American Idol

B2B marketers pay close attention to how customers consume the content they produce, often engineering a learning journey so customers gradually internalize how the supplier’s unique benefits solve major customer pain points.  This journey includes the sales conversation between reps and customers, which we’ve found should follow a specific sequence that builds emotional commitment to the supplier’s vision and solution.  The following three principles should serve as the backbone to any sales pitch that Marketing creates:

1. Provoke: Reframe the customer’s initial assumptions or expose areas of underappreciated risk.
2. Expose: Break down the underlying problems behind this previously unknown or underappreciated issue and show how they impact the customer’s business objectives.
3. Resolve: Build back the customer’s confidence with an eye to how your products and services solve the exposed issue.

Of course, Marketing doesn’t operate in a vacuum, and the effectiveness of the pitch rests squarely on the shoulders of the reps who actually have to deliver it … but not all reps are created equal.  The ability to deliver the same pitch while setting the appropriate tone will likely vary from rep to rep, and Marketing needs to look for ways to hardwire certain delivery cadences into the pitch.

Enter American Idol. The team at Neopost (global supplier of mailing systems, postage scales, logistics services) came up with a clever way to socialize to the broader sales force what elements of a well-executed pitch actually look like.  Marketing provides reps with a standardized set of raw materials to go off and create their best version of a pitch that reframes and challenges customer assumptions.  Neopost then hosts its very own “Neo-Idol”: a multi-round competition in which reps submit a short video of their very best pitch for online display.

Each rep views more than 30 peer pitches, voting on which one should progress to the following rounds (in a slight departure from American Idol format, there is no live debate/mockery based on a rep’s performance … sorry all you Simon fans out there).  By exposing reps to a variety of pitches throughout the competition, Marketing “engineers” message agility since reps have now seen a number of compelling ways to present Neopost insights.  And while Neo-Idol may not result in a record contract, it does produce a rep-vetted pitch that allows for customization within the guardrails of what reps themselves have expressed as the makings of a successful sales interaction.

MLC members: access a number of tools and templates to help you build a more effective sales pitch; or, learn more about Neo-Idol and other ways to deliver insight at one of our upcoming executive networking sessions.

We typically see three modes of content delivery:

1) Self-Directed –Customers spend significant time absorbing content online or connecting with peers before they ever contact the company directly.  This heightens the importance of deliberately designing interactions that make it easy for customers to digest insight and want to deepen the commercial relationship without someone physically present to make these connections explicit.   Downloading a white paper is too passive – it too easily turns into a one-off interaction where a customer absorbs content but feels no pull to move forward in the buying process.  Marketing needs to engineer self-directed insight consumption with an eye towards progressing customers along the purchase funnel.

2) Automated – Customers are clearly doing a lot of information gathering their own, but there’s still a role to play as far as what content you push through online promotions, newsletters, etc.  The problem is that most B2B marketers send the same content to everyone, but buyers now expect to get personalized offers that correspond to where they are in the buying process in real time.  The net result: a lot of clutter.   Fortunately, the rise of marketing automation technologies have made it a lot easier for suppliers to sequence content such that they hit the right people with the right content at the right time.  Content should take into account the groups you need to influence within the buying center and the stages they go through in the buying process, mapping content accordingly.

3) In-Person– One of the most potent ways to deliver teaching is in a face-to-face interaction, but it’s also the most “expensive” of the consumption options given limited time and resources from both the customer and sales rep perspectives .  There’s a very deliberate sequence to how a sales conversation should unfold to make the most of whatever face time reps manage to get.  It begins by provoking the customer, either by reframing initial assumptions or exposing areas of underappreciated risk. Then, break down the underlying problems behind this previously unknown or underappreciated issue.  Finally, build back the customer’s confidence with an eye to how your products and services solve the exposed issue.  Creating this emotional progression helps reps “choreograph” a conversation that delivers insight with greatest impact.

MLC members, learn more about engaging customers with marketing content at one of our upcoming executive networking sessions.

