In our previous blog post about the risks of letting FOMO run your business strategies, we talked to Erik Annerberg – one of InZynk’s seasoned ABM advisors – to take a closer look at the causes and effects of this phenomenon. In this post, we’re continuing the conversation, but focusing on what to do once you’ve let go of your FOMO.
You mentioned that a good starting point is focusing on the existing relationships and their untapped potential. Can you elaborate on that?
– A targeted approach should be focused on winning the biggest deals for the coming year, regardless of whether they are with new or existing customers. Instead of constantly searching for potential in entirely new business relationships, make sure you’re not missing out on deals within your existing customer base. Also, consider the risk factors – you want to be protecting the revenues you already have. While acquiring a lot of new customers might seem exciting, it doesn’t matter if there’s an open door leading them out the same way they got in.
This said, new customer acquisition will always be important. For those ongoing dialogues that have not yet led to a deal – what’s important to think about?
Always start off by establishing a clear sales plan that lays out the steps to secure the deal. Break down the process into manageable stages: anticipating upcoming events, identifying when RFPs typically arrive, and so forth. Once the sales plan is in place, consider what marketing efforts will best serve this purpose. Historically, marketing support tapers off after lead generation, but targeting key accounts requires ongoing marketing assistance throughout the entire process.
Next, identify both familiar stakeholders and those you may never meet, understanding their informational needs. They may never attend the sales meetings, but through targeted marketing, you can ensure they understand it’s safe to choose your company as a supplier. Plot them out and address any potential uncertainties proactively. Remember that the champions you have within the organization might not require persuasion, but they need to be empowered to advocate for your company internally. By fostering stronger internal support for your company through targeted marketing efforts, you will increase the likelihood of securing the deal.
For optimal outcomes, tailor messaging that resonates with each stage of the process and the specific audience involved. Creating content specifically designed for this purpose will be worthwhile and can also be repurposed for other initiatives.
And finally, make sure everyone understands the expected timeline. If it’s nine months until you expect a decision, be prepared to engage with the customer through targeted marketing for nine months. In other words, it’s not the time to ask how the marketing efforts are coming along after two weeks…
Being so used to working differently, there must be a lot of common mistakes that companies make when they first start off working this way.
Yes, and it actually relates back to the internal champions I just mentioned. A common mistake is to limit the target audience to just one or a few personas. It’s often assumed that focusing solely on certain groups, such as CFOs and CTOs, is enough, especially if these are the contacts sales already have. But by solely relying on existing contacts, you miss out on the opportunity to effectively engage and support internal champions. They can advocate for your product or service within their organization and engage other, unknown stakeholders.
Another common misstep is engaging in targeted marketing too early in the sales process. Often, there’s a rush to support sales initiatives simply because a company seems interesting to a salesperson, without deeper consideration. For marketing, it’s important to pause and question such suggestions to make sure that there are actually concrete signs that the chosen target company is genuinely interested. You need to dig a little deeper and ask the salespeople some probing questions: What’s the potential of this prospect? How far along is the current dialogue? What genuine insights do we have about them? Again, this underscores the importance of revisiting account planning. While the sales team will always be eager to go for their dream accounts, it’s crucial for marketing to ascertain whether those hopes align with realistic opportunities. To get closer to the “truth,” it’s important to get a better sense of how the target company engages with you. And this requires data.
Sales reps may lack insights about the target company when they say things like:
“There’s great potential there.”
“They should really have what we’re offering.”
“This is an interesting company for us.”
“I know they’re dissatisfied with their current supplier.”
To obtain that type of data, technical solutions are needed. What’s the requirements of such solutions?
You need a way to easily track how companies interact with your business. Are they active on your website? What content are they engaging with? By analyzing data based on engagement behavior, you can make more informed decisions about what companies to target than if you’re relying solely on intuition – or what sales tell you.
Data can be gathered from a variety of systems that collect information about customer engagement, like marketing automation or newsletter and website analytics. The important thing is being able to measure changes in the behavior based on your interactions with a specific company, whether they’re in-person meetings or digital interactions. This way, you can identify signals that indicate a company may be interested in what you have to offer or that they’re nearing a decision. Some technical solutions can consolidate data from both physical and digital interactions into a single dashboard, providing a comprehensive view of engagement levels.
Are there any common pitfalls in terms of technology that’s being used for this type of approach?
Yes – relying solely on targeting specific roles within the chosen company and using too few communication channels. For instance, if you only have a small number of contacts who are then funneled through a marketing automation system, you will end up targeting the same individuals already engaged by your sales team in face-to-face conversations. Similarly, limiting yourself to just one platform like LinkedIn can be restrictive. Instead, identify and utilize multiple channels to reach your target audience, not just the known decision-makers. By diversifying your communication channels, you increase your chances of building consensus among stakeholders.
As we wrap up this series, let’s circle back to the targeted strategies we’ve explored and their role in driving business growth. In our next post, we’ll explore how InZynk’s platform offers a practical solution to implement these strategies effectively. We’ll take a closer look at how our platform aligns with the principles of relationship-building and strategic planning that we’ve discussed in the previous posts. Stay tuned for the final piece, where we’ll connect theory with practice!
