IT vendors must provide easily accessible online resources — such as buying guides, case studies, and business case development tools that empower buyers to navigate their options autonomously.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Redesign of Sales Enablement</h3><p>The evolution of buyer behavior also demands a major transformation in Sales Enablement. Traditional sales tactics, such as cold calls and bland product pitches, are losing their efficacy in the face of informed buyers. Instead, sales teams must be skilled in meaningful Value Creation.</p><p>Buyers engage with vendor sales teams only after conducting preliminary research, seeking expertise and helpful advice. This shift emphasizes the importance of building credible rapport.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Business Case for Unification</h3><p>The required synergy between Buyer Enablement and Sales Enablement is undeniable. To ensure a transition from the buyer's independent research phase to engaging with sales, vendors must align these efforts.</p><p>This collaboration will create a holistic approach, where sales teams are armed with insights into the buyer's preferences, needs, and challenges, allowing them to personalize their approach and build more meaningful customer connections.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">A Holistic Approach to Content Creation</h3><p>Integral to this unified approach is a holistic vendor content development strategy. Rather than isolating marketing and sales content, organizations must develop unified strategies that cater to both informed buyers and appropriately skilled sales teams.</p><p>Comprehensive guides become tools to help buyers navigate their options, while also assisting sales teams in positioning their solutions more effectively. Interactive tools and personalized content can enhance the buyer's journey, enabling customization based on unique needs.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Role of Technology in Unification</h3><p>The vendor’s frontline technology stack serves as the linchpin of the fusion between Buyer Enablement and Sales Enablement. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, analytics tools, and <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/services/b2b-saas-go-to-market/ai-prompt-engineer/generative-ai" target="_blank">Generative AI</a> enabled insights offer a deeper understanding of buyer behaviors, preferences, and pain points.</p><p>This business environmental knowledge empowers sales teams to engage buyers on a more personal level. Additionally, automation and AI-driven chatbots can enhance the buyer's journey, delivering instant answers and facilitating helpful and informative interactions.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Nurturing Relationships through Collaboration</h3><p>Successful unification hinges on collaborative leadership between marketing and sales teams. Regular communication, shared goals, and open channels foster alignment, ensuring an integrated experience for buyers. Ongoing collaboration enables teams to identify gaps in the buyer journey and refine their approaches to match evolving buyer behaviors effectively.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Purposeful Measurement and Adaptation</h3><p>Measurement and adaptation remain critical in this unified approach. While traditional sales metrics hold relevance, the focus expands to encompass customer-centric KPIs. Metrics like customer satisfaction and alignment of customer outcomes with provided solutions take center stage, reinforcing the commitment to delivering value and building lasting relationships.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Embracing the Future of B2B SaaS GTM</h3><p>The convergence of Buyer Enablement and Sales Enablement heralds the thoughtful reinvention of <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/services/b2b-saas-go-to-market" target="_blank">B2B SaaS go-to-market</a> engagement. Acknowledging changing dynamics positions savvy vendors to offer a substantive, value-rich experience that caters to modern buyer journeys. Through newfound leadership, collaboration, technology, and a unified content strategy, prescient IT vendors stand poised to lead in the era of B2B SaaS digital growth.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Paradigm Shift: From Product-Centered to Customer-Centered</h3><p>The culmination of Buyer Enablement and Sales Enablement necessitates a fundamental reframing of IT vendor Product Marketing and Sales Enablement practitioner roles. Both roles, when united, should pivot away from a strong focus on SaaS solution features and capabilities.</p><p>Instead, the emphasis should be on articulating the solution's alignment with customer-desired business outcomes — this is an essential transformation that demands a reset and shift from product-centered to customer-centered marketing.</p><p>In the conventional model, Product Marketing predominantly highlighted the technical attributes of B2B SaaS solutions. However, today's discerning buyers require more – much more.</p><p>They seek solutions that align with their unique challenges, opportunities and aspirations. This calls for a significant change in the go-to-market approach: translating solution features into tangible benefits that resonate with senior decision-makers on a much deeper level.</p><p>Sales Enablement, which traditionally equipped sales teams with product-centric resources, now assumes a new redesigned role. Rather than merely disseminating product information, Sales Enablement equips sales reps to guide buyers toward outcome achievement.</p><p>This seller enhancement requires a profound understanding of the customer's context and needs, enabling reps to position solutions as strategic enablers rather than mere products.</p><p>The required convergence of these roles demands rethinking Product Marketing and Sales Enablement. Together, they must create and deliver compelling content that addresses the buyer's journey, solution requirements, desired outcomes, and positive business impact.</p><p>Communication becomes an art, translating complex technical details into relatable narratives that clearly demonstrate a solution's commercial value. The result? A transformation from Sellers to Advisors, cultivating trust and rapport with discerning and informed customers.</p><p>Measuring success in customer-centered terms becomes imperative. In addition to traditional metrics, customer-centric KPIs, such as satisfaction and strategic alignment, become pivotal indicators of effectiveness. This transition underscores the commitment to delivering value creation and the ongoing nurturing of long-term relationships.</p><p>In essence, the IT vendor's journey towards a unified, customer-centered approach is one of Cultural Transformation. The organization's DNA evolves to embrace a customer-centric mindset, influencing all levels of operation. By recognizing that success lies in enabling customer outcomes, leaders offer proven innovation to meet evolving customer needs.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Change Your Mindset: Imagine the Possibilities</h3><p>In conclusion, the unification of Buyer Enablement and Sales Enablement marks a much-needed evolution in the B2B SaaS go-to-market discipline. This transformation demands a holistic mindset – blending content, collaboration, and technology to meet the demands of modern buyers. It also requires <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/home/digital-change-management" target="_blank">Unification Change Management</a> leadership and coaching.</p><p>By reframing the roles of Product Marketing and Sales Enablement to be customer-centered, IT vendor organizations can navigate this evolution successfully, positioning themselves as partners in driving digital transformation. As B2B SaaS market dynamics continue to evolve, those vendors who embrace this transformative approach will lead the way forward.</p><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #3e3b3e; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 20px;">Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" style="background: transparent; color: #004b96; cursor: pointer; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-80833678857515056512023-05-21T10:47:00.003-05:002023-08-22T14:24:57.472-05:00Creating a Tech-Enabled B2B Buyer's Journey<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11v30qAsFqc2Hwod7z8BjC4Ml_92dr3fqO4B5GFxfETt5tammTmSBGwxUStxMbQryexh92QcP8nMvqDyZ3hzkm1nPtKVuyqgW3w-MvWjiA3ZJrllAtTDUPSRXNRH9YzA40i8_RlUdiDaYMPAWlPUMM5cmr75EBUSdOLOnelD5ReYbE2jATiCUMh9k/s1000/B2B-sales-buyer-enablement.