You lead a B2B organisation. The average transaction value of your services is circa $50,000. So, we are not talking a small SaaS transaction here. Revenue comes to your organisation, as a result of the Sales work you do. You provide a complex, consultative service that requires an advisory approach and an insights selling & solution selling set of tactics. Marketing alone has traditionally not generated company revenues for you. At least not revenues you could directly attribute Marketing’s efforts to. I am not suggesting you did not chance on to revenue owing to Marketing’s efforts. I am suggesting that to obtain a predictable revenue flow, merely Marketing has not traditionally, achieved the result.
Consequently … you decided to not invest in Marketing as a function. Your Sales team performs well. It generates revenues. So, why bother with Marketing?
Here are a few reasons a successful B2B Sales organisations should invest in Marketing:
BUILD ADVOCACY
Some of the best clients come by referral, or through hearing about the good work you have done elsewhere. Word of mouth is not enough amplification of ‘good noise’ for a mature business. Amplification and endorsement such as case studies, testimonials, and the like, take time and trouble and need the skills to develop and publish. These assets need good project management and inspired creative to get them off the ground. In short – they need Marketing.
ENABLE SALES
Marketing campaigns have a multiplying effect on sales. A sales-centric Marketing team will combine excellent creative and messaging, target it at the right prospects, and nurture leads until they are ready for Sales to take over. Salespeople are more likely to stay, perform, and focus on what they are good at – when supported by a Marketing team.
REMOVE ‘SHADOW MARKETING’
Whether we like it or not, certain Marketing activities happen in every commercial firm. Customers receive emails from us; our website needs updating; we build presentations, proposals, and other collateral and messaging. As organisations grows, these activities and assets become harder to manage. Eventually, customers start hearing mixed messages from different employees – and positioning new services or offerings to existing clients becomes incrementally more difficult. Marketing is invaluable in keeping the entire team and customer base on the same page.
Above are just 3. I (humbly) can think of a dozen other reasons why a B2B organisation, driven by Sales, must leverage Marketing.
