Tony Zambito

APRIL 26, 2021

On the other hand, the company thinks work from home means you are available 24/7. Such a perspective will help to open up a gateway towards truly understanding the buyer’s mindset. Otherwise, gaining the attention of buyers may be a long process that virtual selling alone cannot accomplish. .

Buyer Personas 153

Buyer Personas Outreach Buy Studies 153

Tony Zambito

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

The idea of understanding the process by which buyers make choices and decisions has been around for quite some time. In sales for the past few decades, it has been called understanding the buying process. The insights gleaned from such mapping can contribute to improving processes and experiences for customers and buyers.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Buyer's Journey Case Studies Buy 100

Tony Zambito

MARCH 12, 2017

B2B companies are faced with the most transformative era in business history. More so than in consumer oriented markets, B2B markets had a degree of predictability that companies often relied on. As companies become flat organizationally, we are seeing the rise of collaborative teams and units. Illustration by Gregory Cresnar.

Buyer Personas 251

Buyer Personas B2B Digital Transformation B2B Sales 251

Tony Zambito

MAY 17, 2021

Here is how it sounds from an actual buyer interview with a VP, Marketing for a Global 1,000 company: “One of our big goals for this year is to increase our ABM function. Help them meet their challenges. We need to get more content in front of our target accounts. Get more responses if you will.”. Yes, an admirable goal.

Account Based Marketing 224

Account Based Marketing ABM Buyer Personas Intent Signal 224

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 23, 2018

Much of these have to do with internal processes within marketing and sales. A question which businesses undergoing such efforts should answer, however, is: Will our transformation help us to align with customers and buyers? Data operations are expanding and helping with all forms of decision-making. I am sure there are more.

Digital Transformation 184

Digital Transformation Buyer Personas Work Management Marketing Management 184

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 13, 2015

When marketing and sales leaders often think about how buyers make decisions, they are viewed through a prism of buyers making rational and process-driven decisions. Leading to many strategies and tactics devoted to attempts to market or sell to the rationale behind decisions and buying processes. Helping Buyers Make Better Decisions.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Lead Ranking B2B Sales Research 100

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Insight-selling places emphasis on sales reps delivering helpful insights to potential buyers. Insights-driven sales transformation calls for organizations to align sales and operational processes with key insights and understanding about buyers. Leaving companies little chance to catch up and recover.

Enterprise Management 169

Enterprise Management B2B Thought Leadership Urgency Marketing Work Management 169

Tony Zambito

MAY 4, 2020

The digitization of business models and processes will become more the norm as we endure at the minimum, the next two years. Forward-thinking companies will get ahead of this evolving development. And, buyers will expect companies to share of AI data. The Way Work and Commerce Gets Done. Demos, Conferences, Conventions On Hold.

Marketing AI 173

Marketing AI Buyer Personas Advertising Agencies Conference 173

Tony Zambito

FEBRUARY 28, 2016

For example, in one organization I helped recently, they perceived there were 7 stages for a generalized buyer’s journey of their target customers. And, let’s not forget that B2B companies believe they may have 3-4 unique buyer personas. Applying processes and policies that are applicable to that situational scenario.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Content B2B Sales 100

Tony Zambito

AUGUST 14, 2016

With many touted frameworks and processes being representative of buyer personas in name only. For example, an organization I helped recently had previously utilized a framework, labeled buyer persona in name only , which consisted of a matrix of 15 plus categories. As a means to help inform overall customer strategy.

Buyer Personas 102

Buyer Personas Ideal Customer Profiles Profiling CMO 102

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 26, 2015

These three pressing concerns are causing CEOs and CMOs to reevaluate how to understand their buyers and their abilities to help buyers achieve their goals. Resulting in a 3D view of buyers, which can help inform strategies related to each. CEOs and their organizations are finding it hard to keep pace with new digital technologies.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Paid Search Agency Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Tony Zambito

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

If you are a CMO or a marketer and you find yourself having a sudden realization that perhaps you are not quite sure of the differences, you will be in a lot of good company. Oftentimes, companies can lose sight of who exactly are their customers from a segmentation viewpoint. And, it can help gauge the size of a market opportunity.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Ideal Customer Profiles Segmentation Profiling 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 22, 2015

