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01 Cover
02 Contents
03 Introduction
04 Thoughts from the CEO
05 Survey Poll Results
06 Market Views
07 James McCormick
08 Suresh Balasubramanian
09 John Steinert
10 Melissa Alonso
11 Trinity Nguyen
12 Peter Isaacson
13 Kay Kienast
14 Nick Panayi
15 Juliana Pereira
16 Kacyn Goranson
17 Andrea Palten
18 Paige Asady
19 Lara Daniel
20 Kevin Alansky
21 Leslie Murdock
22 Leela Gill
23 Ellie Ahmadi
24 Josh Linard
25 Heather Larrabee
26 Joseph Lee
27 Erin Marks
28 Kenneth Dec
29 Lisa Viselli
30 Carla Sierra Fitzgerald
31 Randy Latimer
32 Rosina Feser
33 Rohit Wadhwa
34 Aash Sood
35 Gloria Zhu
36 Prash Shenoy
37 Dana Salman
38 Sidi Saliu
39 Avi Bhatnagar
40 Harsha Kotikela
41 Jeff Platon
42 MJ Patent
43 Jake Knight
44 Vicky Cunningham
45 Chris Collier
46 Payal Mathur
47 Jayashree Rajan
48 Seth Steinman
49 Michael Baer
50 Shaleen Dhrobra
51 Carmen Goldstein
52 Chris Leger
53 Joe Bresler
54 Moira Van den Akker
55 Matt Hummel
56 Rusty Bishop
57 Stephen O'Brien
58 Anastasia Shegidevich
59 Andrew Davies
60 Diana Henderson
61 HiIlary Oliver
62 Katie Draper
63 Kevin Rippon
64 Olusegun Ekundayo
65 Laurence Baker
66 Annie Wissner
67 Melissa Liedkie
68 Josh Harris
69 Wayne Gratton
70 Rich Smith
71 Three Tips
72 A Brief Exploration
73 About Network Sunday
74 About TechPros.io

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INTERVIEW WITH


Carla Fitzgerald

Marketing & Communications Consultant

FITZGERALD CONSULTING

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

You don’t have to hire Beyonce or start a circus to create effective B2B marketing.

How should sellers of B2B technology products and services adapt to address a generational shift towards entertainment seeking buyers?

The overload of information and digital media has conditioned all of us to ‘tune out’ to most advertising. Our minds can only absorb so much data at any time, and typical B2B advertising is full of technical jargon and overused buzz words. Buyers respond to entertainment because it engages the senses and makes them feel something: joy, surprise, intrigue, even sadness, such as with celebrity fundraising after natural disasters. But you don’t have to hire Beyonce or start a circus to create effective B2B marketing.

The key is to present your message in a manner that is unexpected and stirs an emotion. For example, at trade shows we often ignore the barrage of wordy signage and highly animated, large-screen graphics, but we may pause to take a second look at a stand where the message is being delivered as a country song, or carved as a sand sculpture, or included in the ‘wedding vows’ of a bride and groom representing two merging companies. (These are all real examples!)

Humor, music, gamification, and other forms of entertainment can effectively grab the attention of the potential buyer, but it’s important to remember ‘awareness’ is only the first of many steps in a sales cycle. B2B technology purchases commonly involve hefty price tags and significant risk. To help the buyer manage that risk, vendors need to move past entertainment quickly and offer high value resources like education, case studies, and ‘how-to’ guides to give buyers what they ultimately need to make a decision, which is trust.

Just as a guest in a fine hotel turns to the concierge for advice, business buyers will rely on the salesperson who brings something of value to the customer that is useful whether the customer buys or not.

How important are experiences in driving B2B sales?

I think it is the responsibility of the whole company, not just the salesperson, to create and deliver experiences that engage, inform, and delight buyers across the full customer journey. The salesperson’s specific role is to be the trusted concierge to the solution. Just as a guest in a fine hotel turns to the concierge for advice, business buyers will rely on the salesperson who brings something of value to the customer that is useful whether the customer buys or not.

Experiential marketing is not just limited to trade shows. We’ve seen great examples of this in recent years, such as arranging a virtual round table with peers, building an interactive ROI model customized to each stakeholder, or sending a practical (inexpensive) gift in the mail. One of my favorites was an air freshener reminding CMOs that tracking leads doesn’t have to ‘stink’ if you capture the right data!

By guiding people through an experience that speaks to their challenges and desires, and helps them gain new insights or build useful relationships independent of a purchase, salespeople can build trust with customers. Ultimately, these trust relationships yield better close rates, larger deal sizes, and higher lifetime value from each customer.

When you focus on making a positive impact on people’s careers, not just getting the next sale, you increase your own social capital and earning potential.

CARLA FITZGERALD

Marketing & Communications Consultant

FITZGERALD CONSULTING

Should sellers be adopting marketing strategies that help buyers build social capital, and what should that look like?

Everybody wants to be a hero. Everybody wants to go to work and feel like they did a good job, and be recognised for their contributions. LinkedIn is a place where people show pride in their workplace, their company, and their achievements.

As a seller, you can help someone become that hero or champion through social media and other channels. Perhaps you elevate the customer’s role by sharing their posts and introducing them to new people who can help them. You may be able to curate content that allows your customer to comment and demonstrate their expertise. When you focus on making a positive impact on people’s careers, not just getting the next sale, you increase your own social capital and earning potential.

It’s about moving away from a transaction to building a relationship and showing someone you are there to help them shine. This approach has a multiplying effect by driving customer loyalty and generating referrals, because a customer who feels like a hero thanks to you will tell everyone they know about you.

FITZGERALD CONSULTING

Carla Fitzgerland is a technology marketing veteran who helps companies grow revenue and increase market value by successfully launching products, capturing mindshare, building pipelines, boosting sales teams, and gaining advocates. As a former CMO, Carla has experience that spans corporate, product, digital, content and field marketing alongside extensive work in business development and sales enablement.

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Randy Latimer, BDO DIGITAL

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