Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
Closing the Loop Between Marketing & Sales in the
Channel
How the channel works
VENDORS
End Users/Consumers
DISTRIBUTOR
DISTRIBUTOR
CHANNEL RESELLERS
MARKETING FOCUS & ££
MACRO & MICRO ECONOMIC FACTORS
Source: GfK
Key vendor challengesThe Enterprise market is sown up, the mid-market is diverse and the SMB market is fragmented.
Key vendor challenges:
•Scale: volume of target organisations (Mid-market-SMB)•Cost of sale to high for direct model•Speed to market•Closed loop•Repeatability
multi geographic regions
many different product lines
high volume of channel partners
Key distributor challengesDISTRIBUTORS have huge customer bases and can’t manage each customer personally, so have to rely on marketing to reach out to their customers and disseminate special offers and promotions.
Key Distributor challenges:
• Very tight margins• Competitive marketplace – mass-market• Treated as a commodity service by resellers
multi geographic regions
many different product lines
high volume of channel partners
Key resellers challengesMany RESELLERS are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of channel-driven marketing programmes, which are often not relevant to the reseller or the clients. They are busy running their own businesses, and need to focus on what brings sales through the doors. Key reseller challenges:
• Reseller market is shrinking as market dynamics change• Competitive marketplace – need to differentiate & be more sticky• Deliver profitable business growth
single geographic regions
min different product lines
low volume of channel partners
Our buyer journey has changedChanges over time
Recognition of needs
Evaluate options
Select best option
Problem defined
Negotiate and purchase
ImplementChanges over time
Recognition of needs
Problem defined
Evaluate options
Select best option
Changes over time
Recognition of needs
Problem defined
Compelling eventCompetitive Pressure
New business plan: Strategic intent
Change in customer behaviour
Leadership change
Contract renewal
Recognition of need to change to deliver against business objectives
Scoping of problem – and how best to address it
Develop specification or brief
May issue RFI to potential suppliers
Followed up by formal RFP process
Evaluation of suppliers against specific criteria
Final validation
Negotiate – Best and final offer
Customer on-boarding and in-life management
Marketing led, in-bound/out-boundMarketing led, in-bound/out-bound Sales led, direct / face-to-faceSales led, direct / face-to-face
What does this mean?
Because our audience does its research, thinking, problem definition and needs recognition largely online, we need to ensure we get in earlier in the buying cycle.
At any given point, only 10-20% of the market would be in the stage 4 (evaluate options) point – so we need a constant way of being infront of people…
Why marketing needs change?Customers want more for less……..more customers, more sales, more return on their investment and take less risk!
If you have ever spent a single £ on lead generation, you know how expensive it is and often how risky that investment is.
Many companies do a good job at generating leads – attracting prospects to a website, an exhibition stand or respond to an email, but the reality is that most prospects whom respond to your email, attend your stand or pick up your telephone call are just not ready to buy and certainly do not qualify as a lead………..yet.
Fact – on average only 20% of well qualified leads generated by marketing and passed to sales are successfully closed. The question is, what happened to the rest?
The case for lead nurturingFor complex sales, up to 95% of qualified prospects on your website are there to research and not yet ready to talk with a sales rep, but 70% of them will eventually buy a product/service from you or one of your competitors. Brian Carroll, CEO InTouch
An typical qualified sales prospect, ready to engage with sales has followed a lead nurturing process, which has delivered up to nine (9) pieces of content and generated five (5)+ telephone calls, just to reach the point where the prospect is ready to engage sales. Marketo 2011
On average, nurtured leads produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities vs. non-nurtured leads. DemandGen
Companies that excel in lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads and reduce % of leads ignored by sales from 80% to 25%. B2B Marketing
The 360 Channel Marketing community represents all stakeholder groups within the IT channel including.
The objective of the community is to share knowledge and best practice on how to deliver improved value from effective channel marketing.
Member Think Tank sessions identify how to overcome the challenges around delivering better ROI from channel marketing
www.360channelmarketing.com
Typical challenges faced in channel marketing• Too many ad-hoc campaigns with limited measurement or follow through by channel partners utilising marketing development funds (MDF)
• Channel partners fail to pick up opportunities and nurture them – looking for the quick wins
• Valuable information is lost through start stop tactics, lack of process or experienced people
• Limited internal bandwidth to manage both marketing and sales / channel engagement tactics
• Lack of dedicated and knowledgeable market & channel intelligence
• Lack of lead generation resources, with ability to nurture the long term value
The lead nurturing process
Lead nurturing – one size does not fit all
Content Map – Lead Nurturing
• Map content for every stage of the customer buying process.
• Create content for every job function involved in the buying process (CEO, CFO & CTO etc)
• Use content to help drive prospects through the lead nurturing pipeline
• Localise content for each “geo”
Nurturing in line with buying stage
Not aware of risk/impact
Nurturing in line with buying stage
Not aware of risk/impact
Aligning marketing with sales
Not aware of risk/impact
Suspects to Prospects statistics