Companies today will need to develop an integrated view of customer research. At the same time, incorporating the use of analytics wisely to help stay abreast of customer behavioral trends. Scenario mapping provides context around customer issues, problems, and processes, as well as, the path customers take to reach end goals.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Lead Ranking Buy Research 100

Tony Zambito

JANUARY 2, 2011

Map the buyer’s journey and the buying process. These four steps will help to accomplish creating a buyer orientation and get out of the rut of thinking only in the neat compartments of sales, marketing, or support.    This is one area many B2B companies tend to “skimp” on – not realizing that it all starts here. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Buyer's Journey B2B Sales 100

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 14, 2018

Mapping such a journey is very helpful and can reveal what steps and processes the buyer is going through. A precursor to customer experience was the concept of diagraming processes introduced by W.E. The company just didn’t seem to get this.” – Vice President, Operations. Searching for ways to resolve.

Marketing AI 174

Marketing AI Buyer Personas Top of Funnel Digital Marketing Funnels 174

Tony Zambito

MARCH 16, 2010

The Buyer Persona Sales Playbook: designed to enable sales teams with the situational conversation guidance they need to anticipate buyer goals and to align selling processes with their buyers’ buying processes. Goal Centric is a privately held company based in New York, New York and Menlo Park, California. About Goal Centric.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Marketing & Strategy Enterprise Management Buying Cycle 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 29, 2012

Yet, depending on these same reports from the several research organizations benchmarking such effort, companies who perform effective lead nurturing enjoy a better than 25% higher return on their efforts than those who do not. Which begs the question: why are companies slow to adopt to lead nurturing? Follow @tonyzambito.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Lead Ranking Leads Lead 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 11, 2011

  We look at opportunities via company name, whether they are Global 2,000 or Fortune 500, deal size potential, and other few factors that likely make up segmentation.    Here is where buyer persona development can be of help.    Here is where buyer persona development can be of help. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Segmentation Buy Work Management 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

  We’ve seen buyers entering the buying stages in unpredictable ways and deferring direct interactions further down the buying process.    And to some degree, analytics and data help us to find out what buyers are most likely to do in the future.    We know, to a degree, what buyers are doing. 

Trends 100

Trends Planning Buy CMO 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 12, 2010

.  For the past thirty to forty years, sales have focused on relationship building, methodology, and processes.  On Amazon, over 1,500 titles in sales process and over 500 titles in sales process management are listed in their book category. 

B2B Sales 100

B2B Sales Buyer Personas Multi-Channel B2B 100

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 18, 2015

Whereby sales organizations, in particular, went through training on how to adapt to the personalities of individuals in the buying process. When I first created the process, as well as, use of buyer personas in 2001-2002 after my stint with Cooper, I saw a potential far beyond buyer profiling.

Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Ideal Customer Profiles Profiling Buyer Personas Marketing Management 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 17, 2016

Understanding that helps inform how they can create content that is personalized to the goals and situations of their buyers. Understanding both usage behaviors and buying behaviors helps us to inform overall customer engagement strategies. This took place in the mid-to-late ‘90’s as digital technologies began to evolve.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Research Personalization Marketing Budget 100

Tony Zambito

JULY 17, 2016

Primarily, it helps with making sense of the tasks and activities buyers perform. I spoke recently with a CMO from a high tech company and here was his perspective on this: “We recently spent a lot of time on developing a buyer’s journey view of our customers. Yes, we used the help of a third-party firm. Tasks Versus Goals.

Intent 100

Intent Buyer Personas CMO Work Management 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

How new buyers and repeat customers are interacting with organizations today is putting many companies on the spot to adapt. Companies can be lulled into a false belief that their customers preferred way of interacting has not changed much. Towing a company line of “our customers have always done it this way” mentality.

