B2B Marketers Topic: Is Your Marketing Aligned to Today’s Buyers?

This is the first of a series of articles written from my book Buyer Steps.  I am exposing my book one topic at a time through these articles.   I would welcome feedback since my goal is to improve the book and thus help the users of the book improve their revenue efforts.  The reason understanding the new buyer is important is so that we can start to get our senior management team’s minds right about the marketing and sales approach.  Our first challenge is that many providers have not adjusted to today’s B2B buyer and their process. 

 

21^st Century Marketing must address buyers who are

1)   …drowning in decisions that do not have to be made

They have excess opportunities to improve their business through the purchase of products and services.  Prioritizing the value, achievability, and timing of those choices is their challenge.  

2)   …can only see the world from their unique viewpoint 

It starts with a problem or opportunity specific to the buying organization, not the provider’s offering.  The buyer sees the world from where he or she sits.  Buyers identify with and ultimately select providers who can describe the world through their eyes. 

3)   …aggregate knowledge, opinions and use technology to improve decisions 

Rash purchasing by one person has been transformed into a more rigorous and inclusive approach within an austere economic environment.  A buyer who has become an advocate for a provider must be armed with arguments that convince other decision influencers within their organization. 

By acknowledging the shifted mindset of the 21^st century B2B buyer, providers can organize themselves to help the buyer go through their natural buyer steps or process.  It is through this constant effort that the provider improves their buyer fitness.  The buyer, who used to wait to be called on by the informative salesperson, has morphed into a buyer who is incredibly informed prior to the sales call.  To address these changes, providers must adapt their revenue generation efforts.

You can reach me directly at john@johnwryan.com 

Next topic:  Marketing Management Issues

Startups: Making a Dent

It's not that I don't like business...I can't stand boring businesses who have no intention of making a dent in the world...on improving it.  They are just "getting in the way of the money" with the hope of being chosen.  Usually, it's a dearth of creativity/courage, either one - it's boring because there is no adventure to be found.  Just holiday parties where they slap each other on the back like something really happened.  

Startups have a responsibility to be different.  Not just because they're a startup, but there is a necessity to stand out for the buyer.  Make a dent or come up with a new plan.

Buyers Rule – Target These 3 Areas to Get in Sync

Many providers are still relying on their company’s viewpoint for their marketing.  Since buyers can instantly share information in the 21^st century, it is best to adjust heavily toward helping the buyer reach their goals.  Buyers want information in specific ways at ideal times to accelerate and improve their decision-making.  Unless providers start building their marketing from the buyer’s perspective, they make everyone’s job harder than it has to be. 

Target your audiences and markets. 

Has your company defined the best groups that would want to research what you offer?  Defining characteristics may be range of size, geographies, industries and motivation.  This is your low-hanging fruit.  You would be surprised at the number of companies who have not done this necessary work.  One of the wasteful results out of not understanding audiences is that expensive salespeople spend time with companies that will never buy.

Target a few key buyer personas. 

Does your company clearly understand a few critical personas in the markets you’ve chosen?  The saying is “all politics are local”, well then so is “what is my benefit?”  Relevancy to the persona as well as well as the company is necessary or it’s difficult to sell internally for the buyer.  As an example, an economic buyer will want to understand ROI (return on investment).  If you cannot show the ROI, the transaction cycle will be painfully slow, if not impossible. 

Target your buyer’s steps. 

Can your company clearly articulate the steps buyers usually take in making decisions?  Most companies think in terms of awareness, interest, nurturing and selling.  That is based on what the provider wants.  The major steps B2B buyers take in the 21^st century that I’ve discussed in my book, “Buyer Steps” are Research, Tryoritize, Purchase and Optimize.  There are also sub-steps in the Purchase step.  Bonus - Do you know which persona dominates a particular buying step? 

By seeing things from the buyer’s viewpoint, not only does the buyer make decisions faster, the provider gets the most traction out of their revenue activities.  Focus on the buying process and watch the confidence of your company’s revenue efforts rise over time.

Herman Cain’s 999 Plan – A Marketing Perspective

It is difficult to ignore Herman Cain’s charisma.  Everyone I have spoken to seems to find the Republican presidential candidate likeable.  The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO certainly comes across as someone who knows a lot more than how to sell pizza.  In last night’s debate in New Hampshire, he leaned on his 999 taxation message that received commentary from the other candidates.  If you are unaware of what 999 means, it’s 9% income tax, 9% corporate tax and 9% sales tax.  The 999 plan also translates into good marketing.

An island of simplicity in an ocean of complexity is often appreciated.  Corporations feel that regulations are strangling their businesses, they don’t know what to do with all of their data and their responsive communications challenges are daunting.   Consumers feel their heads are spinning in a multi-layered world that seems to move faster than they can comprehend and they welcome policy that is memorable.  It gives them something to discuss around the water cooler that can be universally understood.

The other GOP candidates didn’t seem to think 999 was good policy and the frontrunner (Mitt Romney) emphasized that although simple answers often sound good, this problem was too complicated.  Regardless of whether the plan is good policy, a simple message can be an effective marketing strategy.  What Cain is communicating is that the voter will benefit from a simple and fair tax structure.  Compare those benefits to the downside of what many feel is a complicated and unjust tax system.  If I were a candidate, I would try to communicate simple messages that allowed a quick grasp of the benefits.  Herman Cain may not win the nomination, but all business leaders can all learn from his marketing acumen about complex topics.  

Marketing and Sales - Jobs People Hate?

I saw this morning that CNBC had a slideshow on Jobs People Hate.  Marketing was mentioned as no. 10, indirectly mentioned as Product Management at no. 3 and coming in at no. 2 was Director of Sales and Marketing.  The reasons they are listed?  Lack of direction and an absence of opportunity for growth were blamed as the top two reasons for dissatisfaction.  

Of course, most people would hate a job where there was a lack of direction and no room to grow.  On the other hand, in today's economy, a pragmatist might ask, "who has the luxury of loving their job?"  I wrote my book, Buyer Steps to help business obtain direction in their marketing and sales efforts.  My experience would tell me that a byproduct of getting an organization moving in the right direction is more opportunity for most people in the company.

A few questions for a marketing team:

1) Do you truly understand your buyers from a persona, motivation (pain/gain) and expectations standpoint? If you're not speaking from their viewpoint, using their words, there is no relevancy to the message.  It's often surprising how many companies have not done their buyer homework.

2) What is your "so what" - what makes you stand out in impact to the buying organization?  Without this, expect long buying cycles and poor leads.  We love to live in the world of mediocrity because it's safe there.

3) Are you using the same techniques and getting the same (if not diminishing) results?  It's time to take some well-considered chances and teach the organization some new tricks.

4) Do you receive proper and fair support from the CEO?  Ever get out there, look back and the CEO isn't behind you?  Marketers are supposed to be good communicators, but often don't communicate well enough with their own executive team.  It happens to all of us at some point, but we have to realize this is a priority so our team gets the proper support.

I'm not sure if people hate working in marketing and sales or if they just hate it right now.  It's tough out there for many companies and being on the frontline is where you feel the market mood first.  Corporate leadership is critical but so is personal leadership.  When it's dark, one really has to become their own light.