Mike Burton, Co-Founder and SVP of Data Sales, Bombora .
Many companies are struggling with low valuations, low sales forecasts, long sales cycles and the need to cut costs due to the current economic downturn.
B2B companies in particular need to determine how to control their costs without disrupting their business. These companies often have much longer sales cycles than consumer-facing brands They face the question of how to maintain or increase sales while reducing sales and marketing budgets.
There's also the oft-voiced counterargument that making smart investments in marketing during a recession will yield greater returns for brands when a recovery occurs.
Whatever direction B2B companies choose, now is the time to prioritize the tools and systems that will help them weather the storm. Every decision must maintain or improve the customer experience. In an environment with fewer customers, retaining them is critical.
Here are four places B2B companies should invest, whether they just want to maintain market share or push for something bigger.
1. A new generation of chatbots
Highly effective web chatbots multiply the experience of sales development representatives (SDRs). First-generation chatbots offer programmatic responses that increase relevance for prospects (for some) and resource efficiency for marketers (for many). Today, advanced technology presents itself with more features as the quality of customer experience increases. These chatbots make it easy for buyers who are actively involved in the buying process to connect with a real human on the other end.
Chatbots currently have an account matching tool that helps SDRs quickly match leads with target accounts. This helps the SDR better understand the prospect's needs as well as the prospect's final communication with the sales or marketing force. Connecting the dots between website visitors and their interactions with sales and marketing opens the door to a more personalized experience. Hopefully this will also reduce the conversion time.
2. Objective data
When sales teams lose support resources like marketing software or SDRs, they need to find ways to maximize what they have. Pursuing bad leads is a waste of time, especially when the sales process is long and expensive, as many B2B salespeople experience.
Buyer intent signals help the sales team prioritize which customers to pursue. This information shows what topics and content potential buyers are looking for. When you know which potential customers are in the market for the products and services you sell, it's much easier to align sales and marketing resources. Allocate available resources behind accounts where prospects are most likely to convert for a more efficient and effective ABM strategy. Investing in understanding intent provides a benefit on the other side of the channel: customer retention. Using intent to label and target high-risk accounts reduces churn and lowers overall acquisition costs.
3. Operation
Even before the recession hit, many companies struggled to understand who in the organization was responsible for revenue. More than ever, revenue operations must be a focal part of the business infrastructure. Indeed, every member of the management team must think about operations if they are to continue operating in the current recession.
Focus on common data platforms that align businesses to optimize internal efficiency and improve the customer experience. This opens the door to a data-driven and process-driven action approach that helps entire organizations better understand the impact of every dollar spent on sales and marketing. This helps when it comes to reducing sales and marketing investment. Instead of doing it blindly, you can measure the quantitative impact of each tool and investment. It can be as simple as asking: "What is the result of this?"
4. Project management
Although there are many project management tools available to help maximize your organization's productivity, few organizations prioritize project management as a core competency. Good project management is more than just a tool. It is the state of mind and focus that enhances inner performance and accelerates the ability to act.
Strong project management and communication practices help teams work through setbacks. The more effectively management manages the various elements of the sales and marketing process, the more it can accelerate productivity gains during the "recovery," whatever that may be. At a time when employees are asked to "do more with less," strong project management maintains team alignment and boosts morale.
Bet on recovery to win
It is more important than ever to review the tools and techniques that help retain customers and attract new ones. Whether you want to invest in sales and marketing now, or are looking for the areas that need the most attention amid overall budget cuts, you should always be looking for tools and practices that enable the best customer journey. Think about "what" the customer is getting and see "how" the company is prepared to deliver it.
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