The other day I was talking to one of my new clients. They were in the market for finding an external marketing partner.
They’re a big data solutions provider. They offer a great solution to complex business challenges and they are trusted with their customers’ data. Without putting too fine a point on it if they stuff up, it is a big stake for their customers.
Therefore, they build long term relationships with their customers. The sales process has to be based on trust and has many stakeholders, it’s a long sales process.
During their search for a suitable marketing agency, they got very frustrated – and rightfully so. Most consultants, digital agencies and marketing agencies continue to sell the quick fix. A funnel or some new method to generate more appointments than your diary can handle.
You see, that can work for low risk and low-cost products or services, but not for complex purchases in the B2B business environment.
Luckily, I’ve been on the buyer side for complex solutions and I have worked with providers of complex solutions and that has taught me a thing or two.
I have a framework – the PACT framework.
The PACT framework is as simple as it is efficient.
P stands for proficiency. You have to be the best in the market or at least one of the best. You have to have the skills to deliver the promises that you are making to your customers.
A is for authority. You need to be a leader in the market. Be an opinion leader, be a thought leader. Stay in front of the customer’s mind.
And to do that, you need C.
C stands for consistency. Day in, day out you need to build that consistency into the market—consistency in delivering and consistency in messaging.
Doing so will create trust. T is for trust. You’re the first person customers call when they have a problem when they need a solution, they call you.
It’s that simple. There is only one catch! It’s a flywheel. A flywheel is a big wheel that takes a lot of effort and momentum to get going. But once it gets going, boy, it’s going! What I mean is that you might not necessarily see immediate results. There are no silver bullets. You need to build momentum.
You need to build momentum through proficiency, authority, consistency and trust. That’s how you do B2B marketing.
There’s another crucial piece to that puzzle though. Stop stopping!
A mistake I see a lot of clients make when I start working with them is the start-stop nature of their marketing and sales efforts.
Look, you cannot, I repeat, you cannot stop and start the flywheel, it will kill your momentum, your marketing and ultimately, even your business. Do not get too busy on delivery, so you forget to build momentum.
Do not try something and throw it out when you don’t see immediate results. Both of those things end up killing your marketing and sales efforts.
Remember C?
Yep, consistency is key! Stop stopping!
