A couple days ago, I spent the evening at a social meet
& greet hosted by MarketingProfs
outside of Boston in a beautiful museum called the deCordova. One of the
highlights of the evening besides the yummy hors d’oeuvers and open bar, were
the two speakers for the evening, in particular Lou Imbriano, former CMO for the Patriots and current CEO and
President of TrinityOne. Although a sports marketer and not
specifically in the B2B tech sector, he offered some particularly good nuggets
of insight into how to think about Marketing.
Several quotes that I want to explore further:
“ABC – Not, Always be
Closing, but Always be Creating”
This doesn’t mean intellectual ideas that show little ROI,
but content, promotions and relationships that will build trust sooner and get
you to close deals faster.
“If a salesperson is
really good then they are actually a marketer”
This one is sure to cause some contention especially when I
mentioned this to our CEO. But isn’t that what blog posts are for—a vehicle for
heated debate? The less offensive part of this quote is that building
relationships and discovering the messages that truly resonate, is actually mandatory
for success. This should always be the salesperson’s goal, not just to be
focused on the money signs. In VC
meetings, I have always been told: “Ask for money and you will get advice, but
ask for advice and you will get money” I’ll give you that tip, free of
charge. Treat your prospects more than
just $ signs, and figure out how to nurture those relationships and you will
see better results.
“Always be a
custodian of your brand”
Care about what you sell as a marketer and a
salesperson. If you see something that
isn’t right – fix it. If you hear
something that doesn’t make sense – stand up for your brand. Your leads and prospects see details – they
are looking for what is the differentiation – so be different and be attentive,
and always remember to stop and listen.
“If your idea doesn’t
create revenue or build relationships then it is a sucky idea”
Well, this one pretty much speaks for itself.
“Sales people should
report to Marketing” (I know this one is sure to stir the kettle.)
Marketing ultimately decides what the go-to-market strategy is going to be. One of the channels is usually direct sales,
but realize that this is only ONE of the multiple channels that are available
at marketing’s disposal, so it makes sense that sales, as one of the channels, would report back to marketing. In turn, marketing can then provide the resources for
the sales team to be successful.
How does this connect
to what iLantern does:
Good question. We
sell tools the to help make all of these proverbial quotes easier. We provide uplift. We give you the technological tools to build
relationships by using temporal event data so you can: send the right message
at the right time, and therefore, shorten that cumbersome sales cycle. What does that mean? More ROI faster. We say,
diminish the divide between sales and marketing and realize that with some simple
tools and a strong team effort, you can have your artillery fully-loaded and
watch as your wins increase.
Visit us at: www.ilantern.com
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