By enabling your salespeople to have relevant conversations based on business concerns and objectives the value-add becomes clear, moving price negotiation to the back burner by eliminating the commodity perception. The last couple of years have turned the B2B buying process inside out. Instead of seeking out salespeople to gain answers to their questions about solving problems, buyers now push sales conversations to the end of their purchasing process. The information they need for most of their research and consideration is now in plentiful supply on the Web. Step 2: Connect the Dots. MORE >>

Pricing. Every once in a while - as you who read my blog know - I get a bit irked at the irresponsible email practices of companies that play fast and free with their databases. So, here's my latest rant about bad email practices. Although, this one is simple - Don't Lie to Your Leads! The sad part about this is that it's from a marketing solutions company. They start off with thanking me for visiting their booth at Dreamforce. Which I did not. And the message tells me they likely sent a blanket email to the entire attendee list. " I thought, Cool - something useful. MORE >>

We all know the B2B buying process for IT products priced at $50k or higher is complex. Negotiators - 8% who manage price, term and conditions. There are more people involved with different stakes in the ground. BtoB's Lead Generation Guide wrote about how the Sirius Decisions 2011 B-to-B Buyer's Journey survey highlights just how important knowing about these perceptions can be. The survey identified 5 types of buyers involved in the IT purchase decision: Champions - 42% are key sponsors of the purchase. Influencers - 16% are trusted sources operating behind the scenes. MORE >>

discounted pricing. Marketers who embrace demand generation and lead nurturing programs must generate a lot of content to keep those programs running. Just any old content won't get the job done. Regardless of the role (audience / segment) your content is designed to engage, it must lead with a business reason that resonates with your prospects and customers in order to get their attention. This has been said again and again. It's something we all know, but it's sometimes not easy to define when developing marketing content.  integrate - merge, pull, push, combine. MORE >>

I was reading the July/August issue of Selling Power when I came across the article, Well Worth the Price. The article discussed why customers focus on price and what salespeople can do to shift their focus. Here are some of the reasons the article gives for price focus: Customers aren't aware of the true cost and scope of the problems they're solving. Focusing on price is easier than examining cost structures that distract them from their business. Large companies move buying decisions to purchasing - who's under mandate to get the lowest price. MORE >>