Hi Jeff here with PublishorPerish.FM, the program for marketing-minded sales leaders and sales-minded marketing leaders.
So back in Segment #12 we talked about how to sell to a committee. We put the various members of the committee into personas and their level of involvement and importance, the ranking of their influence through the stages of the buying process – all the way from status quo to decision.
We assumed we had some level of control through the buying process, which is wishful thinking these days, because, as you know, according to the Corporate Executive Board, “57% of average buyers are through the purchase decision before engaging a supplier sales rep.”
You are giving up some semblance of control because of the significant amount of information collected prior to speaking to sales, but you are able to gain so much insight into their interests and intent. You can become a true collaborator in the process and not feel you need to control the process.
Assuming the marketing team has done a great job with the content marketing strategy by putting forward content to capture that information and to capture those leads, you are able to see that information. There is nothing better than logging into Salesforce and going to your Marketo Sales Insights tab, and seeing flames and stars next to the contact record. This app allows us to know exactly what webpages they are clicking on, interesting moments that they’re presenting and putting forward, email activity and things they are responding to.
This level of insight is wonderful because it helps you then address the committee or address the individuals on the committee from the standpoint of “teach them from where they are.” Jump in, become a curator, maybe push back into the process a little bit, push back into research mode. Clarify on a lot of the noise out there; become an active curator of content.
I’d love to know what you are doing and what type of content assets you have. What approach do you have to capture them when they are in research mode, sort out the misperceptions they have, to bring them through a very disciplined, educational process. It would be great to hear your approach to this; how you’re engaging prospects that have already done a significant amount of research and then pulling them through to a decision in a timely and elegant way.
So, please, leave your comments here on YouTube.
As always, I’d love for you to subscribe and, most importantly, think like a marketer and sell like an animal.
Have a great day – bye!