The Buyers Funnel and Your Political Power: Joined at the Hip - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Buyer’s Funnel and Your Political Power: Joined at the Hip �������������������������� ���������������������������������

You � Years in marketing: 0 – 5 / 5 – 10 / 10+ � Company side / agency or vendor side � Marketing / VP / CEO / Sales / Prod Mkt � Biggest challenge 2 Zhivago

Me - Revenue Coach Determined to solve marketing and sales problems once and for all 3 Zhivago

Back to you 1) What you want out of this 2) What you are doing now 4 Zhivago

Your working life: Revenue Realities

Same old problem, getting worse • Marketers have always lacked the respect of top management • Marketing and sales have never been aligned • Now it’s even worse , because: a) Customers are completely in control of the selling (buying) process b) Interactions with customers happen in real-time c) Tools changing faster than ever d) Managers expect metrics – and ROI 6 Zhivago

Revenue Reality: Your working life ���� Inside It’s always been broken. It just hurts more now. ���� Technology Social. Cloud. Mobile. + SEO. SEM. Web. Email. Blogs. Outside Buyers have changed the way they buy – and what they expect. Sellers haven’t kept up. 7 Zhivago

Revenue Remedy: Your new working life Inside Insiders no longer lead you. Customers lead you. You lead the insiders. Technology Only do what your customers want: Social. Cloud. Mobile. + SEO. SEM. Web. Email. Blogs. Outside Understand WHAT they want to buy from you and HOW they want to buy it 8 Zhivago

Inside

Inside: Your three biggest enemies Subjectivity Everyone is an “expert” on marketing; everyone has an opinion Uncertainty You “can’t know” what will work until you try it Exclusivity What worked for someone else may not work for you! “In marketing, imitation is the sincerest form of stupidity.” 10 Zhivago

Inside: The illogic of marketing � Marketers are expected to � Marketers are not communicate effectively allowed, by salespeople, with customers to interview customers � Have you ever told a � Salespeople portend to be salesperson what you the experts on customers were really thinking? � Marketers outsource the � Why are you outsourcing customer relationship THE most important part of your job? 11 Zhivago

Inside: Marketing failure is tolerated � Would the CEO accept this from: � Finance: “Well, we’re trying different things on the IRS, to see what works.” � Production: “We are getting a good product 2% of the time.” � Sales: “We’re not listening to customers. We just pitch them.” 12 Zhivago

The truth is... � Marketing is so broken, standards are incredibly low � Marketers feel completely overworked and overwhelmed � Why? Because they are GUESSING. 13 Zhivago

Technology

Technology: Guessing is a fool’s game � Social, Cloud, Mobile – How are your customers using these? � SEO – what do they type in when they FIRST start searching – not what your weblogs show � SEM – start with their phrases, get more clicks � Web – what are the top 3 questions they’re asking? � Email – what do they want and how often? � Blogs - ditto 15 Zhivago

Outside 16 Zhivago

Buyers have changed the way they buy. � 80% - or more – of their questions are answered before talking to a salesperson. Converse & search. � Info comes from other customers, not companies � Can’t answer their questions? They’re gone. Forever. � They are in control of the buying process! 17 Zhivago

A typical B2B Buying Process Funnel ������������� �������� ������!����"���# ������������� ������!��""������# ������������������ ������!���!������# ���������$!��������� ������!����%�����# ����������%������%��� �������!����"���# �������&����� ������!����"���# ������������� ������!���������������# 18 Zhivago

Revenue Reality: How marketing is done now '��"��� '!������� ����!����(�)������� ����������*�)���� ���������*�������� ������������ �������������� 19 Zhivago

Revenue Remedy: The way marketing '��"����� should work* ������"���������"�������� �����"�������!������� ����!����(�)��������� '!������� +!���%�����!��������%��� ����������*�)���� ���������*���������� �������������������� ���������������� ����� ��������&!� ,���� ���� %���������� ��� ���"����� 20 Zhivago

What makes it work? '��"��� �������&��� '!������ '!������� ����!����(�)������� ������������ ����������*�)���� ���������*�������� 21 Zhivago

Your Roadmap To Revenue DISCOVER DEBATE DEPLOY Find out why Resolve the Map out their they bought differences buying process so and how they between what you can support it bought. they want and at every step. what you sell. Build an Action How they buy vs. Interview, Plan. how you sell. create reports, Stay on the Road. What you promise summarize, vs. what they analyze, want delivered. recommend. 22 Zhivago

Current customers will teach you how to sell to new customers � They will reveal: � Why they bought � How they bought � What their concerns were � How you satisfied those concerns � What they now tell others � What they typed into Google – FIRST � Trends and challenges (your opportunities) � Weakness of competitors 23 Zhivago

Magic Questions � How do you feel about our product/service? � Are our prices fair? � What was your buying process? � What is your biggest problem/challenge? � What trends do you see in your/our market? � If you were CEO of our company tomorrow, what would you fix? � Would you start with Google? If so, what would you type in? How would you tweak it? � Anything I should have asked? 24 Zhivago

You will be able to: � Map out the customer’s buying process � Match their questions with the right answers � Be ready for them when they take the next step � Arm the salespeople with RELEVANT materials � Redesign your website so it “starts where they are” � Know what will work and what you can ignore � LEAD THE COMPANY TO CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY 25 Zhivago

Yes, Virginia. You can talk to customers. � It is essential and it is NOT impossible. Best: � Phone interviews – best – of CURRENT CUSTOMERS � Only 7 – 10 people of any given type � Open-ended questions � Conversation report � You can get the names. Your reasons: � I’m supposed to be talking to customers for you all day long. Shouldn’t I know who I’m talking to? � I will only be interviewing, not selling � The more I know, the more I will be able to help you sell 26 Zhivago

The Report and the Meeting � Compile and distribute the Conversation Report � Managers, for the first time, will “get it” – it’s like drinking from a firehose of truth � While they are in this state, have a two-day brainstorming meeting 27 Zhivago

Brainstorming & Planning Meeting � Day 1 � Get the data into the room so everyone can see it – and everyone is “surrounded” with customer realities and desires � Use the data to build your brand (promise) � “Branding is the promise that you make, your brand is the promise that you keep.” Five tools: Passion, Policies, People, Product/Service, Processes. � Day 2 � Build a Buying Process Map for all products/services � Create your Action Plan 28 Zhivago

Building a Buying Process Map • It’s a grid/table Stage Stage Stage 1 2 3 . . . • Stages of the Process (columns) Who • Each stage (rows): Concerns, Questions • Who’s involved Answers that work • What their concerns/questions are Mkt/selling tools • What answers satisfy them • What marketing/selling tools/methods work • Will align marketing and selling efforts, finally • Will make it easier for your customers to buy 29 Zhivago