The Idea: Simply put, the most effective sales and marketing organizations are no longer prioritizing independently; instead, they are one in front of the customer, and they’re collaborating on the most effective solutions for their clients. When other organizations are disagreeing internally, effective organizations are centered around the retail customer, working collectively to meet the changing needs of their shared consumer. I was recently reminded of two shocking facts …
- Most marketing leaders do not clearly understand the larger picture needs, interests and internal drivers of their top retail customers. And often times they don’t care.
- And over fifty percent of sales teams are not prepared for their first customer meeting, typically because they have brought irrelevant marketing insights to the meeting or have brought forward conflicting interests, which are not valuable to the retailer.
What’s the point? Over half of all sales organizations are dramatically under achieving and not optimizing their engagements. They rarely approach their most valuable partner (the retailer) with one enterprise (sales & marketing) voice.
This tension can manifest terribly when sales organizations fail to understand the opportunity at hand, and are timid with the required follow-up. I want to share seven mistakes that most sales and marketing organizations struggle with as they engage their retail partners.
- Forty-four percent of sales people (and marketers) give up after one follow-up. Everyone’s attention span is low, and one must find impactful (value creating) ways of reengaging customers throughout the process. Source: Scripted
- In a typical firm with 100-500 employees, an average of seven people are involved in most buying decisions. How are you leaving an impact with all members in the buying process after you walk out the door? Source: Gartner Group
- After a presentation, sixty-three percent of attendees remember stories, while only five percent remember statistics. Are you creating meaningful moments that truly matter during your sales encounters? Source: Dan & Chip Heath
- Visuals are processed 60,000x faster in the brain than text. You must incorporate stronger visual experiences into all presentations and engagements. Have you perfected the boring presentation? That’s not a good thing. Source: Neo Mammalian Studios
- Seventy percent of people make purchasing decisions to solve problems. Thirty percent make decisions to gain something. Are you selling products or fixing real problems with the customer? Source: Impact Communications
- Fifty-seven percent of the buyer’s journey is completed before the buyer talks to sales. How are you framing the solution for customers much earlier in the process? Source: Corporate Executive Board
- Research shows that when sales and marketing teams are in-sync, it impacts growth in revenue up to three times. Are you interested in tripling your sales growth? Sales and marketing are one, and alignment matters. Source: Bulldog Solutions.
What gets in the way of higher level customer experiences? It’s lack of tenacity, poor preparation, a boring story, and limited customer understanding.
How are you really doing?
