Smart Messaging in Tough Times Helps Align Sales and Marketing

Slide 1:

1 Smart Messaging In Tough Times 1 John Kratz – jkratz@visiongroupmn.com Ken Jondah l – kjondahl@visiongroupmn.com

Workshop Topics :

2 Workshop Topics What is Smart Messaging? Is Smart Messaging Important Today? How to Make Your Messaging Sticky! Open-Discussion and Prize Drawing at End. 2

“Songs About Me”:

3 “Songs About Me” 3 Trace Adkins – Country Singer

“Songs About You!”:

“Songs About You!” (What Are You Looking to Achieve)? Why Did You Attend this Seminar?

Common Issues Around Messaging?:

5 Common Issues Around Messaging? We need to do a better job of generating, cultivating and nurturing leads. We need to deliver better tools for enabling our salespeople to have more meaningful and relevant conversations with customers. Our marketing messages are aimed too low in the buying organization focused on people that can’t make the buying decision

What is Smart Messaging?:

6 What is Smart Messaging? 0 Definition of “Message” and “Relevant”

Smart Messaging: Definition:

7 Smart Messaging: Definition Smart Messaging is any information or concept conveyed by written or verbal communications That is perceived by the prospect or buyer as being relevant to their goals, problems or compelling needs .”

Who Determines What is Relevant?:

8 Who Determines What is Relevant? The Buyer or the Seller?

Is Smart Messaging Important?:

9 Is Smart Messaging Important? Up to 90 percent of marketing materials created for sales support is unused or is not relevant to the customer. Salespeople spend 40-60 hours per month trying to find and utilize relevant marketing messages to support specific sales opportunities. Only 10% of sales people do a good job at creating customer messages, leading to ineffective presentations and lower close rates. 9 The following statistics were generated by the Customer Message Management Forum: Customer Message Management , Tim Riesterer & Diane Emo

Is Smart Messaging Important?:

10 Is Smart Messaging Important? 25% higher quota attainment 20% higher win rates 3 times the competitive win rate 5 times less discounting 10 A recent best practices study showed companies with marketing organizations that explicitly focus on communicating on how their solutions help customers solve their problems experience: CSO Insights – 2009

Shouldn’t These Be Consistent?:

Shouldn’t These Be Consistent? Marketing Messages = Sales Conversations “When they are not consistent, the burden of positioning your offerings falls, by default, on the shoulders of sales people.” How to Align Sales and Marketing

CEO Scenario:

12 CEO Scenario 12 Your company is launching a new product or service and trains the entire sales organization in a day long meeting. (The next week your salespeople start calling on buyers and customers.) Assume you video tape three different sales people attempting to sell your new offering to the same title within the same vertical channel. If you were to review the tapes, would you be able to determine: If the same product/service was being sold? If the salespeople even worked for the same company? Mike Bosworth, Founder Solution Selling and Customer Centric Selling

Slide 13:

How to Create the Best Buying Experience in B2B

Recession Impact Survey of Sales Executives/Consultants :

14 Recession Impact Survey of Sales Executives/Consultants 77% reported buying decisions are taking longer 52% stated buyers are purchasing less 41% felt buyers were demanding more price concessions 38% were directing sales organizations to pursue new categories of customers Source: Josh Gordon , Selling 2.0, Whitepaper for The Customer Collective

Common Issues During Recessions?:

15 Common Issues During Recessions? Our sales people are not as prepared as they could be to call higher in the organization The length of our sales cycles are increasing Buyers are requiring more value justification and are stalling out in the land of “NDI ”

Slide 16:

*Value/Price Line moves up or down dependent upon size of expenditure and organization. It also varies from opportunity to opportunity. ‘Who Has Access to $ During Tough Times?” 63

Presentation Paradigm:

17 Presentation Paradigm It’s not about “IT”, It’s about what “IT” can achieve 17

Slide 18:

18 Would you choose 500 GB for $109 or 1000 GB for $119, both are plug and play USB? Is it the product features or the usage which determines your final choice?

Slide 19:

Too few customer-facing personnel are able to explain how their offerings can be used by their customer to: Achieve Business Goals Solve Business Problems Address the causes/reasons that prevent customers from solving their problems or achieving their business goals Messaging Conclusions 43

Take Away Considerations:

20 Take Away Considerations It’s not about “IT” , It’s about what “IT” can achieve Transition from product-feature to product-usage messaging Think about the specific job title and functional role of the person you are attempting to communicate with Align your messaging with where your prospects/customer’s are in their buying process 20 Tips on how to build customer focused messaging

Questions?:

21 Questions? 21