The rep interaction undoubtedly plays a crucial role in many purchase decisions; in fact our sister program, the Sales Executive Council, has put plenty of time into understanding the specific rep skills and manager characteristics that make this teaching effort most effective.

But we can’t assume that this face-to-face scenario is the only place to deliver commercial teaching.  The proliferation and democratization of information puts business insights at our customers’ fingertips and, more critically, moves control over the time and place of delivering those insights from the supplier to the customer. 

Suddenly, assuming that the rep is the sole channel for insight exchange seems naïve at best.  Yes, blowing the customer’s mind in that conversation leaves a huge impression and scores lots of loyalty brownie points, but we need to consider the range of scenarios during which commercial teaching can be delivered.  Web sites, merchandisers, the tradeshow circuit … all fair game as far as commercial teaching outlets go.

As marketers, we can’t control the paths through which customers consume the content that’s out there.  But we sure can control the message they consume.  Everything should be geared toward delivering insight.  If customers under-appreciate the costs associated with truck-driver attrition and we can help contain that cost, as was the case for Volvo trucks, then this should be the message championed across the range of touchpoints in the customer buying process.  At a minimum this reinforces the message that our reps deliver, but more critically this ensures that customers “get” our insight without having to commit to a sales call.

Marketers can obviously coordinate teaching messages across the touchpoints it owns, but we’re seeing a few companies starting their teaching efforts in touchpoints that aren’t even owned by the organization.  Touchpoints like blogs, peer-to-peer online communities, and other social platforms.  The idea here is to seek out those naturally occurring customer watering holes and start planting the seeds of your insight.  Sprinkling insight before customers even enter the buying funnel essentially draws highly qualified prospects in … and potentially accelerates the sales cycle.

MLC members: join your marketing peers at one of our executive sessions to learn about Marketing’s role in an insight-led organization. We’ll share best-in-class approaches to) designing portfolios of insight-led content, 2) tapping into and “redirecting” market and customer conversations, and 3) collaborating with Sales to generate customer momentum through the buying process.

MLC has spent a significant amount of time on the loyalty question, trying to understand what companies with high levels of customer loyalty do that’s so much better than the rest of the pack.  We’ve surveyed marketers, we’ve surveyed sales reps and sales managers, and, perhaps most critically, we’ve surveyed B2B customers. 

Interestingly, the data all points to one resounding conclusion:

Customer loyalty results from our ability to teach customers something new and unexpected about how to compete more effectively in their environment.

For the purposes of our surveys, we’ve found that customers exhibit high levels of loyalty when suppliers:

• Offer unique and valuable perspectives on the market
• Educate them on new issues and outcomes
• Provide ongoing education and consultation

The real opportunity for competitive differentiation doesn’t stem from products and services.  It’s the insight a supplier delivers, the ability to reframe how customers think about their world, and then providing them with new ways to perform more effectively and compete more profitably.

But this insight-led approach doesn’t just mean churning out twice as many white papers and webinars.  Suppliers need to hardwire some connection between their teaching efforts and commercial goals.  Enter “commercial teaching,” or, reframing the way the customer assigns value to the areas where you outperform competitors.

Commercial teaching breaks down into four components:

1. Lead to your unique benefits. Tying directly back to some capability where you outperform competitors puts you in a much better position when it comes to winning business.  (Of course, this assumes that you know what your unique benefits are in the first place.)
2. Challenge customer assumptions. Whatever you teach will be most impactful if you can reframe the customers’ understanding of their marketplace.  It should speak directly to that customer’s world in a way they haven’t thought of before.
3. Catalyze action. Any teaching should lay out very specific steps that either reduce customers’ costs or increase their revenue.  It has to create urgency so that they’ll do something about it (ideally, by doing business with you).
4. Scale across customers. Commercial teaching is an organizational capability, not an individual skill, and should be approached segment by segment rather than customer by customer.

Placing a premium on insight isn’t something new, but when it comes to meeting the four criteria of good commercial teaching, most organizations fall short. 

MLC members: check out these examples of successful commercial teaching to see if your efforts meet the bar.