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11v30qAsFqc2Hwod7z8BjC4Ml_92dr3fqO4B5GFxfETt5tammTmSBGwxUStxMbQryexh92QcP8nMvqDyZ3hzkm1nPtKVuyqgW3w-MvWjiA3ZJrllAtTDUPSRXNRH9YzA40i8_RlUdiDaYMPAWlPUMM5cmr75EBUSdOLOnelD5ReYbE2jATiCUMh9k/w320-h206/B2B-sales-buyer-enablement.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>What is a Technology-Enabled B2B Buyer's Journey, and why does it matter? Gartner has identified the top technologies that Business-to-Business (B2B) Sales and Marketing leaders can adopt to boost buyer engagement.<p></p><p>The technologies on this list prioritize buyers’ value of real time collaboration, provide them with the help required to influence consensus, and allow them to use digital tools for purchase guidance.</p><p>"While our research indicates buyers have a preference for a rep-free purchase experience, they also report that their interactions with sellers are the most valuable parts of the buying process," said Dan Gottlieb, senior director analyst at <a href="https://www.gartner.com/" target="_blank">Gartner</a>.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>The Top-Rated Buyer Engagement Solutions</b></h3><p>The B2B buyer's willingness to work with sellers via technology presents a compelling opportunity to experiment with new ways to engage digitally. The top technologies that sales and marketing leaders can use to boost buyer engagement include:</p><p><b>AI-Sales Email</b>: Gartner predicts that in the next two years, 30 percent of outbound messages from large organizations will be synthetically generated. Within sales, <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/services/b2b-saas-go-to-market/ai-prompt-engineer/generative-ai" target="_blank">Generative Artificial Intelligence</a> (AI) will be increasingly used to create emails that utilize CRM data and prompts engineered by sellers in order to build highly tailored messages that align with the buying priorities of multiple buyers.</p><p>"Generative AI is on course to change the way sales organizations do business," said Gottlieb. "AI will empower B2B sales teams to easily produce highly relevant content, creating better messaging to engage a higher number of buyers in a deal -- and faster."</p><p><b>Visual Collaboration</b>: Gartner believes these tools provide a shared virtual canvas to tell stories, co-create and annotate content with buyers. These tools help sellers to explore complex solutions with their buyers, demonstrating client understanding through an interactive and visual real-time experience.</p><p>Gartner predicts that very soon, visual collaboration applications will be the center of 30 percent of seller and buyer meeting experiences.</p><p><b>Virtual Reality (VR)</b>: This technology is a computer-generated 3D environment that surrounds a user and responds to an individual’s actions in a natural way, usually through immersive head-mounted displays.</p><p>While considered a luxury in sales settings, VR can facilitate real-time 3D virtual meeting experiences in the Metaverse, offering a digital-first selling experience for buyers to learn about products and engage with their peers.</p><p><b>Digital Sales Rooms (DSRs)</b>: This resource offers a consolidated vendor micro-site and project management hub for the buying team, which empowers buyers with a single space to reference vendor assets and information.</p><p>DSRs streamline how a small group of targeted buyers interact with the vendor, offering better customer experience. They also support customer retention, turning into a collaborative platform where the seller and customer continue to work together to achieve better lifetime value for the vendor.</p><p>By 2025, Gartner predicts that 80 percent of B2B sales interactions between sellers and buyers will occur in digital channels.</p><p><b>Workstream Collaboration</b>: These online services, such as Microsoft Teams or Slack, deliver a conversational workspace based on a persistent group chat. Sales leaders can utilize this technology to set up channels dedicated to the buying process, answer questions in real-time and facilitate dialogue with buyers.</p><p><b>Conversation Intelligence</b>: This solution analyzes conversations between buyers and sellers, using AI to deliver relevant insights to improve interaction quality (e.g., suggesting next best action). Gartner predicts that by 2025, 75 percent of B2B sales organizations will augment traditional sales playbooks with AI-guided selling solutions.</p><p>"Active listening is one of the most fundamental skills in facilitating the buying process. Conversation intelligence helps sellers pick up on trends in buyer rhetoric, giving them additional guidance to use during real-time sales conversations," said Gottlieb.</p><p><b>Visual Configuration</b>: Over half of buyers say they use vendor-provided digital technologies during the buying process. Visual configuration enables buyers to interact with a visual representation of a physical product. Sellers can walk buying teams through customization in real-time, making this technology useful for solution exploration and requirement building.</p><p>Already a table stakes capability in industries such as medical devices and specialty vehicles, organizations that are among the first to adopt visual configuration in their industry can gain a substantial competitive advantage.</p><p><b>Interactive Demonstrations</b>: This capability allow buyers to interact directly with synthetic data in digital products. Sales teams can customize a real-time walk-through experience for a product tour for a personalized experience via their website or a digital sales room.</p><p>"By putting buyers in the driver’s seat for solution exploration, requirements building and supplier selection, the likelihood of their engagement and, by extension, purchase power soars," said Gottlieb.</p><p><b>Narrative Automation</b>: These structured discovery and storytelling solutions use AI to conduct relevant research about a company (such as financial metrics) and convert that insight into Value Messaging sales content assets, improving seller confidence in their sales engagements.</p><p>Sellers can distribute a strategic business outcome-oriented narrative to more executive decision-makers, improving account coverage and accelerating the collective buyer's journey.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Next Steps: Choosing the Best-Fit Solutions</b></h3><p>Gottlieb believes that there is a key caveat when B2B vendors are evaluating the essential enablement technologies to develop and deploy in their sales and marketing organizations.</p><p>There is no single one-size-fits-all technology. Leaders must adopt the best-fit technologies suited to meet their customers’ needs, and capitalize on their sales and marketing organization's strengths.</p><p>That said, I believe the deployment of any of these technologies must be accompanied by instructive "how-to" training and coaching that advances solution adoption and utilization by the intended users.</p><p><b style="background-color: white; color: #3e3b3e; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 20px;">Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" style="background: transparent; color: #004b96; cursor: pointer; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-90757968027645843462022-12-25T09:13:00.005-06:002023-06-06T06:40:46.687-05:00B2B Sales Leaders Embrace Value-Selling<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnMJyTGqa7QuA3GO7_jEt8FT50SpYmsMAR1zr0BlDSauNogVZnDlYZvTqFgRkUMyKgj3O-CZrvA6MbWv0dj9m0iccDceKZ9hHplpTt1SbmZ7rNmyo8LAmYgXHNGtopYai6WRTwXOjIclf1pXt4BPH89Y36E_5OPIALr6EhVhxMl_FsEvg6iN7DujH/s743/b2b-go-to-market.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="743" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnMJyTGqa7QuA3GO7_jEt8FT50SpYmsMAR1zr0BlDSauNogVZnDlYZvTqFgRkUMyKgj3O-CZrvA6MbWv0dj9m0iccDceKZ9hHplpTt1SbmZ7rNmyo8LAmYgXHNGtopYai6WRTwXOjIclf1pXt4BPH89Y36E_5OPIALr6EhVhxMl_FsEvg6iN7DujH/s320/b2b-go-to-market.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>B2B sales and marketing are being transformed by the adoption of new technologies that help to communicate value. Gartner has identified seven technology disruptions that will impact sales organizations.<p></p><p>These disruptions will drive significant go-to-market changes, as well as in the way businesses approach sales development and build customer relationships. Are you and your organization prepared for these disruptions?</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">B2B Sales Process Change Management</h3><p>The first disruption identified by Gartner is the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in sales.</p><p>AI can analyze large amounts of data quickly and accurately, allowing sales teams to identify key trends and insights that can inform their strategies.