Top B2B Demand Generation Requires Sales and Marketing Alignment

b2b demand generation This blog is the second part of a three part series that discusses the difference between sales content marketing and other types of marketing and how you can approach creating a successful B2B Demand Generation Sales Marketing Alignment solution (with or without outsourcing) by aligning sales and marketing. In this blog we provide a simple framework for driving successful B2B Demand Generation Sales Marketing Alignment. CLICK HERE FOR PART ONE.

B2B Demand Generation Sales and Marketing Alignment

As an outsourced sales organization we firmly believe that every outsourced demand generation B2B effort needs “to start with the end in mind.” That “end” is closed business.  As a company we build High Velocity Sales Machines for B2B Demand Generation. The marketing services we provide to support the sales efforts are focused on improving two areas: Demand Generation and Overcoming Specific Sales Objections. Our focus when executing marketing services in these areas is to create the feedback loops required for the marketing team to create content (or in many cases to produce the initial necessary digital content ourselves) to ensure that the sales content meets the need of the buyer exactly where they are in their buying cycle. You need to match your sales function to the customer buying cycle. Typically:

  • B2B Demand Generation – helping the customer define their problem and establishing your credentials as a thought leader to help them.
  • Sales Engagement and Qualifying – helping the customer to compare your solution to other solutions in the market. And to evaluate their alternatives.
  • Closing – sales starts when the customer says “No”.   This content needs to overcome specific objections so that the customer can verify the ROI and confirm what you have already told them so they are comfortable committing to you.

For Gabriel Sales, sales content marketing is not strategic, it is tactical and measurable. The job of sales content marketing is measured, providing better B2B Demand Generation Sales Marketing Alignment. And when we make recommendations or create content that content starts by addressing a specific need or objection that we have heard directly from a customer.

Below is a simple framework we use when creating digital content or providing feedback loops to the marketing teams we work with.

We are giving our marketing efforts “A Sales Quota.”  To do this you need  listen and document the conversation with the customer. As part of our services we map the entire sales conversation to identify the objections, and then create authentic digital content that addresses those needs and objections specifically to get deals through the pipe.

To summarize, smart sales content marketing is a simple as:

  1. Getting everyone to agree that the Sales Marketing job is to close business
  2. Listening to the Needs and Objections of your customer to understand the “Sales Conversation”
  3. Creating Authentic Content that addresses the client’s needs for where they are in the buying cycle

As an outsourcing B2B demand generation company we are not delusional.  We know what we are the best at, and what other solutions are more effective for B2B Demand Generation Sales Marketing Alignment. We are the best at building outsourced demand generation engines that:

  1. Generate b to b sales leads with cold calling efforts
  2. Take cold call leads and inbound marketing qualified leads, listen to the customer and understand their needs and sales objections
  3. Move deals from marketing qualified leads to sales qualified leads by:
  • Creating and distributing great “Sales” content that move the deals forward
  • Training reps how to use that content
  • Providing great feedback loops to marketing teams so they can expand on that effort once proven

With a full pipe, we then transition to the close by staffing enterprise sales reps or inside reps as the need dictates.

The final blog will discuss how internal “marketing” teams and external agencies can build on smart sales driven b2b demand generation and sales content marketing to put more qualified sales deals in the pipe and provide effective B2B Demand Generation Sales Marketing Alignment.

If you would like to learn more about how an outsourced demand generation solution can help accelerate this alignment and scale, please feel free to CONTACT US for a free initial strategy conversation.  Or visit the B2B Demand Generation Resources section of our Website.

To review Part 1 Top B to B Demand Generation Requires Sales Content Marketing CLICK HERE.

To view the final blog in this series on Successful Demand Generation b to b please CLICK HERE.

B2B Demand Generation Requires Sales Content Marketing

This blog discusses how Gabriel thinks about B2B Demand Generation and the hybrid role it plays in sales, sales marketing and market intelligence. In short, Sales Marketing is always supporting the close of business. In this blog we will share how you can close more B2B customers leveraging the opportunities in the new sales engagement model we now all face. This is Part 1 of a 3 Part Series.

To set some initial context to understand what Gabriel Sales means by “Sales Content” Marketing and how it supports B2B Demand Generation it’s important to understand that B2B Sales Content Marketing, at least from our perspective, is about moving a deal forward in the customer buying cycle so it results in a closed deal. Sales content supports the brand, but that is not its primary purpose. In a sales culture Demand Generation is not about Lead Generation and Marketing Qualified Leads. Who cares if a lead is Marketing Qualified. Demand Generation is about “Demand” meaning deals that are going to transact. Demand Generation means handing sales qualified leads over to sales reps that they can close.

A solid sales organization needs to be organized around an inside sales and marketing team that can generate Sales Qualified Leads and a team that can close business. As a sales outsourcing company we staff a team that can close business. As an outsourced B2B demand generation company, our goal, and the goal of any sales organization, needs to be creating a high velocity sales machines with a staff that does three things:

  • Identifies and develops Sales Qualified Leads as quickly as possible so the sales team can engage
  • Continues to nurture and develop Sales Accepted Leads (not ready to buy but worth investing inside reps time in) until they are ready to buy
  • Profile Accounts – So you can score them for continued follow up by marketing efforts

This requires us to combine outbound sales efforts with inbound sales content marketing services (either creating digital content or creating the feedback loops for our client’s marketing team) because the goal is to move a customer through their buying cycle.

    For a high velocity sales machine that integrates inbound and outbound efforts your inside sales team needs:

    1. To be experts in using sale marketing content to move customers from Marketing Qualified Leads to Sales Qualified Leads.
    2. To be accountable for driving insights and recommendations to the marketing team.
    3. To have the tools and technology to provide that feedback.

    For true sales and marketing alignment, sales marketing efforts need to focus on generating closed business by supplying qualified deals and helping your buyer to transact.  This means your marketing team needs to:

    • Listen to the voice of the customer and the voice of the sales force
    • Quickly create content or support the creation of content that moves deals forward
    • Have their demand generation success scored on their contribution beyond simply putting MQLs in the pipe

    To summarize, B2B demand generation is about sales content marketing.  In part 2 of this blog series we will cover Gabriel Sales’ simple framework for aligning sales and marketing and simple steps you can take to get sales and marketing to work together towards a shared vision. In part 3 we will discuss how smart sales content marketing can be re-purposed to provide an exponential lift by increasing your marketing teams ability to put better Marketing Qualified Leads into your Sales teams’ pipe; and the role of Marketing Automation Platforms.

    If you would like to learn more about how an outsourced demand generation solution may be able to help accelerate this alignment please feel free to CONTACT US for a free initial strategy conversation.  Or visit the B2B Demand Generation Resources section of our Website.

    To Check out Part 2 in this Series B to B Demand Generation Requires Sales and Marketing Alignment CLICK HERE.