Change of Seasons –Might be Time to Change your Process Too
Spring – what a beautiful time of the year. A glimpse of warmer weather to come. Beautiful days. Life is good. Everyone needs change. Change is good. Change builds character. Change can also be painful.
Is your marketing organization ready for a change? Take a look at five ways to make a change in your Demand Process to drive better results:
1. Get ready to take action
Gather your team together (marketing and sales) and get ready for some analysis and discussion. Appoint a project manager to lead the process. Start with your list of ‘what’s working’ and ‘what’s not working’ and look at the numbers to determine this. If you don’t have the numbers you need to be able analyze demand generation results and processes holistically, make that goal number one. It won’t happen overnight – but you have to start somewhere and numbers don’t lie.
2. Evaluate the current processes
First and foremost, KEEP what’s working. There’s no need to change the strategies that are working – that is an error many companies make. You don’t have to change everything in your quest for optimization of your Demand Process. You need to identify areas that are in need of change but, keep the ones that are working in place. However, you should keep an open mind about to how further tweak current, working processes to maximize effectiveness. There is always room to improve.
3. Quit giving ALL leads to sales
It won’t help the numbers, no matter what you think. Sending leads to sales that are not qualified is a huge waste of time and resources. Not to mention, it may really backfire and annoy your prospects as well. Send only qualified leads to sales, no exceptions. How to do that? Might be time to make a change in your lead process. First take a good look at your lead nurturing programs and scoring methodologies. Perhaps you need to be more stringent with your scoring. Do you downgrade scores over time due to inactivity? Do you accelerate leads when certain actions are taken? The scoring process is never one and done, just remember that and keep refining your process. The better you get at scoring leads and building the right lead process, the better your conversion rates will be. Delivering more leads to sales doesn’t mean more revenue – only qualified leads can turn into revenue.
4. Take a look at your existing customers
Customers are often the most overlooked resource marketing has. Talk to your customers. They purchased your solution after much consideration, right? Ask them why they purchased to gain a better understanding of key differentiators for your solution. Find out what resources or activities helped educate them. Use this information to better understand their buyer’s journey and you will be better able to connect with both prospects and customers in the future.
5. Please quit talking about yourself
Like everyone else in the world, customers buy products based on how it solves a problem. But it’s not just any old problem, it’s THEIR problem. They want to know how your product or solution will make their life easier. So, don’t talk about how your product can perform a ‘certain amazing thing’ that no other product around can….talk about how this ‘certain amazing thing’ can solve the difficult business challenge that they’ve been struggling with for years. It’s not about you, it’s all about your customer.
Author: Sarah Vogel @Sarah_M_Vogel Director of Technology, ANNUITAS
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