But a lot has changed in recent years, leading many B2B organizations to question this somewhat subservient relationship.  It’s no question that the purchase funnel has grown in complexity, requiring that reps demonstrate an increasingly deep level of customer understanding as they engage with more and more stakeholders to close every buying decision.  At the same time, we’ve seen an explosion in the number of collaborative technologies available to sales and marketing teams, making possible huge advantages to those companies able to get the right information to the right individuals at the right time.

Sales and Marketing should ideally operate more like a basketball team, passing customer engagements back and forth as they progress up the court—or in our case, across different phases of the buying cycle—until someone scores the closed deal.  This approach is less about determining the proper sequence of marketing versus sales activity, and there’s no specific handoff involved.  It’s much more about building a dynamic commercial team that, together, accelerates customers through the purchase funnel.

Sales and marketing are increasingly receptive to this team analogy, but results from our Commercial Integration Diagnostic show that we’ve still got a ways to go.  Three-quarters of surveyed marketing and sales leaders say they DON’T currently have effective purchase funnel management, which boils down to three hot button issues:

• Sales complaining that the leads they receive from Marketing are not qualified
• Marketing complaining that Sales fails to follow up on qualified leads in a timely and effective manner
• Sales and Marketing disagreeing over the effectiveness of marketing activities in contributing to overall sales

Robust CRM systems, at one time heralded as the panacea for lead management woes, are near ubiquitous by now, but most companies have failed to truly understand how these services can build a more productive sales and marketing machine.  Many companies remain hamstrung by a new set of challenges, those having to do with things like complex data quality management and end-user adoption.  Layer on top of that both sales force and marketing automation technologies and suddenly you’re drowning in questions about how to integrate all these systems and, most critically, how to properly cull this information to meaningfully impact lead generation and management efforts.

MLC members, join our webinar on Tuesday, June 1^st to learn more about the effect automation technologies are having on the working relationship between Sales and Marketing.  The presentation will be delivered in conjunction with the Marketing Operations Cross-Company Alliance (MOCCA), a community for sharing practical experience between Marketing Operations professionals, and will feature a panelist discussion with experts in the automation terrain.

This may sound like an obvious first step but, more often than not, Sales and Marketing aren’t on the same page when it comes to having a common understanding of customer needs.  We often hear tales of Sales accusing Marketing of being notoriously slow and impractical when analyzing customer needs, while marketers argue that Sales “manages by anecdote” and misses broader trends across segments. This tension ultimately hampers the organization’s ability to truly meet customer needs and capture new opportunities as they appear in the marketplace.

So how can sales and marketing teams get this right?  It comes down to effectively sharing customer knowledge between the two functions and then building consensus around the most pressing customer pain points and how the company will address them. This affords the broader commercial enterprise the flexibility to respond to changing customer behaviors while, most critically, clarifying how the company differs from competitors in a meaningful way.

Arriving at shared customer understanding breaks down into three components:

1. Understand customer needs.

Deep understanding of customers allows Sales and Marketing to develop, position, and deliver competitively differentiated offers that resonate with target customers.  Start by establishing a common framework.  Many organizations will use voice of the customer (VOC), though increasingly we’ve seen these approaches supplemented by efforts to surface unarticulated customer needs and underlying objectives.  Needs- and outcomes-based approaches provide commercial teams with greater opportunity to arrive at differentiated customer insights.

MLC members can learn more about surfacing customer outcomes in our 6-minute video tutorial.

2. Compile a customer information inventory.

Information about customers is typically scattered throughout the organization. Sales and Marketing must tap CRM data, market research, and even the tacit knowledge of internal business partners to establish an accurate baseline of what is (and what is not) known about existing customers.

Populating a learning agenda catalogues existing knowledge while also exposing areas where additional information is needed in order to portray a holistic view of the customer.  Synthesizing these disparate pieces of information in a disciplined manner creates a common view of customers that spans both Sales and Marketing.

