Podcasts about fitzmartin

Join host Arielle Leavitt on this episode of "The Connector" as she sits down with special guest Elissa Fitzmartin, an expert in both business strategy and criminal law. Dive into the intricacies of incorporating the "Profit First Method" into your business, whether you're just starting out or looking to optimize your existing venture. Discover practical tips and insights on managing finances to ensure profitability from the get-go. But that's not all! Elissa sheds light on the inner workings of the criminal law system in Florida, unraveling the complexities and offering valuable perspectives. From notable cases to understanding legal procedures, this discussion provides a comprehensive overview for both legal enthusiasts and entrepreneurs alike. And as we delve deeper into the legal realm, stay tuned for the latest updates in the personal injury world. Gain valuable insights into recent developments, emerging trends, and essential precautions to safeguard yourself and your business. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking financial wisdom or a legal enthusiast intrigued by the workings of the justice system, this episode offers a captivating blend of business strategy and legal expertise. Tune in and get connected!

Welcome to another exciting episode of The Backstory on Marketing & AI where we sit down with Will Riley, the Director of Revenue Operations at FitzMartin. Known for his innovative approach in bridging the gap between sales and marketing, Will is a master at optimizing operational efficiency and driving significant revenue growth.In this in-depth interview, we uncover the secrets behind Will's success in creating seamless integrations between sales and marketing teams. He shares his expertise in digital marketing programs, revenue operations, demand generation, sales enablement, and customer success initiatives, showcasing his versatility as a leader in today's fast-paced business environment.Will discusses his unique methods for identifying opportunities within complex buyer cycles and how he strategically utilizes cutting-edge technology to address these challenges. His data-driven and behaviorally-focused strategies are not just about alignment across departments; they bring the power of behavioral science into the mix, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.Join us as Will provides valuable insights into fostering departmental synergy, enhancing customer experiences, and employing behavioral science insights to skyrocket conversions and revenue. This episode is a goldmine for professionals seeking to drive measurable results and thrive in the evolving market.Don't miss out on this enlightening conversation with a thought leader who is reshaping the way organizations approach revenue growth and operational efficiency. Tune in now and be inspired to transform your own strategies!Subscribe today for more industry insights!Follow us across platforms: FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553143494779Website: https://prorelevant.com/

In this episode of The Centricity Podcast, our host Will Riley has Joseph Seo back on the podcast to discuss 5 AI you don't know about (yet). Seo is the Principal Co-founder at Visual Lime Creative and Revenue Operations Specialist at Fitzmartin. Listen to their episode, “ChatGPT for B2B”, if you'd like to hear more from Will and Joseph!  Chatbots ChatBots are becoming more intuitive. While they can't replace support teams, they are great for triaging support needs. Fitzmartin uses Chatspot.ai by Hubspot.  Copywriting Support Seo recommends trying ChatGPT-4, Writer, and Jasper. The differences are mostly about UI, so it's worth testing them to see what works for you. Even though these writing tools can't hold a candle to human creativity and writing quality, they are great for getting your process started.  Audio/Video Midjourney has plenty of casual applications, but Seo doesn't use it for business. AdCreative.ai is more business-relevant. Use this for high-quality ads.  Resources Follow Fitzmartin on LinkedIn so you never miss an episode with Joe! For more on AI, listen to Joe and Will's episode “ChatGPT for B2B”

This week on the Digital Velocity Podcast, Sean Doyle of FitzMartin joins Erik and Tim to discuss how businesses can drive sustainable growth and revenue by aligning sales and marketing operations to match buyers' needs. https://www.digitalvelocitypodcast.com/episodes/47-aligning-sales-and-marketing-to-buyers-needs-sean-doyle  

Meghan Fitzmartin returns to the podcast for her second appearance 99 episodes after her first (Episode 233). She is an award-winning writer who has written for TV, animation, and comics. She was recently nominated for a GLAAD award for Outstanding Comic Book for Tim Drake: Robin. That particular story arc is where Tim Drake comes out as bisexual. She is also the writer of a new Warner Bros. Animation movie Justice League X RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part 1. The movie ties into the American-made anime series RXBY. In it, the Justice League is transported to a different world and changed into teenagers. In this episode, Fitzmartin explains the story behind the Tim Drake arc and the reaction that came from both the comic book audience and mainstream media. She also discussed the rationale for taking a bold step for a mainstream character (Robin) and still making sure the story is compelling and that his coming out is not a stunt. Follow Meghan Fitzmartin on social media @megfitz89.

