Top 5 Ways to Connect, Engage and Sell C-
x Level Executives
Tom Pisello - Chairman & Founder
Twitter: @tpisello
Powering B2B sales to economic buyers
Mari Anne Vanella - CEO/Founder
Twitter: @vanellagroup
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 2
Today’s Speakers
Mari Anne Vanella CEO & Founder of The Vanella Group Top 20 Women to Watch in 2011 by the Sales
Lead Management Assn. The Vanella Group - Teleservices for Enterprise
Technology Companies Delivers customized, strategic teleservices-
based lead generation solution to energize the pipeline and become a true partner for success.
Solutions: • Teleprospecting, identifying active buy-cycles
for large deals • Telenurturing, integrating live communication
with email or automated communication Fast Facts: 10 Year milestone in 2011 Pioneering work with enterprise technology
providers worldwide 42 Rules of Cold Calling Executives—best
seller
Tom Pisello
Chairman & Founder of Alinean
Who’s Who in B2B Demand Generation
Parallel entrepreneur
Ex-Gartner Managing VP
Alinean - Leading provider of value-based interactive content marketing campaigns and diagnostic sales tools
Solutions:
• Interactive White Papers
• Diagnostic Assessment Tools
• ROI Calculators & Sales Tools
• TCO Comparison Tools
Fast Facts:
10 year milestone in 2011
Over 2000 value-focused campaigns
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 3
A New Buyer Requires New Strategy & Tactics
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 4
Today’s Buyer - More Overloaded
• Rapidly increasing rate of new information available to buyers
• Calls 15+ a day
• Email 200+ a day
• Increase in available channels
• E-mails, tweets, Internet, webinars, search engines, videos, micro-sites, banner ads, newsletters, magazines, demos, white papers, blogs, Facebook, forums, case studies, research, advertisements, etc....
• A low signal-to-noise ratio on most messages / campaigns
• 62% of B2B vendors need more leads
in order to generate the same amount
of sales
• 72% indicate an increase in sales cycle
time over the past 6 months
• Over past 5 years, average sales cycle
has become 22% longer (SiriusDecisions)
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 5
Today’s Buyer – More Empowered
• Buyers do more research independently and online
• Arm themselves with ideas, solution, competitive product knowledge
• Firmly in control of buying process
• Using online vendor content + 3rd party sources / social groups
• Inviting sales later, after set strategy, budget and solution roadmap
Not Prepared 29%
Somewhat Prepared
36%
Well Prepared 35%
At Same Time, Perceived Sales Readiness Is On the Decline
IDC 2010
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 6
Today’s Buyer - More Skeptical
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Early Middle Late
Internal events/triggers
Peers
Industry analysts
Trade publications
Search engine results
VARs/Partners
Consultants
Vendors
Most often
selected
Source: SiriusDecisions 2010
Internal Events / Triggers Drive Early Stages of Buying Cycle
3rd Parties such as Peers, Analysts & Trade Pubs Most Influence – Mid / Later Stages
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 7
Today’s Buyer – More Complex Decision Cycle
Fewer internal team members provided their input into decision process
Relied more on live customer feedback/recommendations
More internal team members provided their input into decision process
Did more detailed analysis of costs/ROI of solution before finalizing the process
Utilized a wider variety of sources to research options
Took more time to research and consider solutions
16%
21%
30%
34%
36%
48%
Multiple Responses Allowed
Demand Creation Specialists B2B Buyer Survey - 2011
• Do More Research From More Sources
• More Stakeholders, More Financial Due Diligence
• Taking More Time
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 8
Today’s Buyer – More Frugal & Value Focused
• CFOs responsible for more groups
• Taking control of strategy + buying-
cycle
• More financial due-diligence on all
purchases
• #1 Reason for NOT Meeting Sales
Quotas – Inability to Communicate Value
Messages (27%) – SiriusDecisions 2010
• Only 38% of sales reps understand the
customer’s issues and can identify how
vendor can help – Forrester 2010
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 9
Today’s Buyer – Buyer Frugalnomicus
• Size
Longer Sales Cycles
Reduced Deal Size More Leads to Close Same
Amount of Business
Stalled Deals
Increased Competition More Stakeholders
Executive Scrutiny
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 10
Top 5 Ways to Connect, Engage & Sell to Cx Level Executives
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 11
Tip #1: Cut Through the Noise
• Don’t make your prospect try to figure out the fit
• One-size-fits-all messaging tunes out prospects
• Don’t desensitize prospects—Res-ensitize them through point solutions for THEIR business
• Seeking ―tell me more‖ not ―stop talking!‖
• Ask:
– Would you listen to YOU?
