B2B Nation

Change is hardly a new concept to B2B marketers. You’re dealing with an influx of technology and data. You likely have responsibilities for revenue growth few marketers had a decade ago.

The year 2020, of course, is delivering even more change, from remote working to a steep economic downturn that most people weren’t expecting. With all of this change around us, we started asking a few questions:

--Why is it some people seem better wired to weather change than others?

--Why do some people seem better equipped to effect change in their organization?

--Are change agents born or developed?

--Is there a connection between the way a prospect or client handles change and the types of messages that resonate with them?

For answers to these questions and more, we spoke to change management expert Rob Bogue. As it turns out, an understanding of change management can help B2B marketers in a number of ways:

--Change management helps B2B marketing leaders more quickly make changes their teams support

--Change management helps team members understand how they can effect change

--And understanding the science of change is critical to understanding your clients and prospects, who are looking to create change by adopting new products and services.

Podcast Guest

After two decades of getting frustrated that the technology solutions he was building weren’t always changing the way organizations communicated, collaborated, and worked, Rob Bogue started studying the successes and failures of his customers. He started reading about psychology, neurology, marketing, history, management, sales, leadership, innovation, engagement, and dozens of other topics. He realized that technology projects are almost always thinly veiled change projects, and without the discipline to introduce change management practices into the process, clients wouldn’t succeed. He now offers an online course called Confident Change Management, which is designed to help people understand the tricks, tips, tools, and techniques they need to successfully navigate change.

Sales and marketing organizations are both tasked with adding new clients and growing revenue, but despite these shared goals, their strategies are often out of alignment (at best) or completely at odds with one another (at worst).

Research on the topic says that B2B firms that tightly align their marketing and sales teams are better at growing revenue, shortening the sales cycle, and increasing conversion rates. But sales and marketing often operate in different silos and report into different parts of the leadership team, making alignment a challenge that continues to work against their common goals.

In this episode of the B2B Nation podcast, we look at the issue of sales and marketing alignment through the eyes of a veteran B2B sales leader. Bill Caskey has been training B2B sales teams for more than 30 years and hosts a pair of podcasts of his own on B2B selling.

Our conversation covers:

--The continuing disconnect between sales and marketing that haunts many B2B organizations

--Account-based marketing (ABM), which aims to align sales and marketing efforts

--A look to the future of B2B marketing and sales.

Podcast Guest

Bill Caskey has been training B2B sales teams for nearly 30 years. He works with sales and organizations to ensure their sales team is communicating the highest possible value to clients and prospects. He is the host of two podcasts, The Advanced Selling podcast and The Bill Caskey podcast. You can learn more at www.BillCaskey.com.

What is it that makes a B2B buyer receptive to your marketing? Is it who they are? Is it the situation they’re in? Or have they reached the point where the status quo -- the legacy software, the time-consuming manual process, the spreadsheets that connect data from various sources -- is simply no longer tenable?

In this episode of B2B Nation, we talk to Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer at sales training firm Corporate Visions, about the science behind decision making. According to Tim, when you measure the effectiveness of marketing tools like personas against neuroscience and behavioral economics, you find personas might actually do more harm than good if you’re trying to identify your buyers. We also discuss another common mis-step: using the same messaging for new prospects and existing customers.

Podcast Guests

Tim Riesterer is Chief Strategy and Research Officer of marketing and sales consulting and training firm Corporate Visions. He is responsible for leading the strategic direction of the company in thought leadership, positioning and product development. He also leads the company's consulting team globally, including staff and certified contractors.

Aimee Dunn is the Director of Sales Enablement at TechnologyAdvice. Prior to this role, she led the Customer Success team at QuinStreet B2B, which was acquired by TechnologyAdvice in early 2020.

For years, the IT channel consisted of value-added resellers and systems integrators that racked servers, connected brand offices, and made sure everyone had a working PC.

As the industry moves to the cloud, the channel must follow. Many channel businesses are re-making themselves as manager service providers (MSPs), but the service provider business is a far cry from the days of old.

In this episode, we talk to Howard Cohen, a 35-year veteran of the IT channel, about where channel businesses can get started with their marketing efforts, how they can differentiate in a crowded market, and how to identify their areas of specialization.

Gamification Talk Radio interview with Zach Jones. VP of Sales for TechnologyAdvice.

Scott Brinker: The Heart of Marketing Hasn't Changed by TechnologyAdvice

Kristen Wendel at Revenue Summit 2017 by TechnologyAdvice

Lincoln Murphy at Revenue Summit 2017 by TechnologyAdvice

Rob Jeppsen at Revenue Summit 2017 by TechnologyAdvice

Sean Ford: Improving and Using Buyer Personas by TechnologyAdvice