S Y N O P S I S

Marketing has the highest turnover in the C-Suite and the tenure is shrinking. What is the friction? The role and expectations are shifting to carry a stronger focus on the business and drive growth. This means driving revenue with new customer acquisition and yet most focus on counting leads. Leads do not equal revenue and most organizations are not following a lead to opportunity closure. The metric is meaningless and the focus is mismatched to the business. 

The Voice of the Customer has become nothing more than a buzzword, much like Solution Marketing. Who is researching the customer? Who is the customer? What is the outcome they are seeking to achieve? Marketing is attempting to Parrot language without understanding. I love this quote from an executive describing solutions, “their squirrel is just a rat in pretty clothes”. This comes from Scott Santucci’s article, Use an Outcome Wheel to Model What Customers Expect from Sales and Marketing.

In order for marketing to drive growth as expected, marketing has to stop focusing on the execution of How to Go-to-Market and learn to Go-to-Customer and that will first require understanding the customer and concentrate on the Why instead of the What and How. The marketing plan must be in alignment with the goals of the CEO, Sales and Finance and executed as the customer expects – Go-to-Customer.

You’ve got to start with the customer experience and
work back toward the technology –
Not the other way around

 – Steve Jobs

I recently posted, Outcome Marketing – Know Your Customers, and the questions and conversations took off from there. I wrote the piece to start a conversation about the state of marketing, what is and is not working and my thoughts on where marketing needs to go for those organizations working to drive growth. Not all organizations have this goal and this discussion may not resonate well.

I’ve spent half my career on the buying side of the equation and the other half on the supplier side with a 6-year period as an analyst studying the market, customers and suppliers with time spent translating product features and applying it to the customer initiative so that the constituent can drive an outcome in their business.

Why have organizations required a translator?

Products are developed to be sold in a market defined by analysts to group similar products for customers, however, customers have never been looking for products. Customers are been seeking solutions to initiatives in their business that will deliver a defined outcome. Customers are driven either by:

• Cost
• Efficiency – spending to be productive internally
• Effectiveness – spending to service customers, new services
• Growth and market leadership

Industries can be generalized into these categories based upon the state of the industry, however, this categorization is not industry marketing. A topic for another post. This is the first and highest level of segmentation that can be made generically and where your organizations customers reside. Map out your current customer base and identify where you succeed most often.

As the market became saturated with products, some customers became lazy too. Remember the customer is always right until they are wrong. As an analyst I fielded these calls from teams just looking for the product that would solve their problem. The problem was they didn’t define the problem and they also did not have a defined outcome to measure. As an analyst, the only coaching I received was to never say it depends. Thus in these cases I would categorize products into their areas of strength to tease out the zip code of the problem being addressed by the customer.

The suppliers responded to this by changing the title of their Product Marketers to Solution Marketers. Their intended mission was to speak in customer language about their challenges, solutions and capabilities that ended with a product and product literature. They would also derive conversations that their sellers would hold with customers as if they could be scripted. The problem with this is that 99.99% of Product Marketers have no idea what their customer challenges are and what they are trying to solve, they knew their product and tried to map it inside out to what they thought was customer language.

Sellers are now frustrated and confused because the conversations are not working and have started developing their own story lines. Now customers are confused because depending up on who they speak to or what literature they access, they receive different messages. The market is in the midst of an identity crisis.

Does this sound familiar? You aren’t alone!

Marketing organizations are measuring a single metric – number of leads. This is inclusive of what used to be Product Marketing, the arm that was originally tasked with knowing the market, customers and developing the messaging and content to fuel the sellers and field marketers, demand generation and corporate communications teams. Over time this weakened the message and turned the content stale while the market became saturated and the opportunity to influence the market exploded with social outlets.

Challenges at Play:

• Sales and Marketing are one team and need to work toward common goals
• 4 P’s of Marketing are and inside out view of taking a product to market
• Market is saturated, competition is fierce and products are utilities
• Customer seeks a partner to solve problems and produce outcomes – not products

The irony here is the market is ripe for the taking for the supplier who does the work to:

• Learn who is their customer – the 80 / 20 rule of the majority, not the exceptions
• Discover their initiatives and challenges
• Addresses the outcomes they seek to attain
• Prescribes solutions with the customer

Easy right? Let’s get back to the topic of Outcome Marketing and the questions that arose with the previous post in this light:

• What are you talking about? Is this a new organization? New role?
• What does this marketing organization look like?
• Is this a reorganization?
• What outcome will they achieve and how will it be measured?
• What is the goal for Outcome Marketing?

