It’s easy to simply dismiss all branding as a constructed image, no relationship with reality. Most people with power to spend money do know that brands are constructed with an agenda:  influence people to spend money. At least intellectually, we know that brands intend to produce a rather specific outcome, [...]

This is laugh-out-loud funny. Especially love Kermit selling under pressure.
Nominal business observation: do you think this would work at your company’s meetings today? Many corporate executives want both the company’s and their own personal brands to have gravitas. The Muppets don’t bring gravitas to a brand, but they make it accessible.
More about brands, selling, and [...]

I love lead scoring. When done right, it lets you think like a customer.
The problem is that it’s just too easy for marketers to think inside the box, instead of like customers.
Lead scoring programs are rather complex to set up. Certainly more so than a garden-variety email campaign. They require weighted averages, multiple decision criteria, [...]

At one time, the demarcation between sales and marketing was simpler.
Relationships were what sales needed:

One to one, person to person,
company by target account company,
highly situational, mano a mano.

That’s the world of selling.
Markets are what marketing tried to influence.

Given enough time and money, you could drive statistically measurable movements of trends and beliefs through populations, groups, [...]

You won’t find a foolproof, set-it-and-forget-it solution to marketing automation, salesforce automation, revenue generation. Make better processes by understanding the limits of process.

Amid seismic shifts in technology and the macro economy, at least 3 gaps are emerging between marketing leaders.

Is lead nature — who the prospect is — that matters in B2B marketing?

Or what I do to keep in touch and build a relationship — lead nurture — that predicts lead value and conversion to sales opportunity?

To get anything done in a B2B complex sale, you’re not just Selling to The Senior Executive Wo/Man.
That’s why it’s complex.
It’s tempting, especially for salespeople, to depend on just a single contact, champion, or coach inside the client company. Giving in to this temptation? Watch for l-o-n-n-n-g sales cycles, clients who [...]