Insights

In today's highly competitive landscape, marketing and sales alignment is a key revenue growth driver. It only works with agreed-upon metrics and measurement. That’s that view of Grant Johnson, and he should know.  Grant is a six-time CMO responsible for...

In the past, event-driven, one-off training events have been ‘the thing’. These events can be valuable in building culture, developing relationships, and aligning goals. But the truth is, the impact of this kind of training on performance has been proven to be...

If you're not seeing a return on marketing investments, it might be time to better align your sales and marketing teams. The evolving buyer journey and technology have blurred the lines between sales and marketing, and failure to adjust is often why marketing ROI...

Rapid growth is good, but only if you can also build your revenue team rapidly.  Otherwise, you can blow a lot of capital. “Companies that rapidly scale before having repeatable marketing and sales processes often hit a wall,” says Theresa Smith, CRO at Level Data....

Parent Square’s Personalization Practices: Personalized Content Streams Across the Buyer Journey Seventy percent of the buyer journey is now digital and content-driven.  Buyers may consume 5 to 6 content assets before any sales conversation.    When they do engage in...

We’re in a buyer-driven era where cold outreach is becoming obsolete. Today, modern marketing and sales are all about helping buyers reveal their own needs. It’s no longer about pushing products but creating personalized value and guiding buyers through their journey....

In times of economic downturn, it's common for company leaders to consider slashing marketing budgets as a quick way to save money.  However, research from McKinsey and other industry experts shows that maintaining or even increasing marketing investments in uncertain...

Question #1: Ever wonder where the term muscle memory comes from?  Here’s how Gemini summarizes the neuroscience that underpins the phrase: “Myelin sheaths insulate neural pathways, making signal transmission faster and more efficient. Repeated practice thickens these...

In sales, like in any sport, success comes with practice. Think about professional athletes. They have playbooks, they train every day, and they continuously refine their skills. Your sales team may have a playbook, but are you practicing it? If not, you’re missing...

Data does not always create business value. It may just create noise. Knowing the difference is critical for companies with data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence offerings. “Within our customer accounts, there are multiple buyer sets,” says Ray Goforth,...

Buyer personalization is not an oxymoron. Sure, it is impossible to personalize marketing for each individual buyer. But true scalability in personalization isn’t about focusing on every single buyer. It is about honing distinct personalization categories within your...

Our MQLs suck Our SDR team doesn't know what they are doing Marketing makes content that nobody looks at or cares about Marketing doesn't understand who our buyers are Sales goes rogue; they don't sound anything like our brand or positioning  Sales makes promises our...

Not having a shared, cohesive sales process will lose you money. It leads to fewer closed deals, less accurate forecasting, and lower deal values. This is Growth Blocker #9 that Eric Rudolf and I identified in our conversation on the 10 most common blockers preventing...

Content may be king, but personalization is the crown jewel. Not all content is created equal. When it comes to your buyer journey, content that personalizes value is all that matters! Too often, we see content created for its own sake, not to build or deepen...

How much changes in 12 months? Or in 24 months?  Think about it, 12 months ago, hardly anyone knew:  What ChatGPT was What an LLM or generative AI was Brain-computer interfaces were a real thing We live in a moment where time is a flat circle and things change in the...

Positioning silos will kill revenue growth. Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are uniquely qualified to bridge these silos and deepen buyer personalization.  “CMOs should lead on a company-wide approach to personalizing the buyer journey. Marketing is best positioned to...

Billions of dollars and hours are spent on training sales teams. It’s often wasted. It's not just training, but the shared playbooks of best sales practices seamlessly integrated into daily sales operations that truly boost performance. This is Growth Blocker #8 that...

Your buyers could care less about the number of blogs, eBooks, infographics, or case studies you produce each month. So, why do marketing teams care so much? Your buyers aren’t focused on content production, they want personalized content. They want stories about...

Today’s B2B buyers are better informed than ever. They are typically 70% of the way through a digital and content-driven journey before they even engage your sales team.  Bobby Gaudreau, VP of Sales & Marketing at Activator Dealer Solutions, understood this and...

Standing out is simpler than you think. By creating a website that allows buyers to see themselves in your offerings and empowers them to find solutions independently, you can significantly boost your growth. In the first in our new series on Personalization...

Too many of us suck at discovery. That’s my conclusion from a couple decades of observing and participating in sales conversations. We often see reps asking high-level questions about goals and priorities. Questions like: “What are your main objectives for this year?”...

Channel marketing teams can build partnerships that can significantly boost revenue. But only if given proper backing from the companies. This is Growth Blocker #7 that Eric Rudolf and I identified in our conversation on the 10 most common blockers preventing tech...

Standing out is simpler than you think. Shift from a focus “what we offer” to “what’s in it for your buyers.” And, it starts on your website. B2B buyers are bombarded with information from all corners of the internet, making it challenging for them to find solutions...

BESLER’s sales transformation serves as an example of how businesses can leverage market and customer account insights to drive significant growth. BESLER is a leader in hospital revenue integrity and reimbursement solutions but faced challenges with stagnating new...

If your marketing team grapples with demonstrated impact on sales opportunities and Closed Won deals or your sales team gets ghosted after call one, consider self-solutioning content. “It’s our goal to speak to each individual on our buying committee in terms...

Forget your pitch. The most successful sales teams personalize in every sales conversation.  It's not about what we're selling—it's about how we tailor our conversation to understand our buyer's personal win and connect our products and services to this win through...

