marketing & sales roundtable developing and maintaining an effective marketing and sales closed...

Marketing & Sales Roundtable

Developing and Maintaining an Effective Marketing and Sales Closed Loop System

September 2005

2©2005 Rosemary Remacle

SalesMarketing

Engineering

Creating the Foundation for Market Leadership: A Strong Core

Effective Relationships Key to MSCLS Effectiveness

CORETEAM


Why Are MSCLSs Necessary?

Compiled from RT participants’ discussions

Provides feedback: What’s working in sales? Translate what’s working in sales into marketing and sales programs

Customer feedback – How to get it from sales w/o MSCLS? Customer testimonials Catalog wins

Ensures conversion of customers into references Brings data to table: audit performance of leads + sales Forces accountability of both sales and marketing for revenue Allows replication of processes more easily How do you know what you are doing is effective without it? Allows the optimization of resources Ensures the ‘message’ is consistent – fine tuning where needed

, Dave Shrigley


The Case for MSCLS

Enables learning: company ‘systems’, customers, market Systematic data collection Tuning and refinement Predictability Scalability Bring (new) people up to speed faster

Basis for great planning and execution Chances for market leadership are diminished without one

(it’s harder and takes longer)


Key Components of a MSCLS

Defined market leadership strategy (market vision, market and customer segmentation, etc.)

Effective ‘Force Field’ development Integrated, customer-focused marketing programs Formal lead generation and qualifying programs Relationships with key market influencers Customer references and beta programs Metrics and accountability Formal sales methodology (including tools and training) and process

(funnel) Scalable, leveraged Sales and Marketing team structures (in-house,

consultants) IT infrastructure to manage the MSCLS system and track performance Marketing and Sales accountability for results


Market Start-up market ‘penalty’

Strategy Lack of company marketing strategy (positioning/segmentation) Lack of alignment between segment critical need and product value proposition = extended sales

cycles (>9 months) Defining repeatable scalable model for growth

Team structure and development Sales methodology process and IT infrastructure

Development of an indirect channel frequently an afterthought rather than an initial strategic objective

Team CEO, executive team, unfamiliarity with sales and marketing domains Identifying, recruiting and managing the right

Direct sales force Channel partners

Lack of integrated of marketing/sales planning, metric-tracking, reporting Large company channel management experience does not always translate into building an effective

sales channel ‘from scratch’ Sales management metrics not seen as relevant in early stage companies Start-up resource limitations

Key MSCLS Challenges in Start-Ups


Investors

SalesChannels

TargetAccounts

Partners

Industry &FinancialAnalysts

Trade & Business

Press

EXISTING• ________• ________• ________• ________• ________

NEEDED• ________• ________• ________• ________• ________

StrategyEvidence

PositioningStrategy

Statement

PositioningStrategy

CompanyBusinessStrategy Market

EntryCustomerSegment

Mes

sage

s, B

rand

Str

ateg

y an

d Pr

ogra

ms

Strategy Market Leverage

Company

Marketing Process


Building the Force Field: Necessities

Positioning Toolkit Mission Statement Market Vision Positioning Strategy Statement

Market Leverage Model (see next page)

Strategy Evidence Total Product Roadmap Marketing Plan/Marketing Communications Plan Company and Product Launch Plan

Iteration: Strategy and Plan Reviews/Refinement

Message Architecture Brand Attributes Tagline, Boilerplate


Market Segment

SALES

TARGET

PARTNERS

INDUSTRY

ANALYSTS

ANALYSTS

TRADE

PRESS

MarketEntry

CustomerSegment

Company

BUSINESS

pRESS

EDITORS

ACCOUNTS

CHANNEL

FINANCIAL

EDITORS

Validation

Education

INVESTORS

Message distribution channels

Developing Strategy Evidence: Market Leverage Model


Definitions

Sales MethodologyA set of concepts and techniques which, when

learned and consistently practiced, increase sales and customer satisfaction

Sales ProcessA series of small, logical and explicit commitments that the buyer makes as he/she advances toward

ultimately committing to purchase

, Dave Shrigley


Most Popular Sales Methodologies

Strategic Selling – Miller Heiman Powerbase Selling – Holden Solution Selling – Bosworth Spin Selling – Rackham Consultative Selling – PAR


Sales Process (Funnel) Management

PROSPECTING-BY SEGMENT

DEMO

NEEDS ANALYSIS

CONVERSATION EVALUATION

CONVERSATION EVALUATION DELIVERED

PROPOSAL/QUOTE DELIVERED

CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

Customer Commitment

Stage

WIN!