</p><p>Most important, AI can also be used to automate routine workflow tasks, freeing up time for salespeople to focus on more high-value activities.</p><p>Another disruption is the rise of customer experience (CX) as a key differentiator for businesses. </p><p>Companies that prioritize CX are more likely to retain and attract customers, as well as drive higher levels of loyalty and advocacy. As such, sales teams will need to focus on delivering personalized, experiences to customers in order to stay competitive.</p><p>The third disruption is the growing importance of digital channels in the sales process.</p><p>With more and more buyers turning to the internet for research and purchasing decisions, businesses must ensure that their online presence is engaging. This includes having a well-designed website, an active social media presence, and the ability to deliver omnichannel customer experiences.</p><p>The fourth disruption is the increasing use of virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) in sales.</p><p>AR and VR allow sales teams to demonstrate products and services in a more immersive and interactive way, helping to build stronger relationships with customers. They can also be used to provide training and support to sales teams, improving their knowledge and skills.</p><p>The fifth disruption is the growing trend toward subscription-based models, including Software as a Service (SaaS).</p><p>With the rise of subscription services in sectors such as media, software, and retail, businesses are increasingly turning to this model to generate recurring revenue streams. Sales teams must be skilled in selling subscription services, as well as in managing and retaining these customers over the long term.</p><p>The sixth disruption is the increasing use of analytics and data-driven decision-making in sales.</p><p>With access to vast amounts of data, sales teams can better understand their customers, identify key trends and opportunities, and optimize their sales strategies. This requires salespeople to have strong analytical skills and be comfortable working with data.</p><p>Finally, <a href="https://www.gartner.com/" target="_blank">Gartner</a> identifies the increasing importance of sustainability and social responsibility as key disruptions.</p><p>Buyers are becoming more socially and environmentally conscious, and businesses that prioritize sustainability and social responsibility are more likely to win customer loyalty and trust. Sales teams must be able to communicate the sustainability and social impact of their products and services in order to appeal to this increasingly important buyer segment.</p><p>Overall, these seven technology disruptions are expected to significantly impact the sales process in the coming years. According to the Gartner assessment, leaders that are able to adapt and embrace these changes will be well-positioned to succeed in a rapidly evolving market.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Effective B2B Value-Selling Evolution</h3><p>That said, I foresee a growing need for B2B sales leaders to embrace value-selling methodologies that enable sellers to achieve the most important aspect of selling complex high-impact SaaS services. </p><p>Technology-based solutions can augment human talent and thereby enable enterprise account executives to better fulfill the buyer's requirement for customized information and guidance that they need to create a compelling business case for their project. This is the role of <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/services/b2b-saas-go-to-market" target="_blank">Value Realization</a>.</p><p>Today's large enterprise software solution selling scenarios require that sales teams are skilled and experienced in developing a compelling business case for all members of the typical buyer's committee -- including the Line of Business (LoB) leaders, legacy IT decision-makers, and key members of the C-suite.</p><p><b style="background-color: white; color: #3e3b3e; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 20px;">Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" style="background: transparent; color: #004b96; cursor: pointer; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-14719298474323633112022-05-01T08:51:00.003-05:002022-12-25T09:35:42.027-06:00Leading B2B Tech Storytelling Transformation<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8XvaDpwKivQ99fsPEHMiIh6o1GaurGVJepwB5ScfQQ1F4NUms0pTzEisgCsJz8l0FQLBmmhbHnPTK9B7ewyRRMNRKZ_vX5GD4otmFCcJqtcY8PEZKag4Mq3AnmsEtutZdZ1FPXMg9UYr1uIeY9WIv3wu5wdlRR12M6bu8acI1llaH7WV0VovlfosE/s507/B2B-storytelling-leadership-team.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="507" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8XvaDpwKivQ99fsPEHMiIh6o1GaurGVJepwB5ScfQQ1F4NUms0pTzEisgCsJz8l0FQLBmmhbHnPTK9B7ewyRRMNRKZ_vX5GD4otmFCcJqtcY8PEZKag4Mq3AnmsEtutZdZ1FPXMg9UYr1uIeY9WIv3wu5wdlRR12M6bu8acI1llaH7WV0VovlfosE/w320-h213/B2B-storytelling-leadership-team.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Within the highly competitive business technology marketing and sales arena, the unique skill of a superior commercial storyteller is essential. Those leaders who can quickly weave together a customer-centered narrative are in high demand.<p></p><p>In fact, 83 percent of chief communication officers (CCOs) have reported that their C-Suite influence is growing, according to the latest comprehensive market study by Gartner.</p><p>Their survey of Business Communication leaders in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and UK markets found corporate communication team influence has grown as organizations become more interdependent.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Leading Internal and External Communications</b></h3><p>CCOs also largely reported that their influence is greater than other function heads’ at their organizations, with 75 percent saying they have slightly or much more influence than their non-communications counterparts. Only 5 percent said they have less influence. </p><p>“Companies are placing a larger emphasis on stakeholder communications and cross-functional collaboration," said Jennifer Sigler, a director analyst at <a href="https://www.gartner.com/" target="_blank">Gartner</a>.</p><p>Given communicators’ unique talents in stakeholder relationship management, it would make sense that CCOs and their teams are being asked to play a central role in efforts to improve collaboration and other employee-related outcomes across the organization.</p><p>With workers experiencing the fallout from COVID-19 and then the Great Resignation back-to-back, the emphasis on employee communications has grown dramatically. According to the Gartner assessment, getting that communication right is more critical than ever.</p><p>Seventy-two percent of communications leaders said that their teams are either significantly or slightly larger than they were 12 months ago. But, despite growing teams, the median staff resignation rate was 20 percent, which is twice as high as the typical product marketing team. </p><p>"One objective indicator of growing influence is team size. If those managing the budget feel communications efforts are valuable, they’ll provide more money and staff to CCOs," said Sigler.</p><p>Communications leaders appear to have received both. However, it is still concerning that despite this vote of confidence from organizations, teams are having a tough time retaining their most qualified talent.</p><p>Analysis of the survey data suggests that limited 'flex-work' options on communications teams may be one reason the most talented staff are leaving. Communications teams that are offering neither flexibility in work location nor in workdays reported 54 percent more turnover than teams that offered both.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Proven B2B Storyteller Retention Strategies</b></h3><p>Gartner recommends that to grow their teams’ potential as relationship builders across the organization and further increase their enterprise influence, savvy communications leaders should:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Identify and address the root causes of low staff engagement and high staff turnover on their teams.</li><li>Redesign teams and roles to eliminate overlapping responsibilities, ensure workflow compatibility, and encourage collaboration between true specialists.</li><li>Work closely with functions with whom communications shares activity responsibility to create a clear, efficient division of work and smooth collaboration across team boundaries.