There is a lot of focus now - even more than usual - on sales and
the revenue model and how to make it work. With tougher economic times,
business leaders are looking with even greater scrutiny at how the
revenue model is working and what levers to pull to make it work
better. The usual focus is on the sales team– putting in harder metrics
and drivers in place to force the issue and make sales happen. The real
opportunity, however, is by looking a little more broadly and
connecting the pieces that make an overall “revenue architecture” work.
There are 100s of drivers for revenue generation – including pricing
and product quality - but what is often overlooked is how effective
marketing and sales are coordinated to link the complete value change
from awareness to closed deals. With the advent of digital marketing
and social media models, the line between marketing and sales is
increasingly blurred. Organizations need to be thinking less about
one-off campaigns and more about continuous conversion strategies
across the value chain funnel from brand awareness to closed deal.
Successful organizations are using a new marketing model –
increasingly centered on using digital marketing platforms to drive
end-to-end awareness and demand, nurture opportunities and close
business. Here are some elements we see within high-performing
organizations- put these in place successfully and your marketing and
sales machine should begin to work well:
Setting and communicating clear strategy
- Identifying the differentiated market positioning
- Organizing the target market into durable segments
- Tailoring messages and offers to each segment
- Setting a go to market strategy that aligns resources to opportunity
- Price your products and services competitively
Driving visibility and awareness
- Create awareness and brand identity with the right mix of new and old media
- Become visible digitally with SEO, your web presence and your digital outposts in social media
- Provide value to your audience across each stage of the buy-sell process
- Offer a consistent and quality brand experience at each interaction
Engaging across the funnel
- Use information and tailored offers to nurture prospects across the funnel
- Work all the channels with your content- web, events, blogs, social media outposts, digital video
- Maintain achievable metrics for frequencies (e.g. sales calls)
- Ensure sales force effectiveness – including product/ service knowledge and sales skills
- Motivate your sales teams effectively based on your target markets and product mix
- Use your customer evangelists to help you articulate your value
- Recognize the value of your investments in sales people
- Increase share of existing clients with crop rotations, continuations and colonization’s
- Deliver to drive client satisfaction – keep clients from going out
the back door while you’re new clients are coming in the front door
Article by John Stone for 