Here are some takeaways from the past week for you to leverage for the coming week:

1. Tactics Successfully Generating Sales Pipeline: Outbound Prospecting and Webinars –Current research from TOPO  shows that Outbound Prospecting and Webinars are the top current tactics generating pipeline (see chart below). Outbound Prospecting works—even during a global pandemic—how? Simple, when reps send customized messages over a variety of channels with consistent follow-up, they achieve more success. Ongoing messages can easily change based on a changing environment and high-performance reps adapt to stay current and connected to their contacts. Webinars are one of the best marketing tactics that are working right now as noted in the chart below. These online presentations offer organizations real thought leadership opportunities as they showcase their subject matter experts who can provide helpful, relevant information to their prospects. As most prospects work from home, webinars offer the chance to learn something new, solve common problems, and take a break from their working environment. Several digital tactics (e.g., advertising, content syndication) are not adding much pipeline due to the reduction in marketing budgets, and general digital content fatigue that is associated with those tactics.
2. Preserve Revenues in B2B Markets as COVID-19 Spreads – Bain & Company published a report recently that explored the concept of a revenue “win room”. Taking a page from political campaigns, rather than a “war room”, commercial leaders are setting up a revenue “win room” where they can think the unthinkable, sharpen their sales focus and accelerate their sales cadence. A win room serves as a clearinghouse to absorb the analysis underway, add real-time intelligence from the field, rapidly deploy and reorient people to critical areas, and actively track the situation as it unfolds. In particular, they outline 5 Types of Sales Plays that B2B companies can run and test:
   I. Win Back
   ii. Renewal
   iii. Upsell
   iv. Cross-Sell
   v. New Customers

Some interesting ideas here that I think we can all use. And tell me if you do!

I hope this information is helpful! Please feel free to forward to any of your colleagues….stay safe and let me know if my team can assist you in any way. As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or ask how I can help.

Looking forward,
rick

Rick Endrulat
President
Virtual Causeway
(519) 886-1600 ext. 622

The post Generating Sales Pipeline and Preserving Revenues in B2B Markets appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

Here are some takeaways from the past week:

1. Your Brand New 100% Inside Sales Organization! When I started Virtual Causeway in 2001, it was mainly due to a shift in sales models within high-tech. A traditional, decentralized (and expensive) outside/field sales force was being gradually replaced by a centralized inside sales team. Now, due to the current #coronavirusoutbreak, we are seeing ALL organizations becoming 100% inside sales! And, of course, an inside organization requires different management techniques, technology, and support – which is how we help many of our clients. TOPO Research has some great info on this topic – check out their latest on-demand webinar.

2. Greater Contact Data Depth! If you want better results, you must go deeper. Clients are asking us to help them with go-to-market, thought leadership and ABM programs – which require a 360-degree view of contacts, companies, and opportunities to target and convert. In our efforts to support sales and marketing teams to hit their growth numbers, Virtual Causeway is now an official Agency Partner with ZoomInfo/DiscoverOrg. We leverage this data and combine it with our other Virtual Causeway data sources for client projects as needed.

3. Shout Out to our Clients! Sometimes showing is better than telling, so I’d like to highlight what some of our #demandgen clients are doing right now in response to the current crisis. We are fortunate to work with great clients – perhaps their actions will inspire you or maybe you could use their solutions.

• Answerthink – SAP Partner leveraging webinars to show SMEs how to digitally transition more company functions for game-changing feedback and results.
• Chargify – B2B SaaS billing company building competitive intelligence to run displacement campaigns.
• Cineplex Digital Media – Focusing on ABM and shifting attention to the highest value markets to help their clients with digital transformation as they adapt to new consumer behavior due to the current pandemic.
• Dataiku – Concentrating on data-centric activities such as ABM and data enrichment in targeting strategy.
• Entrust Datacard – Delayed a new product release to focus on an existing but very relevant/timely product – multi-factor authentication to support the remote workforce (including temporary licensing so customers aren’t tied long term when we return to the ‘new’ normal).
• Financial Management Institute of Canada – Shifted from in-person event recruitment to relationship outreach in the form of opt-in campaigns.
• Outside GC – Legal services on a part-time/on-demand basis – targeting specific accounts that have the greatest need. Guess what…they are a virtual firm!
• Sandhill Consultants – Heavily leveraging digital elements such as webinars with tele-boosting recruitment to connect with their target audience #growing!
• Socrates.ai – Leveraging AI for vastly superior and efficient employee communications – shifting from in-person events to digital combined with tele-prospecting.
• VanillaSoft – Pivoted to high-value industries for their remote sales solution – EVERYONE is an inside sales rep now!