</li></ul><div>That said, I believe we're at yet another inflection point where the global COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the prior status quo in business. Few commercial communicators have the skills and experience to become <a href="https://onalytica.com/blog/posts/an-interview-with-david-h-deans/" target="_blank">influential B2B storytellers</a>. This is particularly true within business technology companies that are historically product-centered.</div><div><br /></div><div>Due to the growing global market demand, and the limited available talent pool, two key things will likely happen next. Salaries and benefits for the most skilled communication employees will rise exponentially. Plus, communication consultants with experience as a <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/services/executive-ghostwriter" target="_blank">B2B executive ghostwriter</a> will provide interim or supplemental assistance where companies are unable to find or retain practitioners.</div><div><br /></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #3e3b3e; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 20px;">Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" style="background: transparent; color: #004b96; cursor: pointer; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-36261664744290966142021-04-27T10:29:00.010-05:002023-01-05T06:34:32.844-06:00B2B Tech Procurement: The Post-Pandemic Reality<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0bhG8VOqa1IYOwAZAxhJnN1bAvH-cKWJss7ohzfE3Hg9wiMZAdn2xFBSMTZSvq3xnW1hYR8IGuNBRRP6n0V49xOtdqgDktVLtXwwyGkE23sPCelOng_4lOUdTqaDHHY9ppwmMo-utm4/s750/b2b-decision-makers.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0bhG8VOqa1IYOwAZAxhJnN1bAvH-cKWJss7ohzfE3Hg9wiMZAdn2xFBSMTZSvq3xnW1hYR8IGuNBRRP6n0V49xOtdqgDktVLtXwwyGkE23sPCelOng_4lOUdTqaDHHY9ppwmMo-utm4/w320-h213/b2b-decision-makers.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Given the realities of the current Global Networked Economy environment, why do so many business leaders report wanting a ‘return to normal’ ASAP? That’s very puzzling to me.<p></p><p>As an example, changes within the commercial procurement arena demand radical new thinking.</p><p>Forrester’s “2021 B2B Buying Study”, with more than 950 respondents from around the world, reveals significant changes in business-to-business buying behavior. Their study findings show how buyers navigated the transition of remote working, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, while seeking information about vendors and their offerings -- long before making a purchase.</p><p>With most B2B buyers working remotely, global market disruption from the pandemic has pushed the ‘buying group’ to the forefront of the decision-making process. Independent buying scenarios, in which only one or two people are involved, are much less likely in a complex sale.</p><p>Today, 63 percent of B2B purchases have more than four people involved -- versus just 47 percent in 2017. The typical buyer’s committee can include several buyer roles -- e.g. solution champions, subject-matter influencers, executive decision-makers, line of business end-users, or other ratifiers -- from multiple enterprise departments.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Buyer Enablement: The Decision Maker Scenario</b></h3><p>Forrester analysts report that although the number of buying interactions has been increasing slightly every two years (e.g. from 16 to 17 interactions between 2017 and 2019), the number of buying interactions during the global pandemic has jumped from 17 to 27. A huge increase.</p><p>According to the Forrester analysis of their findings, the number of buying interactions reflects one individual’s buying journey to obtain information about competing offerings or providers.</p><p>In the total number, Forrester includes self-guided interactions (mostly done by research online) and personal interactions, which refer to a conversation with a person, from either a vendor company or a third-party (such as a vendor channel partner).</p><p>Almost all of these interactive conversations took place virtually (online) during 2020.</p><p>With just-in-time access to the internet, and the plethora of content from vendors and industry thought leaders or other credible influencers, savvy buyers can easily find information about B2B products and services from a variety of qualified sources.</p><p>Furthermore, B2B buyers seek one-to-many forums -- such as sponsored webinars and online events -- to learn more about the product or service category, what their peers are doing in the same industry and the leading vendors that are most likely to offer viable solutions to problems.</p><p>B2B buyers then talked to these peers, industry experts, and various vendor representatives to get their specific questions answered. They also performed self-directed research via search engines, and some used social media to uncover industry-specific information resources.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSEpbVZtDI-m4vEgVZsdd6Y_rHDAaejDQg54EfsBrhshViJlOhxvlGzio2mQMkLnt63I4PEKXSqAZuQ9PobRPsgnzhJhxyIyr7atF3vV6Hx2Z6myVI1jTxPMg_BvZxZzFMtcNg_gFLgs/s759/B2B-Buying-Decision-Process-Framework.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="759" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSEpbVZtDI-m4vEgVZsdd6Y_rHDAaejDQg54EfsBrhshViJlOhxvlGzio2mQMkLnt63I4PEKXSqAZuQ9PobRPsgnzhJhxyIyr7atF3vV6Hx2Z6myVI1jTxPMg_BvZxZzFMtcNg_gFLgs/w640-h236/B2B-Buying-Decision-Process-Framework.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><b>Sales Enablement: The B2B Seller Scenario</b></p><p>Once buyers have completed their initial self-directed research online, they’re armed with an abundance of topic insights and commentary that enables them to ask all the right questions. This Q&A process has raised the bar of expectations for vendor sales representatives to add meaningful and substantive value to the buyer’s journey.</p><p>B2B buyers are often asking vendor reps to “tell me something I don’t already know.” That said, the burden of proof is in the hands of these front-line vendor employees that must respond.</p><p>According to Forrester, 70 percent of B2B sales reps spend between one and 14 hours every week customizing content for their buyers. Seventy-seven percent of B2B marketers also report significant challenges driving the right content consumption with buyer decision-makers.</p><p>I believe that this is an acute issue within the technology vendor sector, where typical marketing organizations are often product-centered rather than customer-centered. Very few business technology vendors have the marketing employee talent that’s capable of addressing buyers' needs for content that focuses on achieving business outcomes.</p><p>That’s why I’m not pursuing the quest for a ‘new normal’ that’s based upon the prior status quo. This is the time for technology vendors to reimagine their <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/services/b2b-saas-gtm" target="_blank">SaaS go-to-market (GTM)</a> approach and dare to be different (much better than before). Besides, as more vendors transition to the cloud-based ‘everything-as-a-service’ business model, there’s a dire need for more qualified leaders.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Choose to Embrace Change </b></h3><p>As the saying goes: the best way to predict a future outcome is to invent it. True leadership comes from people who are fearless about testing the limits of conventional thinking and thereby adopting a new mindset. Thriving in today's environment requires ambitious leadership that's not satisfied to merely return to a prior state, simply because it's familiar or easy to execute.</p><p>Resist convention, embrace change. If you haven't already, then start now.</p><p><b style="background-color: white; color: #3e3b3e; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 20px;">Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" style="background: transparent; color: #004b96; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-12750011457185134532020-05-17T10:40:00.000-05:002020-08-06T07:22:53.814-05:00Overcome Data-Driven Agile Marketing Shortfalls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Many CMOs will proudly tell you that their organizations are data-driven -- meaning they make their marketing investment decisions based upon the data that's captured and reported in one or more analytics platforms. But there are significant consequences from the application of this approach. Let's consider the findings of a recent market study and look at the implications.<br />
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The coronavirus pandemic is forcing rapid change on brands. Marketing leaders believe that a lack of agility and flexibility negatively impacts their marketing execution, according to a Gartner study.<br />
