Entries from June 2010
What B2B marketing automation is all about, and why you should care: Executive Breakfast Briefing Tomorrow (6/29) in Waltham MA from 8:30 to 10:00 am.
Interested in learning more about B2B marketing automation and how it may benefit your company?
Then do not miss this complimentary, 90-minute breakfast briefing designed specifically for senior corporate, sales and marketing executives at a mid-size to large companies, or at a fast-growing, venture-funded small companies; executives who are looking for ways to cost-effectively and efficiently boost sales.
What B2B marketing automation is all about, and why you should care
Presented by AcquireB2B, a division of Mac McIntosh, Inc.
Date: June 29th
Time: 8:30 am to 10:00 am
Location: Waltham, MA
Information and Registration
Can't attend this Boston-area event on the June 29th?
Tell me about future Boston area events
Tell me about future events in my area
What is marketing automation all about?
Generating sales-ready leads is “easy.” All you have to do is get the right message to the right person at the right time. And only do what works. These are two simple strategies, but the details of consistently executing them are a significant challenge for most B2B organizations.
That’s what marketing automation is all about—using technology to implement these strategies and deliver a stream of qualified leads to drive sales in a highly cost effective way. (Your sales team and your CFO will love marketing automation!)
This briefing was developed specifically for busy executives like you
This may be your best opportunity to quickly get up to speed about B2B marketing automation—while having breakfast and discussions on the topic with a select group of your peers.
By attending this complimentary briefing, you’ll hear how many companies similar to yours are finding that marketing automation allows them to do more with less when it comes to their new business development.
You’ll learn how they are able to
- put their companies’ prospecting programs on auto-pilot;
- reach and nurture more prospective customers;
- generate more qualified leads;
- close more sales;
- lower their cost of sales; and
- increase their ROI
The executive briefing will be led by me, Mac McIntosh. In addition, Adam Needles, director of field marketing for Silverpop will overview how his company uses its marketing automation system to drive more leads and sales for less.
You can attend this complimentary, 90-minute breakfast briefing to get up to speed on marketing automation and be out the door at 10:00 am and on your way back to work.
Date: June 29th
Time: 8:30 am to 10:00 am
Location: Regus, 1050 Winter Street, Suite 1000, Waltham, MA 02451
Register to attend
The agenda:
8:30 am: Registration and Breakfast
8:45 am: What B2B marketing automation is all about, and why you should care
9:40 am: Group discussion
10:00 am: Briefing concludes
Please reserve your seat today, as attendance is strictly limited.
Register Online: Use this link or visit http://marketingautomation.eventbrite.com
Register by Phone: 1-800-336-1877 x1622
Register by Email:
(Please mention the June 29th briefing and include your name, title, company URL and phone number)
Your complimentary attendance at this executive breakfast briefing about marketing automation is made possible by its generous sponsors:
AcquireB2B -Drive more leads and sales with Marketing Automation
Silverpop - An on-demand provider of an email marketing and marketing automation platform serving the needs of sophisticated,self-service B2C and B2B marketers
B2B Contact - Generating more of the leads you need by combining qualified data with rich media messaging and telemarketing.
Sales and Marketing Integration: An Interview with Elizabeth Vanneste, CMO of Miller Heiman
This is one of a series of occasional interviews with top practitioners on topics of interest to B2B lead generation, marketing and new business development professionals.
My guest today is Elizabeth Vanneste, Chief Marketing Officer, Miller Heiman, a global leader in sales performance solutions with more than 30 years of documented results. Elizabeth has led successful marketing and sales efforts at a number of prestigious companies including MFS International and Level 3 Communications.
Elizabeth, during a recent webcast I attended, you talked about sales and marketing alignment impacting sales results. Please clarify what “sales and marketing alignment” means.
First, sales and marketing need to be focused on the same goals. That sounds obvious but often the new business and base customer growth goals assigned to sales don't translate easily into the lead generation and customer retention and satisfaction goals given to marketing.
Second, sales and marketing need to agree on common language and definitions. Who is our Ideal Customer? What is our target market? What is a "sales-ready lead?" How do you define customer satisfaction and loyalty?