In this, The Faces of Business, Sean M Doyle, CEO and Principal, Sales, and Client Strategy, FitzMartin, Inc., will talk about optimizing sales and marketing operations to make smooth and fast business progress.   Sean is a seasoned B2B sales and marketing consultant with over 25 years of experience assisting mid-sized businesses with their most pressing issues. As a sales optimization and marketing operations expert, Sean applies the science of behavioral change to business disciplines such as planning, positioning, branding, and promotion.   Check out the Blog post here: Optimizing Sales and Marketing Operations   Thanks for taking the time to listen today.   Find Damon Pistulka on LinkedIn talking about life & building businesses you can sell or succeed.    On Twitter as @dpistulka with inspiration and sharing thoughts.    Find out more about Damon when he's not working.  @damonpistulka on Instagram, or Damon Pistulka on Facebook.      More information on building businesses you can sell or succeed and the Exit Your Way method on our website   View our blog page for this episode here.   Email us for more information info@exityourway.com

In today's episode of the Centricity podcast, our host Will Riley meets with Joseph Seo to talk about ChatGPT and discuss how business executives can utilize it in their business.   Understanding ChatGPT Seo says that if you're afraid of ChatGPT replacing your job, you don't understand how to use it. ChatGPT is an incredible tool that can be utilized by both salespeople and marketers. ChatGPT and similar AIs aren't anything new. Instead, they're simply becoming more mainstream.   Utilizing ChatGPT ChatGPT can't fully replace sales and marketing. However, they can be used to automate more repetitive tasks. Some examples would be creating a presentation, or doing presentation prep. To maximize your potential with ChatGPT, you have to give it the correct prompts. You only get out as much as you put in. If you want to connect with Joseph Seo further, you can find him at the FitzMartin blog.

By the end of 2023, Google is planning to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome, meaning advertisers will have a much more difficult time tracking activity of potential customers. Seems like this could be disastrous for some Ecommerce companies - and yet FitzMartin's Will Riley argues that Ecommerce will largely go unscathed. Tune in to find out why.Today's episode of Deal Closers is hosted by Izach Porter, brought to you by WebsiteClosers.com, and is produced by Earfluence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sean Doyle applies behavioral science to marketing and the sales funnel. His model is called Centricity and he shares important lessons about alignment between sales, marketing and customer success to move deals through the funnel. Sean says, “Deals stall in the middle of the funnel because we aren't giving the buyer what they need to make a decision.If you are still feeding them information about your product features and benefits, they are 80% likely to decide to stick with the old, lower risk, status quo.”On the other hand, we know that if you help them make sense of the information, you are heading in the right direction together. Sometimes this takes sales, customer success and marketing together and at different points in the customer journey. This lively interview will help every CEO with strategies to help their team move more deals through the middle of the funnel to close.Chapters00:00 Strategic Versus Creative Marketing06:17 Behavioral Science: The Centricity Model13:22 Your Buyer's Problem18:36 Marketing and Customer Success at the Closing Table24:08 Making it Easier for Customers to Buy31:00 6 Step Pipeline: Tracking Steps Versus Activity38:00 Emotional and Rational Content: Marketing and Sales balance43:40 Selling is Helping About Our Guest:Sean M. Doyle is principal at FitzMartin Inc, a leading consultancy focused on optimizing sales and marketing investments of emerging middle- market, B2B businesses. FitzMartin's clients earn on average an ROI of $287 per $1 invested. Through a 30+ year career with over 5,500 client engagements, Sean saw the need for a repeatable, systematic, objective go-to-market model. The model, Centricity, informs sales, marketing, technology and creative decisions. His niche is helping executives identify opportunities to achieve their strategic, personal and financial objectives. Connect with Sean on LinkedInFollow Sean on TwitterResource Links:Changing for Good  ​​You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comConnect with Alice on LinkedIn  