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To remedy this, the study uncovered that 38 percent of marketing leaders report “developed scenarios for planning purposes” as one of the top operational steps they’ve taken to manage a business disruption.<br />
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<b>Study the Data, React to the Trends</b></h3>
"One key element of effectively building and planning scenarios is data," said Lizzy Foo Kune, senior director analyst at <a href="https://www.gartner.com/" target="_blank">Gartner</a>. "Marketing leaders look to data and analytics teams to offer insight into current trends and uncertainties to avoid making errors in decision making and help chart a clear way forward."<br />
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But under the present circumstances, data and analytics teams are strained to deliver against expectations and need to develop new ways of thinking. In particular, it's difficult to adapt to change and transform go-to-market strategies by merely looking for solutions in marketing dashboards.<br />
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That said, to streamline analytics efficiencies and enable a rapid strategic response, Gartner recommends that marketing analytics teams take the following three actions:<br />
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<b>Adopt lean principles to guide efficient analytics and insights functions</b><br />
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To efficiently manage data and insight requests, draw from the lean framework that has become prevalent in the manufacturing and startup industries. Defined as a production optimization methodology that eliminates activities that do not create value for customers, 'lean' describes seven categories of possible waste. The most important categories to focus on minimizing waste are overproduction, processing and inventory.<br />
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<b>Prioritize requests to deliver data and insights faster</b><br />
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The pressure to deliver more insights more quickly has increased exponentially due to disruption from COVID-19. "To meet this demand, marketing leaders must identify what truly matters most, create a short set of criteria to prioritize each request and identify how best to address it. The criteria used should be objective and measurable," said Ms. Foo Kune.<br />
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<b>Embrace agile principles to guide teams through uncertainty</b><br />
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Use agile work practices, including project sprints and frequent status checks, to foster a culture of collaboration. A time-boxed effort called a 'sprint', fosters a flexible environment for experimentation and innovation while also ensuring that the data team is capable of pivoting in new directions as business needs and priorities change.<br />
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I have a somewhat different perspective. Accelerating the speed of access to data isn't a viable solution to current market development shortfalls. Historical data is of limited value during a significant market disruption. Moreover, agile marketing practices tend to drive marketers to focus more on busy-work activity, and less on a thoughtful assessment of the challenges and opportunities.<br />
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<b>How to Envision the Future Without Historical Bias</b></h3>
While I have an appreciation for action and execution in response to a declining sales pipeline, I also value the notion that it's advisable to invest the time and effort to determine if 'more of the same' type of activity is a wise marketing investment. In the B2B space, it's particularly important to pause and consider the alternative options.<br />
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As an example, in the Information Technology (IT) sector, we've seen the rise of buyer's committees and self-directed research and discovery. C-suite decision-makers and influencers have a common cause, but often a different need for better information and guidance during the buyer's journey. Providing more of the same product-centered content delivered in the same under-performing manner is illogical.<br />
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Furthermore, traditional B2B organizations typically view <a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com/2020/01/buyer-enablement-digital-transformation.html" target="_blank">Buyer Enablement</a> and <a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com/2020/02/demand-for-hybrid-sales-and-marketing.html" target="_blank">Sales Enablement</a> in isolation. Much of the attention is focused on helping a salesperson sell, with less attention to helping a buyer self-discover the information and guidance they need to progress. Given the amount of time that's devoted to discovery in the complex technology procurement process, improving the 'buyer progression' outcome can often deliver a greater impact than addressing 'sales progression' issues.<br />
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I'm currently researching the cohesive integration of B2B Buyer and Sales Enablement into what I'm calling '360 Degree Enablement' methodologies. I'll provide more insight into this topic, and how to remove legacy bias from the process of adapting to different information and guidance needs of key executive personas.<br />
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<b>Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-45813613316388428372020-03-09T17:15:00.001-05:002020-06-25T05:59:09.527-05:00How B2B Marketers Fuel Predictable Sales Growth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There was a time when vendor marketing executives could choose to focus their attention on branding and related advertising campaigns. From the company's sales leadership perspective, if that eventually resulted in generating new business opportunities, that was a welcomed bonus.<br />
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But as time went on, the bar of expectations was raised and marketers were asked to more closely support meaningful new sales growth. Now it's already commonplace. More marketing leaders are expected to directly influence the acquisition of new customers and associated sales revenue.<br />
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Besides, they're given the challenge of optimizing their marketing efforts to ensure that they fulfill the customer's fundamental need for helpful information and guidance, during the buyer's journey.<br />
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<b>Exploring the Marketing Impact on Growth</b></h3>
Meanwhile, industry analysts that support the technology sector are researching and analyzing the relative performance of these marketing activities. To gain a deeper understanding of marketing’s impact, Gartner has studied four distinct methods that marketers can employ to gain deeper insights.<br />
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"Competitive insights and analytics are what marketers need to progress to higher levels of maturity, understand ROI, inform investments and optimize campaigns in real-time," said Joseph Enever, senior research director at <a href="https://www.gartner.com/" target="_blank">Gartner</a>. "And marketers are backing this view with resources."<br />
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According to Gartner, market research and competitive insights, plus marketing analytics, now absorb more than 13 percent and 16 percent of marketing operations budgets, respectively. However, evidence from Gartner's latest survey indicates investments are often mismatched with their output, presenting a significant risk to the ongoing investment.<br />
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Gartner now recommends the following marketing measurement methods:<br />
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<b>Marketing Mix Modeling</b> (MMM) is a top-down methodology that uses time series, aggregate data (such as historical sales), aggregate media spend by channel or geography, competitor promotional events, or pricing, and econometrics techniques (like multivariate regressions), to generate models.<br />
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Marketing leaders should use MMM to inform multichannel marketing investments as it can generate a broad range of insights, including the most prominent and sometimes elusive insight such as sales and revenue incrementality.<br />
