INTERVIEW WITH
Katie Draper
MARKETING DIRECTOR, RETAIL
B2B Customer Acquisition: The role of human engagement in a world of digital-first enterprise marketing
For a salesperson to establish authenticity and credibility with their prospects, they need to immerse themselves within their industry
How can marketing teams help to create great salespeople?
For a salesperson to establish authenticity and credibility with their prospects, they need to immerse themselves within their industry and work out exactly how they can add value to it. We’ve all been through the painful experience of being sold to by somebody that clearly doesn’t understand the industry or the challenges that you are facing, and although the experience may only be a short one, it leaves a lasting, negative impression that can be very hard to shift.
Marketing teams can help salespeople immerse themselves in the industry by firstly curating and sharing the latest industry reports and trends to help provide context. From there, it’s all about helping your salespeople be seen within the industry. Social media guidelines on frequency of posting, positioning to avoid coming across as salesly and the content needed to appear knowledgeable and trustworthy are incredibly valuable for salespeople in this context. If a salesperson isn’t really engaging with the process, show them the warm leads generated by another salesperson who is engaging and you’ll soon have their full attention!
A company’s personality doesn’t have to be super humorous or quirky, but simply an honest reflection of the people that make up that company.
What can businesses do to stand out with millennial audiences who ignore advertisements?
There is a common misconception that millennials are ignoring advertising that is placed in front of them. In reality though, they will engage but are hugely discerning and only engage with advertising that they feel is highly relevant to them. So instead of dismissing an entire generation, marketers need to really think about the relevancy of their messaging and ensure that their content is laser targeted to reach the right people only. This targeting needs to be both demographic and channel based to ensure that the message being delivered is appropriate for the channel that is being delivered through.
The other area that millennials are increasingly discerning about is that they want to engage with companies who have personality and clear values. They only want to work with or buy from companies whose values and principles resonate with their own. A company’s personality doesn’t have to be super humorous or quirky, but simply an honest reflection of the people that make up that company. For enterprise businesses it can be a daunting task to step away from their traditional corporate persona, but if they can’t or won’t adapt then they are at risk of getting left behind.
The more people can work in a way that works for them at a pace that works for them, the higher your rates of user adoption and penetration will be.
KATIE DRAPER
Marketing Director, Retail RETAIL WEEK
Where can businesses improve in delivering a great customer experience as part of the sales cycle?
The key to delivering a great customer experience is simply to show that you understand that customer. A lot of enterprise firms are getting very good at achieving this in the early stages of the sales cycle, but tend to become somewhat generic towards the latter stages. This can be harmful to successful adoption of a product or service. We now accept and celebrate that different people learn in different ways, so a ‘one size fits all’ approach to onboarding and training simply won’t do. The more people can work in a way that works for them at a pace that works for them, the higher your rates of user adoption and penetration will be. To support this, businesses should offer as much of the adoption stage as possible in a self-serve environment with a variety of content formats. Just like the early stages of a sale, it will take experimentation and adaptation over time to find what combination of tactics and content work best for different types of customers - being open minded is a powerful asset here!
Retail Week is the leading voice of the UK retail industry. Since 1988 they have connected retailers with the industry via market-leading analysis, insightful data, comprehensive news and exclusive events. Retail Week’s critical analysis of the sector’s performance, alongside a platform to defend the interests and celebrate successes, is invaluable in driving the UK retail industry forward.
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