MARKET VIEW 07
Alexandra Petrova
SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER - UK AND IRELAND
B2B Customer Acquisition: The role of human engagement in a world of digital-first enterprise marketing
I believe that sales and marketing need to be more connected and work together more closely.
Do you believe sales and marketing need to be more aligned, and if so, why?
In many B2B organisations, there is often a disconnect between the sales and marketing departments: they rarely work together and fail to understand one another, and they are often measured on very different results. I believe that sales and marketing need to be more connected and work together more closely. When everyone is looking at the revenue that a campaign brings, how it affects a potential opportunity, and has clear data, tools, and common KPIs to support that, the understanding between the departments becomes much easier. That also enables more tailored marketing campaigns, for example, for a specific industry or an account — and really shows which activity worked and which didn’t.
Digital changes customer behaviour patterns, and as a result, many tend to do extensive research on their own and consume a lot of material produced by marketing before they even consider starting a conversation with a salesperson. For this reason, sales and marketing both need to have an overview of what the customer already knows about the company and its products or services — and what they might be interested in — to enable a truly tailored customer journey.
I believe in always designing processes, products, and services with a customer in mind.
In your opinion, what is the best approach when it comes to designing a sales process?
I believe in always designing processes, products, and services with a customer in mind. This human-driven approach, where the customer comes first, can also be applied when designing a sales process. We need to look at the journey as a whole to understand where the prospective customer is and then tailor what we offer at different stages and the whole sales process to that. That includes the pace at which we interact with them and different touchpoints throughout. For example, you can start with a piece of personalised content, follow up with a useful article online that addresses a pain point they’ve expressed in the meeting, or even provide them with a white paper/book on the topic later on.
I believe this kind of approach leads to customers getting to know you and trusting you more as their advisor, as well as recognising you as a brand that really understands them and cares about them versus just trying to sell a product or service.
Digital is not about us trying to adapt non-digital processes to the digital world.
ALEXANDRA PETROVA
Senior Marketing Manager -
UK and Ireland
FLUIDO
Digital gives us a whole new way to deliver experiences, and this has a lot of untapped potential. In a digital-first market, is experiential marketing still relevant?
For me, digital is not about us trying to adapt non-digital processes to the digital world. It gives us a whole new opportunity to deliver personalised customer experiences with cutting-edge technology, and this has a lot of untapped potential. I believe that if you utilise this well as a company, you automatically stand out, especially in the B2B setting. Sales processes in the B2B world have traditionally been very focused on human interaction, but adding the elements of digital interaction can create a more fluid, consistent, and unique customer journey. However, many B2B organisations are still missing the necessary digital strategies, understanding, skills, and team structure to plan and support these transformative experiences, especially in the sales and marketing departments, so they would need to undergo a certain change to support that.
Fluido is a leading Salesforce partner combining the agility of a startup with the scale of a global enterprise. Fluido helps you reach your goals and create outstanding customer experiences using Salesforce technology. At the core of their expertise is a deep understanding of Salesforce solutions, their customers’ businesses and industry best practices. Regardless of whether your focus is sales, marketing or customer care, they can combine your data, processes, and technology to make meaningful customer moments and drive your success.
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