Marketers emerging into a “new normal” after weeks of isolation are discovering there’s nothing normal about the “return to normal.” For one thing, a good chunk of the world is not returning to the office at all. These people have discovered they can function perfectly well in their home setting. Most companies (including Verdi) are working out accommodations for this remote function, but it takes a toll on marketing and sales managers who need to work out the scheduling of meetings, deadlines, and deliverables with new considerations and tools.

Verdi is hearing that the cheese has moved for many salespeople.
Prospects’ needs have shifted. Sales techniques have changed—some of your old hot leads have used the time at home to research new partners and vendors. Meanwhile, other unsuspected prospects have developed a new need for your services, but you might not be aware of their interest. Some of your leads have decided to stay home—no more “lunch and learns,’ no more dinners, golf outings, or after-work meetings. Sales people need help from
marketing!

Marketing to the rescue!
This is the time for marketing to come to the rescue of your sales team with a plan to recover.

1. Requalify your hot leads. Make sure you still know how (and where!) to reach them. Make sure their interest has not flagged, that their need has not shifted, and that their budgets are intact. Cost: a few hours of telemarketing. Value? Priceless!!

2. Take the money you set aside for show attendance and redeploy it into a high-impact, multitouch marketing campaign that will help you identify prospects at every stage of the buying continuum. Spend the money while you can, or you’ll find that next year you won’t have it in your budget. Salespeople need you to refill your lead funnel—and fast enough so that your salespeople can make a start on filling their quotas. Cost? A fraction of what you would have spent on the show. Value? Priceless!!

3. Integrate your program follow-up with your sales team. This is the time to tear down the traditional obstacles and barriers between sales and marketing. For once, salespeople will be grateful for the leads you provide, and will be happy to work with you on the follow-up, the lead nurture efforts, and the development of content for each stage of the buying journey. Cost: Time to over-communicate, provide sales-enablement tools, and a program sales playbook, along with personalized communications to support each member of the team. Value? Priceless!!

4. Marketing automation: Use it! If you have a marketing platform and you are using it consistently, you’re ahead of the game. (If not, you can use ours!) Now is the time to put your marketing automation through its paces. It can help you sort out those prospects whose needs have changed, and quickly allow you to direct or redirect appropriate content to them, measure their engagement, and recalculate their lead scores. Cost: Reasonable. Value? Priceless!!

Use your agency as your partner. As an agency, Verdi works with many companies, and we can talk about the post-COVID experience across many industries. We are reviewing plans with all of our clients. Requalifying leads for most. Planning strategies to replenish their lead funnels, helping them with marketing automation, and working on account-based-marketing programs to help jump-start the third and fourth quarters of the year. Some of our clients are still in shock from the change they have lived through. But we are helping them start up again. We can help you!

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