| | | The B2B Research Blog | |  Sales | 16 articles |
| Page 1 of 1 | Previous | Next | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG OCTOBER 12, 2012 How do we align sales and marketing? Maybe not, but you’ve probably glanced across your own office and felt similar feelings towards sales. Two thirds (62%) of these senior marketers feel the sales function dominates in their organisation and holds a status akin to that of marketers in FMCG environments. Madness when we consider that sales and marketing share exactly the same goal – generating profitable revenue. . Marketing leaders are setting shared goals with their opposite number in sales (67%). Ever looked at our cousins in FMCG marketing with a little jealousy? Not a rare occurrence. | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG JANUARY 13, 2012 The seven R’s of thought leadership Why should they spend valuable time listening to your sales pitch? Likewise, be careful not to turn the outputs into an explicit sales pitch that a smart audience will see straight through. Publish reports, create video, produce infographics, develop sales tool-kits, run seminars…quite simply, milk the content dry . Thought leadership. Everyone’s claiming it but, by very definition, only a handful ever delivers. So how do you ensure that your content marketing strategy positions you as one of the few? . Five reasons to develop a thought leadership strategy. Robust. | | | | | |
| THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG SEPTEMBER 25, 2011 B2B marketing sector bounces back: 57% report rising budgets Four out of every five client side marketers (79%) believes that their activities need to be better aligned with those of sales. To say it’s been an eventful few years economically is an understatement. First we had the credit crunch and a deep recession. Now deficit reduction measures are biting and bond markets shaking. These turbulent times make the latest instalment of the bi-annual B2B Barometer interesting reading. The full B2B Barometer report will be published in October 2011 (subscribe to our blog to receive a complimentary copy – simply click here ). And with good reason. | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG MAY 18, 2011 SME marketing channel preferences revealed This channel may not grab attention, but is of value further down the sales funnel in supporting brand positioning and demonstrating expertise. There are 1.3 million of them, they generate half of the UK’s GDP and employ 60 per cent of the private sector workforce. Moreover, they’re big buyers of B2B products and services. Just ask Sage who’s built a £1.4 billion business on the back of them. SMEs are a potentially significant opportunity for many B2B marketers then, but how best to open a conversation? Their answers provide clear guidance on where best to target marketing resources. | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG JUNE 12, 2012 It’s all about the lead Marketing still plays second fiddle to sales in B2B organisations. . Around one quarter (28%) of B2B marketers are able to put a figure on how much it costs them to acquire a sales ready lead. Only one third of these leads (33%) then convert to a sale. . Past readings of the B2B Barometer survey reveal that up to 60% of B2B marketers agree with this statement and the latest survey published in June 2012 confirms it. . Two fifths (41%) of B2B marketers report that their single highest marketing priority for 2012 is to generate more of the salesperson’s raw material – leads. | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG MARCH 16, 2012 Who owns your brand? B2B brand perceptions research Customers and prospects top the list because their perceptions impact sales. Your organisation doesn’t own its brand. It can shape it, manage it, but never own it. That’s because a brand is not what an organisation says it is. It’s what the market believes it to be. It’s a perception developed through the sum of an individual’s experience. Through every encounter they’ve had with your organisation, your employees or products. Through what they hear from you and about you. Most may know what they want their brand to be, but not what it actually is. So what should we measure? | | | | | | | |
| -
THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2011 47% of B2B marketers endorse using sex to sell
Valuable and finite sales time will be wasted in fruitless conversations. Furthermore, Ever since I was invited to join The Network of Aspiring Women (Birmingham Group), I’ve felt more in touch with my feminine side ( see post here ). Perhaps that’s why my interest was piqued by a recent discussion on the B-to-B Marketing LinkedIn Group. Kate Bishop, Marketing Co-ordinator at Custom Fluidpower, has a dilemma. To use, or not to use, promotional girls at a trade show stand? Her boss is insistent but she has concerns. I share them. The clue is in the name. They’re knowledgeable. MORE >> -
THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011 Three reasons B2B marketers should care about sustainability
If you’re not convinced so far, here’s the clincher: sales. In the latest in my series of interviews with today’s leading business thinkers I spoke with Thomas Jelley, Corporate Citizenship Manager at support services giant Sodexo. But why, you may wonder, is a B2B marketing research agency like Circle talking about sustainability. Isn’t that the preserve of a niche team within corporations and NGOs? . Well, no. solid approach to sustainability shows that your organisation cares and is ‘one of us’. Failure to meet these means quite simply that the bid will fail. . MORE >> -
THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012  From insight to action
Couple research findings with other internal or external information needed to make a fully informed decision, e.g. sales trend data, macro-economic data, industry analyst opinion. Sometimes the biggest challenge with customer insight is not doing the research, but doing something with it. You start with determination to put the customer at the centre of decisions. You carefully design a robust survey. You intelligently analyse the findings to get to the heart of the issue. Then…. Well, nothing. The research becomes an academic exercise rather than a catalyst spurring action. MORE >> -
THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011  The Times They Are a-Changin’
A mindset defined by an entrepreneurial approach – agility, opportunism and a closer, more integrated relationship with sales. They need to interact with prospective buyers earlier in the sales cycle when preferences are unconsciously being formed. . Our friends at Marketing Options International (MOI) have just launched the Mind Share Café. No, not a diversification into tea and cakes, but a virtual hub where they’ve collected together the thoughts of leading B2B technology marketers. Marketers from players like Dell, Microsoft and Cisco. Have a look – the Mind Share Café. MORE >> -
THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2011 Better B2B segmentation: Four steps and a case study
It’s far too broad, essentially meaningless and does little to make the proposition more relevant or sales efforts more precisely targeted. Finally, segments need to be brought to life so those on the front line, especially sales teams, can easily grasp and apply them. Last week I was invited to join The Network of Aspiring Woman, Birmingham Group. I was tempted. After all, “ it’s where networking feels like a party ”. However, I declined for two reasons. I live in London. I’m a man. Clearly the Network’s execution fell short, but their strategy seems smart. The result? MORE >>
- An interview with Jaakko Alanko: MD, Alanko Consulting THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2011
- The Ministry of Happiness THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2011
- How to create a Customer Happiness Index THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2011
- Air Cargo News: Interview with Circle’s Andy Booth THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011
- Big list of B2B blogs THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2011
| |
