On April 8, 2024, the moon will block out the sun for a few minutes – a “once in a lifetime” event, as a total solar eclipse like this happens on average 375-2,000 years in a given spot… AREN’T WE LUCKY!

Some people are buying glasses to watch it, lots of kids have the day off school, and some places are declaring a state of emergency – whatever the case – it is a BIG event in our lives.

Will you watch it or will you simply turn around… (see what I did there?)

As the total solar eclipse approaches, it serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of alignment – just like the alignment between sales and marketing in your business. Let’s take a look at some ways you can maintain alignment in Sales and Marketing:

• Unified Messaging: Sales and marketing teams work together to ensure that messaging across all channels, from social media to email campaigns, is consistent and aligned with the brand’s goals and values. This ensures a cohesive experience for customers at every touchpoint.
• Shared Goals and KPIs: Sales and marketing teams establish shared goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and success. For example, they may collaborate on lead generation targets, conversion rates, or customer retention metrics.
• Reporting: Marketing tracks the performance of leads generated and passes qualified leads to the sales team. Sales provides feedback on the quality of leads and the effectiveness of marketing strategies, creating a closed-loop reporting system that drives continuous improvement.

Just as this total solar eclipse will leave a lasting impression on those who witness it, the alignment of sales and marketing in business leaves a lasting impact on customers, driving engagement, loyalty, and revenue growth.

The next total solar eclipse will take place in 2205… until then, continue to align marketing and sales!!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!

Looking forward,
Rick

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

The post Perfect Alignment: Create a Total Eclipse of Sales and Marketing Activities appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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On this date…

…something exceptional happened.

What, you may ask? Well – there’s always SOMETHING – google it and you’ll get a huge list of big moments on any given date.

How about this week – listen to the song I’ve chosen, and see how you can tie it in to our weekly theme, and perhaps some specific event. Deal? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Now give this song by Tom Petty a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week!

B2B Flip-flop

Since I started my career in marketing I’ve seen what I call the B2B flip-flop happen every year. Usually starts in January, when sales complains that a) we don’t get enough leads from marketing or b) we don’t get enough QUALITY leads from marketing. Strategies are developed, lead definitions changed, and marketing initiatives engaged! That’s the flip.

Then, invariably, 2-4 months later, based on feedback from sales, the strategy is reversed. That’s the flop. It’s a very reactive strategy, and unfortunately – this misalignment between sales and marketing continues all these years later.

Do you have anyone in your B2B life that causes you all sorts of grief because of their shortsightedness? Maybe it’s a business partner with too much focus on revenue and an ignorance of what’s best and ‘right’ for the organization. Maybe it’s a client focusing on immediate results and not thinking about the longer-term benefits.

According to Clayton Christensen, that’s a dangerous way to build a strategy:

“In your life, there are going to be constant demands for your time and attention. How are you going to decide which of those demands gets resources? The trap many people fall into is to allocate their time to whoever screams loudest, and their talent to whatever offers them the fastest reward.“

Seth Godin says that,

“when you hustle a colleague or a friend, they can tell. They can tell that you’re being selfish, angling for a short-term win and trading something precious for something now.“

So as you plan for 2023 and kick off the new year, keep these things in mind. As we know, sales and marketing programs – especially in B2B – take time. If you don’t give your programs a chance to run before you pivot, then you’ll never be able to ramp up properly and achieve any real success.

What’s in Your Junk Drawer?

On this date in 1839, daguerreotype was announced and became the first publicly available process of photography. (See? I can google too!) For the following 20 years daguerreotype was the most commonly used process – but of course, we know that photography processes have changed many times since.

I was cleaning out my ‘old tech’ drawer the other day – the place where old phones, external drives, and media players go to die. It’s astounding when I think about all of the different pieces of technology I embraced (and then subsequently tossed when they became obsolete). And even more astounding when I start tallying my total spend on these gadgets!

Do you have a tech ‘junk’ drawer? Is it because we’re tech enthusiasts and innovators and just want to try the coolest new gadget? According to Vox, it’s partly because our tech stuff is just plain worse now – and the cult of consumerism has ushered in an era of badly made products. Amen! And don’t get me started on trying to get support or return a tech product nowadays…

And if you’re a tech geek like me, you’ll appreciate this video of rare and bizarre media types. Long play microgroove? 500k floppy disks? LaserDiscs!! Check it out here. How many of these are in YOUR junk drawer?

