Most Don’t Want It Anyhow!
The past few years have seen mountains of discussion dedicated to ‘repurposing’ B2B marketing to own and manage lead generation. After seeing the sales leaders of too many clients nearly forced into hand-to-hand combat with their marketing teams over buying into this new model, let’s consider a better approach.
Maybe B2B marketing should just continue doing what they have always done and not be forced to own lead gen. Instead let’s give the sales leaders the budget and authority to do lead gen the right way and all on their own. Here’s three reasons why this makes complete sense.
First, the sales organization is the one with their neck on line over new revenue. Tasking marketing with lead gen often feels like outsourcing receivables collection to a vendor who gets paid the same – whether or not their client does.
Second, marketing’s plate is full. I’ve yet to hear from a B2B marketing executive who didn’t claim a long list of responsibilities that all demand as much prioritization as lead generation. If each of these projects generates more incremental company revenue than leads maybe that’s fine, but….
Third, sales and marketing operate on different frequencies. What we mean is sales is tied to deadlines that can’t budge. Quarter-end is quarter-end. Year-end is game over – no extra innings, no sudden death overtime. Most marketing teams treat their to-do lists like science projects. It’s all about the data, the presentation, the process – if things aren’t ready when committed just delay the due date. (Hey, they still get paid the same that month, right?)
2012 is all about rebuilding the ideal B2B sales model with total disregard for the old rules or what the latest conventional wisdom says it right. We should stop wasting time trying to convince marketing to own lead generation and instead position it where it’s needed AND wanted.
Think we’re full of it? Let us hear from you CMOs who live on the revenue line like the sales teams do.