According to LinkedIn, a whopping 1 TRILLION dollars are lost per year because sales teams and marketing teams don't coordinate together. In today's episode of the Aligned Podcast, our host Sean Doyle goes over how you CAN coordinate your sales and marketing teams to avoid losses and improve profits. Generating quality leads: Getting leads for your business is easy. But making sure they're QUALITY is the hard part. One reason why salespeople don't trust marketers is that marketers are just there to get leads INTERESTED in the product. They answer questions and show off a product or service. That will generate leads, however, those leads aren't guaranteed to be good, profitable ones. One scenario mentioned in the episode is a lead already having the product being offered. Imagine if your marketing team generated 100 leads, but 90 of them didn't have any NEED for your product. Your sales reps have just then wasted time that could've been spent finding QUALITY leads. What sales teams want from marketers: The MAIN thing that sales reps want from marketers is Communication. Communication is key in business and in life. If your marketers and sales reps are properly communicating, this prevents any wasted time. Marketers can let the sales team know of potential leads, what they're looking for, what they have, etc. Once proper communication is established, the sales team can focus on quality, profitable leads and discard the ones that they can't sell to. How to align marketing and sales teams: Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration. Have your sales and marketing teams actually WORK TOGETHER. Focusing solely on your marketing team will prevent sales from working at maximum efficiency. Focusing solely on your sales team will prevent marketing from working at maximum efficiency. Make sure the needs of both marketing and sales align. Alongside having your marketing and sales teams work together, prioritize COMMUNICATION. As said, communication is key. Too often, marketers are unaware of what leads should be prioritized, leading to wasted time. Flip the conversation. Focus on what the BUYER ACTUALLY WANTS and how to meet their needs. Have sales reps and marketers work together to figure out a.) What a buyer wants and b.) How to best deliver your product or service to them. Making sure that your marketing and sales teams are aligned is CRUCIAL for increasing profitability. One can't function maximally without the other. Utilize these tips, and watch your profit grow. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Sean has done in-depth over 5,000 sales and marketing consulting engagements over his 30ish year career. Chances are if you are an executive that is facing a sales and marketing problem Sean has seen it before and can help you apply a solution within your specific organization and industry.   He has spent the last 27 years running a B2B sales and marketing consultancy helping executives of businesses grow and overcome sales and marketing barriers based on groundbreaking research in behavioral change. He's an author, speaker, and advisor for Small to Mid-Sized businesses from $5MM to $250MM. Sean helps larger companies through the firm FitzMartin. For those rapidly growing firms under 25FTEs, SeanMDoyle.com offers 1-2-1 executive coaching, a video training series, strategic insights, and leadership retreats. His vision, to change the way executives at small and mid-sized businesses think about and leverage marketing as a serious business tool. You can connect with Sean through linkedin: linkedin.com/in/sean-m-doyle What does Freedom mean to you? Check out our webinar: “How Top Sales Pros Create Passive Income & Achieve Financial Freedom With Hands-Off Real Estate Investing”   Host Contact Information - Chris Freeman LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/in/chrisfreeman Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/chris.freeman.9461

In this episode of Aligned Sean and guest Donald Kelly, The Sales Evangelist continue their discussion on how important getting the private commitment is before you can get the public commitment to move your deal forward. Obtaining both private and public commitment will take you on the path to close your deals. Being strategic in obtaining buy-in: Need to ask – “what do you want?” Develop a structure to communicate effectively. Marketing needs to provide the pyramid of the industry and how selling works within that pyramid.  Exercise patience. What is a concise business plan: Should be short and simple. Ask the validation question. Both to you personally and to the enterprise. Case Studies can assist in creating commitment from your prospect. Illustrate what the action plan is and prescribed path. Takeaways: It's all about your prospect and what they want and/or need. Good reviews are helpful in receiving commitment from your prospect. Create a group of raving fans that share the same problems as your prospects. Build a page on your website that defines the journey that past customers have taken to get your prospect's desired result. When prospects make a public commitment – they make the commitment stick. Keep the long game in mind. Be able to define what problem you solve, what happens if you don't solve the problem, and what's the likely outcome. If you want to close more deals, you need to understand that commitment is powerful and has two steps. There is no set time that it takes to go through the process. But there is sequential order. If your prospect is not privately committed then they will never commit publicly.  Connect with Donald on LinkedIn or email him at donald@thesalesevangelist.com.  Submit an inquiry at fitzmartin.com/contact and they'll be happy to answer any questions. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

