Ben Paul
November 11, 2020
BD, Sales and Marketing insights round-ups
The focus for individuals and organisations on B2B BD, Sales and Marketing differed greatly depending on the region they were in, over the last month. One factor in this is, of course, the different stages of COVID measures in many countries, from full-lockdown to far less restrictive measure on people and businesses. Then of course, you may have noticed, there’s been the elections as well, here in NZ and of course in the US, which is due to finish this month.
Of course, October ends on a real fun note, with Halloween for those that could enjoy it. As a bit of fun I wrote an article on LinkedIn comparing Halloween door-knocking with prospecting and sales.
So, with this background we have a mixed bag of excellent advice and information. All of it designed to inform and give you new ideas to fire up your B2B BD, Sales and Marketing efforts.
Can You Make It 90% About the Customer? by Edith Crnkovich, Owner Relatable IT
The title alone says it all. Absolutely. Edith is a fantastic writer, so I’d urge you to read more of her blogs, not just this one. This article is based around the B2B IT industry, but it applies across all B2B BD, and sales. Quoting directly, this is superb advice, ‘If they ask you the classic, “Tell me about you/your company,” answer, “What would you like to know?” to which you can add, “because I’d rather touch on things about us that are relevant to you”.
LinkedIn – Likes versus Comments by Simon P. Marshall, Founder the Digital 100
This is great, Simon did some really interesting research on whether ‘Likes’ or ‘Comments’ have a greater impact on who sees your LinkedIn posts. Two identical posts, one with only ‘Comments’ on it, and one with only ‘Likes’ on it. The results make for interesting reading, and should inform your social media and LinkedIn posting strategies.
‘My 3 pieces of advice’ by Laura Ottley, Director of Business Development, Addleshaw Goddard
This is a short video rather than an article, but well worth the 2mins 30 seconds of your time. It includes great career advice for those seeking a BD career within a large firm. I really like point 2, around creating value with your key stakeholders.
Erin makes a great point, that anecdotes and stories can certainly move people, but within organisations metrics are even harder to ignore. The three areas to tackle make perfect sense. With professional services firms, I’d love to know if any of you track the timeliness of your responses from Subject Matter Experts? A great read for anyone in the bid response space.
Why the Canadian town of Asbestos wants a new name, by David Cox, for the BBC website
A little bit different this one, but it really caught my eye. It backs up a lot of marketing theory. What’s in a name? Unsurprisingly, quite a lot. Many towns seeking investors have been hampered by their name, and the town of Asbestos in Canada, is seeking to change their name, so as not to lose business.
As for the town of Dull, which is paired with Boring, you wonder who really wants to live there? (It may of course be beautiful I have no idea). A great read and it may well get you thinking about your business, service or product names a bit more critically going forward!
That’s it for October’s round-up of B2B BD, Sales and marketing insights.
If you’re looking for more B2B BD, sales and marketing insights, you’ll find them on our Insights page.
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