MARKETING 2.0 THE SALES PERSONS TOOLBOX

When someone says “Marketing” what’s the first thing you think of? Some funny Doritos commercial? Receiving a bunch of e-mails you need to delete every Saturday morning? Or worse yet, the first thing that gets cut from a corporate budget (I’m the marketing guy)! The truth is marketing has a reputation similar to that of a sales person. There is a “wall” put up and the reaction is “these people are trying to sell me something.” Well yes, that’s true. But more often than not, marketing is intended to inform and entice in order to provide a product or service that can HELP the client. In many ways, that is what I refer to as “Marketing 1.0”. Sure there are new tools like social media, e-mail, retargeting, geofencing…but the mission remains the same.

The reality is another central mission of marketing is to be the salesperson’s Toolbox, and that is the definition of “Marketing 2.0”. Marketing is the credibility behind the sales person who in most cases in B2B is doing the actual selling. Let me give you an example; have you ever started a purchase process, spoken with a sales person and then you started seeing the advertisement for that product and find yourself reading it in great detail? Marketing creates the environment for the sales person to succeed in. The role of the 2.0 Marketer is providing all the necessary tools for a sales rep to effectively do their job and win business. There is certainly the process of generating leads for the sales team and that’s great, but then what happens when they need to actually interact with the client? This is often considered a sales challenge, but as a 2.0 Marketer I strive to provide the sales team with the tools they need to communicate that message.

A 2.0 Marketer provides selling tools like sales presentations (in person or online), product briefs, case studies and video assets (that last one is a big one). Today, buyers are consuming information more and more using video. Providing the right video assets for your sales team can be the key differentiator for them and your company. According to the research company CEB, 57% of a buyer’s decision is made prior to speaking with a sales person. That means it’s even more important that the sales person has the right tools to join the buyer on that journey and help them cross the bridge to their solution.

Being modular is the key to communicating a message that meets market and client needs. This applies to all the tools mentioned above. For example, if you have product or solution briefs, make sure they are modular or in “chunks”, allowing the sales team to assemble a solution brief that specifically addresses the client’s needs. The same thing works with video. With a product like 2Win! Bridge, you can create a playlist of short “chunked” videos to build a specific solution for each specific buyer.

Bottom line as a Marketer it is easy to forget who your customer is. The 2.0 Marketer knows that by providing the sales team with a myriad of sales tools or a “toolbox” they will be better able communicate the intended message and thereby achieve their sales goals. Bottom line the sales team is your customer!