First, this is my view to break free of what is currently failing and not a definitive set of titles and functions. It will look different in every organization based upon organizational goals. It is not a new organization, but there are new roles, skill sets to address the customer. This is a cross functional approach within your organization to better meet the requirements of your customers to drive growth for your organization. The outcome metric will vary, however, for most it is growth for the organization and common Go-to-Customer goals. The end of Sales AND Marketing. There is one revenue engine and it needs fuel to reach a common goal.

KNOW THE CUSTOMER MODEL

Today’s organizational structuring around products is failing with customers. Marketing further complicates it by layering on a hierarchy organization based on the execution tactics of going to market with a product. Imposing the organizational structure and approach to the market as a product is not customer focused. This post not be drawing out an organization chart or role descriptions, back up to my lazy comment – do the work and reap the rewards. I am also not advocating organizational restructuring. I’m advocating cross functional teams to meet a customer the way they want to be greeted and serviced and turning the expense of sales and marketing into an investment.

First, let’s take a look at how a customer approaches reaching an outcome. I’m going to leverage Scott’s work in defining an Outcome Wheel as a model as to how a customer approaches delivering an outcome in their organization without re-inventing the wheel with all the descriptions, read the article for the details but in essence think of the model as:

1. An outcome has been defined – a goal to achieve
2. An end stare is identified and defined
3. Executive ownership is appointed
4. Attachment to an organizational initiative
5. Measurable results identified
6. Stakeholders identified
7. Ownership of the life cycle going forward

Outcome Marketing would identify these customer outcomes and initiatives along with the corresponding details of end state, measurement and stakeholders to map messages to the audience and delivery medium (messengers). This is starting with the end in mind that Outcome Marketing must understand the customer, their model and outcomes to craft the right messages and stories to create engagement at each step in the model.  

OUTCOME MARKETING MODEL

At the center of the model is the plan that is Go-To-Customer. The model is intended to model customer audience, map messages and content and map messages to the messenger or delivery medium. The customer should experience the same information regardless of medium, just in a different context. Information that is insightful, offers a prescription and works in partnership with the customer is what they seek, not the product in the manner you report on financially and the way your teams as a supplier are organized.

AUDIENCE

CUSTOMER – Definition

The whole organization must become customer focused, not just the revenue engine. The service, support, product functions, etc. all need to understand the customer, their initiatives and outcomes to anticipate their requirements. The research that is performed in this group must be consumed by the entire organization.

This group will need to research current customers:

• Psychographics:
  • What did they buy
  • Why
  • What outcome did they achieve
  • Who was involved, why
  • What was the initiative
  • What keeps them as customers, what do they value
• Demographics:
  • What is their industry
  • Size of the organization – employees and revenue
  • Are they growing – by how much YoY
  • Leader or Follower
  • Market size
  • Age in the market

This is not exhaustive, but you get the point – what makes your customer tick and what do they look like. I suspect most do not track this information. Do the leg work, talk to your sellers, consultants, support and product professionals. Be careful about surveying the customer base, do it thoughtfully and cover many bases with one survey.

This research will reveal patterns about your customers and where you are successful. Also, look at the prospects you didn’t win and why.

MARKET – Find the Whitespace

Market research also includes the competition. Here you need to understand your market demographics, just like your customers, where you fit and how well you play. The goal of this exercise is to find gaps or better known as Whitespace, unmet market requirements. Can you meet them? Should you meet them? How would you suggest meeting them – partners?

This exercise is financial as well as product oriented. Understanding the growth, investments, saturation, etc. will aid in defining your strategy. However, while this is extremely important, it must not overshadow the customer focus.

This stage of customer and market research must align with the strategy of the organization and alignment reached.

MESSAGE

MESSAGE – Development

This is my favorite part because this is where you will create the messages, conversations and stories that will engage your customers. Customers buy from people and in this market lacking product differentiation, partnerships, experience, creative problem solving, etc. goes a long way in changing the playing field. Customers are screaming for a partner that will help them deliver an initiative, solve a challenge and achieve an outcome.

Message development should address the top 3 – 5 common initiatives your organization excels at achieving to be shared with those on the team that will execute in selling, event, online, press, analyst, etc. situations. The key with the organization will be consistency. The message will need to be tailored situationally (verticals play in to this too), but the heart of the messages remains consistent.

Message development is the foundational piece that will fuel the execution of the revenue engine.

PLAN – Go-to-Customer

Now that you know who your customer is, how do they like to engage? Some are very social, target them with specific content through social channels. Others like to meet face-to-face, discover who you know in your network that can foster a warm introduction. Use multiple channels to reach and engage your current and target customers.

