Hot shot sales types
Every company's got them. You know the ones that preen and boast. That sit at their desk (under a shade tree) researching prospects (scanning the savanna) while waiting for leads (prey.) Suddenly they'll leap into action, racing off for a meeting and generating quotes - maybe bringing in a deal. When they succeed, they eat their fill and leave the carrion to support the rest of the company - then spend the next weeks telling tales of the hunt. How they turned a phrase (cut one of the old or sick off from the herd) and pounced for the kill with the ABC close.
It's so inefficient. They're good for an occasional hunt and spend the rest of their time out of breath after a sprint, or fat and lazy after their meal.
Sure it provides plenty of opportunity for your 'rainmakers' to tell their tales of conquest, and it's awe inspiring to watch in real life.....but it's not a scalable or predictable way to build your business.
Nature's model for B2B revenue growth
In contrast consider the bear. She knows where her prospects are and positions herself for success. Why in the world any company would continue to opt for the one-off, periodically successful, high-speed cheetah hunt when they could position themselves for leads to leap into their hopper like salmon into the bear's mouth escapes me.
The tools, techniques and knowledge are readily available. The biggest impediments are:
- CEO awareness
- Sales intransigence
- a DiY perversion
- previous disappointments with 'experts'
What companies need is capable B2B marketing consulting - and that's rare.
B2B marketing consulting for industrial manufacturers
The question is how to make the shift - how to change the company's revenue growth approach from random occurrences of pursuit and assault to a sensible positioning to enable harvesting leads and customers.
The old model is simply too deeply ingrained in many B2B manufacturing companies in the industrial space. Outside perspective and familiarity with what's possible are necessary. That calls for B2B marketing consulting.
The problem is that most practitioners are marketing types have never smelled cutting oil or driven a fork truck...much less sweat over a hiccupping machine with a looming shipment deadline.
So they create industrial marketing that assumes the salmon has jumped from the water and is eagerly seeking a gaping maw into which it can leap. It's silly. It doesn't work. It's a waste of money.
Wondering whether some B2B marketing consulting might be what you need to become an industrial bear? Check out our eBook on "Manufacturing Revenue Growth" for more info.
