It used to be that sales people, could hit their numbers by responding to inbound inquiries (leads, RFI’s, RFP, etc) from various companies within their territory. Now, however, these same reps are forced to develop opportunities from scratch as go-to-market models are increasingly more account–based than in the past.  In addition, most firms are finding their win rates for unsolicited ...   more »

The industrial revolution happened over a period of about 200 years starting in the mid-1700’s and lasting to the mid-1900’s.  The core pattern of this period was the application of mechanical methods to meet the needs of the many in a more scalable, cost-effective way.  For example, the first industry to kick off the industrial revolution was textiles.  In the ...   more »

Marketing leadership should consider their increasingly fast job turnover as a major indicator that something is seriously wrong with the profession. CMOs must shed the prevailing wisdom of classic marketing ideas and determine how they can add value to their internal constituents. Leveraging structured frameworks to organize feedback, marketers should get a measure for the perceived value contribution they offer in their company and use that as a base for a transformation program.   more »

You’ve heard it before many times, the seemingly endless “he said, she said” debate between sales and marketing.  Many CEO’s feel like they are counselors and could write John Gray’s next relationship advice book “Sales is from Mars, Marketing is from Venus.”  Clearly, the “counseling” approach isn’t working, as the “divorce rate” between software companies and their marketing ...   more »

This is the last in a six part series that defines the "value engine", which is the synthesis of over 10 years of research and interviews with hundreds of enterprise technology buyers and sellers.

 

In order to ensure integrated Sales and Marketing planning, the two organizations should first come together to jointly define a common market development ...   more »