How to create the sort of

demand that your salespeople

will want to follow up on

Bob Apollo | Managing Par tner

Inflexion-Point

S l i d e 2

S l i d e 3

“The leads

Marketing

generates

are useless”

“The leads

Marketing

generates

are useless”

“Sales ignores

all the great

leads we send

them”

S l i d e 6

S l i d e 7

What we need here …

What we need here …

…is a lot more alignment

7 habits of highly aligned organisations

1. Share plans, goals, metrics and rewards

2. Share definitions and qualification criteria

3. Agree about the “actionable issues”

4. Create a cascade of compelling content

5. Focus on programmes not events

6. Share one buyer-aligned revenue funnel

7. Regular reviews, continual refinement

Why Align?

% of marketing leads “actioned” by sales

Laggard

Source: Aberdeen Group

Why Align?

% of marketing leads “actioned” by sales

Laggard

Industry Average

Source: Aberdeen Group

Why Align?

% of marketing leads “actioned” by sales

Laggard

Industry Average

Highly Aligned

Source: Aberdeen Group

Why Align?

% annual increase in marketing’s

contribution to sales forecasted pipeline

Laggard

Source: Aberdeen Group

Why Align?

% annual increase in marketing’s

contribution to sales forecasted pipeline

Laggard

Industry Average

Source: Aberdeen Group

Why Align?

% annual increase in marketing’s

contribution to sales forecasted pipeline

Laggard

Industry Average

Highly Aligned

Source: Aberdeen Group

Why Align?

% annual increase in marketing’s

contribution to revenue

Laggard

Source: Aberdeen Group

Why Align?

% annual increase in marketing’s

contribution to revenue

Laggard

Industry Average

Source: Aberdeen Group

Why Align?

% annual increase in marketing’s

contribution to revenue

Laggard

Industry Average

Highly Aligned

Source: Aberdeen Group

The Case for Collaboration

Laggard

Industry Average

Highly Aligned

Source: Aberdeen Group

Percentage of

sales-forecasted

pipeline generated

by marketing

The Case for Collaboration

Laggard

Industry Average

Highly Aligned

Source: Aberdeen Group

Percentage of

sales-forecasted

pipeline generated

by marketing

Average

year-on-year

revenue growth

So: how do you create the sort

of demand that your salespeople

will want to follow up on?

1. Share plans, goals, metrics and rewards

2. Share definitions and qualification criteria

3. Agree about the “actionable issues”

4. Create a cascade of compelling content

5. Focus on programmes not events

6. Share one buyer-aligned revenue funnel

7. Regular reviews, continual refinement

Agree on “Ideal Prospects”

Demographics (size, sector, location)

are a necessary foundation but not

enough

Agree on “Ideal Prospects”

Demographics (size, sector, location)

are a necessary foundation but not

enough

Much more important:

Structural factors

Environmental factors

Behavioural factors

Agree on “Ideal Prospects”

Demographics (size, sector, location)

are a necessary foundation but not

enough

Much more important:

Structural factors

Environmental factors

Behavioural factors

Most important of all:

Situational factors

Structural Factors

How are they organised?

Position in their industry?

Relative growth rate?

Key systems in place?

M&A or organic growth?

Environmental Factors

Leaders or niche specialists?

Set trends or follow them?

Regulation and legislation?

Competitive environment?

Market dynamics?

Behavioural Factors

Command-and-control or consensus?

Early adopters or laggards?

History of similar solutions?

Purchase process?

Situational Factors

Recent changes in management?

Recent changes in structure?

Changes in their markets?

New strategies?

New initiatives?

New products?

What’s changed?

Ideal Prospect Profile

Get sales and marketing together

Review recent wins and losses

Review existing prospects

Agree an “Ideal Prospect” profile

Document it

Implement it

Review and refine it

1. Share plans, goals, metrics and rewards

2. Share definitions and qualification criteria

3. Agree about the “actionable issues”

4. Create a cascade of compelling content

5. Focus on programmes not events

6. Share one buyer-aligned revenue funnel

7. Regular reviews, continual refinement

Actionable Issues

Interesting issues

get you considered

Actionable Issues

Interesting issues

get you considered

Important issues

get you evaluated

Actionable Issues

Interesting issues

get you considered

Important issues

get you evaluated

Only critical issues

get you bought

Actionable Issues

Interesting issues

get you considered

Important issues

get you evaluated

Only critical issues

get you bought

Why not just

focus on these?

