Today’s post is another guest post from Rob Krekstein, Sr. Director of Lead Generation at Ventyx. Rob is a good friend and my former colleague.
He sends us these Demand Generation tips every few weeks to keep us grounded in one of the main focus areas of B2B Marketing: delivering quantifiable value to the business and leads for sales.
10+ years ago, Demand Generation was a phrase people rarely used, and even rarer were the people who understood it. Today it is a common business phrase used in almost every company. In my 20 years experience, in both Marketing and Sales I have to come to understand the key points to creating and maintaining a successful program.
Business Model
The Business Model is a critical component to creating a successful Demand Generation Program. Companies have a Marketing Department and of course a Sales Department, but they often struggle with where to put Demand Generation. The key to the DG group is that it is a Bridge between Marketing and Sales. DG works closely with Marketing to understand and optimize their output, and in turn qualify it so that it will be accepted by Sales. Being that centerpiece entails a close alignment with both Marketing and Sales, and thus should be its own group, not a subset of either team, which may sway its focus to be self serving.
Process
The internal processes you create or enhance will determine if your Demand Generation will be successful, or mired in process paralysis. Be certain to create a streamlined funnel, so that all the greatness that Marketing delivers can be quickly qualified and routed to Sales. Velocity is just as important as quality in the very competitive marketplace of today. It is necessary to have your entire DG Team work out of your CRM System, this will create full visibility and allow you to root cause any issues quickly. Continually look to optimize your process as with ever changing Business Models it is key that you adapt accordingly.
