February 2020

Lake One-on-One with Jeff Davis: Author of “Create Togetherness”

Posted on by Tiffany Schultz

At Lake One, we’re all about creating harmony between two key departments- sales and marketing. When the two are fully aligned, it’s a match made in smarketing heaven. We also love talking with like-minded professionals about the importance of aligning sales and marketing. That’s why we were so excited to have the opportunity to connect with Jeff Davis on his award-winning book Create Togetherness.

He shared with us why he thinks misalignment is so common, insights he gained writing the book, the three pillars of alignment transformation, his thoughts on building the buyer’s journey, and what he says is the main takeaway from the book. Jeff specializes in helping B2B companies strategically align their sales and marketing teams to accelerate revenue growth. Jeff pulls from his over 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, and business development at Fortune 100 organizations to early-stage startup. 

In Create Togetherness, Jeff encourages B2B leaders to examine the relationship between sales and marketing and head toward alignment. His goal is to transform sales and marketing to exceed modern buyers’ expectations and increase revenue. Music to our ears! 

Related Reading: Lake One’s Guide to Sales and Marketing Alignment

Why Misalignment is so Common 

The misalignment of sales and marketing departments has resulted in companies falling behind their competitors by failing to acknowledge a structural flaw responsible for a significant loss in revenue. 

In the book, Jeff talks about the benefits of a strategic approach to long-term, sustainable alignment. We wanted to get his thoughts on why it was so common for teams to become misaligned in the first place. “They’ve operated in silos for so long, that most companies see them as two completely separate departments. In addition, the functional leaders don’t really know how to leverage each other because working in this way is new and unfamiliar. Most organizations still don’t realize how interdependent these two functions truly are in today’s modern B2B landscape. Because of this, their goals and incentives are not aligned, thus how they go about engaging the buyer is not aligned.”

What Suprised Jeff 

Jeff is an international keynote speaker and business consultant. He has worked with companies such as Salesforce, LinkedIn, Seismic, and Oracle. He speaks regularly about alignment transformation at conferences, company meetings, association events, and more. So, we were curious to know if there was anything new or surprising he discovered while writing this book, on a topic he is so well versed in. 

He said what surprised him the most was, “How marketing was created as a support function for Sales during the Industrial Revolution and how the relationship between the two functions has changed over time. I was also intrigued by the 4 Sales-Marketing Configurations model as I think it helps company leaders better understand when they are at a point where they have the structure to be able to benefit from an alignment transformation.”

Three Pillars of Alignment Transformation 

There are three pillars of alignment transformation that Jeff covers in the book. They are: 

  1. Data
  2. Process 
  3. Communication 

While all three are important to aligning sales and marketing, is it possible that one is more important than the others? According to Jeff, “They are all equally important but having timely, accurate, and relevant data is the lifeblood of any high-performing Revenue Engine, thus it is mandatory to ensure you have a strong handle on your customer data if you are looking to transform these two teams into better alignment.”

sales and marketing alignment

Building a Buyer’s Journey

Have you ever written something and then after the fact thought of another point you wanted to make or a concept you wanted to expand on? We posed the same question to Jeff. Were there any concepts from the book that he’d like to expand on or add any additional insight to, after the fact? 

“Having sales and marketing come together to build a buyer’s journey is an effective way to ensure they can optimally orchestrate their resources and also identify if there are any content gaps through the buying process.” He goes on to list them below:

7 Steps to Creating an Effective Buyer’s Journey: 

1. Clearly define the key stakeholders or personas from the buying committee of your ICP (ideal customer profile) – use quantitative and qualitative data from both teams to verify 

2. Document the customer’s internal decision-making process 

3. Understand the persona’s goals at each stage of the process 

4. Translate the decision-making process into buying journey stages 

5. Map current sales and marketing interactions (content) to ensure that resources exist at each stage that addresses the buyer’s concerns 

6. Identify interaction/content gaps and develop new resources to fill those gaps 

7. Continuously evaluate the conversion effectiveness of each stage and its associated resources 

Key Takeaway 

With any good book, there are likely a few main points the author wants you to walk away with, so we know it can be a challenge to narrow it down to just one. But we knew Jeff was up for the challenge, so we asked if he HAD to choose just one, what would he say is the main takeaway from Create Togetherness. He said, “The main takeaway is about how digital disruption has fundamentally changed the B2B buyer-seller relationship and the only way we will be able to successfully engage the modern buyer and win their business is for sales and marketing teams to work together to create a cohesive buying journey that is easy to navigate.”

Are you a sales or marketing professional, or an executive looking to ensure there’s alignment between the two departments? Then we encourage you to check out Create Togetherness.  There’s value to be had in the pages of Jeff’s comprehensive yet quick read. Order your copy here.

Unsure if your sales and marketing teams are properly aligned? Take the assessment to find out.

More about Jeff 

Jeff is the executive producer and host of the fast-growing TheAlignmentPodcast.com which is heard by B2B professionals in over 25 countries. He and his team of consulting experts also help mid-sized B2B companies build high-performing Revenue Engines that are equipped to win the business of the modern B2B buyer.   