Accepts Sales Call,Tradeshow, Webinar Invitation

Agrees to do Site Survey/Benchmark

Schedules Trial, Allocates Resources

Takes Delivery of Product, Training

Signs off on Trial Results

Begins Contract Negotiations

Signs Contract

Clearly defined, simple, process and tools with feedback loop


Feeding the Funnel: Lead Generation Programs

Search engine placements, blogs

Website visits/Promotions

Trade shows

Seminars/Webinars

PR/Speaker programs

Direct marketing – snail- and e-mail, telemarketing

Partner co-marketing

Ads – press and electronic

All marketing programs should have clear objectives and metrics


Lead Generation by Stages of Company Development

Marketing Sales (Telesales, ‘Elephant Hunters’,

Channel Partners)

Marketing Sales (Telesales,

‘Elephant Hunters’)

Marketing Sales (‘Elephant

Hunters’)Participants

Referral (Extended personal networks) Partners/Customers Formal programs

Referrals (Extended personal networks)

Partners/Customers Formal programs

Referrals (Personal networks)

Informal/ad hoc programs (Participation in visionary/early adopter events etc.)

Sources of Leads

Feed the Funnel: Develop market entry segment momentum and revenue flow

Identify Potential Lead Sources in available customer segments

Acquire Beta customers

Lead Generation Goal

PhaseProduct

DevelopmentCycle

BetaLaunch, Market

DevelopmentOngoing


Why are CRM Products Valuable?

Contact management Lead management Sales process management Forecasting Sales metric tracking and reporting Customer understanding and feedback capture Marketing and Sales accountability

They enrich time- and cost-effectiveness benefits of a MSCLS


M&S Technology Adoption Path

Individual sales rep maintained account data

Shared customer/prospect information

Manual ToolsContact Management

Sales Force Automation CRM

Excel, Act Act, Goldmine, Outlook (Exchange)

Automated, intelligent sales process management

Integrated customer data from multiple processes

SalesForce.com, UpShot, SalesLogix

SalesForce.com + Eloqua + GotMarketing +Orts

ASP model (IT outsource) Modular, integratable, customizable

Real-time collaboration Web-based presentations and meetings, Social Networking, Wikis, etc.

Cost-effective

©2005 Arrington, Burke


MSCLS: Food for Thought

Do you have a clearly defined Marketing and Sales Closed Loop process?

Is there an MSCLS-related initiative in your 2006 operating plan? Have the elements of a closed loop marketing and sales system

appropriate for your company been defined and agreed to? How you will evolve it over time been agreed to?- Do you have fully functioning lead generation and management programs in

place?- Have resources (people, $$) been allocated for SW to support a MSCLS?

Is there a clear owner of your MSCLS? Are there performance metrics for evaluating the strengths and

weaknesses of your MSCLS?


Summary

A shared, focused (positioning) strategy decreases the cost of marketing and sales activities/investments and is a major variable in effectiveness of those activities

Marketing and sales should be a closed loop system with defined ownership for cross functional integration

MSCLS should be a foundation for growth…not a later stage in development of marketing and sales organizations


Presenters

Rosemary Remacle, Consultant

Market Focus

408-244-0412

[email protected]

marketing & sales roundtable developing and maintaining an effective marketing and sales closed...

Documents

sales accountability

leveraged sales

effective sales channel

sales wo mscls

effective marketing

extended sales cycles

marketing domainsidentifying

results2005 rosemary