Kathy Floam-Greenspan is the President of Pomerantz Marketing, a full-service B2B agency supporting regional, national and global SMBs.
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After an extremely challenging year, many small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are feeling a renewed optimism that their teams can operate safely and that their businesses can flourish as the worst of the pandemic appears to be behind us.
According to a recent poll conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife, 44% of the small business owners who responded are hopeful about the future, and more than half expect their revenue to increase this year.
I think that’s why we’ve been seeing many SMBs in the B2B sector enhancing their marketing investments or initiating the process for the first time. In-house marketing teams and third-party agencies can execute these efforts, but I’ve found that they are best positioned to succeed when leaders engage the sales team in the process.
Unfortunately, these teams often operate in competition with one another. Rather than collaborating to drive profits, customer experience and company culture, these departments create factions that diminish opportunities all around. Simply put, an effective marketing strategy undoubtedly requires cross-department collaboration between sales and marketing teams.
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Here are three things your B2B sales team wishes you would consider before investing in marketing.
1. Real-Time Customer Sentiment
Sales teams are in the trenches selling products and assessing real-time market conditions. Their efforts produce unparalleled insights that help define a company’s target customer and outreach approach.
I’ve noticed that C-suite executives frequently conflate company influence with customer sentiment. You are not your target customer, and the sales teams know the target audience best. Tap into their knowledge to produce better results.
This is especially critical in a pandemic-influenced marketplace where customer sentiment and buying practices are rapidly changing. Outdated and insensitive marketing efforts diminish ROI and stifle business growth.
For instance, B2B buying preferences have changed significantly since the onset of the pandemic. According to McKinsey & Company’s analysis, “B2B decision makers globally say that online and remote selling is as effective as in-person engagement, or even more so — and they’re not just talking about selling to warm leads. Sellers also believe digital prospecting is as effective as in-person meetings to connect with existing customers.”
This reality has profound implications for marketing strategy and collateral development.
2. Useful Marketing Collateral
Too often, there is an incredible chasm between B2B marketing plans and products and what sales teams actually find useful.
For example, while business leaders are frequently drawn to webinars or generic talking head videos — which I’ve rarely seen executed effectively — sales teams tend to prefer customer testimonials and case studies to demonstrate B2B product or service efficacy.
Collaborating with sales teams can streamline this process, allowing marketing professionals to focus their efforts on creating compelling collateral that sales teams can use to generate and convert leads.
What’s more, sales teams can identify who is involved with a buying decision, allowing marketing professionals to develop collateral for specific buyer personas.
Marketing initiatives are likely to be more successful when you develop useful collateral for sales teams. To facilitate this process, ask your sales team:
• What’s working or not working with the tools they have?
• What do they think is needed to drive more of the right prospects?
• What type of customer is really their sweet spot?
• What tools and tactics do they need to support their efforts?
When marketing teams equip sales teams with useful collateral, they participate in a symbiotic relationship that produces better results for everyone.
3. Next Steps And Future Development
In some ways, businesses need to identify a marketing strategy and stick with it. At the same time, B2B marketing trends are ever-changing, and businesses need to adapt to meet the moment. Ongoing collaboration between sales teams and marketing professionals keeps the proverbial door open, allowing companies to constantly improve their efforts.
That’s why you should continually test, analyze and refine your B2B marketing efforts. When you work on initiatives in conjunction with sales teams, your efforts will progressively improve, allowing businesses to pursue goals and objectives with confidence.
For many SMBs in the B2B sector, the past year has posed many challenges. More than 100,000 small businesses permanently closed because of the pandemic, and many more were forced to make difficult strategic and operational alterations to maintain viability. Fortunately, business sentiment is changing, and holistic recovery is in the works.
As you reimagine and reinvigorate your marketing strategies to meet the moment, your efforts are best served when implemented in close collaboration with your business’s sales team. This will enable you to deliver better results that foster a healthier, more sustainable business.
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Author: Kathy Floam-Greenspan, Forbes Councils Member