Jeff holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

Six Easy Lead Gen Tips for Sales

Posted on by Tiffany Schultz

Batman and Robin. Tom and Jerry. Mac and Cheese. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Sales and Marketing. These are some pretty iconic duos. You don’t often get one without the other. But, it does happen. Maybe you know that firsthand. Are you a sales professional who doesn’t have marketing support, either due to budget, size, or lack of resources? Maybe you do have a marketing team but want to ensure you’re doing everything you can to help bring in new business. You have quotas to meet, after all. Or perhaps you are the marketing team and you want to give your sales team some quick tips to help further the lead gen cause. No matter where you’re joining us from, you’ve come to the right place!  We’ve got you covered, with 6 easy lead gen tips your sales team can implement today. They’re pretty painless, easy to implement, and we’re confident you’ll be able to tackle them all: 

easy lead gen tips

Use Your Social Media

Believe it or not, social media is great for more than just hilarious memes {how funny are some of those though, right?}. If you’re in sales or are a business professional of any sort, you likely have a LinkedIn account. Most salespeople do. But there’s a difference between having an account and using an account, especially for top-of-the-funnel activities. Using your social media accounts to share content and promote your company is a great and free way to direct traffic to your website, and hopefully generate some leads. While LinkedIn is likely the most useful tool, you may have a lot of connections on Facebook and Twitter that it might make sense to promote content there, too. As an added bonus, sharing on social media can help you build a loyal and engaged following. 

LinkedIn Marketing Guide

Capture those Leads 

Picture it: you shared some really great content on your social media page and it was wildly successful and drove a ton of traffic to your company’s website. Fantastic! But…. what are you doing with those visitors? How are you getting leads from your website? Is the landing page they’re hitting compelling enough to get them to stay and more importantly, take an action? Get your landing pages up to par (if they’re not already) and then make sure you have an effective and clear call-to-action. There shouldn’t be any confusion for your audience on what you want them to do and what they get in return. Remember, they want to know what’s in it for them. After all, it’s about them, not (just) you. 

Related reading: Conversion Funnel Basics

Referrals from Current Customers 

Who knows the great work you produce or service you provide better than the customers you already work with? Identify a few clients you really enjoy working with and who really enjoy working with you. Odds are they may know people who are equally as pleasant to do business with. Schedule some time with them to thank them for their business and see if they have any other contacts or companies that would be interested in the same level of service. They may offer to make an introduction or just pass along the contact information. Either way, thank them profusely and follow up with the potential lead. If you’re not comfortable just coming out and asking your current clients, start by telling them or reminding them that referrals are welcomed… even encouraged.

Tap into Your Personal Network 

This is one of those easy lead gen tips that too often gets overlooked. I get it, I used to shy away from mixing business with pleasure. Meaning, I didn’t like to tap into my personal network, aka friends, when it came to business-related stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem helping {trusted} friends who ask me for help, but for some reason, it used to be tough for me to ask the same in return. Maybe you can relate? I’m here to tell you to get out of your own way. If you have friends or acquaintances who you feel comfortable discussing business with and who are willing to help, they might just be the untapped lead machine you’ve been looking for. Let them know the type of company you’re looking for and if they can help, let them! Be sure to make it as seamless as possible for them. This shouldn’t be added stress for them. Send them an email they can just forward on to make the connection. And who knows, maybe someday you can repay the favor.

easy lead gen tips

Competitive Intel

What’s the saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?” I kid, of course. Your competition shouldn’t be viewed as the enemy. Rather, they should be viewed as an inspiration and someone who pushes you to be at the top of your game. If you’re playing your cards right, they’re viewing you in the same light.

When you think of your main competitors there’s likely one or two that come to mind who are just crushing it. What are they doing that you aren’t? What’s resonating the most with their customers? You can use that information to create more effective ads and additional lead generation strategies of your own. This isn’t about just following along with what everyone else is doing. It’s about keeping up with industry trends and looking ahead to stay ahead of your competition.

Networking Works

Don’t let the word networking scare you off. I know it’s not every business professional’s favorite thing to do, but it is so important to both your company and your career. I’m not sure about you, but when I first started out in the business world, networking seemed like such a daunting task. That was until I stopped putting so much pressure on it and decided to seek out events that were both relevant and resonated. That way it was something I looked forward to going to vs. seeing it as an obligation. It’s part of my routine now and should be part of yours too, especially if you’re in a sales position. It’s a great way to generate new business or to meet people who will refer you to new business. At the very least, it’s good practice for your “elevator speech”.

These tips don’t require a lot of heavy lifting.  Whether you’re the lone salesperson with no marketing support, the salesperson who wants to help with lead gen or the marketing professional looking to help their sales team, you can get started with these six easy lead gen tips as early as today. Good luck!

Related Reading: Interested in learning more about lead gen? Check out our Lead Generation Guide: Basics of Lead Gen 

How Marketers Can Prepare Sellers to Keep Pace with Modern Buyers

Posted on by Lake One

Today’s buyers are in a class all their own: They’re independent, they do their research, and they demand detailed answers to their questions. Modern buyers don’t want to be sold at, they want to be talked to. They’re looking for content that’s pertinent to their situation, and they want to work with trusted advisors who are ready and willing to lead their prospects through every step of the purchasing process. 

