ITSMA Newsletter Add-ins 2009-09-01
ITSMA Featured Research
The most effective Account-Based Marketing (ABM) campaigns are those that leverage account-specific thought leadership delivered via executive briefings or face-to-face meetings. However, the actual value propositions and content are more important than the delivery vehicle. Before creating an ABM campaign, companies need to decide what they’re actually going to say. With the deep research and knowledge of individual accounts that is a hallmark of ABM, companies should not have any problem customizing compelling value propositions and thought leadership to the account’s unique needs.
For more ABM trends and best practices: http://www.itsma.com/research/abm-benchmarking-study/
Ask ITSMA: Should We Have a Separate Sales Team to Pursue New Accounts?
By Dave Munn, President and CEO, ITSMA
Each month, ITSMA receives a number of queries through Ask ITSMA, a resource designed to give members a quick and easy way to get insight on important services and solutions marketing questions they face. In this column, we will publish some of our favorite questions along with excerpts from our replies.
Like everyone, we’re struggling to bring in new customers during the recession. We’re considering assigning some salespeople to new account development exclusively. Thoughts?
We are seeing more companies forming new account development teams focused on working with marketing on greenfield programs that can help identify new areas or markets and then finding new accounts. In some cases, these activities take the form of a telesales operation; in others, they are territory salespeople who focus exclusively on developing new accounts.
If you do decide to create a separate new accounts team, you need to choose staff carefully. We have all heard of the hunter/farmer mentality within sales. Well, the same categorizations also apply across the sales and marketing continuum. Some people naturally have that instinct to go after greenfield and newer opportunities, whereas other people are more comfortable servicing existing needs. You need to match employees’ own goals and personalities to the job at hand.
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Upcoming ITSMA Events
To view all events, please go here.
Getting Closer to Customers: Winning Strategies for Engaging Senior Executives
Online Briefing
October 13, 2009
8:00 a.m. Pacific – 11:00 a.m. Eastern – 16:00 London (Duration: One hour)
(Free for ITSMA members)
Relationship-building programs for senior executives at key accounts can no longer be one-off or hospitality activities but must be part of a portfolio of client engagement designed to progressively develop and nurture long-term relationships. Join ITSMA’s Julie Schwartz and Katie Gustin as they get at the heart of how to improve relationships with senior executives at your most important accounts by:
- Picking the programs and activities most effective in deepening relationships with senior executives
- Improving coordination across the range of relationship-oriented programs to ensure maximum overall effectiveness
- Capturing the attention of busy senior executives with the right incentives
- Working with sales to maximize relationship growth
Get more information and register
Recent ITSMA Thought Leadership
Marketing to the CIO’s Hot Buttons
Marketers who try to speak to all CIOs with a single voice are getting it (almost) all wrong. CIOs may be individuals, but they represent a composite of different roles, depending on their personal and professional backgrounds, the size and context of their companies, and the strategic importance of IT. Marketers need to segment their CIO audience and speak to each in the voice he or she needs to hear. In this Online Briefing, ITSMA’s Chris Koch and a panel of outspoken CIOs discuss how to:
- Segment your CIO audience by role
- Engage CIOs by connecting them to one another
- Discover their buying needs
Use Analytics to Predict the Future
Can analytics really make a difference to the bottom line? In this Viewpoint, Tom Davenport, consultant, Babson College professor, and author, describes how marketers can succeed with analytics, how organizations make progress on the journey to analytical competition, and how organizations employing marketing analytics achieve high performance.
