December saw the latest session of our Sales & Marketing Forum, inspired by what seems to have been the rallying cry of 2009: “Let’s sell to the CFO as well…”
Speakers included Mark Evans, CFO, Vodafone Group Technology, and Gareth Bailey, Head of Central Services, Logistics & IT Group, Marks & Spencer, and our guests were on good questioning form (possibly inspired by the finest mulled wine the Soho Hotel could provide…).
Our write-up of the event (available to download here) covers four main areas of discussion from the night:
- Understanding Finance’s role in the organisation/process
- What are the key factors influencing Finance decisions?
- How can we reach the Finance decision-maker?
- What content works best? What do suppliers need to prove?
Everyone has an inkling that, for all the obvious reasons, the role of the Finance decision-maker is becoming steadily more important in major enterprise deals. But before adding them as simply another role on a long list to target, we need to immerse ourselves in their world and their language. Doing this can reveal where so many people are going wrong in their attempts to reach such a complex and elusive group of people.
If you have any other questions about the speaker’s views, or if you were at the event and think I’ve missed a vitally important issue, please add your thoughts in a comment…
2 comments
The concept of relevance is something that comes across very strongly in the article. It is clear that marketers need to ask themselves ‘are we targeting Finance because our proposition includes notional cost savings, or are we clear that our content is genuinely relevant to Finance’s decision-making?’
The best way to ensure you pass muster in the relevance stakes is to build a clear picture of the target’s decision-making cycle. If marketers are able to understand at which points Finance will be involved and what information they will need to make a decision then they can create timely and relevant communications that stand a significantly better chance of being well-recieved.
This is, of course, a fairly universal truth: rather than sending details of one proposition to all potential beneficiaries, better to understand who does what at which point and develop a communications programme that reflects the decision-making ‘narrative’ of the target organisation.
Plan your communications, in other words, on a strictly ‘need to know’ basis.
Very true David – I think it also depends not just on their decision-making cycle, but also aspects like market maturity and your presence in the market. For example, for a relative unknown in a new market, it might only be by approaching lots of different people in an organisation that you find out where your proposition is most appropriate. But that’s no excuse not to be relevant, of course!
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