"Often the community of marketers inside a business-to-business firm is nowhere near as large as the community of marketers in a consumer packaged-goods culture. The chance to share and learn from other perspectives, other experiences, and peer networks is very important to business-to-business marketers, and an active part of the ISBM agenda."
Two of the anecdotal findings stood out:
#1 Develop approaches and methods to better understand what CUSTOMERS REALLY NEED, beyond what they can say or articulate. Opportunities to CREATE REAL VALUE…
** How many times have we (in a selling role) "listened" to customer feedback, come back with a well-prepared solution, only to have the customer take a pass on our "great idea".
#7 SELLING THE C-SUITE: developing the case for the value and impact of marketing that is understood and embraced by top management…Connecting with the “C-Suite” in terms they care about – growth, profit, and return on investment, all cited as very critical – and exceptionally difficult in business-to-business markets.
** Many of us has been here as well. The classic disconnect between Senior Management and Marketing or what I tend to see more often in our industry, the disconnect between sales and marketing.
By the way, another important research document can be found on their website which furthers the support of marketing during a recession.
Research: Companies Strong In Marketing Should Increase Efforts During Recession
"The paper finds that firms entering into a recession with a pre-established strategic emphasis on marketing; an entrepreneurial culture; and a sufficient reserve of under-utilized workers, cash, and spare production capacity are best positioned to approach recessions as opportunities to strengthen their competitive advantage.
Comparing these businesses to the best-trained athletes, the authors write that "athletes often choose times of stress to mount attacks: strong runners and bicycle racers may increase their pace on hills or under other challenging conditions" to beat out weaker opponents during the most difficult leg of their race."
As a cyclist I can identify with this comparison and never thought of the business connection until now. The strongest riders in a bicycle race want the race to be as hard as possible. When the race is easy it is much harder to distance yourself from the competition. The current economic environment certainly makes the race hard. Now is the time to put the attack in.
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