What really works in B2B Sales & Marketing?
The amount of literature available & discussions on effective sales & marketing is mind-boggling. Someone says cold calling doesn’t work; someone says it works; someone says SEO is dead; someone says its alive. There are as many discussions as many people.
Mid-week morning philosophy:
Debates on what works in B2B sales & marketing will never end – particularly because of the bewildering amount of ideology & tools we have at our disposal. I like going back to Buddha’s sayings for this: “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason, your own common sense, and your intuition.”
In more non-philosophical language I’d like to reinterpret this as:
- Apply lean thinking…do small experiments – don’t forget A/B Testing – but don’t be consumed in experiments to the extent that you are not moving towards your targets.
- Not using the tech & tools that the SAAS market throws at us today is impractical. However don’t covet the next SAAS tool just because it is free to try. Remember Google limits its employees experimenting time to less than 20%!
- Be a prisoner of result – not of ideology/technique/tool. Let customer buying behaviour be your guiding star. What works for others might not work for you – yet learn from peers, competitors, & gurus – but with the discrimination to absorb what’s right & leave the rest.