Build a strategy and plan that takes your messages and pushes them through the channels that make the most sense for your customers. This is matching the message to the delivery mechanism be it sellers, content channels, press, analysts, influencers, etc. There are phases of:

• Awareness building
• Insightful education
• Influencer (buyer) content
• Product education
• Opinions on trends

Take a message and frame out content for each medium to enable your organization to use the messages and content with confidence in a variety of situations driving consistency for the customer. This is a plan to reach, teach and engage a customer.

Eliminate gated content – period. Use the technology to reverse IP search who’s on your site, scans from events or registrations for virtual events, but provide insightful content freely. Engagement builds a relationship the customer seeks, be the insightful leader driving the conversation.

The plan is focused on reaching customer engagement, rather than taking a product to market. This plan will be excruciatingly uncomfortable the first time, but I believe will be the most intriguing mindset shift. The plan covers both inbound and outbound. Now that you have the research of what attributes defines a good target opportunity, score and delete those that do not match the model. Those that do not match the model create noise and inefficient working of opportunities with customers trying to be all things to everyone. Depending upon the complexity of your sale, these opportunities could be pushed to a self-service delivery mechanism, as an example. The point is, you’ve done the research, continue analyzing and refining and be diligent to the model.

MESSENGER(S)

ENGAGEMENT – Insightful Execution

I touched on this in the previous paragraphs on Go-to-Customer. Develop insightful content and share it freely. Reach customers to teach them and engage with them. Take control of the conversation and force the competition to answer to your insights on how to achieve outcome xyz to initiative abc. Stop worrying about citations and who will look it up to prove for accuracy, this is your insight on an approach to achieve What’s Possible, do not be afraid to publish it or give it freely. 

I’ve set up and run blogs that took the insights of many to give a personality to the organization. Various people have varying experiences, and all are welcome. No rules other than staying within the framework of the messages and the model. Balance technical how to’s with opinions on trends, customer experiences, etc. The audience is only targeted by the messages already defined, these are facets to the message through the lens of the various roles within the organization who will use your product as part of their initiative.

Insights are inclusive of your customers. Collect and share their initiatives, successes, missteps, outcomes and opinions. A true partnership of engagement.

EXPERIENCE – Brand

This aspect of Outcome Marketing is where you define how and what you want the customer experience with your organization to be, how will they speak about you when you are not in the room. This is your Brand and the only term from current day I will carry forward, however, the audience is broader. Customer focus first and influencers second. Influencers being the press and analysts. Like a customer, they must be influenced to see that you are also partnering with them to deliver an outcome to their initiatives, they just won’t be users of your product(s) in most cases.

Creating an experience carries into the field at events, webinar, social gatherings, etc. Carry the Brand and message forward consistently, it is just a different medium and a broader audience with the same outcome focus. I also challenge you to stop bringing and setting up fixed demonstrations. I know that sounds like blasphemy because after all, we sell products. Yes, I’ve heard it plenty of times and I’ve also seen the delivery of an experience, having a conversation, discussing What’s Possible as uncomfortable as it sounds, far more successful at closing opportunities at a premium with speed. The conversation and experience will be different from all the other suppliers and will be memorable.

LET’S WRAP THIS UP

Outcome Marketing is a common team focused on reaching customers, engaging customers and partnering to reach their outcomes. Your product is a piece of an initiative to a customer. It may not represent the largest cost or value to be derived and just like in your organization, change the conversation from a utility expense into an investment to reach outcomes.

• Outcome Marketing is not a role or organization
• Focus is on the customer, an outside in view
• Go-to-Customer planning
• Drive customer experiences
• Create opportunities for engagement
• Foster customer influencers and advocates
• Common outcomes for the organization

I believe I’ve answered the questions that were posed from the last post. Create a plan that takes you to your customer, creates engagement, influencers and an experience for your organization. Drive the conversation with your insights in the marketplace and influence the marketplace.

This model will require cross functional teams to drive the components and will require some oversight and coordination to keep the plan, messages and experiences consistent. I would not suggest a big bang adoption of Outcome Marketing. The current revenue engine still needs fuel, so be sure to work on short term tactics while creating and achieving the long term outcome.

* * * * * 

Now I ask you:  Are you ready to be a customer driven Outcome Marketing leader?

Share your comments below or connect with me!

Michele Hudnall

A related post:

Outcome Marketing – Know Your Customers

Photo credits:  Pixabay, Outdoor Green Background, Valiunic, (CC0)