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Developing a mid-market strategy for your enterprise product/service
The mid-market is an unfulfilled market opportunity for many vendors that serve enterprise segments. Rethinking the needs of the mid-market can improve a vendor’s chances of succeeding with smaller customers.
Read MoreDoes your VOC program encourage purchase behavior?
Your NPS or customer satisfaction survey can increase the frequency and number of purchases a customer makes over time. Research by Sterling Bone of Utah State’s Huntsman School of Business indicates that starting customer feedback surveys focused on what you do well increases NPS and satisfaction scores in the short-term, and can increase the frequency and number of purchases a customer makes with you over the long run.
Read MoreB2B marketers take a fresh look at brand strategy
Not long ago brand strategy and strategic brand management languished on the sidelines of B2B marketing. Branding is now experiencing a resurgence. B2B marketers (and their bosses) increasingly embrace the notion that business decision makers are people after all, and that emotions strongly influence business decisions. This year’s ANA/BMA16: Masters of B2B Marketing Conference highlighted success achieved by AON, GE, TD Ameritrade Institutional, Hiscox, and others in engaging with business decision makers at a human, emotional level.
Read MoreRe-Thinking the C-Suite Sales Strategy
Selling to the C-suite or other senior executives is the holy grail of many B2B vendor’s sales and marketing strategies. Vendors believe a senior executive is in the best position to recognize the business value of their solution. We believe selling to the c-suite is not the right strategy for many vendors, based on recent research on decision-making, our conversations with executives and some practical realities. If you plan on moving your sales & marketing upstream, consider how the following trends impact your sales & marketing decisions and strategies.
Read MoreWin/Loss Analysis – Triangulating on the truth
Understanding why deals are won or lost can seem like a game of telephone or “He said, she said”: The Buyer gives one side of the story, Sales has another, and Marketing brings its point of view too. Who is right? Everyone’s partly right and partly wrong. In our experience, the best process combines all available information streams to triangulate on the truth.
Read MoreThe customer decision journey should drive content marketing strategy
Across the many frameworks available on the topic, there’s consensus that a successful B2B content marketing strategy is built on knowing the target audience, how they progress through the buying process, and their needs along that journey. Yet, it is rare for marketers to use buyer insights to inform their content market strategy. Doing so requires a documented content marketing strategy and a recent study finds that only 32% of B2B marketers have one.
Read MoreAre Rising NPS Scores a Red Flag?
Reports that track NPS scores across a range of sectors—recently reported that NPS scores in the enterprise software sector have increased across the board – most vendors have seen an uptick in their scores. While good news, it raises some questions about the accuracy of NPS scores.
Read MoreUse Research to Add Foxes to Your Hedgehogs
A year of political polling, talking heads and pundits have given a bad name to forecasting and forecasters – especially the segment known as hedgehogs. But for all their flaws hedgehogs can guide their organizations as well, perhaps better, than their counterparts – the foxes. In truth, successful organizations have a mix of both. The research and literature of the science and art of forecasting divides the world into hedgehogs and foxes. The labels and definitions come from an essay by philosopher Isaiah Berlin.
Read MoreHow to Think Like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln
In honor of the upcoming Presidents’ Day, here’s a look at one of the most respected traits Washington and Lincoln shared that can provide guidance to everyone from the CEOs to product manager and market teams. They saw the world the way it was, not the way they wanted it to be, or thought it ought to be. This trait has been universally viewed as a key to their ability to develop effective strategies at two of the most critical points in our country’s history.
Read MoreDesign Thinking in Research
Although it’s been around for decades, Design Thinking is enjoying a burst of heightened awareness as recent articles and books advocate the approach for everything from reaching corporate objectives, to developing advertising and value propositions, to achieving your personal New Year’s resolutions. As a research firm we applaud this reawakening of the value of design thinking – its principles have always been a central part of thoughtful primary research designs.
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