At the height of ‘the bubble’, the communications business was focused on the problem of ‘the last mile’. The last mile represented the challenge of bringing broadband internet to the masses. It was going from the poles and network to the individual consumers (or businesses) that was expensive and fraught with difficulties.
We B2B marketers face a similar challenge: We can bring the product to market, create a campaign to generate interest and explain the value, but we need to get the individual buyers. That’s why we have salespeople. But, boy, do we have a Last Mile problem!
These salespeople have only one chance to do it right, in most cases. And being on the receiving end of the pitch, I’m constantly amazed by how salespeople blow it. Top crimes, IMHO:
- Wishy-washy voice mails
- Not asking the right questions
- Barking up the wrong tree
- Not following up
- Pretending the Internet doesn’t exist
While we aren’t sales managers (or most of us aren’t), in we B2B marketers tend to be close enough to the sales process to influence (or adapt) to improve their efforts. Thus, I am launching a Marketing Eye for the Sales Guy Series.
I’ll be posting short rants on bad sales technique as well as links to articles and resources that I think a marketing manager will find valuable regarding sales. I’m not trying to solve the problem, just raise awareness and letting you figure out how to fix that bad “comb-over” of a sales pitch.
(BTW, if you haven’t watched Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, you need to. At least the first five minutes when they raid the straight guy’s pad.)