In a recent post I laid out the New Rules of B2B Sales in the New Sales Economy. One of the new rules is that trust, credibility, and openness are mandatory. Most people understand this rule and agree with it completely, but it is rarely practiced to its fullest in the B2B sales marketplace.
Another new rule is that sales reps are in the business of creating content that sells. Let’s be honest here, in the Web 2.0 world, you are what you publish. It is in sales reps’ best interest to take advantage of the huge opportunities that creating remarkable content can bring.
The marketing department has already lost control of the brand.
When I write and talk about these two new rules, quite often I get a comment that goes something like this, “that is a great idea and I would like to try it but my corporate marketing department does not want me representing the corporate brand in an uncontrolled fashion.” I would refer your corporate marketing department to the trust, credibility, and openness rule I talked about earlier. They are in violation of it and they have already lost the control battle.
If I was working for a company with a marketing department like this I would let them know they lost control of the corporate brand a long time ago. Then I would get to work ASAP on creating some awesome content that I could share with my customers and prospects. I would not wait. I would create a revolution. The opportunity is too big and it is not going to come beat down your door.
Here is the big idea.
There is no such thing as controlling the corporate brand. The era of big media and corporate marketing controlling the message is over. And your corporate marketing department has absolutely no control over what people say about the all mighty corporate brand. None.
There are already conversations happening online about your brand as people tweet, update their facebook status, and write blog posts. Is your marketing department going to try and control these people too? C’mon man!
Control in the Web 2.0 world is a myth and fools game. Live in reality and don’t be a fool.
Start creating awesome content, share it with your customers, and you will be on the highest level of differentiation. You will get attention and the opportunity to do what you get paid to do. Close deals.
Now it’s your turn.
What do you think about corporate marketing and control? What is your marketing department like? Will they let you create your own content or will they freak out? Please share your comments.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Chad,
When I last had a real sales job I ended up creating my own Powerpoint deck to help me sell. The marketing department was not able to put this together at the time. The result was every other sales person in the company ended up coming to me informally and asking me for the deck so they could make their own version.
In the ideal world sales and marketing people would work hand-in-glove with each other but in the real world this does not often happen. In that case sales people need to produce their own content/tools that help them actually SELL. They can't wait for the marketing department. Sales people have quotas!
Nigel
Great article Chad. What do you say to a company that's afraid to take the bad with the good? i.e. Avoiding corporate or individual blogs beause of concerns about negative comments or feedback?
Chad, I really liked this article. Your thoughts on creating remarkable content and consumer information is on point. In fact, I'd go one step further and say that this is not just a 'corporate' issue for big companies, but also for small business, B2C, etc….No doubt, it applies across the board….Keep up the good work.
Interesting but here is the rub. What about sales reps that create crappy content or content that is off message or content that is negative towards the competition? I think it is naive to assume that all sales people have the ability to create content that is professional and will deliver value to their buyers. As a matter of fact, based on real world experience, I think most sales reps don't have the ability or the DESIRE to create great content. So what then?
All houses require a solid foundation to remain standing. Marketing should own the foundation which is corporate messaging, the corporate look and guidelines on what content buyers are looking for based on deep analysis. If sales then has the requirement/desire to create their own content…God speed.. but Marketing still has the responsibility to ensure all customer facing communications meet minimal guidelines. That is not being a control freak…that is simply quality control.
Always interested in what you have to say Chad and looking forward to our event together!
@Nigel: This is awesome and a perfect example of doing something different with content that can lead to sales results. Now with sharing platforms and Slideshare it is even easier to give your content reach. Sales and Marketing are both moving in the right direction, but as you point out it is ultimately up to the sales rep to hit and exceed their number. Marketing does not go to bed thinking about you bringing home a fat commission check.
@Rick: This is a good question and one where the answer is staring you right in the face. The good and bad news is already out there in the socialmediasphere and blogosphere. The conversations are already taking place about your company and you can choose to either participate or not participate. Sticking your head in the sand does not do anything. When you take control, create a content strategy, and participate in the conversations your customers are having you build trust and credibility — both good things!
@Marcus: Right on – this applies to all companies no matter the industry or size. The opportunity is even bigger for small companies because they can compete with the big boys now if they are smart. The balance of power is shifting.
@Trish: Companies and sales reps need to lose the fear factor. Being scared of what sales reps will say or do if they create content that can help them sell is for losing companies stuck in the past. Look at what Nigel was able to do with a simple Powerpoint presentation. If sales reps don't have the DESIRE to increase their business then that is up to them. If they don't want to use content to help them sell they will get out flanked by those that figure it out. The business world is moving towards SMARKETING. If companies want their messages to reach more people they should encourage their sales reps to get the message out in any way they can.
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@Chad. First of all.. I hate that word Smarketing. Second, I stand firm in saying that it is Marketing's responsibility to provide the foundation of good messaging and content. You misunderstood my intent if you assumed that meant Sales could not create their own content based on that foundation. Sales should be as creative as their ability allows but remain within the corporate message.
I think you are confusing what you assume is a fear factor with what has to be some semblance of quality control. Yes Nigel created one presentation that was repeatable and scalable but I see dozens of emails, presentations, blog comments etc. that don't even contain the semblance of basic sentence structure and do the seller no good at all. To assume that every seller has the ability to be a brilliant marketer makes as much sense as assuming that every marketer has the ability to sell. We just aren't there yet.
To anyone who is interested in this dialogue, stay tuned…. Chad and I will be announcing a webinar where we discuss this very topic and as you can see…. we have two different viewpoints!
@Trish: I'm all for quality control and guidelines, but organizations should be careful of not over regulating. I've found simple guidelines to be best in the world we live in.
Trish and I will be announcing a webinar shortly that will dive into more of these discussions around content creation, quality control, personal branding and b2b social media in sales all from a generational perspective. It's going to be interesting and not to mention fun! We will announce the details soon.