Research carried out by The Marketing Practice shows that IT companies are overlooking, and in some cases wasting, sales opportunities with the very companies they are closest to – their existing customers.

The 110 UK IT decision-makers we interviewed said that “information from existing suppliers” was their preferred way of finding out about new IT products and services. They rated this information source as highly as they rated their own networks (and above analysts and consultants). 

But at the same time, nearly half of all those surveyed said, “Current suppliers are quite poor in their account marketing and management”  and a similar percentage agreed that, “IT suppliers do not really understand how to communicate information about their products and services to me”, highlighting a huge missed opportunity.

So, your existing customers don’t just highly rate you as a source of information, they expect you to market to them. But as these verbatim quotes from the research show, there are a number of considerations in getting it right…

1. A joined up approach to sales and marketing communications (that finishes what it starts)… “Too often we are contacted several times by different people in different divisions of the same supplier who don’t seem to talk to each other and there is usually no follow up process. There are no solutions, only proposals.” Senior IT Manager in a Financial Services Organisation

2. And end to the “one hit wonder” marketing communications campaigning approach (by promoting once, and moving on, you’re mising a number of opportunities)… “Sometimes you get an Account Manager who starts to wine and dine you as they think they may get new orders out of you. When they realize there are no more orders the communication stops again.” Head of Application Development in a Media Company.

And…“If [a supplier] phones me today, it  might not be relevant to me at the moment but if they phone me in three months time, I might be interested in that topic.” Head of IT in a Financial Services Organisation

3. A clear account plan that’s shared with the customer (with a marketing plan that sits alongside it)… “They have to approach us at the right time with the right solutions; existing  suppliers have a better opportunity of interacting with us compared to new ones.” Head of Engineering and Infrastructure in a Finance Company.

And… “Existing suppliers are in a very privileged position in that, if they are communicating with their customers as well as they should be, they will know what solutions customers are looking for at any time.  What good marketing looks like from existing suppliers is a call, e-mail or letter offering a solution just when you are looking for it.” Head of IT in a Government Department

Whilst it’s understandable to focus on lead generation in the current climate, don’t let it blindside your strategy. Paradoxically, it’s the very campaigns that take the long view and look to build relationships that uncover the sales opportunities that others don’t even make the shortlist for.

You can download a free copy of the research findings here.

Benchmark spending research from Sirius Decisions out this month claims that B2B marketers are doubling their spend on pipeline acceleration programmes.

“After initial knee-jerk budget cuts, data from numerous business-to-business benchmarks conducted since October 2008 reveal that leading companies are wisely repositioning their marketing strategies and tactics — rejecting a ‘defensive posture’ by still working to close deals or at least lay groundwork for future business despite buyer anxiety and retrenchment,” says Alden Cushman, SiriusDecisions’ research director.

The research found that marketers are changing the make-up of their programs to be closer to field activity, shifting the focus more on clients and current deals. As a result, the mix of lead generation, pipeline acceleration and client retention programs has shifted significantly.

“From discussions with clients we’ve benchmarked, we estimate B2B companies are doubling their number of pipeline acceleration programs,” says Mr. Cushman. “Instead of focusing on generating new leads, these programs represent a more effective way for marketing to impact the extended sales cycle by helping to move deals that have stalled in the pipeline. Without question, the economy is driving this trend, as the program numbers we’re seeing are now more in balance with specific sales requirements.”

Traditional marketing programes have struggled to support the lead throughout the funnel from “lead gen” to “close”. New thinking around account-based (ABM) and narrow-cast marketing is making this a thing of the past. By designing campaigns around the customer journey, and focusing on issues on a client-by-client basis, lead drop-out rates can be reduced and win rates increased. Download our ABM planning tool here, or get in touch with us for a free ABM session which will detail how you can practically approach ABM.

…your messaging could follow.

Whatever their other flaws, retail banks have to understand the psychology of their target market. It’s been interesting to see in the last 6 months the new angles that are developing in their advertising (and especially interesting to think that these same angles could be the things that we should be promoting to our markets).

So what have the banks been up to?

