What are the limits of the Nature vs Nurture debate? Was I really a St. Louis Cardinals fan at birth? (of course). One friend of mine seems predisposed towards the Jersey Shore. Is it in her nature? (well, she is from New Jersey).
I’ve even heard echoes of the debate when members refer to their employers:
“It’s our nature to follow very specific processes”
“Our culture hasn’t changed in 85 years”
“Our leadership believes that our go-to-market strategy from 2002 is still relevant”
“Our brand personality mirrors one thing: our company’s history”
In other words, some members claim that Nature trumps Nurture. That the innate qualities of a firm’s culture, leadership, brand personality and politics (Nature) eclipse the impact of externalities and experiences (Nurture).
Well, to appropriate an old saying – we plan, the economy laughs. Your Nature doesn’t mean much in the face of news that stock market growth is stalling, that real estate prices are taking another dive, and that unemployment remains uncomfortably close to 10%. In an overwhelmingly consumer-focused economy, those numbers should give even B2B marketers pause.
For firms ‘burdened’ by Nature, externalities like economic trouble signal opportunity. Given the gravity of changes surrounding your firm, there is no better time to impact change inside your firm.
Not sure where to start? Our research on Insight Marketing may be relevant. For years, members have been searching for methods to prevent pricing discussions from hijacking margins. MLC’s answer: through the power of insights. If a supplier is able to both generate insights about their customers’ business and demonstrate how only they can uniquely solve their customers’ business challenges, they will effectively abolish price from the conversation.
This isn’t untested, laboratory-only theory. Volvo’s done it successfully. By identifying a game-changing insight that aligned with their strengths, Volvo sold more trucks – at higher margin – in a down economy.
And, who best to uncover these provocative insights? Marketing, of course. Our most successful members rewire marketing into an insight factory that helps power once-idle sales teams.
MLC members, if your go-to-market strategy could use an industrial strength alteration, dive into our most recent research on Insight Marketing, then join us for an upcoming webinar.
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on 21 September 11
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Nice article, can’t agree more. Organization like Cap One and FedEx have long understood the blue print of “Let the data tell me what is the right decision”. Any organizations customer and product data is teaming with insights like what is working, what is not… why not listen and align strategies. It’s easier to swim with the current than fighting going up.