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<b>Multitouch Attribution (</b>MTA) is a bottom-up approach requiring user-level data to identify the relative contributions of consumer touchpoints along the path to a goal. Digitally focused, MTA is primarily a methodology for online marketing analysis, but it can also include multichannel events, depending on the available data and provider. It gives marketers the ability to track an individual’s path to conversion across multiple touchpoints, such as paid search, display and video.<br />
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<b>Holdout Testing</b>, often referred to as test and control, is a crucial method for testing hypotheses. When conducted properly, marketing leaders can utilize holdout testing to accurately quantify the incremental impact of marketing investments across channels and tactics.<br />
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<b>Unified Measurement Approaches (</b>UMA) answer questions that span both the tactical and strategic impacts of marketing. These approaches attempt to resolve the challenges of disparate, unlinked methodologies and insights. Marketing leaders looking to understand the impact of online and offline marketing should look to UMA.<br />
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"Successful marketers use several of these methods because each provides unique insights and addresses different challenges," said Mr. Enever. "For example, building a measurement strategy that lays the data foundation effectively for MMM and MTA is essential for facilitating UMA. Whichever method a marketer chooses, it is best when used within a wider ecosystem of measurement -- not in isolation."<br />
<h3>
<b>Choosing B2B Market Development Metrics</b></h3>
Deciding which marketing metrics to monitor is very important in establishing a high-performance growth mindset. As an example, consider the way that marketers typically go about creating content and then analyzing customer consumption results. Content assets are a key component of effective market development.<br />
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The old way to create content is to produce static one-size-fits-all campaigns that can't easily be modified. In contrast, the modern marketing organization has a process that enables messaging and content to be constantly recreated, monitored by performance analytics, and then adapted as needed (by marketers and/or sellers).<br />
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Typical prior B2B product marketing was limited to the creation of broad offerings and experiences across large customer segments -- because customization for the expanding variety of buyer personas was deemed to be too complicated. Today, the goal is to use data from all customer interactions, with the intent to deliver relevant one-to-one engagement. It's essential to choose the best metrics to attain that outcome.<br />
<h3>
The Path Towards Predictable Sales Growth</h3>
From my perspective, I believe that the forward-thinking Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) already know that better metrics and analytics tools can help uncover new market insights. However, their teams must improve their growth-oriented skills and attain a better market understanding that will enable them to make the most effective budget allocations.<br />
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The prior mismatch issues that Gartner reported are likely associated with talent recruitment and development. I've witnessed how vendor marketers who have little appreciation for the C-suite buyer's needs will continue to defer the tough decisions to others who claim to be more informed (e.g. their organization's product managers). But the survey results indicate this may be a flawed approach.<br />
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In contrast, the better way is to hire talent that's most likely to deliver the desired outcome -- in this case, predictable sales growth. Effectively utilizing market data and analytics tools require an ability to grasp the value of applied situational context. Meaning, this shouldn't be an academic exercise.<br />
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<b>Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-24829960854710285312020-02-02T14:44:00.000-06:002020-06-25T05:59:27.671-05:00Demand for Hybrid Sales and Marketing Skills<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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“<b>How do we sell our complex solutions to increasingly demanding customers in order to meet rising organizational growth goals?</b>” -- That's the question that Gartner considered in its recent market study that explored the key challenges they hear most often from chief sales officer (CSO) clients.<br />
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Gartner's latest research demonstrates the IT industry buying reality. As business-to-business (B2B) buying behavior continues to change, the traditional IT vendor go-to-market approach will fail to meet expectations.<br />
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Therefore, Garner analysts now believe that for CSOs to deliver constant revenue growth, they can’t simply improve their traditional selling skills from a bygone era. They have to evolve and adapt into multiskilled generalists that demonstrate their business and technology acumen.<br />
<h3>
<b>Deep Analysis of The B2B Buyer's Journey</b></h3>
Meanwhile, as IT vendor content marketing capabilities grow, they produce more information resources than ever before. Yet, buyers are overwhelmed by the high volume of low-quality general-purpose collateral material. It's an unwelcome distraction during the buyer's quest for new ideas and actionable insight.<br />
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<a href="https://www.gartner.com/" target="_blank">Gartner</a> research shows that sales reps are most likely to win when they're helping customers find meaningful and substantive thought leadership content -- acting as an 'information connector' to provide the frameworks and tools customers need to efficiently organize and align their thinking.<br />
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The reason 'knowledge curation' is essential is due to its positive impact on improving ease-of-purchase. To better understand how to advance through a typical complex buying cycle, Gartner's research identified six B2B buying 'jobs' that customers must complete to their satisfaction.<br />
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However, they discovered that the major purchase B2B buying journey was not performed in a step-by-step linear flow. Instead, buyers navigate unpredictably across a typical B2B purchasing landscape, revisiting each of those buying jobs at least once.<br />
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Every one of these procurement moments is a potential driver of what Gartner calls the 'looping' process of revisiting important tasks. As a result, customers can repeat each job over-and-over until all are completed to their satisfaction. The following chart (click to enlarge) demonstrates the apparent complexity of the enterprise B2B buyer's journey.<br />
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According to the Gartner assessment, helping B2B buyers procure complex products and services isn’t a sales enablement problem, it’s an information delivery problem -- that's a <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/sales-service/insights/buyer-enablement" target="_blank">buyer enablement</a> challenge.<br />
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Savvy vendors will solve the information quality challenge first, then realign their organizational structure and functional activity to more closely map to actual buying behavior -- essentially creating a parallel (sales + marketing integration) organization rather than a serial one.<br />
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<b>B2B Sales and Marketing Co-Creation Teams</b></h3>
Many vendor organizations structure their activity around a somewhat rigid sales progression pipeline, seeking to move opportunities from one stage to the next in a logical, linear order.<br />
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Gartner says that this misalignment between the typical vendor go-to-market design process and the underlying customer purchase reality can easily lead to costly misdiagnoses of both salesperson shortcomings and the most effective executive leader interventions.<br />
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Confusing the buyer's decision-maker tasks with legacy vendor marketing campaign 'opportunity progression' tactics could easily lead the sales and marketing organizations to reach an erroneous conclusion. There's a better approach.<br />
