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What’s your Sunday night ritual? Many of us have them, and hopefully, yours isn’t just sitting at home feeling anxious about the upcoming work week!

Growing up, Sunday nights in my household were all about television – and Disney! I know much of my generation had the same experience – and developed a strong emotional connection to that brand.

The rest of the week the television would have spiderwebs on it – it’s hard to believe how limited screen time was growing up. But Sunday nights were special…

Give this song a listen and ‘no doubt’ you’ll see what the experts are saying this week!

The Power of Voice

I am a huge proponent of multi-touch sales and marketing motions – blending digital and human touches throughout the Buyer’s Journey. How do best-in-class organizations use the power of voice in their processes?

It’s all about building trust and relationships. Unlike emails or online ads, which often feel impersonal and are easily ignored, a phone call allows for real-time interaction between sales representatives and potential customers.

Where can a human voice add extra value in your sales and marketing activities?

Qualifying Prospects – In B2B marketing, identifying qualified leads is crucial for maximizing sales efforts and resources. Human touch plays a vital role in this process by allowing businesses to qualify prospects more effectively than other channels. This real-time, two-way conversation helps determine whether a lead is genuinely interested or just browsing. Interestingly, only a small number of web-generated leads are ever contacted by a real person – why is that?

Customer Feedback – By engaging in direct conversations with existing customers, businesses can gain valuable insights into their experiences, pain points, and suggestions for improvement. This feedback loop allows you to identify areas where you excel and areas requiring improvement or innovation – and is crucial for ensuring your business is meeting your target audience’s needs effectively.

If you think that you connect and the chemistry’s correct with your prospects, don’t just send out digital touches and presume they like what they hear… Get them on the phone! Have that two-way conversation! And if they don’t pick up, leave a message and call them back.

Lessons from The Voice

If you’re a fan of Gwen Stefani (or her band, No Doubt), then you’re probably familiar with the TV show The Voice.

If you’re not familiar, an aspiring singer will take the stage, and four superstars from the music industry (each from a different genre) will sit in chairs facing away. Each of them has a button, and they evaluate the performance on sound alone. If they’re impressed, they’ll hit their button, and their chair will spin around so they can face the performer. The goal is to form a team of student performers that will eventually compete against the teams of the other music industry stars.

So – what B2B lessons can we learn from this show?

  • Be excellent – do your job well!
  • Know your audience
  • Remove biases
  • Supplier power – (for those of us who are fans of Porter’s 5 Forces)
  • Salesmanship

Shows like this can be a treasure trove of business cases and leadership lessons!

What do you think? Are you a fan of the show? If so, maybe you’ve gleaned some other lessons from it. I’d love to hear them!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello. And if I don’t answer, just leave a message and I’ll call you back!

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat