So, you've made the switch to a true demand generation strategy, but aren't seeing the revenue results you expect - what should you do? First off, don't panic. I see this all the time and it's simply a matter of getting into the data. Let's look into 3 main areas so we can understand where the issue is. 🙋♂️ High-intent handraisers If you've been executing the demand gen strategy for quite some time now (> 6 months), you should be seeing an increase in the number of high-intent handraisers. These are individuals who came to your website and explicitly said they would like to get a demo/talk to sales/try the free version/etc. For the purpose of this post, let's assume that this number has been steadily going up. 🤝 Sales qualified opportunities Since you now have more users coming to you interested in buying your product or service, you should see an increase in the number of sales qualified opportunities (SQOs). If this isn't increasing at the same (or better) rate than before you made the switch, this will be a great place for you to dive in to understand why those users are leaking out. For the purpose of this post, let's also assume that this number has remained constant or increased. 🤑 Won deals You've successfully gotten more of your market to the sales team than ever before, but the revenue numbers simply aren't there - what gives?? Enter your new best friend - the loss analysis report. Every organization should be capturing a "reason for loss" for opportunities that are closed out for any reason other than being won. Create a report that pulls in this field and then get a count of how many opportunities fall into the various buckets. (These buckets will often be things such as lost due to: price, competition, product functionality, stalled out, etc.). You'll often see a bucket or two that contain a much larger amount than other buckets. Even more often, this large bucket is losing due to price. When this happens, it means there's a mismatch between what your market values your product/service at and the price you're selling it for. You now have two options: ☝️ Decrease your cost to match market expectations ✌️ Add more value to your product/service to match market expectations Work with your sales team to create an experiment that'll allow you to try those options out. You'll start winning deals at a much higher rate once you've landed on the right option. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Marketing is more than driving leads. Start looking through a larger lens to understand the impact you can make on your business results. #marketing #demandgeneration #sales
Love the last point Sam, you will always get the best feedback from your failures, not successes. Asking your closed:lost deals for the main reason they didn't buy from you will bring great insights to improve your strategy. Another thought experiment if you're losing deals because of price / competition - You're positioning your service as ''just another vendor'' out there, if you're on the game everyone is playing, your only solution is better pricing or more features, which don't last long. ˄ This is a long-term play, but if you want to stand out from your competition, is worth investing in your positioning / narrative as soon as possible.
Could also be that there’s too much friction in your sales process, for example, lack of price transparency on your website or product packaging confusion. Those things might not show up in your loss report as buyers might not realize their “why”.
Great insight. What really amazes me is the thought that this feedback, delivered by “marketing”, was well-received by business owners in the first place. In all my years it was always sales and/or product folks who had the call in pricing matters.
How easy is it for the customer to buy? I believe that's what stops a lot of sales from happening online. Nobody wants to jump through hoops. Simple. Fast. Easy.
Right on! Steps: 1) Understand problem 2) Fix problem In this case, make sure you are converting/closing your current demand at an acceptable rate before adding more.
Love the huge caption tiny Sam.
A new strategy requires new metrics and a new way of analyzing the data. Look at WHY people aren't converting and you'll often find that it isn't the switch to demand gen that isn't working - it's something further down the funnel that has been broken for far too long.
The buying journey is never linear, hence people having a zoom out vision of marketing win
Vice President of Marketing at Loxo | Helping companies recruit more intelligently and effectively
1yChris Morgan and I chatted about this + many other areas in his Podcast Market to Revenue. Give it a listen in your preferred platform! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/65DzLL5XS8kp7bTTrGTugF?si=RgbQ53PbQKSUw6MpnC1RaA Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sam-kuehnle-refine-labs-vp-of-demand-generation/id1611938235?i=1000557829862