The Problem with Critical Issues

Your prospects tend not

to own up to them to

strangers

The Problem with Critical Issues

Your prospects tend not

to own up to them to

strangers

You may need to get them

talking and earn their

trust first

The Problem with Critical Issues

Your prospects tend not

to own up to them to

strangers

You may need to get them

talking and earn their

trust first

Interesting or important

issues can get the

conversation started

The Problem with Critical Issues

Your prospects tend not

to own up to them to

strangers

You may need to get them

talking and earn their

trust first

Interesting or important

issues can get the

conversation started

So you need to

create a

pathway that

leads to a

critical issue – or

be prepared to

qualify out

1. Share plans, goals, metrics and rewards

2. Share definitions and qualification criteria

3. Agree about the “actionable issues”

4. Create a cascade of compelling content

5. Focus on programmes not events

6. Share one buyer-aligned revenue funnel

7. Regular reviews, continual refinement

Qualification Criteria

Target

Seems to fit the easily-observed “idea

prospect” criteria

Qualification Criteria

Target

Seems to fit the easily-observed “idea

prospect” criteria

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

Enough additional information collected to be

“sales ready”

Qualification Criteria

Target

Seems to fit the easily-observed “idea

prospect” criteria

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

Enough additional information collected to be

“sales ready”

Sales Accepted Lead (SAL)

Sales agrees that the lead is worth pursuing

Qualification Criteria

Target

Seems to fit the easily-observed “idea

prospect” criteria

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

Enough additional information collected to be

“sales ready”

Sales Accepted Lead (SAL)

Sales agrees that the lead is worth pursuing

Sales Qualified Opportunity (SQO)

Opportunity meets minimum criteria for

inclusion in forecastable pipeline

1. Share plans, goals, metrics and rewards

2. Share definitions and qualification criteria

3. Agree about the “actionable issues”

4. Create a cascade of compelling content

5. Focus on programmes not events

6. Share one buyer-aligned revenue funnel

7. Regular reviews, continual refinement

Demand Waterfall

Targets

MQLs

SALs

SQOs

Value

Velocity

Conversion rate

£

1. Share plans, goals, metrics and rewards

2. Share definitions and qualification criteria

3. Agree about the “actionable issues”

4. Create a cascade of compelling content

5. Focus on programmes not events

6. Share one buyer-aligned revenue funnel

7. Regular reviews, continual refinement

Create a Cascade of Compelling Content

Traditional “interrupt driven” marketing is

increasingly ineffective:

Email open rates

Cold call success rates

Create a Cascade of Compelling Content

Traditional “interrupt driven” marketing is

increasingly ineffective:

Email open rates

Cold call success rates

Your marketing needs to attract, not repel:

Prospects hate being sold to, but they

love learning

Make them want to learn more

Take them on a journey

You need a sequence

1. Share plans, goals, metrics and rewards

2. Share definitions and qualification criteria

3. Agree about the “actionable issues”

4. Create a cascade of compelling content

5. Focus on programmes not events

6. Share one buyer-aligned revenue funnel

7. Regular reviews, continual refinement

What Happens Next?

Help keep the conversation going:

Sales conversation planners

Stories, case studies and anecdotes

Support next step in the buying process

Source: Aberdeen Group

Laggard

Industry Average

Highly Aligned

Percentage of

sales-forecasted

pipeline generated

by marketing

Average

year-on-year

revenue growth

Are you here?

Where are you today?

Source: Aberdeen Group

Laggard

Industry Average

Highly Aligned

Percentage of

sales-forecasted

pipeline generated

by marketing

Average

year-on-year

revenue growth

Are you here?

Or here?

Where are you today?

Source: Aberdeen Group

Laggard

Industry Average

Highly Aligned

Percentage of

sales-forecasted

pipeline generated

by marketing

Average

year-on-year

revenue growth

Are you here?

Or here?

Or somewhere

in between?

Where are you today?

About Us

B2B Sales + Marketing performance

improvement specialists

Clients are high growth potential B2B-

focused, technology-based companies

Our core role:

Bridging the Gaps between

Sales and Marketing

Strategy and Execution

Theory and Practice

Intentions and Outcomes

Resources

Guide to Ideal Prospect Profiles

www.inflexion-point.com/templates

10 Winning Habits

www.inflexion-point.com/scalable/

On-line Self Assessment

www.inflexion-point.com/self-assessment-2013/

See “attachments” tab

Final Thought…

S l i d e 5 9

When your sales

and marketing

teams are aligned…

S l i d e 6 0

…there’s no limit

to what you can

achieve together

You CAN create the sort of

demand that your salespeople

will want to follow up on

Bob Apollo | CEO | Inflexion-Point

bob.apollo@inflexion-point.com

www.inflexion-point.com

07802 313300