ANNUITAS

JULY 20, 2021

For most companies, the challenge of regularly delivering enough leads and opportunities to hit growth targets has historically meant building a strategy around producing high volume, low quality marketing and sales campaigns. But those campaigns are neither scalable nor efficient. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Top of Funnel 147

Top of Funnel Campaigns Enterprise Management Work Management 147

ANNUITAS

AUGUST 19, 2014

Take a look at an excerpt from a Leadspace Radio via Sales Lead Management Association with Carlos Hidalgo , CEO and founder of ANNUITAS. I never heard a Buyer say, ‘I’m in the sale acceptance stage of my buying process.’ How can we STOP DOING lead nurturing campaigns? We eat it up.

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Lead Nurturing Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

ANNUITAS

JULY 21, 2022

Spoiler alert: The ‘classic’ B2B go-to-market organization and approach is fundamentally broken and out-of-date; moreover, trying to course correct by working on ‘sales and marketing alignment’ is inadequate and unattainable. 1 – Orient Around End-to-End Customer Lifecycle – Pre- and Post-Sale.

Ideal Customer Profiles 130

Ideal Customer Profiles B2B Sales Work Management Marketing Management 130

ANNUITAS

MAY 13, 2020

Both ask the same, fundamental question when analyzing demand marketing budgets: What real sales ‘lift’ am I getting from this spend? Demand Marketing should be held to a clear, high standard of incremental – i.e., ‘net’ – contribution to sales. What do CFOs and CROs have in common? What do we mean by lift? Incrementality.

Demand 147

Demand CMS Development Marketing Attribution Budget Programs 147

ANNUITAS

DECEMBER 12, 2013

Press Releases Carlos Hidalgo demand process James Obermayer sales lead management association top 50' “I am honored to be named to the SLMA 50 again this year and appreciate the recognition from my peers and colleagues,” stated Hidalgo.

Lead Management 100

Lead Management Sales Leads Peer-to-peer Leads 100

ANNUITAS

MAY 27, 2014

Do you know what a salesperson looks at first when they look at a batch of leads that has been delivered to them from marketing? When added together, these factors should add up to a minimum requirement for that lead to be passed over to sales. That’s the first thing they look at … the company a lead is coming from.

Demand Generation 100

Demand Generation Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Enterprise Management 100

ANNUITAS

MARCH 10, 2016

Although marketing automation is now almost fully embraced by marketers, sales organizations are still not completely accepting of the technology benefits, nor are they trusting of marketing’s motives. Enter, the era of Sales Enablement. Sales enablement is a universal challenge.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Demand Generation Eloqua Paid Search Agency 100

ANNUITAS

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Most sales managers or Sales VPs will tell you that in order to meet their quota, they must have a pipeline of X. Whether it is a three X, five X or seven X pipeline, these sales people have a formula that they follow that knows what they need to get them to their stated goal. Let me explain a bit further.

Lead Qualification 100

Lead Qualification Sales Qualified Leads Work Management High Quality Lead 100

ANNUITAS

OCTOBER 25, 2016

From time to time on the ANNUITAS blog we have the opportunity to sit down with those in the B2B Marketing and Sales industry and get their take on the market and trends that are happening in the space. We recently were able to sit down with Tanner Mezel of DSG Consulting and get his insights into the world of B2B Marketing and Sales.

Consulting 153

Consulting B2B Sales Demand Generation Work Management 153

ANNUITAS

JULY 15, 2014

It’s as as inevitable as death and taxes…marketing and sales misalignment. In fact, it’s not uncommon for marketing personnel to have never even met one of their sales representatives, much less had a conversation regarding common goals and beliefs. Leads” are rejected. Content is ineffective.

Lead Qualification 100

Lead Qualification Sales Qualified Leads Marketing Budget Marketing & Strategy 100

ANNUITAS

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

Whether you’re more like Ham or Smalls, chances are you’ve had a conversation with sales that included some miscommunication. A solid lead management framework is key to shared understanding and accountability. Lead management frameworks define how and when leads are qualified, scored, and managed throughout the sales process.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Enterprise Management Work Management Lead Scoring 100

ANNUITAS

JULY 10, 2014

About two years ago I wrote a blog post on Why BANT No longer applies for B2B Lead Qualification. Given the environment in which we live as B2B Marketers, BANT (Budget, Authority, Need and Timeframe) is not a trustworthy indicator of the qualification status of the leads. BANT is not Aligned to a Buying Process. “I

Lead Qualification 100

Lead Qualification Sales Management Sales Qualified Leads Leads 100

ANNUITAS

MAY 26, 2016

And while this is true, and has been mentioned more than several times here on the ANNUITAS blog, I see very little being written or spoken about the role of B2B sales and how their roles have changed. These mistakes must be corrected if B2B sales organizations are going to have any measure of success.