Once you've agreed to common definitions you need to agree on your key messages - What is your value proposition? What is your elevator pitch? Key brand messages?
Finally, there needs to be an agreed business process or meeting rhythm that will keep the two groups in alignment. If sales is finding that the messages are not resonating with clients or the leads deemed "sales ready" are not a good fit, or marketing determines that the customer relationships are not as profitable as they should be, then the two groups need to revisit the definitions and messaging to make sure that they are being effective. At Miller Heiman we have a bi-weekly call with the sales team to review the new leads, understand what resonated with the prospect and gain insight into how well the prospects align with our Ideal Customer profile. Sometimes the action items from these meetings lead to new campaigns or a change to a definition.
The impact is dramatic. In the most recent Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study 90 percent of the World-Class Sales Organizations (those are companies that were more likely to report growth in key metrics such as customer retention and sales quota attainment) agreed that sales and marketing are aligned, versus 30 percent for all other organizations.
Please tell me more about this research study.
Miller Heiman's annual research study of sales practices, success metrics, and World Class Organizations – the Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study - has become recognized as the largest continuous research project dedicated to sales performance in the world. Since the study was launched in 2003, more than 23,000 sales professionals have participated. The research results support benchmarking exercises that enable companies to understand how they compare to their peers and how they can better identify areas for improvement.
You’re welcome to download the executive summary of this year’s study: Driving Sales Results in Any Economy.
Back to marketing and sales alignment, Elizabeth, what impact does this alignment really have?
In these days of tight budgets and scarce resources, being aligned improves productivity. According to our study, World Class Sales Organizations report better close rates.
In fact, the study found that more than half of those World-Class Sales Organizations reported a close rate of greater than 60 percent, compared to just only 16 percent of others.
What do marketing teams need to do in order to reach this level of alignment?
A regular (weekly/bi-weekly) lead huddle meeting is a great vehicle. Review all the new leads and the initial conversations with sales. What do the leads have in common? Why are they interested in your company? What are they trying to accomplish? Let marketing ask sales questions about the leads to understand quality and understand common challenges.
Elizabeth, what else can the two teams, marketing and sales, do to better collaborate, to get out of their respective silos?
Sales and marketing can also collaborate on proposals and deal support, internal communications to share success stories, and external communications and public relations.
Is there anything else marketing professionals should know about to help drive sales results for their company?
In addition to understanding customers, marketing needs to understand how salespeople think and how they work. A marketing professional who has walked in a salesperson's shoes has a unique respect for the pressure and the challenges faced by salespeople. Marketing professionals who respect the sales role are better able to provide the tools and support needed to ensure that sales is successful. Of course, savvy salespeople know they will be well supported when they respect their marketing colleagues as well.
Elizabeth, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and the executive summary of the Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study.
Readers, what are your thoughts on the subject?
Please add your comments by clicking on the word “comments” in the line below the Share button.
If you are reading this as an RSS feed, please use this link to add your comments:
www.sales-lead-insights.com/2010/sales-and-marketing-integration
Mac McIntosh Announces our New Division for Implementing Lead Generation: AcquireB2B
I thought that as reader of this blog you might be interested in hearing more about a new resource for helping you drive more leads and sales, more efficiently and at lower cost, by leveraging the power of marketing automation:
AcquireB2B – Driving leads & sales with marketing automation™
Mac McIntosh Inc has provided consulting and speaking/training related to helping companies like yours generate more qualified leads and drive more sales using the latest B2B marketing strategies, tactics, media and technology since 1990.
However, many of our clients have also been having us help implement their marketing-driven lead generation programs for them. So we decided to create a new division focused on those implementation services and named it AcquireB2B.
Our team of experts at AcquireB2B provide a full menu of services related to either generating more leads and sales with B2B marketing, or powering-up those programs by leveraging B2B marketing automation systems.
These services range from bite-size projects, to being a virtual extension of your marketing team, to running turn-key lead generation programs for you. Or anything in between.