3. Facilitate dynamic knowledge-sharing.

Given that customer behavior can change dramatically based on market dynamics, Sales and Marketing need cross-silo sharing tools and platforms that allow them to enrich the customer knowledge baseline in an ongoing and easily consumable way.  Embedding motivational drivers and simplifying input requirements to CRM systems can go a long way as far as encouraging both Sales and Marketing to contribute to and draw from more complete customer information.

MLC members, check out our new Shared Customer Understanding resource center for case studies, tools, and templates to help your sales and marketing teams get on the same page.

The first step is to build greater consensus (and clarity) around the unique benefits customers get as a result of doing business with you.  These are the common threads that should appear in every messaging effort and that will ultimately tie sales and marketing activities together.

But just as critical: effective commercial messaging comes down to a lot more than just changing your collateral.  Yes, the unique benefits should be the focal point of your glossy brochures and tradeshow materials, but these can’t be the only venues for highlighting the strengths you provide.  Every touchpoint—from the Web site to sales interaction to product packaging—is an opportunity to articulate your unique benefits to customers. The best marketers use even those commonly ignored touchpoints—think product spec sheets and invoice statements—as additional opportunities to reinforce benefits.  They’re admittedly not “sexy,” but they’re communications you’re sending out anyway and, with a few small tweaks, can actually do some heavy lifting for you rather than just clog a customer’s inbox.  I say heavy lifting because it’s this constant reinforcement that gets customers to buy into the effectiveness of your solution and, most critically, your unique ability to deliver that solution.

So treat all touchpoints as equal opportunities when it comes to messaging.  That said … some touchpoints are more equal than others.  In particular, both the company website and the actual sales interaction stand out as crucial moments to make sure you’re reinforcing one clear, coherent message about the company’s benefits.  For the web site, this means you’ll want to look for ways to highlight unique benefits while connecting content to the buying process.  Those interested in further musings on what makes for a truly effective B2B website can read Rob Hamshar’s earlier post on the digital high-performer.

As far as the sales interaction goes, teaching customers about your company’s unique benefits should be something that reps are always trying to achieve and an inherent part of how they sell.  Storytelling is a compelling way to present information to audiences in a way that creates drama and suspense. By hardwiring the connections between a company’s benefits and customer emotions and pain points, commercial teams can improve the effectiveness of selling interactions.  (More on what this actually looks like in a future post).

The bottom line for marketers: don’t squander any touchpoints when it comes to messaging your unique benefits. 

MLC members, check out Philips’ benefits-driven messaging campaign that used a variety of different outlets to reinforce how customers benefit from using energy-efficient devices.

If that doesn’t startle you, it should.  As the number of different information outlets continues to explode, B2B companies must treat every interaction as a critical opportunity to convince customers of their unique value.  Everything—from the sales pitch to marketing collateral to corporate communications—is a chance to hammer home what differentiates you from the next guy.  And the more consistent you can be across channels, the more likely customers are to internalize this differentiated mantra.  But we’re clearly not getting the job done.

If customers are going to have a clear and compelling reason to choose your products and services over competitors’, they need to understand the specific benefits they get as a result of partnering with you.  And claiming that you, Mr. B2B Company, are innovative, reliable, or committed to personal service, doesn’t cut it.  As marketers, it’s our job to translate what this means into tangible (maybe even financial) terms for customers.

These benefits, then, become the crux of all messaging.  Every message should circle back to the unique benefits the company provides, NOT nuanced product differences or the 100-year old corporate legacy.

That makes sense in theory, but what about practice?  Sales and Marketing need to be on the same page as far as what unique benefits truly set the company apart.  This means building consensus about where the company wins given the rest of the marketplace:

• First, identify your unique strengths.  Compile a list of relevant competencies (or core company strengths) that you can validate using business data and experience.
• Next, benchmark against competitors.  Aim for competencies where you excel and the competition cannot compete or imitate with ease.
• Finally, match your strengths to sources of customer value.  Aim for competencies that are likely to have a significant impact on your key customers’ business or industry.

Once Sales and Marketing are on the same page, socializing the benefits using an internally-facing value proposition can help get other functions onboard.  The end result, of course, is a unified front about how the company delivers the benefits to meet specific customer needs—something easily embedded into the full array of messaging outlets.

