As the legendary Donald Trump would exclaim, "You're Fired!". But don't worry, because they will not be out of work for long. They are actually in line for a raise when they become the Chief Revenue Officer. Sound weird, doesn't it? How can marketing executives get the job that most sales departments already feel that they have? The answer lies with the customer buying process. Well let's look deeper into the how the customer buying process has changed.
The digital world is bringing great changes to how buyers wish to interact with your company and especially your sales team. Buyers are at ease in researching, communicating, collaborating and buying on the internet. This means that much of the time that was previously spent with salespeople is now spent reviewing online resources. This has lead to a decrease in the emphasis buyers place on face-to-face interaction to build trust, and instead look for new ways online to build trust. This is through recommendations of friends, reviews on social networking sites as well as the sharing of engaging content. This is exactly why Marketing is now driving revenue and the majority of the engagement with customers as they go through their buying process.
The Customer Buying Process
Consider how the buying process has changed. Ardath Albee does a great job demonstrating this in her book eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale. Consider the differences in marketing's reach from traditional outbound ("Past" ) to interactive marketing ("Now") show in the diagram below.
Notice how the handoff from Marketing to Sales is now much further into the pipeline. This shift has meant that your sales force is not engaging your prospects until very late in their buying process. This gap needs filling and it is the perfect opportunity for Marketing to take the lead in the customers buying process. Leading marketing executives already know that by developing relevant content that engages customers they are able to have a significant impact on not only the volume of revenue, but also the length of the sales cycle.
The Change to Revenue Performance Management
Companies no longer need to have a VP of Sales and a VP of Marketing. Instead they need one Chief Revenue Officer: one person who is tasked with the most important business imperative there is - the achievement of strong, sustained revenue growth. This CRO will need to optimize their company's sales and marketing activities to strengthen revenue performance and accelerate growth. By aligning your company to the new customer's buying process and implementing a revenue performance model, you can begin to replace the current dysfunctional revenue model and improve sales and marketing operations to achieve predictable growth and sustained profitability.
Revenue Performance Management is a systematic approach to identifying the drivers and impediments to revenue: rigorously measuring them, and then pulling the economic levers that will optimize top line growth. These fast growing companies manage their interactions with buyers through the entire purchase process, tracking and understanding their prospects' digital body language. The result? Dramatically more predictable, rapid and profitable revenue growth, putting these businesses miles ahead of their competition.
Today's forward thinking Marketing Executives will not only be able to keep their jobs, but will actually be able to add a new level of accountability and take control of how their company generates revenue. I am sure many of you might have thought by the title that I was talking about outsourcing your marketing (which for all you Sales Exectutives is the best way to stay ahead of your marketing counterparts), but instead I am talking about how you can get the jump on your sales counterparts and lead the charge for your company. No longer do you have to be seen as a support agent to the Sales department, instead take the lead and be one of those companies that consistently out-performs and out-competes their peers.