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I can see the significant upside potential to recast the roles and responsibilities of IT vendor sales and marketing talent. Rather than focus on skills development in isolation, substantial benefits can be gained from the integration of sales plus marketing mastery. The broader the combination of the skills, the better the resulting outcomes.<br />
<h3>
<b>Demand for Hybrid Growth Hacking Talent</b></h3>
Furthermore, I foresee the need to incorporate design thinking and growth hacking coding skills into the talent development mix. I'm an example of this multifaceted model in action. I have the benefit of applied lessons learned from my prior front-line sales experience, progressive digital marketing expertise and the recent addition of practical design thinking techniques.<br />
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Will the notion of a 'Hybrid Growth Hacker' become the foundation for a new training curriculum? Today, I don't know the answer. Regardless, I do see a benefit from raising the bar of expectations for talent development.<br />
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We need more people who aspire to learn and apply the skills required to become a useful resource for today's most demanding enterprise customers. Plus, it's increasingly important to have an appreciation for C-suite narrative segmentation, to meet the demands of different executive personas and their industry-specific requirements.<br />
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<b>Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-76417625746753927992020-01-18T09:50:00.000-06:002020-06-25T05:59:49.760-05:00The Yin-Yang of Marketing Innovation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The goal of many organizations is to become more customer-centric, so it should come as no surprise that marketing is being tasked to generate substantive digital growth via meaningful innovation. Moreover, creating improved customer experiences tops the list of corporate goals for marketing-driven innovation efforts.<br />
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The possibilities for enhancing the B2B customer experience are vast, but the path to progress is problematic. Let's explore the available evidence.<br />
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According to the latest research insights from Gartner, marketers need to focus more on the few high-potential ideas that can really show value for the customer and the rest of the business. They must also raise the profile of the marketing organization as a key innovation partner.<br />
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<b>Marketing Innovation Investments</b></h3>
Some Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) have embraced the challenge and are committing financial resources and staff headcount to help drive successful 'digital growth' initiatives. Marketing budgets show increased spending on innovation efforts. That spending trend shows no signs of decline.<br />
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Gartner says that more than half of all marketing organizations now have dedicated innovation staff. In-house talent works in concert with marketing technology partners and external marketing agencies to form an ecosystem of human resources driving innovation projects.<br />
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Companies that make above-average financial commitments to marketing innovation report higher revenue and profits compared to their industry peers. Having dedicated talent on their teams also makes business leaders more willing to back high-risk, high-potential return initiatives.<br />
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CMO inclusion in strategic planning, combined with dedicated resources for the task at hand, should help to drive marketing innovation success, yet constraints remain. Marketers say that organizational resistance to risk, an inability to measure the impact of innovation and challenges finding skilled and experienced talent limit the impact of their innovation efforts.<br />
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Gartner believes that these barriers to progress reflect a larger issue of an organizational mindset. Innovation sometimes introduces new concepts that require a 'leap of faith' in untested people and their associated ideas.<br />
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To truly innovate, marketing leaders must be willing to fail. Most executives understand that in theory, but when faced with a real-world decision to fund a new idea, they balk. Gartner says that the lack of trust between marketing and finance leaders can negatively impact strategy execution.<br />
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"Innovation used to be thrown around as a buzzword, but as CMOs continue to dedicate headcount and build strategic partnerships, marketing-led innovation has become a maturing practice driving legitimate growth for the business," said Elizabeth Shaw, senior director analyst at <a href="https://www.gartner.com/" target="_blank">Gartner</a>.<br />
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<b>Marketing Innovation in Practice</b></h3>
From my perspective, I've witnessed the ongoing challenges of developing and nurturing B2B marketing teams that have the appropriate mix of skills and experience. Within the business technology arena, the task is compounded by the need to draw upon the talent that has proven industry domain expertise and demonstrated business acumen.<br />
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Across the technology sector, the availability of multifaceted marketing staff -- both internal and external sources -- seems to have been in decline over the last decade. Furthermore, recruiting new people who have the desire to learn and apply core product marketing skills remains problematic. Marketing campaign specialists are abundant. Social media experts are bountiful. Yet few aspire to learn the ability to research and develop compelling customer-centered narratives.<br />
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Why has this inability to build a pool of customer-aware commercial storyteller talent become a showstopper for most technology vendors that seek new market development advancements? In reality, most vendors offer undifferentiated points of view about their available offerings. They highlight product-centric benefits that are virtually identical to their competition while claiming that they're somehow unique (when they're not).<br />
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Besides, rather than consider the illuminating findings of market research studies or the revelations from customer survey results, they'll more than likely ask their salespeople and/or channel partners to provide the requested guidance -- in the belief that this might (potentially) lead to differentiated offerings. The desire to conduct a comprehensive situation analysis is rare, by comparison.<br />
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Granted, it takes time to perform an in-depth 'design thinking' assessment. That's often counter to the 'agile marketing' methodology that currently dominates the typical 'stand-up' meeting process. Is there a way to combine two opposing thoughts within the same marketer's brain? Today, I don't know the answer.<br />
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That said, I'm hopeful that by continuing to ponder these scenarios, a viable solution will emerge... eventually. Today's industry marketing of complex IT products and services require the development of persona-based value propositions that uniquely target the business outcome interests of key C-suite decision makers.<br />
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<b>Reach out, learn more: <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" target="_blank">Contact us now</a></b><div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-61748327100846514932020-01-01T16:15:00.003-06:002020-12-20T07:32:24.255-06:00Buyer Enablement: Digital Transformation Evolution<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Digital innovation timelines will double, according to Gartner's latest predictions. Through 2021, digital transformation initiatives will take large traditional enterprises, on average, twice as long and cost twice as much as anticipated.<br />
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Large organizations will struggle with digital innovation as they recognize the challenges of information technology (IT) modernization. That said, the enterprise leaders' challenge can also translate into an opportunity for qualified IT vendors that offer help and support.<br />
