Page 58 - The European Business Review

Marketing

It is not only important for sales to have more contact

with potential customers in the early stages of the buyer’s
journey, but those interactions must deliver value.

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information. Why? Gartner analyst Hank outbound channels for lead generation to one
Barnes observes that it’s because there’s a lack of providing valuable information that can be
of trust with sales organisations. It is not only found during initial searches. In other words,
important for sales to have more contact with you need to end being the hunter and make it
potential customers in the early stages of the easier to become the hunted.
buyer’s journey, but those interactions must
deliver value. Each interaction represents an Here are six steps to help you become the hunted:
opportunity to raise trust by emphasising Ensure your salespeople align with
advising over closing. 5 buyer expectations. According to
This Spring outbound sales is set to become 1 HubSpot’s sales perception survey,
even less effective. The General Data Protection buyers want someone who listens to their
Regulation (GDPR) takes full effect in May needs (69%), is not pushy (61%), and provides
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2018, giving consumers even greater control relevant information (61%). Robert Cialdini
over the information marketers can access in Pre-suasion SRLQWV RXW WKDW WKH ÀUVW JRDO IRU
about them and how they can use it. GDPR can salespeople shouldn’t be to try and get the
limit marketing’s ability to distribute outbound prospect to like you; rather, it is to convince
marketing to potential customers, hindering the prospect that you like them. Cialdini even
their lead generation capabilities. cites the old adage “People don’t care how
GDPR’s reach is far and wide will full compli- much you know until they know how much
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ance required by any company offering services you care.” Similarly, Lisa McLeod in Selling
The first goal for salespeople to EU citizens regardless of where the citizens with Noble Purpose shows that salespeople who
shouldn’t be to try and get the reside. There are many important aspects to the genuinely understand how they can make
prospect to like you; rather,
it is to convince the prospect regulation, but much of it is focused on trust a difference for the customer outsell more
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that you like them. and transparency and moves company policies quota-driven peers.
and practices to the perspective of full privacy Integrate sales and marketing teams.
by design and default. When the buyer’s journey is disrupted,
Requirements include “unambiguous” permis- 2 it also disrupts the conventional roles
sion versus soft opt-ins, requiring that companies these teams have played. Traditionally marketing
tell consumers how their data will be used and bought lists and media and sent messages to
making it easier for them to remove their data. prospects, generating awareness, which fed leads
As a result, marketing targeting capabilities will to sales, who’d close the deal. But marketing
be limited while consumer’s powers to remove can no longer win by distributing lead genera-
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unhelpful messages will increase. tion messages and sales can no longer win by
How should sales organisations adjust supplying the follow up information.
to all of these developments? As prospects Working together, sales can provide valuable
spend more time searching for solutions on insights into customer issues, trends and brand
their own and are now empowered to limit perceptions. Marketing can take those insights
access to their data, B2B sales should focus and develop valuable pieces of content to
on becoming a valued and trusted partner help sales intersect prospects guiding the deci-
early in the decision journey, shifting from sion journey. Marketing can train sales in using
a strategy of buying audiences and distrib- social media and provide content they need
uting their marketing messages through for the new buyer’s journey value exchange.

58 The European Business Review January - February 2018