As always, Mac McIntosh Inc can provide the unbiased consulting and training you need to design or improve your marketing driven business development programs.
But now we also have this new division and its expert team to help you with any aspect of implementing your B2B lead generation programs.
How can AcquireB2B assist you and your company in driving more leads and sales with B2B marketing or marketing automation?
Here are three ways to learn more:
- Visit AcquireB2B at http://www.acquireb2b.com
- Request your complimentary phone consultation with an expert on driving leads and sales with B2B marketing (a $350 value): Call me at (800) 366-1877 Ext 1622 or use this link or visit
www.pages05.net/acquireb2b/Offers/LearnMore/ - Sign up to be kept up to date on the latest in B2B marketing, lead generation and marketing technology with a complimentary subscription to B2B Marketing Technology Insights at: Use this link or visit
http://www.pages05.net/acquireb2b/Preferences/Subscribe_AB2B_Newsletter/
Please consider Mac McIntosh Inc or AcquireB2B when you need help designing, implementing or improving your B2B marketing to drive more leads and sales.
Thanks,
Be my guest at B2B Marketing University in Dallas on June 23, 2010
If you are a B2B Marketer, or are responsible for lead generation, please be my guest for this half-day, educational event!
What: B2B Marketing University
When: June 23, 2010
Where: Westin Galleria
13340 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75240
As one of the presenters, I can promise you that by attending the Dallas session of B2B Marketing University you and your team will get expert insights into the latest strategies and innovation you can deploy today to get better results and a higher ROI from your marketing.
This all-new-for-2010 B2B Marketing University is focused on helping you stay ahead of the curve and excel in the changing B2B marketing environment.
If the Dallas session is even close to being as good as it was in Boston, Palo Alto, or Washington DC, it is sure to be well worth attending.
Why bother attending?
Today is both a challenging time and an exciting time to be a B2B marketer. The impetus for marketers to generate leads, drive sales and support customer lifetime value has never been stronger. Yet change is everywhere. Major forces are provoking evolution in how B2B marketers operate. Meanwhile, significant innovation has brought new tools and capabilities to B2B marketers' arsenals.
Ask yourself:
- Are you on top of the latest strategies and tactics for B2B lead management, marketing automation and inbound marketing?
- Are you leveraging dynamic campaigns, lead scoring and social media to improve engagement with buyers?
- Do you have what it takes to excel in the new B2B marketing environment?
If you are not sure—or you are looking for additional ideas you can put to work driving more leads and sales with your marketing—B2B Marketing University is where you can get answers and take your game to the next level.
Attendees will learn more about what is really working best today from top B2B marketing, lead generation and marketing automation experts (including me), including an end-of-day roundtable discussion with some of your peers.
Attendance is free for those responsible for approving, directing or implementing B2B marketing and lead generation.
Lunch and a networking reception at the end of the day are also included at no additional charge.
Speaking of free, perhaps the best part is that B2B Marketing University is also refreshingly free of product pitches! Even the sponsor, Silverpop, gets little more than a mention.
Your attendance is free, so why not join us for the afternoon of June 23rd at the Westin Galleria in Dallas?
Click here to register or to learn more.
If you are reading this as an email or RSS feed, here's the link:
http://sdm3.rm04.net/servlet/SignUpForm?f=113980&acquireb2b
Managing B2B Leads for Sales Success – 30 minute, on-demand webinar
Drive revenue for your organization by fully leveraging your B2B marketing and sales teams.
Join us for my conversation with Gord Hotchkiss (author of The BuyerSphere Project) on the current state of of B2B demand generation.
B2B Leads for Sales Success
On demand Webinar
Register here
In this 30-minute webinar, we will address questions that are top of mind:
- How has technology, e.g. marketing automation, changed the way marketing and sales work together?
- What role does search marketing play in qualifying leads?
- How does social media fit into lead generation?
- What will lead gen. look like in 2015?
This webinar is recommended for VP's, Directors and Managers in Sales and/or Marketing roles.
Register here or use this link:
http://pages.enquiro.com/webinar24-managing-b2b-sales-leads.html
