How can you align marketing with the customer buying process?

Today’s post is contributed by Jeff “the demand generation guru” Ogden, president of Find New Customers. Jeff is a friend and collaborator (we worked together to co-author “Prospect-Driven Marketing“) who truly understands where the rubber hits the road for sales. – Arthur Germain

I’m please to share this information on lead nurturing with the readers of Brandtelling in this guest post. In this economic downturn, companies look for fresh ideas, so I hope you find this helpful.

CSO Insights, after 17 years of studies, describes how sales needs to become more of a science rather than an art.

One of the ways companies can turn sales into a science is to learn and document how prospects actually buy — and align your sales process accordingly.

The best way to learn how companies buy is to go talk to your existing customers. Ask them a series of questions, such as these?

What was your internal process for buying?
How did the process start?
Where did you go for information?
What problem were you trying to solve?
Can you create a flow chart of your process?
How was the funding allocated and approved?

Another way is to take the path blazed by other vendors. Let’s say your sales rep is talking to a company that uses Oracle for ERP. Chances are that the company will use the same buying process with you that they did with Oracle. Ask them how they acquired Oracle.

The better you document this process, the more effective your marketing will become. This also becomes your roadmap for marketing content development.

All the best,

Jeff Ogden, President (The Fearless Competitor)
Find New Customers
Lead generation made simple

Author, How to Find New Customers
(516) 284-4930 office; (516) 456-8218 mobile

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