There’s Lloyds TSB, who have been heavily featuring their ‘most trusted bank’ accolade:

And NatWest’s latest adverts, featuring the new ‘MoneySense’ service, promoting a ‘Helpful Banking’ approach and clearly acknowledging the sudden increase in customers hoping for ‘impartial’ advice from their bank.

The point that these adverts make for IT lead generation is twofold:

1. A basic point that anyone selling to banks may be able to build a case around helping banks deal with the sudden rise in demand for ‘advice’, and will have to fit in with the more cautious, ‘trustworthy’ direction that banks are taking.
2. A wider point whichever industry you sell to: it isn’t just ‘consumers’ who are reacting to the current economy by looking for advice and worrying about trust/reliability. Just one example of this: we’ve seen in recent months that promises of information-rich working sessions that will help a decision-maker understand how to de-risk their project or business are one of the most powerful calls to action.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Andy Dalglish of Circle Research. Our conversation focused on the ways that B2B marketers can use research to assist in lead generation, and Andy kindly summarised his views by highlighting the 6 ways research can be used to support lead generation programmes.

1.   By identifying the structure and dynamics of decision making. Research amongst your target market can reveal who is involved in decisions, who really drives supplier choice and the key criteria against which suppliers are assessed.  It can also reveal the communications channels they’re exposed to and their preferences in this respect.  This means you’ll invest your time, effort and budget speaking with the right people, through the right channels and positioning your offer in the most compelling manner

2.   By providing discussion openers. The key to beginning a relationship is of course having something relevant to say and people are always interested in themselves.  And what better an introduction than to offer a potential client some research based insights into their marketplace, their organisation’s position in it and how your service can enhance their position.  For example, you could conduct a piece of research amongst your target market’s customers/prospects to determine brand perceptions, satisfaction, loyalty, etc. then use the findings from this research to secure a meeting with one of those brands

3.   By positioning your product or service in a compelling way. We all know the marketing adage ‘people don’t buy products they buy solutions to their issues’.  Clichéd perhaps but true.  Research to explore the business issues impacting your target market allows you to then frame your products or services as solutions to these issues (i.e. “I know margins are being pushed down in your sector at the moment and my product typically increases profitability by x%” rather than “Can I come and talk to you about my product”)

4.   By mapping the competitive landscape.  Research can reveal who the competition is (both direct and substitutes) and how these brands are perceived relative to yours.  This knowledge allows you to adopt a differentiated positioning

5.   By bringing prospects to your door. The media read by your target market will bite your hand off if you offer them solid research into a topical issue in a way that provides genuine insights (i.e. not Metro type headlines along the lines of ‘we surveyed 40 risk managers and found their favourite song was…’).  By positioning yourself as a thought leader in this way and including some sort of call to action (e.g. contact us for the full research report) you can cause prospective customers to make the first move and better still, they are qualified leads whose area of interest is apparent

6.   By preserving and growing what you already have. There’s a danger that in the pursuit of new customers the latent potential in existing customers is overlooked.  Amongst other things research amongst key accounts can highlight emerging competitive threats (are other suppliers making a play for your key accounts?) and identify hidden opportunities (are you always on the shopping list?  If not, how can you ensure you are? Have you been pigeonholed and your other capabilities not recognised?).  The very act of this type of research exercise also helps secure your customer base as it shows you listen.

This just-released interview in Sales & Marketing magazine between the EVP of Miller Heiman and Brian Carroll (author of the book “Lead Generation for the Complex Sale” ) makes for good reading for marketers facing the “not enough leads” scenario.

When asked what the common pitfalls are in getting sales and marketing working effectively together, Brian points out that high level consulting and reoganisation is no substitute for a joint go-to-market strategy and getting on with it. “Companies sensing the need for cooperation and teamwork sometimes believe they can perform miracles by reorganizing the sales and marketing departments. But, really what matters most is having everyone on the same page, integrated and viewing each other as pro forma customers.”

He goes on to suggest that it’s often not lead generation that’s the issue, it’s the handover of too many “non-ready” leads which stop salespeople from focusing on the really good ones.

