Is Sales Becoming Marketing Technical Support?

The Dawn of the Hyper-Literate Society

In Why Marketing is Becoming Like Software Development we discussed how marketing was becoming Test-driven and Agile, driven by the demands of the Internet business environment.

The basic reason for this was that the Internet has created hyper-literacy in buyers, radically changing the sales process in ways companies have been very slow to respond to.

Much like how the printed word extended the reach of general information to the masses, the Internet has extended the reach of specialized information to the masses. Literacy has been replaced by hyper-literacy, and this has radically influenced many of our institutions and behaviours. Patients know almost as much about their illnesses as their doctors, dieters are reading primary research on nutrition and arguing about causation versus correlation on diet websites. And buyers in B2B marketplaces are driving sales people crazy.

This raises the question- how much are sales and marketing changing? Will sales still matter?

New Channels of Communication Change The Game

Sales used to be the primary conduit for the customer to learn about a product or solution. There were essentially no other channels. A few brochures and white papers would be produced, but that was only in support of the sales interaction- that collateral wasn’t meant to sell, and never fit that closely to the customer’s specific reality. And this was the necessity based on reality- to do it any other way would have required the sales team dropping a file cabinet off at a customers site.

As a result, marketing wasn’t that important. Couldn’t be that important. Marketing worked on lead generation and trade shows because that was the best they could do through the limited customer communication channels available to them. Brochures were background value-add to the sales process, but often unread due to their being so generic.

That has changed, and companies are just starting to get it. The Internet has opened up many other channels for the customer to get information, and provides an encyclopedia of knowledge that allows him to find it.

When you hear about about “buying cycles” replacing “sales cycles” in sales strategy, this isn’t just an improved understanding of purchasing psychology. It’s something that has been enabled by a fundamental change in the environment.

Customers buy on their own terms because they can. And as a result, marketing has become far more important then it was 10 years ago, and the role of sales has changed – or should have changed- dramatically.

Marketing Has Become a Larger Part of Selling

The result of the Internet channel dominating the sales conversation (especially when we, the vendor aren’t present) means that Marketing has to become a much larger part of sales.

To do so, Marketing must do two essential things- support the Internet customer communication channel, and measure that channel through analytics.

Marketing Needs to Generate Content That Sells Rather then Supports Selling

Why? Again because the customer is consuming this information on his own via the Internet. If you aren’t providing it, someone else will.

This content also needs to be more specific and relevant to the buyer. There is no sales team present to interpret and communicate a deeper message- this is your chance to get your message through. Traditionally marketing content was marginally relevant due to no delivery channel to the customer (reference the awkward file cabinet point above) and a resulting generic message. That channel is now there, and better yet, it allows content to be filtered for the customer. It may be a huge virtual filing cabinet, but search engines and other technology allow the customer to quickly find what appeals to him, leaving him feeling like he’s reading a nice little on-demand magazine.

The Content Must Fit the Customer Need, No Interpreter Needed

Another challenge is that your sales team isn’t there to interpret the content or get feedback from the customer regarding the content. So, the content must be a near exact fit for the customer, necessitating a much different type of marketing collateral then has been previously the norm. This is the most significant challenge of the online marketing environment, and brings us to our next topic.

Marketing Needs to Do Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing use to be clearly a sales function. It requires a soft touch, an understanding of the customer, and solution selling to present the information in a meaningful and manageable way.

This fails today for two reasons, one traditional and one purely a result of the modern marketing reality.

The Economics of a Sale Are Becoming More Challenging

A 30% cost of sale can’t be supported by most companies. It’s as simple as that. You can’t spend enough time with the customer to help with his education, and that means he’s on his own more often.

The Customer is On The Internet While You Are Busy Doing Other Things

The customer isn’t paused until the next sales meeting, waiting to be feted and wowed by your solution selling greatness. That’s now a small channel to his mind. He’s on the Internet, researching, browsing your website, browsing your competitors websites.

10 years ago the Internet was 4 years old from a business perspective and there wasn’t much content. The Internet was a small channel to the customer, smaller then the sales engagement.

5 years ago the Internet was 9 years old. There was some content, but it was still classic corporate brochureware. However, blogs were starting to take off, and more print industry articles and insights were available on the web. An expectation of useful information started to blossom in customers, and almost all of our customers were now active Internet users.

Today, the internet is 14 from a business perspective. It’s got attitude, and it thinks it knows everything. It doesn’t but it’s getting really close- at least outside of B2B marketing.

The expectation of content from people who use the Internet is now extremely high. It’s the first stop for information.

Marketing Needs to Do Analytics

The other side effect of the customer pursuing information on the Internet is that you aren’t there to interpret the customer reaction. Broader, deeper content is being put out to the Internet so the customer finds his knowledge from you, but what is his reaction?

That’s why analytics are essential. Without it, you are flying blind.

Online content allows you to measure your audience’s response and gain critical insight into customer outlook and behaviour. Five years ago this may not have been so certain- poorer content and a uncertainty if your buyers were represented in your website traffic made measurement hard.

Marketing Needs to Go Where The Customers Are, And Where They Are Listening

The Internet being the dominant channel of communication to customers clearly explains why there is now an exploding market of marketing automation vendors. Your customers are online, doing research, and becoming experts- your sales channel can’t compete. You can talk to them for an hour a week, but the Internet is there for them 7×24. They want to find answers, and they aren’t waiting for you.

This changes the value and purpose of content radically.

Is Sales Becoming Marketing Technical Support?

10 years ago content had to be presented face-to-face to customers because there were no other viable channels of communication.

Now, most content needs to be presented indirectly through the Internet because it is the most prevalent channel of communication. This also means that content (and marketing) end up doing more of the selling.

What does this mean for sales? Are they destined to become technical support for automated marketing efforts?

Not likely. Some radically new very early markets may be beyond effective marketing reach. And in all non-trivial markets relationships are still central to any sales or buying process, . In fact, properly managed, sales can focus on more value-add activities in marketing-sold markets, handling more accounts and driving more business. In most cases, the early soft touches guiding prospecting and lead nurturing need human contact. The flow of marketing content to the prospect needs guidance and filtering based on human contact. Facilitation, problem discovery, solution mapping- sales is becoming a lot more about consulting and project management. But the fact remains- that beast called the Internet is sitting there, humming away 7×24, always ready to hop in as a sales advisor to your hyper-literate prospect whether you participate or not. There is no stopping it, and this change in marketing is becoming a necessity, not a choice.