How does this impact B2B? No matter how awesome and revolutionary your technology is, use these bygone technologies as a reminder – markets change, your customers’ needs change, and technology changes. Don’t rest on your laurels to become the disruptor that gets disrupted – always be innovating!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!

Looking forward,
Rick

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

The post Need to Succeed? Allow Ramp-up Time! appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

Things really are a team effort around here. I’m sure it’s the same at your organization – collaborating on content, customer activities, and marketing programs, to name a few. Nothing is more satisfying than being part of a successful, high-performing team, right? Hmm, perhaps I should be signing these posts ‘the Royal We’…

Give this song a listen as we see what the experts are saying this week.

The Ever-Elusive Alignment of Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing alignment. It’s been preached to death, hasn’t it? There’s no question how important it is – yet rarely do we see it happening!

SiriusDecisions found that companies with sales and marketing teams aligned achieve 24% faster growth rates and 27% faster profit growth. Are you struggling to get to that point? Well, here are a few more stats on why this ‘royal we’ is better together…

A collection of statistics that ZoomInfo compiled reflects 10% or more of revenue left on the table when B2B companies can’t align their sales and marketing on the right processes and tech (among many more findings – check out the full list here).

MarketingProfs shares a handy infographic with some pretty compelling numbers. Aligned organizations can:

• Increase revenues by 34%
• Increase customer retention by 36%
• Improve win rates by 38%

You said you believed it but believing won’t fly. It’s great to talk about sales and marketing alignment, but talking about it isn’t enough! If you’re still working to achieve that alignment, what’s holding you back?

Fake Artists, Passive Streams and DSPs

Whether you’ve stayed up-to-date with Spotify’s constant changes and announcements, it can’t be ignored – streaming services are top of mind! This article caught my eye, as it explains the “digital cesspool of greed” that is the world of Digital Service Providers (DSPs).

In particular, ‘fake artists’ comprise about 3 billion of Spotify’s streams. These are employees of production houses that generate songs at royalty rates lower than those normally paid to artists. Apparently, much of this music is generated in Sweden – and one production house in particular is responsible for creating songs for at least 62 fake artists on Spotify representing 7.7 million listeners per month!

This process is particularly rampant on Amazon Music, where around 70% of all activity is instigated via Alexa devices. The vast majority of streams are ‘passive’ sessions: users ask Alexa for some general kind of music and are channeled to pre-curated stations or playlists, all concocted by Amazon. And – you guessed it – a lot of this music comes from these production houses.

Does this really matter? There are always mass-produced content providers. In the context of B2B this is probably like hiring a larger firm that pumps out huge amounts of content vs. a freelance writer. Yes, these production houses are taking streams away from other artists, but is this just the natural behaviour of a free market?

You tell me!

As always, don’t hesitate to call ‘the royal Us’ to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

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

The post Marketing Content Mass Production appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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Spring is officially here! Maybe you’re the same as me – the rain might get you down, but you know that warmer weather is on its way! Are your revenues growing as well as your garden?

Give this song a listen as we see what the experts are saying this week:

Cultivating Larger Deals

Is your enterprise sales team leaving money on the table? We find in much of our work with B2B SaaS scaleups and mid-sized tech firms that many of their sales teams are closing smaller deals and not focusing enough on developing larger ones. This can result in slower growth rates for the company and extended time to build a profitable revenue engine. According to Chasm Group, this may be part of the reason B2B SaaS companies tend to take a decade or more to build a profitable revenue stream!

Think about it: increasing your average sale within those enterprise accounts is an easy way to grow overall revenue. We talk a lot about targeting and managing accounts in ABM strategy, but in reality, our AEs may not be focusing on where they need to be.

So how can we generate more strategic and substantial revenue faster?

1. Set aside ‘product-centric’ approaches; focus on strategic problems to solve.
2. Ensure you are selling ‘high’ enough – selling to middle management or lower means you are addressing tactical problems or simply responding to RFPs.
3. Connect the dots between departmental problems and larger problems that jeopardize your customers’ overall business performance.

Companies whose CEOs and sales teams work to figure out the high impact problem that they help customers solve tend to become winners in their space! Think of your customer like that spring garden – nurture those accounts, and they will grow to be great producers!

Feuds, Synergies and the Common Good

The history of rock and roll is filled with examples of collaborators with deep hostilities between them. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, the Robinson brothers from the Black Crowes, and of course, the public feuds of Noel and Liam Gallagher from Oasis.