B2B Sales 113

B2B Sales Demand Generation Agencies B2B Work Management 113

ANNUITAS

DECEMBER 15, 2015

We want to know conversion rates, cost per lead, revenue generated and a host of other stats. 76% of content marketers are forgetting sales enablement , according to a study by HubSpot. 76% of content marketers are forgetting sales enablement , according to a study by HubSpot. Handing off leads that go nowhere?

Demand Generation 100

Demand Generation Demand Generation Cost per Lead 100

ANNUITAS

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Does indecision have you committing a repeated string of ‘ random acts of sales and marketing ,’ or are you taking advantage of this moment to bring cohesion, orchestration and repeatability to your sales and marketing mix across your customer journey? Said differently: Are you sticking your head in the sand, or are you innovating?

Lead Ranking 130

Lead Ranking Peer-to-peer Paid Search Agency Terms and Conditions 130

ANNUITAS

OCTOBER 25, 2016

From time to time on the ANNUITAS blog we have the opportunity to sit down with those in the B2B Marketing and Sales industry and get their take on the market and trends that are happening in the space. We recently were able to sit down with Tanner Mezel of DSG Consulting and get his insights into the world of B2B Marketing and Sales.

Consulting 100

Consulting B2B Sales Demand Generation Work Management 100

ANNUITAS

OCTOBER 25, 2016

From time to time on the ANNUITAS blog we have the opportunity to sit down with those in the B2B Marketing and Sales industry and get their take on the market and trends that are happening in the space. We recently were able to sit down with Tanner Mezel of DSG Consulting and get his insights into the world of B2B Marketing and Sales.

Consulting 100

Consulting B2B Sales Demand Generation Work Management 100

ANNUITAS

MAY 8, 2012

According to a 2011 study by MarketingSherpa , 74% of B2B marketers stated that their biggest challenge was generating high quality leads. The next biggest challenge was a distant second: 49% cited “generating a high volume of leads”. However, lead generation is irrelevant in today’s b2b marketing climate.

Lead Generation 100

Lead Generation Generation Top of Funnel Leads 100

ANNUITAS

FEBRUARY 4, 2014

The stats, guides and tips to effective lead nurturing abound in the B2B marketplace and yet with all of this information, still only a fraction of B2B companies are using or effective in the use of lead nurturing according to MarketingSherpa. This is why fewer than 4% of marketing generated leads are ever converted into sales.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Organic Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

ANNUITAS

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

There is a massive divide between what buyers want to discuss with sales vs. what sales wants to discuss with buyers. The data shows a clear pattern: sales is struggling to maintain an otherwise personalized buying journey. In other words: sales doesn’t know how to translate online behavior into meaningful conversations.

Conversion 234

Conversion Sales Qualified Leads Ideal Customer Profiles Opinions 234

ANNUITAS

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

There is a massive divide between what buyers want to discuss with sales vs. what sales wants to discuss with buyers. The data shows a clear pattern: sales is struggling to maintain an otherwise personalized buying journey. In other words: sales doesn’t know how to translate online behavior into meaningful conversations.

Sales Qualified Leads 228

Sales Qualified Leads Ideal Customer Profiles Opinions Work Management 228

ANNUITAS

AUGUST 21, 2023

All too often, this leads to organizations engaging in random acts of sales and marketing — in an attempt to shore up tactical gaps and with an insufficient perspective on customer critical path — instead of building sustainable go-to-market programs. DX covers the journeys and interactions that CX misses. CX is not DX.

Marketing Analytics Tools 130

Marketing Analytics Tools Demand Optimization Work Management 130

ANNUITAS

APRIL 26, 2011

Lead management continues to be a hot topic in the world of B2B marketing as we turn the corner and head into the second half of 2010. As a leader in lead management process development, our firm has seen a lot of confusion in the market about what constitutes lead management. So what are these myths?

Lead Management 100

Lead Management Work Management Marketing Management Lead Scoring 100

ANNUITAS

DECEMBER 11, 2014

In working with many clients and speaking with marketing decision makers, here are some of the most important areas I believe CMOs need to show stronger leadership in: Leading Change in Their Organizations. CMOs need to lead their teams and ensure they are appropriating the right amount of budget to skills development and education.

CMO 100

CMO Peer-to-peer Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

ANNUITAS

OCTOBER 11, 2023

For more than a decade, ANNUITAS has led a revolution to stop ‘random acts’ of marketing and sales – leveraging our proven ANNUITAS Demand Process methodology to help our clients make the shift to a strategic and scalable go-to-market approach – both pre- and post-sale. But we are framing the wrong problem to solve.