• Test the message on yourself
• Value Added Content / Insights
Greatest resource you already have—your customers
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 12
• Leads have a shelf life—don’t let them expire • Typical exec requires 6+ attempts to reach • Most sales teams give up at 3 or less
12 © 2011 The Vanella Group, Inc. Proprietary | Do Not Distribute
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Reps Execs
Call
s to
Con
nec
t
Attempts Required To Connect After Initial Interest
3-5 Additional Attempts Needed
Tip #2: Persistence Pays
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 13
Tip #3: Engage at Right Time
• Don’t let BANT downgrade good leads • Early engagements make a difference • Richest form of communication—use it early and effectively • Deal size and decision patterns • Effectively hand off the baton—build systemized lead hand-off
13 © 2011 The Vanella Group, Inc. Proprietary | Do Not Distribute
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 14
Tip #4: Engage with Right Content
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 15
Tip #4: The Engagement Path
• Keep it relevant to their need, not your company • Lead them to a conclusion • Today’s execs scan info and make connections quickly • Don’t drive them away with making it too hard to learn more • Build on each step to keep it moving forward
15 © 2011 The Vanella Group, Inc. Proprietary | Do Not Distribute
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 16
Tip #5: Appeal to Frugal Buyer
Value Focus
Discussion:
• Prescriptive & Quantified
• Discover… Is customer
aware of issue?
• Diagnose… How bad is it?
• Quantify … Value of change
• Compare … Value vs. Status
Quo / Competition
Drive: Diagnostic Led: What
is issue & value of change?
Product Focus
Discussion:
• Customer knows issue
• Tie features / functions to needs
• Compares product alternatives
• Feature • Function • Price
Drive: Sales Led: Product
Driven
Solution Focus
Discussion:
• Customer knows issues &
desired outcome
• Questions to discover pain
points
• Recommend solution to
solve pain
Drive: Sales Led: Pain-Point
Driven
Solution
Provider Trusted Advisor Vendor
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 17
Tip #5: Value Focus a Requirement, But Gaps Exist
Forrester Sales Enablement Forum- 2011
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 18
Challenges of Connecting and Engaging
• Reps are challenged: • To engage early / being invited later into cycle • On average, not outcome / value focused enough • Perceived as not adding enough value in sales process • Not incented to develop long-term opportunities / short term focus
• Buyers are challenged: • Overloaded: getting a lot of calls, email—all looks/sounds the same • Empowered: More information to help drive decisions • Skeptical • More Complex Decision Cycle – risk adverse / more stakeholders involved • Frugal – Bottom-line & Value focused
• Buyers have their own urgent issues and teams to manage • Conversations are forgotten without proper documentation
18 © 2011 The Vanella Group, Inc. Proprietary | Do Not Distribute
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 19
Better Connections & Engagement Yield Significant
Value
• Sales lead expert, Mac McIntosh, found that
• six months after inquiring, 23% of the surveyed subjects had bought the product or service, from the promoter or from a competitor.
• An additional 67% indicated that they still intended to buy but they were not ready.
• According to Forrester Research, companies that excel at lead nurturing are able to generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost per lead.
• According to CSO Insights, companies that excel at lead nurturing have 9% more sales reps make quota, and enjoy a 10% shorter ramp up time for new reps.
• According to DemandGen Report, nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20 percent increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads.
• According to IDC, a value focused interactive content & diagnostic tools:
• Deliver 50% more qualified leads compared to traditional content
• Reduce sales cycles by 20-30%
• Reduce discounting / increase deal size by 20%
• Increase competitive win rate by 60%
19 © 2011 The Vanella Group, Inc. Proprietary | Do Not Distribute
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 20
Questions?
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 21
Next Steps
http://www.fightfrugalnomics.com
http://www.alinean.com/faq/
Insights Into Cold Calling
42 Rules of Cold Calling Executives
© 2011 Alinean, Inc. 22
Thank You!