The buyer journey has fundamentally changed. And, many buyers feel overwhelmed. Today’s buyers have access to nearly unlimited information about you and your competitors from websites, peer and product review sites, social media, and email outreach. It is information...

You don’t have a clear thought leader in your organization, but no big deal, right? Think again.   It may be holding you back.  The lack of a thought leadership strategy – this is growth blocker #6 that my colleague Eric Rudolf and I identified in our conversation on...

Your brand isn’t just about your company’s identity anymore. It’s about your buyer’s journey. Marketers get excited about building brands – and for good reason. Your brand in many ways is your company’s heart and soul.  But a powerful brand identity alone won’t...

Gym owners, car dealers, retailers, and travel agents are constantly on call responding to their buyers. They want you to be just as agile. Embracing agile learning is now paramount to prospering in B2B2C sales.  For ABC Fitness, like many businesses, the pandemic was...

Buyers and customers expect if not demand a personalized experience – not just in the B2C market, but now in B2B as well.   It is now a cornerstone of successful sales strategies.  Jeff Fallis, Senior Director of Sales and Customer Success at GoFormz, explains: “Buyer...

Intent data has emerged as a crucial tool in this buyer-led era; but, it may seem daunting, complex, and expensive. But in reality, you can start right now by keeping it simple and without having to invest tons of money on tools.  Simplifying Intent data boils down to...

Many marketing teams fail to measure the return on their investments in audience development and sales-ready lead generation. Then, they wonder why marketing often finds itself in a precarious budget position.  This is Growth Blocker #5 that Eric Rudolf and I...

“Know thy customer” has taken on a whole new meaning in a buyer-led era. Cold outreach is increasingly seen as outdated and intrusive. Instead, the focus has shifted towards understanding buyer intent and facilitating a guided buyer experience. Leveraging buyer intent...

Get your whole sales team all on the same messaging. Or, risk falling short of quota. “We needed to quickly get everyone a shared messaging approach to meet our annual sales goal,” explains Karen Hundley, VP of Legal Partnerships and sales leader at CeriFi. Growth...

It’s not about you, it’s about your buyer. And, your BDR & SDR roles are the tip of the spear in figuring out why your buyer is talking to you. Rethinking the Role The future of the SDR and BDR roles is going to change, and change a lot. The traditional paradigms...

Most companies cannot identify their ideal customers.  It may sound crazy, but it’s true. There’s a pervasive lack of ideal customer profile (ICP) alignment, like:  Not identifying your ideal customers, your ideal Champions, Buyers, and Influencers Not knowing which...

All buying is personal. To effectively engage and convert buyers, it is crucial to personalize communication based on individual goals, roles, and peer segments.  “However, you can only do buyer personalization if you have the right data and systems to understand...

We’re all creatures of habit. But for marketers our comfort zone can be our downfall! Relying too much on one type of marketing campaign or channel can lull us into a sense of complacence. And, it will lead to stagnation.  That’s Growth Blocker #3 that Eric Rudolf and...

Staying ahead in any sector requires a commitment to personalized customer interactions. For The SEAM Group, a leader in safety, maintenance, reliability, and sustainability solutions, a commitment to buyer personalization was viewed as a way to create a competitive...

We’ve all heard the mantra: “Content is king.” But let’s be real – not all content wears the crown equally. When it comes to your buyer’s journey, the real game-changer is content that personalizes value. Somewhere around 90% of companies are increasing their content...

Are your marketing efforts falling short despite increased spending? Consider this: The cost of a B2B lead has surged from $50-$60 to $90-$100 in the last decade. It now takes nearly 11 touches to convert a buyer for a discovery call. The missing link in most demand...

Marketing teams are looking for every advantage to grow in a challenging business climate. B2B and branding spend was $35 billion in 2023, a whopping 58% increase from 2020. There are three common mistakes B2B marketers make as they invest in breaking through the...

A staggering 74% of buyers opt for the company that was first to provide value, according to Corporate Visions. This statistic underscores the undeniable importance of personalizing value in every sales conversation.  Why should sales leaders care about this? The...

The buying journey now is mostly digital. Buyers are often 70% of the way through their evaluation before they engage sales. B2B Buying Groups typically number at least 7 people. This group will have consumed your organization's content (hopefully), read about you on...

Stories sell! If you do not have customer stories personalized to your main buyer segments, it will block your growth. This is growth blocker #2 that my colleague Eric Rudolf and I identified in our conversation on the 10 most common blockers preventing tech...

There is a “content tsunami” out there. Don’t be part of it. Personalize content to buyer value. Somewhere between 60% to 90% of marketing-generated content never gets used by sales or customer success teams. There’s a surplus of content, but most of it is not aligned...

Getting to $1M in revenue is a major milestone. Less than 1 in 20 companies (just 5%) ever achieve the product market fit and market presence to reach this revenue threshold. But scaling from $1M is even more challenging, with less than 1 in 200 companies (.5%) ever...

Getting to $1M in revenue is a major milestone. Less than 1 in 20 companies (just 5%) ever achieve the product market fit and market presence to reach this revenue threshold. But scaling from $1M is even more challenging, with less than 1 in 200 companies (.5%) ever...

Stop the insanity. It is time to rethink lead generation. We have all read the headlines: 80% of B2B Sales Interactions Between Suppliers and Buyers Will Occur in Digital Channels by 2025 B2B buyers are nearly 70% through their buyer journey before ever contacting...