I recorded this 'shorts' podcast episode in response to a question I was asked after Barney Worfolk-Smith was on The Six Sells Podcast recently.
The question I was asked was "How do you marry the longer-term consultative approach, with the expectations of leadership, who want immediate opportunities in the pipeline, and don't have the patience?"
It's a great question, and the answer to this question starts with understanding where each of your buyers are in the B2B Buyers' Journey as quickly as possible.
According to the literature out of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, in B2B industries, 95% of people are not in-market for what you are selling in any given week, but they might be next month, next quarter, or next year.
People who don't currently have a brief and a budget are unlikely to respond to direct sales messaging - this 95% group need value-led, marketing communications which can absolutely still come from the salesperson.
For clarification, when I am talking about sales and marketing communications in this context I mean:
‣ Marketing comms - softer, value driven, give value don't ask for anything in return. Through valuable visibility, you build the first 3 stages of the B2B Buyers Journey by strengthening awareness, familiarity and trust.
‣ Sales comms - More direct, closing for something. This communication is relevant when your buyer is at the interest or consideration stage.
In this 7 minute episode I give an example of how to balance marketing comms to the 95%, and use that to uncover the 5% who are in-market and ready for a sales conversation.
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Six Sells is a B2B communications agency for sales and marketing leaders.
We help your client-facing people to speak to more of your ideal clients, more often, via social media and personable content.
We offer training, consulting or done-for-you services, which increase the awareness, familiarity, trust and interest in your company and its products and services.
Email hello@sixsells.co.uk for more information.
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