Marketing Analytics Tools 130

Marketing Analytics Tools Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management 130

ANNUITAS

AUGUST 28, 2012

Fifteen years ago I worked for a B2B marketing agency that had an outbound call center focused on lead generation. We were quite successful in developing these programs for our clients and the leads were graded based on the answer to the BANT questions. Ultimately, this will produce a much more qualified lead than BANT.

Lead Qualification 100

Lead Qualification Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Leads 100

ANNUITAS

AUGUST 28, 2012

Fifteen years ago I worked for a B2B marketing agency that had an outbound call center focused on lead generation. We were quite successful in developing these programs for our clients and the leads were graded based on the answer to the BANT questions. Ultimately, this will produce a much more qualified lead than BANT.

Lead Qualification 100

Lead Qualification Sales Qualified Leads Lead Ranking Leads 100

ANNUITAS

DECEMBER 11, 2023

But whether we are talking about well-thought-out ‘growth marketing’ programs or haphazard ‘inside-out,’ interruptive go-to-market tactics, random acts of marketing and sales are at a breaking point. Our ability to succeed through haphazard marketing and sales acquisition efforts is rapidly coming to an end.

Marketing Analytics Tools 130

Marketing Analytics Tools Paid Search Agency Planning Budget Programs 130

ANNUITAS

AUGUST 30, 2018

As we were going through a refresh of our targeted personas, we noticed an increase in engagement with leadership roles that have revenue responsibility (sales leaders, business unit leaders, and even CEOs). Why is marketing’s story so different than sales? Lack of Trust in the CMO.

CMO 197

CMO Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Top of Funnel 197

ANNUITAS

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Sales Teams That Update SFDC. Oh, the sales team! How is marketing supposed to make informed decisions without accurate and up to date information from sales? Before you jump in to play the blame game , check and make sure your sales and marketing systems are connected and working together so your teams can too.

Planning 130

Planning Work Management Marketing Management High Quality Lead 130

ANNUITAS

MAY 4, 2011

Over the last few days, I have had several conversations about the idea of lead management process as it relates to marketing automation. During two of these conversations, I was told that marketing automation is only useful for nurturing the middle of the sales funnel. Lead nurturing should happen at every stage in the funnel.

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Automation Marketing Funnels Marketing Automation 100

ANNUITAS

MAY 7, 2015

A recent report by Richardson highlighted some of the biggest sales challenges of 2015. The report was based on data survey from 372 sales 75% of which were B2B sales people. The report focused on the challenges sales people face in prospecting, closing deals, and account management. modern buying process.

B2B Sales 100

B2B Sales B2B Marketing Marketing Management B2B 100

ANNUITAS

OCTOBER 31, 2023

Amid an overly-optimistic marketplace outlook for AI, growth leaders — across marketing, sales and customer success — are increasingly turning to AI and/or AI-enhanced technology tools. Our research suggests that a fifth of current sales-team functions could be automated,” claims McKinsey. What are they tackling?

Marketing Analytics Tools 130

Marketing Analytics Tools Ideal Customer Profiles Marketing AI Sales Management 130

ANNUITAS

APRIL 10, 2023

In short, when companies treat their sales model as a linear journey, they fail to consider their customers’ engagement with the company over a lifetime. A simple four step funnel, though helpful for visualization purposes, is far from the reality of what most B2B sales processes are like. What about what comes after?

Ideal Customer Profiles 130

Ideal Customer Profiles Top of Funnel B2B Thought Leadership Lead Ranking 130

ANNUITAS

MARCH 1, 2023

As companies look to embody a Converged Growth mindset , a CGO is needed to lead the charge from both a strategic and “day to day” perspective. We’ve tried to cover the bases when it comes to both the role and responsibilities, as well as the type of individual that would be best to lead the Converged Growth charge for the organization.

Positioning 130

Positioning Marketing Analytics Tools Enterprise Management Customer Satisfaction 130

ANNUITAS

NOVEMBER 10, 2010

Steve is a thought leader in the world of marketing automation and lead management and is also a prolific writer on topics related to demand generation and the current transitions within the marketing profession. To dig into this a bit further, it’s first worth exploring what we mean by a marketing qualified lead.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Leads 100

ANNUITAS

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

That said, let’s dig deeper into some of the pivots involved in either naming a CGO or building out a distributed Office of the CGO organization: Focusing on End-to-end Go-to-market vs. (Pre-sales) Marketing + Sales Many corporate leaders would equate “growth” with the mandate of a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) or Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).

Lead Ranking 130

Lead Ranking Top of Funnel Peer-to-peer Paid Search Agency 130