In today's episode of Aligned, our host Sean talks with the Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly, to discuss late-stage sales, self-help, and five application models that you can apply to late-stage selling. Self-help In any B2B process, you are able to include B2C in the process.  According to Mckinsey 99% of B2B buyers said they are willing to spend $50,000 on self-help. You've got to start implementing self-help in the B2B world.  Make promises around things like service. Remember it's not about the price.  Do a testimonial that is focused on only delivering information that is safe and matters to late-stage prospects.  Give a taste of early access and let your prospects know what it would be like to be your customer.  Utilize consultative selling tools.  Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing guided help on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. To learn more about the transtheoretical theory of behavioral change check out this link. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

In today's episode of Aligned, our host Sean talks with the Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly, to discuss late stage sales and explore the best practice of building frictionless buyer journeys and understanding the buyers point of view.  Helping relationships The goal is to continue to inspire the prospect to make change. Give them the ability to make a commitment.  Consultative selling is taking off the salesperson hat and becoming a consultant to your prospect - become good at problem-finding and solving problems. A transactional salesperson pushes on closing and focuses on features, benefits and price.  Guided help People need a guide, but if you don't trust your guide it won't work.  Good sales and marketing is about helping other people achieve their goals. If you see sales and marketing as manipulation then this idea won't work for you.  Donald has found massive success in sharing free information and being a guided help to those around him.  Don't be afraid to give people value through providing free information.  There is a whole world of guided help that is another marketing channel.  Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. To learn more about the transtheoretical theory of behavioral change check out this link. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

In today's episode of Aligned, our host Sean continues his conversation with the Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly, to discuss the centricity model and how limiting bad customer behaviors can help generate more sales for your organization.  The second-best practice in the countering world is the practice of looking back Buyers will continually look back at their own bad behaviors. When a buyer's response to a seller's inquiry is to ask for more information, they're not seriously considering the solution. Flip the looking back ideology to looking forward - equip your sales and marketing teams with a playbook that focuses on the future state. Don't spend time explaining specs on pricing, features, or benefits. Instead, sell the buyer on the future state they'll experience with your proposed solution.  One of the most common mistakes for salespeople during the close is forgetting to remind the buyer of their initial state. Reminding people where they're coming from is powerful.  Fear of change often comes down to the process.  Irrational self-statements Irrational self-statements are rigid reasons why the customer can't move forward. Create a playbook outlining all the common irrational self-statements that your customers have and how you can counter them. Counter their bad behavior with integrity, courage, and kindness. A dose of rationality makes a strong statement.  Customer success Your customers are constantly looking and information is everywhere.  Even though you know you can name a hundred ways that you are better than the competitor, your customer can't.  How are you marketing to your customers who are rethinking? Not just new customers but customers who are 2 or 3 years in.  Create a report card of the success that you are bringing your customers. Don't wait till the end of the contract to communicate with them.  Offer a channel of your marketing budget to market to your own customers.  There is more money to be made by fixing the end of the sales cycle than there is by creating more awareness, improving your brand, and getting more leads. Sell backwards, start at the end.  Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Sales and marketing alignment is critical for middle-market companies to either expand into enterprise territory or increase revenue for long-lasting company success. In today's episode of Aligned, our host Sean is joined by the Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly, to discuss the centricity model and how limiting bad customer behaviors can help generate more sales for your organization.  RFPs: a bad (but well-intentioned) customer behavior: The centricity model, discussed in prior podcast episodes, helps frame a seller's mindset to better understand buyer behavior (especially bad buyer behavior.) RFPs, or requests for proposals, are standard for many B2B organizations, espeically those connected with governments. While well-intentioned, these can quickly become a systemic problem where the buying organization opts for the cheapest option rather than the one that provides the most value. Don't invent on the fly; build a plan and a model to produce more revenue. Building relationships with the individuals in purchasing companies helps you understand the reasoning behind the RFP instead of piggybacking off of an existing deal. Remember why a company might want to create an RFP: to create the best deal. As a seller and provider of a service, asking practical questions is the key to understanding the actual value an organization needs. If an organization is focused on utilizing the RFP, create options that aren't dependent on a large-scale implementation, like a department or select area of use. RFPs are done with good intent, but why don't they get the best results? Would you hire your lawyer or accountant based on the lowest bid?  In the process of generating bids, the best client is typically never the one willing to undercut every other competitor to win the bid. Overcoming the RFP through countering: Countering is a technical term for substituting an improper path the buyer is currently on with a better one. (If someone is trying to quit smoking, a counter would be to enjoy a lollipop.)  The behavior a buyer is in is the very reason they're seeking a solution. So even if we understand a habit is wrong, it's still a habit and takes effort to correct it.  Countering isn't about ending the bad habit but instead replacing the bad habit with a more constructive one. Centricity informs you where the buyer is.  One of the most common mistakes is a lack of trust. Because sales and marketing are focused on the end objective, we offer end solutions too quickly. As soon as someone doesn't listen or demonstrate listening before offering a solution, the solution likely won't be accepted. In the middle-stage sales cycle, sellers should restate the problem. Especially if the buyer seems hesitant about further pursuing a solution, reminding them about the problem (and mentioning issues they stated experiencing three weeks prior) is a great way to put them back on track. Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