If you are interested in learning more about any of them, we can certainly broker an introduction!

I hope this information is helpful! Please stay safe and let me know if my team can assist you in any way. As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or ask how I can help.

Looking forward,
rick

Rick Endrulat
President
Virtual Causeway
(519) 886-1600 ext. 622

The post Processing Change Inside Sales Organizations and Contact Data Depth appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

This issue is obviously top of mind for all of us sales and marketing leaders out there – and a topic I spend every day discussing with my project teams, clients, vendors, and partners. According to TOPO’s research, organizations’ confidence in future pipeline is progressively eroding….with 30% of organizations anticipating a pipeline shortfall of over 40%! Not great news…but also not surprising.

So what do we do? They outline 5 strategic actions that can help organizations deal with the current pandemic:

1. Re-analyze your target market
2. Re-allocate resources to high-value segments
3. Offer extreme value with every customer interaction
4. Change marketing and sales tactics and processes now
5. Re-design your organization for the new environment

Simple stuff, right?

The key is that you need to think now in terms of 6 months. Your customers and prospects are looking at the next 6 months….not the next 12 or 18 months. They are scared. They are in survival mode. Budgets are going to be geared toward surviving or making a massive change to the way things are done. Change is good for sales and marketing professionals – we need to be a part of it and even lead it!

I also love the concept of offering extreme value with every customer interaction. I would expand this to include prospects as well – in this crazy business environment we are in today, you need to add value at every step of the way for your customers/prospects to even talk to you! According to TOPO – sales professionals are getting less ‘meetings’ with prospects – which is an indicator of lengthening sales cycles and decreasing pipelines. We’re currently developing targeted content for clients that see this as an opportunity to offer extreme value for prospects and customers seeking answers or to build brand leadership.

So what does this all mean?

Now is the time to re-evaluate your target market. Make educated decisions, then make a bet on your highest value segment, and focus your efforts on maximizing efforts within that segment. It’s always been about value and targeted messaging and ABM – but now we have no choice! This is the only way to market. And do it quickly – this is not a 6-month exercise to pivot – this is a 1-2 week exercise…time is of the essence!

Here are the webinar slides and on-demand webinar for your reference.

Reach out if you want to discuss this or brainstorm ideas.

Sincerely,

Rick Endrulat
President
Virtual Causeway
1.866.211.6549

The post COVID-19 Strategic Sales and Marketing Actions appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

I’m sure, like me, you’re trying to push forward to promote, engage and keep your business moving. It’s an anxious time for everyone, as we struggle to understand how to cope with uncertainty. To help generate great ideas and spur your businesses, I will post summary updates to capture the latest developments and trends.

So…what are savvy B2B marketers doing?

1. Stocking up on leads and profiles now
   Everybody is wondering if cold calling and outbound demand gen is still a viable option. The answer is — it depends. Looking for ideas to continue marketing activities in these uncertain times? Clean your data. Build your target account profiles and focus on your ABM programs. Map out your desired customers. In other words, do the work necessary NOW to have success when the market stabilizes.
2. Redeploying the marketing budget to stay engaged!
   Event marketing has endured significant setbacks given current restrictions. Reassigning resources to the creation of a relevant webinar, virtual event, or other meaningful digital content can engage prospects and demonstrate the value you offer. My clients have seen increases in content being consumed over the past week, as many prospects actually have the time to download and digest content.
3. Getting a different perspective
   I love getting different views to help inform my own strategy. Art Sobczak from The Art of Sales recently posted a video podcast: How to Sell and Be of Service in This Coronavirus-Infected Environment. I highly recommend it! Especially relevant – ‘Be Smart With your Outreach’ and ‘Speak to the Human First’.
4. Taking action – Customer Example – VanillaSoft
   It is natural to be stunned by the fast pace of developments in our world, but it also offers us an opportunity. As an example, one of our clients – VanillaSoft – is hosting a webinar next week to help insurance organizations with remote sales teams. It’s a timely subject, adds value for their audience, and the webinar format gets them in front of their target market very quickly!

Please stay safe, and let me know if the Virtual Causeway team can assist you in any way to be of even greater service to your customers and prospects at this time. I’m happy to share examples of anything we are doing here at Virtual Causeway or that I am seeing in the market that is being successful – we’re all in this together!

Sincerely,

Rick Endrulat
President
Virtual Causeway
1.866.211.6549

P.S. Don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or ask how I can help.

The post What do B2B marketers do now? appeared first on Virtual Causeway.