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Discuss The New Rules of Outsourcing B2B Marketing 2009 e-book and checklist

Posted by Rebekah Donaldson on Mon, Feb 09, 2009
  
  
  
  
  
  
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The New Rules of Outsourcing B2B Marketing: What Marketing Directors need in a B2B marketing consultant todayToday Cris Rominger and I published a free B2B marketing e-book (550KB PDF) called The New Rules of Outsourcing B2B Marketing: What Marketing Directors need in a B2B marketing consultant today.

In it we discuss how the shift to inbound marketing affects Marketing Directors; the 5 essential traits your B2B marketer needs and why each is important; 10 questions to ask a prospective B2B marketing consultant; how to cut ROI guesswork; what B2B buyers are looking for; and why B2B marketing differs from B2C.

We’re hoping to hear feedback. Please weigh in. (Tip: to comment, scroll down to the bottom of an article.)

We started this e-book in the summer of 2008, and finished it… well… every time I open it I start tinkering. My file name for it is currently ”Outsourcing ebook FINAL v7″. But give birth we must.

My hope is that this blog post could work as a discussion area for the e-book. To try to get things rolling, here are some questions for you readers:

 

Premise: Changed marketing landscape

1. We argue that the marketing landscape has changed. Did we get it right? Leave anything out?

 

Premise: Specialization not enough

2. We argue that because of a changed marketing landscape, it takes special skills to see and seize opportunities. Did we get that right? Leave anything out?

To engage decision makers today, our view is that B2B companies need to:

  • Prove their value through a strong business case
  • Build sites and other communications vehicles in a way that fosters trust
  • Pull in prospects

… and that doing it requires specialists in both new and traditional marketing disciplines. Still, it’s your B2B marketing partner’s job to see all the options and how they can work together.

 

Premise: higher bar for B2B marketing consultants

The e-book is really about what it takes to help Marketing Directors reach and engage today’s savvy B2B buyers without breaking the bank. We’re trying to articulate a standard to which Marketing Directors should hold us and other B2B marketing agencies.

Are there parts of the e-book you particularly agree or disagree with? We’re hoping to hear feedback. Please weigh in.

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Comments

Finding the right consultant – ditch the RFPs 
 
In my experience, the best candidates don't even respond to RFPs. They want to build relationships with real buyers who don't fiddle with RFPs, and try to avoid price-sensitive purchasing agents like the plague. 
 
BTW, it's a very well thought-out and valuable white paper. Very nice job, Rebekah.
Posted @ Wednesday, December 09, 2009 10:39 PM by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan
Thanks so much Tom! I really appreciate your feedback. I guess I'm a case in point... when I hear the word 'RFP' a big red flag goes up and I pretty much disqualify the lead. Are you the same way?
Posted @ Thursday, December 10, 2009 5:51 PM by Rebekah Donaldson
I think the RFP process is something that competitively mediocre companies use to hire competitively cheap and mediocre service professionals. Like attracts like. 
 
It takes some vision to quantify the expected pay-off, thus invest in the future accordingly. However, any moron can quantify direct costs. So, the RFP process totally ignores the value the hired professional can bring to the table and focuses only on the cost of the service. 
 
It's like a farmer's asking, "How can I plant one single grain of corn but have record harvest?" 
 
But here comes Newton’s law of motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  
 
Cold-prospecting grunt work and manipulative, heavy-handed sales tactics invoke equally and opposite heavy-handed defence tactics from prospects. One of these defence tactics is the peddler-fodder department, a.k.a. purchasing and procurement department whose job is to keep the most valuable help resources out of the company. 
 
If salespeople try to arm-twist their prospects, they arm-twist salespeople into RFP processes, price objections and other nasty things, in which sellers gradually bleed to death. 
 
Why don’t they notice it? Because companies track gross revenues. If they tracked net profit per employee, the problem would manifest itself before the company’s accountant could say Jemima Puddle Duck. They would see how much it costs them to do old-fashioned street peddling.
Posted @ Thursday, December 10, 2009 8:45 PM by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan
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