It Takes (Convincing) a Village…to Make a Sale

There used to be at time you’d home in on the needs/fears of a single stakeholder and tailor your sales and marketing message accordingly.  But decision making, even at the highest levels, has become more of a group effort.  According to research in The Challenger Customer by Gartner, the number of people involved in B2B purchase decisions rose from an average of 5.4 in 2015 to 6.8 in 2017.

“With buying decisions increasingly committee-based, marketers must leverage enterprise personas to deliver marketing messages that drive higher-quality (and quantity) leads,” says Noah Elkin, research director, Gartner for Marketers.

In “Improve B2B Lead Generation With Enterprise Personas,” the author concisely lays out how to develop these personas.

An enterprise persona reflects market segmentation choices and places them in a context that makes it easier for both marketing and sales to apply in a consistent manner. Enterprise personas focus marketing and sales on the impact their value proposition has on the client’s larger strategic objectives, rather than a single stakeholder’s goals.

“Building an enterprise persona focuses the conversation around your customers and their needs rather than your product or service,” says Elkin. “This will go a long way toward building credibility and trust with your customers and prospects — two essential ingredients for generating sales-ready leads.”

We’d add that this is also a good internal exercise, where you gather company stakeholders at every level to crystallize your own enterprise persona, aka, brand, beyond your products or services.  This is actually a key element in the sales enablement support we provide to our clients.

Developing enterprise personas adds considerable complexity to an already long sales cycle.  It requires a pretty demanding set of skills, including data mining, pattern recognition, behavioral psychology and forensics. That’s not easy to find for any company, let alone a mid-sized one with finite marketing and sales resources. But given the time and resources an enterprise sale already requires – and considering what’s at stake – it’s worth the additional investment.

Leave a Reply

About The Author
Recent Posts

Boost Your Site's Visibility

Receive a free professional Site Audit and share with your marketing team or partner with us!

Start Ranking on Google | Rebuild Your Site

Contact Our Team!

Send us a message below or book a call with our team!

Our Five Star Reviews on Trustpilot, Clutch and Google Speak for Themselves.

Ivan Cadena
Ivan Cadena
Verified Google Review
Read More
There’s no doubt when I say that Curious Check is a professional SEO company. Their SEO services are top-notch and their team listened to our needs. In just a few months our website traffic and search-engine rankings noticeably improved. New clients were finally finding us online! They're one of the best agencies we've ever worked with and would highly recommend them to anybody!
Jordan Beasley
Jordan Beasley
Verified Google Review
Read More
CuriousCheck is a blessing for anyone with questions on how to build a solid business foundation for future growth. 10 of 10 will recommend to colleagues and coworkers alike.
D Dozier
D Dozier
Verified Google Review
Read More
I threw a curveball, they knocked it out of the park. I was recommended by a client and I now eagerly recommend them to any small business.
Patrick Whiddon
Patrick Whiddon
Verified Google Review
Read More
I wish CuriousCheck was around when I had my first business- this has been a definite positive for the second time around and has made the hassles I went through the first time non-existent. Employees and staff are exceptional, and I would recommend to all my business comrades.
Lucas Gil Canton
Lucas Gil Canton
Verified TrustPilot Review
Read More
As the CEO of a Startup entering the HR/Background Screening space, being able to find all relevant players at one site is extremely valuable. Not only is it good to check the status of the market, and the innovations taking place, but also to find potential partners and applications we can use ourselves! I recommend CuriousCheck to anyone who wants to improve their business through...
Tracy Shatus
Tracy Shatus
Google Review
Read More
This company went above and beyond in listening to the needs of my small business and delivered in a big way!!! Within 4 months, ranking for top keywords and custom built our background check eCommerce platform!
Previous
Next
Highly Recommended by Locals On Alignable
web design companies in georgia

 2020 CuriousCheck, LLC ©. All rights reserved – Atlanta SEO Company