MLC members, check out examples of benefits-driven messaging from our B2B Marcomm Campaigns database or use our messaging resource center to find more tools to spark the creative juices.

The pain points are many.  On the one hand, sales reps say that the messaging and positioning they get from Marketing is largely irrelevant.  More often than not, reps bypass Marketing’s collateral altogether, opting instead to create “rogue” campaigns they believe will more quickly move customers through the purchase funnel.

On the other side of the floor, marketers often gripe that Sales fails to tailor messages to address the unique needs of different customers.  Once armed with a pitch, reps go on autopilot—or so the theory goes.  This results in missed opportunities to make the company’s given solution truly resonate with customers, which ultimately translates into missed revenue.

Finger pointing aside, it’s safe to say we must have a pretty broken machine when it comes to delivering consistent messages across the slew of interactions we have with our customers.  From advertising to product information to tradeshow collateral, the opportunities to send mixed messages are many and, as companies explore social media facets, still growing. 

Without first establishing a baseline about why customers should choose their products and services over competitors’, Sales and Marketing have little to tether them to a consistent message across these different outlets.  Moreover, it’s increasingly tempting to tout the latest feature or R&D breakthrough, resulting in messages that focus on nuanced product differences, rather than the unique capabilities the company may provide.

Leading marketing organizations get two things right:

1. They work closely with their sales teams to first identify sources of differentiation, and then

2. They communicate these differentiators at major decision points across the purchase cycle.

The key is to take advantage of every opportunity—including your Web site, event collateral, and the sales pitch—to articulate and constantly reinforce unique sources of value in language that resonates with customers. 

Think about what specific benefit a customer gets as a result of doing business with you.  This not only builds appreciation for how your company differs from the competition, but it will also help you move customer conversations beyond price—something we’d all agree is a desirable outcome.

MLC members, visit our new Messaging Topic Center to learn more about identifying and communicating key differentiators.

We’re a biased group, so while differentiation may be the bread and butter of our world, the sad truth is that that simply isn’t the case within many B2B organizations.  Marketing can (and should) take the lead to identify the core set of unique benefits that set the company apart from competitors.  But when it comes to embedding these throughout the customer experience—that requires coordination of many moving pieces across the enterprise.

So where does this leave our benefits-driven customer experience?  You’re not going to affect every touchpoint 100% of the time (and given that most of us have dozens—even hundreds—of touchpoints, that should elicit an audible sigh of relief).  But there are a few basics tenets we can follow to ensure that our benefits actually reach our target audience:

• Hit ‘em where it counts. If you have a good understanding of customers and their workflow, you can isolate the touchpoints they use at key decision points.  If these touchpoints are under Marketing’s control: WIN!  Double down investments here.  If the touchpoint is owned by someone else: do everything humanly possible to ensure this touchpoint reflects your unique benefit.
• Do no harm. Make sure none of your touchpoints actively contradict the benefit you’re trying to get across.  If you’re claiming to help customers minimize the time they spend setting up your equipment and maximize the time they spend working, then your Gizmo3000 better not be wrapped within an inch of its life with packaging that requires a machete to cut through.
• Use customer outcomes as a common thread. Looking at the outcomes that customers are trying to achieve provides a common aligning principle for all touchpoints, no matter where ownership resides within the organization.  All touchpoints, even those commonly ignored like invoices or product spec sheets, can be tweaked to constantly remind customers how the company helps customers get to the outcome desired.  MLC members can check out how Philips did this.

This simplicity gives others across the organization a clear set of marching orders as to how they can impact the customer experience.  It may seem pretty basic, but you’ll be surprised by how much low-hanging fruit you’ll uncover.  This is especially critical for companies where purchase decisions are made infrequently or over long periods of time.  If customers buy from you every two or three years, what are the chances they’ll remember your unique benefits several months down the line?  Don’t squander any opportunity to remind customers of the benefits you provide.  Use every tool—even the mundane—and you’ll avoid the fate of the lone tree in the forest.