It’s that time of the year when Sales VPs are looking into 2013 and trying to figure out how to grow revenue, again. Whether you’ve had a down year, a flat year or a great year, I bet none of you Sales VPs are signing up for less revenue in 2013 than you delivered in 2012. So, what’s in your bag of tricks?
A lot of VPs will deploy what I call the “R” strategy. You’ll consider how to re-organize, re-structure, re-do comp plans, re-do territories, re-do team composition, re-do…..well, you get the picture. This is a limited bag of tricks, given the lightening changes in how customers are now interacting and buying from companies. Studies show that most customers have completed 60-70% of their buying cycle before you know anything about their intent. What is needed for 2013 is a new strategy that is proven in this ever-changing market environment.
It’s called marketing. Surprised? Read on!
A recent study by Lenskold Group, sponsored by The Pedowitz Group reveals key data that demonstrates the broadening role of marketing in directly influencing revenue and outgrowing competition. As you look into how you will grow revenue in 2013, make a serious investigation into how marketing, specifically Revenue Marketing, can help you meet your objectives, is a smart move. We’ve pulled out 5 key points from the study that will help you in this investigation.
VP Sales Point #1: Want to outgrow your competition?
Of course! Companies outgrowing their competitors are more likely to use integrated marketing automation (66% vs 50% of slower/same growth companies). The definition of integrated marketing automation is the use of full-featured marketing automation (like Marketo or Eloqua) integrated with CRM. This is an area of technology and process that enables marketing to impact revenue in a significant way. It’s a fast growth area of technology experiencing an overall 50% year-over-year growth. It’s here to stay. Is your marketing group using integrated marketing automation?
VP Sales Point #2: What is the role of marketing in companies outgrowing their competition?
Never thought of this one, did you? Companies outgrowing their competitors are more likely to have experienced an increase in total marketing revenue contribution from marketing automation (55% vs 31% of slower/same growth companies). This data highlights the role of Revenue Marketing in competitive advantage. It also points out that faster growth companies have marketing departments that can actually measure the impact marketing is making on revenue. How’s your marketing group performing?
VP Sales Point #3: How is marketing measured and what difference does that make to top line revenue growth?
Of the companies using marketing automation and ROI metrics, 69% reported an increase in total marketing revenue contribution. Contrast this with the 19% increase in total marketing revenue contribution reported by users of only traditional marketing metrics. These data points indicate that marketing automation is not enough; a focus on ROI metrics by marketing is equally important. I’d also like to point out here that you can’t calculate ROI without being able to measure revenue. Is your marketing group measuring and reporting their direct influence on revenue?
VP Sales Point #4: Want to increase average deal size?
Well, it’s your lucky day! 28% of marketing teams that use marketing automation reported an increase in the average deal size from a marketing qualified lead that was passed to sales. Why? Because they are nurturing and educating that lead, scoring the lead based on demographics (is it qualified?) behavior and online behavior (is their intent to buy?), until it’s ready for a conversation with your sales team. This allows the sales team to have a deeper, richer sales conversation that leads to a higher average deal size. Sound good? How is your marketing group tracking this key metric?
VP Sales Point #5: Show me the numbers!
Numbers, metrics, revenue, pipeline – are the mantra of any successful sales team. If marketing is going to play in this game, they need to run marketing like sales – by the numbers.
So, here you go! Wouldn’t you like for your marketing organization to make this kind of impact on your business?
The following chart shows that marketing groups that use marketing automation report providing improvements in: number of leads to sales, better qualified leads to sales, sales accepting leads, contribution to revenue, lead to closed sale conversion and revenue per sale. Does your marketing group report on these metrics?
It’s clear that the role of sales is changing because of the new way that educated customers interact with us and buy. Yet, it seems sales still lags a few steps behind while marketing appears to be charging ahead to fill this gap. The magic happens when both sales and marketing are working together across the entire life cycle of a lead to close.
As you look into 2013 and consider how you will grow revenue, seriously consider how marketing can help make a difference. Given the growth in this space and the number of companies now using marketing automation to make a measurable difference in revenue, it’s a very smart move.
This article presents a few of the many findings presented in the 2012 Lenskold Group / Pedowitz Group Lead Generation Marketing Effectiveness Study. This report is a goldmine of information for VPs of Sales as they begin to plan a better way to grow revenue in 2013.
Download copy of the full report: HERE