Spending on marketing vs. spending on sales in B2B companies? The debate over which path yields higher results will continue into perpetuity.
In a recent SoftwareCEO.com article, author Maureen Blandford asks some good questions about how marketing investments actually benefit B2B sales:
- “what happens if you stop producing marcom material, for a year? And most CEOs I ask tell me, ‘That won’t really impact our revenue generation.’” … “We don’t want the sales force going in and doing features, functions, and benefits. We want them going in and asking great questions.”
- Do you really need a new expensive logo redesign? “…what we really need to be driven by is, who is our target? How are we going to reach them today? And how can we support the sales force in doing that?“
- “If you’re a CEO of a software company, when some media is covering a big idea in your space, are they calling you for quotes? Do you have anyone on your team who’s considered a guru?
- fuel to the fire…“any Fortune 1000 firm can easily cut their marcom budget by one-third to one-half, and no one would ever know. That’s not risky, that’s just common sense.”
Read her comments in the April issue of SoftwareCEO.com.
While on the topic of marketing and sales, there is a great article by Seth Godin – Nine things marketing shoudl know about sales
The first and last ones made me laugh….
1. Selling is hard. Harder than you may ever realize. So, if I seem stressed, cut me some slack.
9. I know you’d like to get rid of me and just take orders on the web. But that’s always going to be the low-hanging fruit. The game-changing sales, at least for now, come from real people interacting with real people.
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Eliot Burdett
Eliot received his B. Comm. from Carleton University and has been honored as a Top 40 Under 40 Award winner.
He co-authored Sales Recruiting 2.0, How to Find Top Performing Sales People, Fast and provides regular insights on sales team management and hiring on the Peak Sales Recruiting Blog.
Latest posts by Eliot Burdett (see all)
- 20 Of Our Favorite Books About Sales Management and Sales Leadership – October 20, 2023
- How To Make Progress On Your Sales Goal Without A Sales Leader – September 15, 2021
- Augment Your Recruiting Strategy During “The Great Resignation” – July 26, 2021
