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INTERVIEW WITH

Annie Wissner

Head of Marketing

B2B Customer Acquisition: The role of human engagement in a world of digital-first enterprise marketing

Removal of friction and a positive experience at every stage of the customer lifecycle is key to winning and retaining customers.

Why do companies need to align their sales and marketing teams?

The way that buyers make purchases and engage with sales representatives has changed dramatically over the last few years. Buyers want to be able to self-serve more of their buying journey than ever before and only want to speak with sales representatives on their terms. Because of this, companies need to make their content readily available for buyers to consume online. They also need to empower their buyers to change the direction of their buying journey as they see fit - moving back & forth between self-serve and interaction with a sales representative whenever they want. This can only be achieved when sales, marketing and customer success teams are aligned.

Having a central leader, such as a Chief Revenue Officer, is crucial for any business that wants to align their sales, marketing and customer success teams. As this person will work closely with each Department Head, they can see the entirety of a customer’s journey from first contact through to contract agreement and later contract renewal. When done correctly, this role ensures that customers move with speed and precision through the journey, with smooth handoffs at every stage. Removal of friction and a positive experience at every stage of the customer lifecycle is key to winning and retaining customers.

Every business should have a meeting scheduler available on their website.

What should businesses do to make it easier for customers to purchase?

Every business should have a meeting scheduler available on their website. When a prospect decides that they want to speak with you, adding barriers to that conversation is a surefire way of turning them off. The schedulers can be as simple or as sophisticated as you like. There are tools that schedule the prospect with the sales representative most local to them, and show them a landing page about the representative once the call is scheduled. This is a great way to humanize the sales process and build a connection even before the call actually takes place.

Alongside this, it may be that some prospects don’t want to speak with a sales representative at all. If they have instant access to an online demonstration and are confident that your solution solves their problems, give them an option to make the purchase straight away. As human beings, we are very much used to making purchases and taking subscriptions out online in our personal lives now. So why should it be any different in a B2B environment? For this to work smoothly, make sure there are plenty of resources and customer evidence readily available on your website that the prospect can digest when making a decision.