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Buying a Digital Solution is Complicated</h2>
Given the potential for new upside opportunities, more IT vendors will be focused on revenue growth in 2020 and beyond. Last year, many incumbent IT vendors continued to harvest revenue from their vast installed base. Looking forward, however, some will need to raise the bar of expectations.<br />
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Goal: reach and engage 'new contacts' at existing customers, and net-new clients.</blockquote>
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However, the IT Infrastructure market has changed. The buying process within the typical large enterprise has evolved -- it's more complex, due to the numerous decision-makers involved in the process. Several CxO personas and other key executives are now managing the vendor selection.<br />
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Demand for Buyer Experience Customization</h3>
Let's look at the current disruptive transition that has occurred within the IT infrastructure market. Previously, the CIO and the CTO were assumed to be the key decision-makers during the buyer's journey. That assumption is now outdated -- it's not that simple. Here's the reason why.<br />
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The shift to the public cloud -- and SaaS offerings in particular -- changed the procurement scenario as Line-of-Business (LoB) leaders became a champion of multifaceted 'buyer committees'. Yet, most IT vendors are unprepared to address marketing and selling within this demanding environment.<br />
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Why is that? Re-inventing a go-to-market approach is like any other form of innovation; it takes courage to let go of the old way of doing things. That said, savvy IT vendors must transform their narrative, and thereby position themselves further up the value chain.<br />
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They must evolve beyond their comfort-zone of mostly connecting with the lower-level technical influencers where they have existing relationships. Now, they have to reach out and engage the other key buyer personas that have a definitive point-of-view about their digital transformation needs.<br />
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If that includes the senior executives within the C-suite, then so be it. The boldest and bravest vendors must be armed with new and differentiated stories that translate core IT product and service offerings into strategic business outcome benefits for C-level decision-makers -- including the CFO.<br />
<h3>
Why Buying Process Segmentation Matters</h3>
According to a recent Gartner market study, the typical buying group for a complex Business-to-Business (B2B) solution involves six to ten decision makers‚ each armed with four or five pieces of information they’ve gathered independently and must deconflict with the group.<br />
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At the same time, the set of options and solutions buying groups can consider is expanding as new technologies, products, suppliers and services emerge. These dynamics make it increasingly difficult for customers to make purchases. In fact, more than three-quarters of the customers Gartner surveyed described their purchase as 'very complex or difficult'.<br />
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From a vendor's perspective, I recognize the marketing messaging that targets specific IT buyer personas is likely to be more effective, compared with a simple one-size-fits-all approach. That will require additional market segmentation and analysis, but I'm not afraid of this challenge.<br />
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I want to explore proven ways to significantly improve the 'buyer enablement' process. I already help senior B2B buyers find the actionable information and guidance they need to purchase complex IT solutions -- enabling them to achieve their business objectives. I also know that there is compelling evidence that a change in approach is long overdue.<br />
<h3>
Business Outcome-Centered Marketing</h3>
The following is from an insightful webinar, hosted by Derry Finkeldey, VP Analyst at Gartner.<br />
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Here's an incentive for marketers that choose to invest the time and effort to better understand and respond to the needs and wants of an apparently 'untapped' Industry LoB segment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vLXG-H7Tv6IuI8KD0pJl5Uy7ggCRhB7fzYaiBQA3KmxIDXzboqnIK-UoAwz5YdetXYsIUPE7pb5k3JEL2jEu35_kWf5jWLSXpY978vaKky9MLlLAyPY9vTy77uuj9ZFsgQQeM5S6oNo/s1600/Gartner-LoB-study.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1600" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vLXG-H7Tv6IuI8KD0pJl5Uy7ggCRhB7fzYaiBQA3KmxIDXzboqnIK-UoAwz5YdetXYsIUPE7pb5k3JEL2jEu35_kWf5jWLSXpY978vaKky9MLlLAyPY9vTy77uuj9ZFsgQQeM5S6oNo/s640/Gartner-LoB-study.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Also, targeting a buyer persona(s) with a financial interest is self-evident; they crave a business case that demonstrates how an IT investment will result in operational improvements and cost optimization.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiiN10kWzxJJpkD_iL21DpwzCBDILI60yVecLTEBCn_8ZuLUAhcGkGwCRkAb4Cwo4QOUV4u-EMWH5Wrv-_8401BSmpRihSyFN1TfXPGDaPjsq7YisNT7l8QZRm8pgcu0QxBajHmXwab8/s1600/perfect+the+business+case.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="1600" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiiN10kWzxJJpkD_iL21DpwzCBDILI60yVecLTEBCn_8ZuLUAhcGkGwCRkAb4Cwo4QOUV4u-EMWH5Wrv-_8401BSmpRihSyFN1TfXPGDaPjsq7YisNT7l8QZRm8pgcu0QxBajHmXwab8/s640/perfect+the+business+case.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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While other buyer clusters may have common business outcome related interests, it's not clear (to me) how many versions of an IT vendor narrative are going to be required to reach the full potential of a more customized go-to-market strategy.<br />
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That's why I'm going to be seeking further market data and analysis, during the coming year. I welcome any suggestions for other sources of insight. Especially, IT vendor marketing lessons learned and associated best practices. So, feel free to <a href="https://www.geoactivegroup.com/contact-us" target="_blank">reach out to me</a>.<br />
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Visit Gartner: learn their perspective on "<a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/sales-service/insights/b2b-buying-journey" target="_blank">The New B2B Buying Journey</a>."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761478108168308276.post-44149957412447202092019-12-29T13:48:00.004-06:002024-03-10T09:43:46.462-05:00How to Create Story-Driven B2B Marketing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUB7glmmOetVO1DSC4Y9Vof6hW_Ctpyl-VF8TyTiaa35-65GKwr-d62i5Jjgvjr6PQLayUsVdeAsr9vADA4fsO9R-8P3_oX4OGjyEwufazjsTz8MSfmJW-9rKfThyphenhyphene_Bo3hUoSQKAcgzg/s1600/bold-brave.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUB7glmmOetVO1DSC4Y9Vof6hW_Ctpyl-VF8TyTiaa35-65GKwr-d62i5Jjgvjr6PQLayUsVdeAsr9vADA4fsO9R-8P3_oX4OGjyEwufazjsTz8MSfmJW-9rKfThyphenhyphene_Bo3hUoSQKAcgzg/s400/bold-brave.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) have a choice, embrace the future or cling to the past. To succeed today, they must abandon mass-media thinking and resist the urge to squander their budgets on trivial advertising or paid media. To compete, they must build teams of practitioners who can create content, not merely outsource work to agencies and contractors.</div>
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The notion of engaging a <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Digital GTM Polymath</strong> is really compelling. You can harness the actionable wisdom of a worldly individual who acknowledges the near-term challenges and opportunities and has the strategic vision to anticipate the broader future. Here's the path to progress. Everyone can transform and evolve. I've authored a detailed market assessment with my recommendations - <a href="https://gtm-polymath.geoactivegroup.com/" target="_blank"><b>Learn more</b></a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><strong><a href="https://geobrava.geoactivegroup.com">More...</a></strong></div>David H. Deanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497702989231830479noreply@blogger.com