“Ask most executives what salespeople need to help them sell and they will say, “More leads.” I’d say your salespeople don’t want more leads. They want more effective selling time. In my experience, the average sales force spends around 20% of their time actually doing productive selling (up to 40% if you’re great). Don’t get me wrong, lead generation is still extremely important to salespeople. But we need to realize that the extreme time pressure salespeople face—especially those with a complex sale—requires them to ignore “early,” “is not immediately relevant,” and [focus on] ”highly likely” to produce revenue.”

We call this the “knee jerk” effect – short termist campaigning built without a long term, continous approach and no central (and jointly agreed with sales) data or content assets. it produces a quick flow of poor-quality or unready leads. By investing in lead generation for the long term you get a more controllable flow of sales-ready leads, and sales people with more time to spend on selling.

It’s not a quick fix… but the investment in the data, content and joint working approach will bear fruit in the long term whilst driving down marketing costs and increasing reputation and awareness.

A point to note: Miller Heiman’s industry reports, based on their 2008 Sales Best Practices Study, are worth the (free) registration to download. Opportunities to Achieve Revenue Growth in the Technology Industry and Business Services Sales Organisations: Catalpulting off Previous Successes are especially relevant for readers of this blog and feature some interesting sales best practices that marketers can align with.

IT companies “lack customer focus” says new research published by B2B Marketing and Tiger Lily Vanson Bourne. The survey found that “IT suppliers failed to meet 40 per cent of IT decision makers’ satisfaction levels whilst another 60 per cent commented that they had not been asked questions that mattered the most to them.”

The study claims that a focus on customer satisfaction research is the solution to these problems, but it looks to us as though what the decision makers were really frustrated about was the lack of understanding at a more fundamental level.

The lack of in-depth understanding of customers is something that has been endemic in IT B2B marketing for quite some time. It spans lead generation, key account/account-based marketing through to ongoing “regular” communication. This was echoed by Egg’s CIO Tom Ilube when we interviewed him late last year. Tom said, “I was most interested to receive updates from suppliers on things that were genuinely relevant. Almost all the material I got was too generic. I would think, “these guys could have done a bit more, they could have tried to understand Egg rather than banking in general.” It wouldn’t have been hard to do – just a bit of research for example – before targeting me.”

In the downturn, the pace of change is accelerated, and what once held true for entire industries (ie. retail, financial services) is now being splintered at a company by company level. Woolworths went under while Asda recruited thousands of people to cope with demand, Northern Rock is staging a strong comeback to the mortgage market whilst RBS will focus on retail and commercial banking. This makes industry-based and “pain point” marketing much more challenging – as marketers we need to be asking a  lot more questions before we take campaigns out that feature  explicit solutions to the specific challenges of companies we’re targeting.

It’s this very phenomenon that’s causing the drive towards more focused, narrow-cast campaigns and account-based marketing that we are increasingly seeing. For many ICT and professional services companies, treating existing accounts as markets in their own right is bearing a lot more fruit. If you’re looking to implement a narrow-cast or account-based programme then our continuous opportunity generation programmes start with the data and key account monitoring to get the comms and lead gen working in harmony. Get in touch with our Marketing Director to find out more.

I recently read this interview with a PA on what it’s like to be on the receiving end of marketing efforts. Whilst the interview is somewhat forthright in its tone, it reminded me of the importance of having a strategy and a comms plan for the gatekeeper, especially the more senior you go.

When looking at chopping up campaign data into chunks you can target, spare a thought for the PAs, assistants and secretaries. At best they are entirely overlooked, and worst, campaigns (both content and tactic) are deliberately designed to “get past the gatekeeper”. This has always seemed an odd approach to me.

PAs are paid to do a job, they know their bosses better than you ever will and they have access to a host of privileged information. They have unparalleled access to diaries and meeting agendas. Often they are specifically briefed on what their boss or the team wants to receive or know more about. Why not use them? If what you have to say is relevant and compelling they won’t just let it through, they’ll ensure it gets there.

Some pointers…do your research and customise any communications heavily before sending them. Think about their specific circumstances, the hassle factor of their roles and how what you’re offering could help. A traditional and formal approach can work wonders. Remember, this is the pinnacle of selling the next step - you’re using your communication to them lay out your stall for the ultimate recipient.