This article got me thinking… if the Gallaghers can resolve their very public arguments to work together again, what enables this? In spite of their personal differences, these songwriting teams have all had successful careers, and created inspiring work. Perhaps there needs to be some friction in the process to get that ‘spark?’ Is it purely a monetary thing – and the potential financial benefit far outweighs the personal conflicts? And doesn’t this say it all: “It’s gonna happen very f%#%$ soon because [Noel]’s greedy and he loves money.”

In B2B, we see a similarly contentious relationship between sales and marketing. What is it about sales and marketing teams that causes this misalignment? I recently addressed this as part of a larger demand generation discussion with Alisa Groocock from Forrester. Our good friend Darryl Praill also has his own thoughts on the subject.

Whatever the reason, the underlying culture of the organization is an integral part of aligning sales and marketing. Having joint goals, service-level agreements, and a leadership team that is aligned all help. Having a CRO that manages both functions and ensures consistency can be a huge advantage.

Sure – a little friction can definitely maybe add excitement and creativity to the relationship, but if sales and marketing aren’t working toward a common goal, the whole thing will fall apart. The typical left-hand/right-hand misalignment can cost you revenue AND clients in a demanding, client-centric environment.

Grow Your ABM Strategy with Forrester SiriusDecisions – April 8

Need to grow your sales? Develop your ABM strategy? Validate those ABM initiatives you’ve already implemented? Our webinar with Alisa Groocock from Forrester, “Are You Ready for B2B Account-Based Marketing?”, is coming up soon! Sign up and we’ll send you the Forrester research report too!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

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

The post Cultivating Your Leads Garden appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

Monday mornings can be challenging at the best of times. Cranking this song by Lenny Kravitz is bound to get you moving and motivated for a brand new month! Listen with me as we explore some takeaways from the past week:

Sales vs. Marketing – Are You Gonna Go My Way?

According to HubSpot, fewer than half of marketers would describe their sales and marketing teams as “generally aligned.” Is that a problem? Heck yeah it is!

Sales and marketing alignment has been a topic in B2B for many, many years. And there are research firms that have had incredible success helping companies align their sales and marketing functions. (Hint: See webinar promo at the end of this post.) So why is this still an issue within organizations?

I find that a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between sales and marketing can be an effective way to bridge this gap. Traditionally, an SLA defines exactly what a customer will receive from a service provider. But SLAs can serve internal operations as well, and sales and marketing agreements are among the most crucial.

HubSpot tells us that a successful SLA should include the following elements:

1. Summary of agreement
2. Goals of both parties
3. What’s needed by both parties
4. Points of contact
5. If goals are not met
6. Conditions of cancellation

Feel like you spend most of your time engaging and re-arranging? Download their template and see if it can help you in your organization!

“Pivoting with Urgency” – Music Instrument Sales

As we can all imagine, online music instrument sales skyrocketed last year. Seems like everyone picked up an instrument or re-ignited their love of playing music at home in 2020. In this article, music retailers explain how they were able to quickly pivot to address the online needs of their customers.

And of course, guitar manufacturers are also claiming their strongest sales in recent history. Makes sense, right?

But what about those other ‘adjacent’ industries and products? Sure – online retailers have thrived, and instrument manufacturers have had a banner year. But what about the other ‘stuff’ that’s not as glamorous? Guitar picks, cases, strings, drum sticks, tuners? We don’t really think about them as much (and they don’t get the same press attention) but it stands to reason that all of these other products will also have a successful year based on the pandemic.

So, what lessons are here for B2B?

Even if you’re not able to pivot and take full advantage of current trends, perhaps you are ‘adjacent’ to an industry that’s thriving. Is there a product or service you have that can help to support those industries as they pivot and grow? Perhaps being the guitar manufacturer isn’t the ideal situation – maybe you want to be the guitar string manufacturer! Would you rather sell the guitar, or sell the strings to ALL the guitar brands? It’s all about perspective.

Webinar – Speaking of Sales and Marketing Alignment…

We’re hosting another What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? event this month! Join me and Forrester SiriusDecisions as we discuss sales and marketing alignment and the best marketing strategies to hit your 2021 numbers!

But what I really wanna know is… are you gonna register?

Looking forward,
Rick

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

The post Aligning Sales and Marketing appeared first on Virtual Causeway.