• Sales has undergone a dramatic transformation and this gives further urgency to the Marketing transformation
• Increased pressure (from greater complexity and time-constraints) has shifted customer needs regarding ‘product knowledge’
• Marketing needs a better metric for C-levels to better demonstrate its value.

1. Sales has undergone a dramatic transformation and this gives further urgency to the Marketing transformation. Specifically, there are fewer Salespeople who have to be more strategic and focus on a handful of large accounts to hit bigger quotas. Therefore, Sales is not attending to smaller orders or lower-priced products and Marketing must fill this gap.

2. Increased pressure (from greater complexity and time-constraints) has shifted customer needs regarding ‘product knowledge’. Specifically, customers no longer have the time to become technical experts on your products. Instead, they’re truly looking for solutions. They just want assurance that your solution is right for their needs and that it works but don’t want to talk about your product or how it works. Therefore, Marketing has to “build trust at scale” by surfacing assets such as case studies and the credentials of the people behind your products.

3. Marketing needs a better metric for C-levels to better demonstrate its value. Sales has orders, R&D has new product releases, Manufacturing Supply Chain Gross Margin has a clear metric.  However, Marketing is typically measured on metrics like visitors or leads that only represent a fraction of what Marketing is really contributing. For example, activities around Sales enablement and content marketing that happens early in the customer journey are lost.

Mike has a passion for leading sales and marketing breakthrough initiatives that positively transform business results. He is focused on B2B Sales and Marketing, with emphasis on International Marketing.