Will the next generation of CIOs be more focused on the customer experience than ever before? Starbucks’ new CIO thinks so in this interview with CIO Magazine.  The interview highlights how Stephen Gillett is facing the challenge to take technology and use it to connect with Starbucks’ customers in whole new ways.

Why was the 32 year old hired? “What fascinated the leadership team was Stephen’s knowledge of where and how these consumers lived, and how he was technologically engaged with them. While he did not have the traditional retail IT experience, we wanted someone who was leading edge, who knew where the technology was evolving.” said Starbucks’ management team recruiter.

As retailers becoming increasingly focused on netting customers and keeping them faithful, can we expect to see the retail CIO out there supporting the marketers?

If recent experience is anything to go by, maybe we can – real-life examples of this are popping up all over the place. At a large department store in Manchester this week I was asked for detailed information for the first time, which was entered into a brand new terminal branded “CRM” at the top (subtle, but points for trying). Similarly the hotel I stayed at seemed extremely interested in understanding useful preferences and keeping in touch. If you are targeting retailers, take a look at this recent post highlighting their top 5 priorities.

A final point to note – the CIO magazine interview links to Gillett’s LinkedIn profile, where he has more than 500+ contacts listed, as well as groups he’s a member of, places he used to work and a link to his blog. If you’re building an account-based marketing campaign to reach him, you can start with a multitude of information that will give you a much greater chance of success. Not only does he list out his technological musings and leanings, but he’s a serious player of World of WarCraft, likes Seth Godin and his birthday is Jan 20th. How’s that for a starter for 10?

IDC ’s 2009 tech sales barometer has just been released. Entitled Selling in 2009: 10 ways to find, win and keep the money it features the findings of its barometer study alongside its recommendations for tech sales people. Its key findings are summarised below, but the long and short of it is that sales teams are investing more in inside sales and demand generation techniques, whilst realising that they need to be more aligned with marketing on lead gen programmes. If there was ever an opportunity for marketing to work with sales more closely, as highlighted in my interview with Ron Rose of HP last week, or in the post on getting sales and marketing to collaborate on business development, it’s now.

-in 2009 tech sales teams will be expected to do more with less; as a result demand generation will be a major focus – most teams are shifting more budget to inside sales

-sales organisations that bolster dedicated investments in lead quality and demand generation will be rewarded with significantly higher sales productivity

- the research highlighted that sales teams were increasing investment in sales enablement, lead qualification and demand generation across the board, with budgets for sales’ travel and training being slashed

-shared metrics was highlighted as the area that sales and marketing are still least aligned, with sales people giving an alignment mark of  only 25 out of a possible 100.

Understanding how your audience will read and interact with your thought-leadership content is crucial in developing senior relationships and building reputation. A recent study into IT decision-makers’ reading habits highlighted a couple of useful points, and our thoughts on how to exploit them:

95% of people pass on interesting content to colleagues. 91% claimed to read more online now than 2 years ago. Package up information appropriately for the medium – keep online information tip- and list-based and use this as teaser content to lead your audience to longer downloads or to request hard copies of pieces with a longer narrative. The beauty of the teaser information is that it can be resused in myriad ways, all leading back to your central content: circulated throughout the IT online sites using comments fields, forming part of email communications, linked from LinkedIn profiles and group discussions etc.

Only 13% do work-related reading at work. The other 87% do it at home and when commuting (61% at home) Online information consumption is typically in small units, different from offline ”compendium style” reading. Whilst CD drive guides and mp3 downloads for commuters are worth considering – Marc Bresseel of Microsoft mentions on his blog what he’s taking to read on the plane on the way to his hols for example – why not send key contacts novel-sized collections of your best thought-leadership or top 5 most popular downloads.

Clearly the content needs to be compelling in the first place for these tips to work. But extra effort thinking through the content’s hazardous journey through the audience jungle will be well rewarded.

The full research findings are available from Vanson Bourne. A final point to note: a massive 99% of respondents include online sources when looking for information needed to support an IT decision (with 61% only doing a Google search for it)  See this earlier post about the importance of your organic search strategy and how buyers find you