Aug 28, 2013 | Breakthrough Marketing
The second dimension of my Viewpoint is the articulation of a re-invented solution, which is covered in depth in this blog. To quickly recap, this blog argued that you can re-invent your solution along 3 dimensions, Approach, Innovation and Mindset or AIM; show diagrammatically here:
So when B2B Marketers look at their messaging methodology, to succeed in today’s Info Overloaded, Buyer Centric, Crowded Market they need to re-imagine their approach like so:
- The Approach –from bottom up to Top down
- The Innovation – from value to Viewpoint
- The Mindset – that we must challenge and engage on the customer’s terms
Let’s briefly take a look at each of these.
- From bottom up to top down – Rather than start with features, function and benefit, start with STEEP, the customer’s reality and world.
- From Value to Viewpoint – We must start with a well articulated Viewpoint, before we have the right to discuss our Value.
- Challenge and Engage – Our job is to challenge the customers assumptions and comfort. We have to move from Diagnostic Selling to Authority Driven Selling.
As we will see in part 3 of this series, if we shift our messaging approach as above, we set the baseline to achieve Marketing Impact and Velocity.
Aug 27, 2013 | Breakthrough Marketing
In this short series of blogs, I’ll be applying my Viewpoint framework to explain why I think context, yes what I call Viewpoint, is so critical to Breakthrough, High Velocity B2B Marketing. With deference to my friend and mentor Matt Church, who taught me not be afraid of “nested context”, here we go!
First, let’s define who I am talking to in this column and target the discussion firmly at B2B Technology Marketers. With that context, let’s take a look at the vertical axis of the Viewpoint framework, the B2B Tech Marketers world, and contrast the “old world” to the “new world”. Three fundamental shifts have occurred in the marketing and selling of B2B products and services; 1) information overload 2) the rise of the independent buyer and 3) the abundance of alternative investments. Let’s take a quick look at each of these.
1) Information overload – In the old world, information was tightly held and doled out by vendors based on the “qualification” of the prospect. Due to this stinginess of sharing, very expensive intermediaries arose in these markets, such as Gartner, Forrester and others. Today, vendors rush to share information, Google and social networks have become the new information intermediaries, and the analyst are just one source of many. Buyers have gone from SEARCHING or paying for scarce information to SORTING and triaging abundant information, from scarcity of supply to overload of supply.
2) The rise of the independent buyer – The Corporate Executive Board has published research that says 57% of the typical B2B sales cycle is over before the first sales contact with the vendor. In response to the great availability of information, buyers are becoming fiercely independent. They do research on their own, they network on social networks such as LinkedIn and easily find knowledgeable peers, and they pick and choose what content to read, and what to pay attention to. In short, we are now in the era of the “Buying Cycle” and NOT the “Sales Cycle”.
3) Alternative Abundance – Fundamental shifts in cost of solution creation and delivery, and the relentless drive down the cost curve, means that B2B marketers compete with many more competitors AND alternative solutions. In the old world ROI ruled the world. It was a land of feature, function, benefit. Today, ROI is table stakes. The real battle is strategic importance, first at a category level and then at a provider level. As Forrester has pointed out in their research, buyers want to be taught something, they want strategic insight into THEIR business from vendors. In a world off choice, Return on Strategy is real hurdle to jump.
These three shift can be summarized in the following table:
Three Shifts in the World of B2B Sales and Marketing
|
Old World |
New World |
Implication |
| Information |
Scare |
Abundant |
From Search to Triage |
| Buyers |
Dependent |
Independent |
From Sales Cycle to Buying Cycle |
| Alternatives |
Few |
Many |
From ROI Hurdle to RO-Strategy Hurdle |
This new world is can be a daunting one for B2B Sales and Marketing executives. It can create havoc with traditional communication and selling strategies and techniques. In the next blog, we will focus on how messaging strategy must be re-invented in order to win in this new world of information abundance, independent buyers and many alternative solutions.
Aug 23, 2013 | Breakthrough Marketing
Why do some companies, like FireEye, Zuora, and others raise their stories above the crowd, and get listened to and even obsessed over by prospects and customers alike? I think it comes down to these simple, yet powerful three “cies”:
- Consistency
- Veracity
- Ferocity
Let’s take a look at why these are so important…
Consistency – Relevant Definition: Reliability or uniformity of successive results or events – Telling a story once isn’t enough, telling it over and over again is what creates breakthrough and notice. How many years and times did Marc Benioff of Salesforce show up with the No More Software Logo. The first time it caught the eye, the second time it became interesting, and the 100th time it was compelling because every thing he said was a RIFF on this theme. You were a believer, and you came along for the ride.
Veracity – Relevant Definition – correctness or accuracy – Every time they tell the story, they back it up with supporting and compelling facts, data and figures! FireEye cranks out a ton of research to support their Next Generation Threat protection story. They are the experts, and they back it up by sharing that expertise, all the time!
Ferocity – Relevant Definition – The state or quality of being ferocious; marked by unrelenting intensity – To be believed, you have to be a true believer yourself. You can’t fake ferocity, and if you don’t have it, then your story will never have the impact of those that do.
So be ferocious and consistent, and back it up with real facts, and you too can create an impactful, breakthrough corporate story. What story can you tell, well I’d start with your Viewpoint.