Before marketers can arm their sales team with content worthy of these informed buyers, marketing and sales teams require immediate and convenient access to assets, tools, and training––all within a single source of truth. 

If you’re seeking answers for how to centralize your content and ensure your reps have everything they need to win deals, follow these steps.  

modern buyers

Strive to simplify.

As early as 2016, marketers reported that 47% of buyers were likely to review three to five pieces of marketing content before even speaking to a sales rep (and we can only assume that number has risen in the last four years). Given the multitude of moving parts within marketing and sales departments, it’s now more vital than ever to simplify content production processes and align on providing a cohesive customer experience.

Tips on how to simplify: 

First, develop a plan to consolidate your content across all departments. Identify all content storage locations, and then consider: 

  • Where can these materials be accessed and by who? 
  • Does your team have the means to establish a single, reliable repository for content and training?
  • What tools are in place for notifying sellers and marketers if content is updated? 

Depending on how you answer that second question, it may be useful to implement sales enablement best practices. A sales enablement solution provides a centralized platform for uploading, organizing, managing, and sharing content, including training materials. An advanced solution will also include interdepartmental communication capabilities and analytics — for example, data on content engagement and performance.

Prioritize alignment. 

Buyers expect unique and highly customized buying experiences. And regardless of the challenges, sales reps will have to keep up. Given the heightened competition, well-laid sales plans should keep seller preparedness front and center. 

These trends signal a need for tight sales and marketing alignment. Working in lockstep will save companies time and effort by keeping teams in sync when it comes to content creation, usage, and performance. Once the teams are properly aligned, companies can then implement an integrated strategy for managing, stockpiling, and disseminating all sales-related materials. As a result, marketers and sellers will be able to breathe easy knowing that the sales team will always be prepared for every customer conversation. 

Tips on how to stay aligned: 

When determining whether or not your sales reps have the knowledge and tools to make their next pitch, ask yourself: 

content mapping

Once you’ve answered these questions, make a point to re-examine marketing and sales processes with an eye to fixing any gaps you may have identified.

Keep content current. 

Sales reps are well aware of the expectations that fuel their results-driven fire. They likewise know that they need access to all content and training solutions necessary to provide their buyers with real value. Plus, reps need to find and deliver materials specifically curated for each individual buyer, making the job that much harder. 

When a buyer requests a certain asset, be it a case study or contract, a seller needs a seamless, expedited process for creating, distributing, and monitoring that material. Moreover, all company content (educational or otherwise) should feature the most up-to-date, relevant, brand-compliant information available. 

Tips on keeping content up-to-date: 

The key here is to implement systems for complete content evaluation, including plans for tracking buyer and seller engagement as well as for assessing content performance overall. 

Begin by considering:

  • Is sales content current?  Do you have a way to ensure that the assets that sales reps use have the latest messaging and design? 
  • How does your content change over time? What edits are your reps making to your assets once they get out in the field? 
  • How well does your content perform with buyers? How can you measure this performance in a quantifiable way? 

Sales enablement solutions can handle content management and offer comparative views of different versions of specific assets, demonstrating how a piece of content is modified over time. These tools can give marketers a fuller understanding of how their content is performing and can likewise alert marketers as to whether or not the alterations made to an asset remain acceptable and on-brand. Content engagement capabilities provide insight into how buyers interact with your marketing materials with a variety of valuable KPI metrics, from website scroll depth, to click activity, pitch views, asset downloads, and more. This raw data can be used to glean insights, which can, in turn, inform the creation of new content campaigns.

In this new age of the educated buyer, marketers can gain a real advantage if they deploy the tools and techniques that make it easy to partner with their sales team in driving business growth together. Innovative technology, such as sales enablement solutions, make it possible to meet the demands of modern buyers.  By integrating a holistic system for organizing, sharing, and analyzing all content, marketers will be better able to focus on creating content that sets their sales team up for success. 

Thanks to Highspot for this guest post.

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Lead Generation Guide: Basics of Lead Gen

Posted on by Lake One

If you’re in sales and marketing, there’s no doubt you’ve heard about lead generation. Business folks, in general, are probably at least a little familiar with it. Maybe it’s discussed in business conversations you’re apart of or you’ve seen it in sales and marketing materials. But what’s all the fuss about? What’s so important about lead generation? We’re here to break down the basics of what it is, what’s tough about it, why it’s worth it, trends to watch for and how tools can help with it all. 

HubSpot defines lead generation as the process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone who has indicated interest in your company’s product or service. Lead generators are things like job applications, blog posts, live events, coupons or online content. These types of things {hopefully} create interest and attract potential customers. The goal is to create unique ways to get people, the right people, interested in your business. 

Lead generation sounds simple enough, right? Well, if it were that easy, everyone would do it and do it successfully. We know it’s not that simple, so we put together a few insights into lead generation to help get you started.

Click here to have the lead generation guide emailed to you.