Buy 100

Buy Buyer Personas Acquisitions Correlation 100

Tony Zambito

JULY 6, 2011

About a dozen years ago, I became involved with personas through fate by meeting Alan Cooper , at the time he just finished his landmark book The Inmates Are Running The Asylum , and becoming enamored with personas as a process to build more user friendly products.    Cooper barely survived the bust - and I am glad it did. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Peer-to-peer Ideal Customer Profiles Psychographics 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 19, 2010

.  In addition, we know from the people who survey sales trends, such as Sirius Decision , CSO Insights , and McKinsey , today’s buyers get through nearly 70-80% of the buying process BEFORE they engage with sales people.    We’ve become fixated on the process and not the experience.   What do I mean? 

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Trends Conversion Buyer Personas 100

Tony Zambito

MARCH 24, 2010

  Similarly, I have made assertions that the buyer persona development process is about informing strategy.   Ken states: “by understanding how people live, researchers discover otherwise elusive trends that inform the company’s future strategies.”   In my recent definition of buyer personas , now in a Buyer Persona 2.0

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Marketing Strategy Marketing & Strategy B2B Marketing 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 29, 2010

  Buyer personas, derived from a rich and robust process of getting to know customers and buyers experientially, can serve as the media for executives to tell the story about their buyers and how their company will help to continue the story.    It has been great to engage in these conversations.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Rules Marketing Automation Services Wikipedia 100

Tony Zambito

MARCH 30, 2012

This is part 4 of a series on the challenge of targeting SMB markets and how the use of buyer-based modeling and buyer-based marketing help organizations to grow their SMB customer base. . Darren Pleasance, a Principal with McKinsey & Company, recently covered this topic in an excellent article entitled, Serious about SMB experience?

SMB 100

SMB Advertising Channels Enterprise Management Work Management 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 2, 2011

  The idea of mapping content to the buying process or the trendy name of buyer’s journey has some inherent built-in problems.    First, it suggests we presume to know exactly how buyers navigate decision-making through the prism of just the buying process.  Are your inbound efforts filled with clutter? 

Trends 100

Trends Buyer Personas Lead Ranking Content 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 4, 2011

.  They have helped companies to gain insights into market opportunities, find out why challenges exists, depict buying processes, and how to map critical sales and marketing strategies to the goals of buyers.    Initially, research was conducted on users to help inform product and/or service design. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Research Ideal Customer Profiles Demand Generation Agencies 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 17, 2010

.  In my previous articles Understanding Buyer’s Goal Orientation Key to Understanding Why Buyers Buy and Buyer’s Goal Orientation Make Decision More Than a Matter of Choice , I focused on how a buyer’s goal orientation help determine how buyer’s buy and how it affects decisions. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Marketing B2B Content 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

  As we have seen an increase in the complexity of the buying process, we are seeing a correlating increase in Buyer Perceived Risks (BPR)© associated with purchase decisions.  Image by IceSabre via Flickr. The notion that perceived risks influences purchasing behavior has been around for quite some time. 

Purchase 100

Purchase Correlation Barriers Sales Qualified Leads 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

  We’ve learned in the past few years about the value as well as the role content can play in the early stages of buying processes.    This has led to a crying game in the corporate halls bewailing the need for publishers and journalists to come in and help.    The Future. .    The Future.

Trends 100

Trends Content Wikipedia Custom Publishing 100

Tony Zambito

JANUARY 25, 2012

B2B Buying Process Today © All rights reserved by Kenny Madden. Meeting this challenge successfully is the essential lifeblood of survival for many B2B companies. They provide the critical view of market segments and the companies that fall within those markets. Insight into buying processes and the buyer decision journey.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Allocation Peer-to-peer 100

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 18, 2010

.  Katzenberg unveiled before the audience the experiences they underwent as they tried various story boarding processes and began using revolutionary technology to create animation like never before.    Most revealing was how many phases of production took place and how each phase was an experiential process in of itself. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Buyer's Journey Allocation Trigger Marketing 100

Tony Zambito

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

  Creating a new way of thinking that transforms the company that is in harmony with its buyers. Buying processes and buying decisions are being restructured many times over.    One company who understood this is HP.    One company who understood this is HP.  Buyer Insight.

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Buyer Personas Buyer's Journey Digital Marketing Funnels 100