This episode is shareable because it is practical, insightful and surprising. Shareable Content —Episode Key Takeaway— It's not about you. It's about them. Focus on your buyer and let that be the center, guiding your marketing and sales. Marketing and Sales can be predictable and scientific. It doesn't have to be “blue-sky creative” based on a hope and a prayer. —To Read— A River Runs Through It: https://amzn.to/3akO4ac —To Watch— Leading with Lollipops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVCBrkrFrBE —To Listen— —To Learn— We all have Agency — the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power. We forget this too often. About Sean Sean M. Doyle is principal at FitzMartin Inc, a leading consultancy focused on sales marketing and management, sales and marketing technology services, and revenue operations. Sean and his team at FitzMartin are focused on long term value creation through a sales-first, scientific approach to driving revenue. Over a 25+ year career and more than 5,000 client engagements, Sean has amassed unmatched expertise in helping B2B companies sell more to their most profitable customers. Connect Fitz Martin Get Free Help: https://www.fitzmartin.com/freehelp Connect with Jeff

Even when a buyer is satisfied with their current provider of a service, 80% will still consider buying elsewhere. How can sellers build value and demonstrate the effectiveness of an organization to late-stage clients? In today's episode of Aligned, Sean continues his three-part series with Donald Kelly discussing how to manage and build effective environmental controls to close more deals. Utilizing cues and interruptions: Cues are essential environmental controls because you can limit bad buyer behaviors with them.   Creating automated cues to encourage a particular action from the buyer builds brand loyalty and a level of trust that would otherwise occur with another company.  Buyer's retreat is a natural (and expected) element of sales: Anything within sales and marketing can be done with integrity and morals, or it can be done with harmful intent. Sellers must make themselves valuable, but not at the expense of the company's control. Limit early-stage spending because the relationship driving the sale has not yet been built. Instead, create an understanding and connection, then supplement that relationship with middle and end-stage buyers. Strategies to prevent buyer's retreat: Tie results to your efforts. This makes buyers infinitely less likely to leave because they know their success is tied to your involvement. Demonstrate your values through gifts, events, and communication to deepen the relationship between the individuals within the organization. Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

In the end, the goal of every sales and marketing department is to help their organization close more deals. But did you know six key elements can help manage how a professional relationship operates? In today's episode of Aligned, Sean is joined by sales expert and founder of The Sales Evangelist Donald Kelly in the first of a three-part series to learn how to apply a framework to build and maintain scalable sales pipelines.  Environmental controls dictate the boundaries of the relationship.  Environmental controls have to impact other people beyond the individual buyer. However, you must be buyer-centric and focused primarily on their goals and expectations. Environment management is the key to establishing and maintaining good behavior while limiting and preventing bad behavior. Sellers can't intentionally change many attributes of the conditions surrounding the selling process, but there are some we can exert and influence other elements. Preventing buyer's fatigue:  Throughout the buying process, many buyers grow tired of pushback from teammates, management, and sellers, especially when the status quo is so easy to maintain. If you want to take people through the journey of change, understand how quickly a person is willing to move and scale the journey with the individual. Learn the internal politics within the organization. For example, one person might not want to risk jeopardizing their growth at the company by making the wrong purchase decision. Supply your contact with knowledge as ammunition to reinforce the connection and combat potential objections in-house. Managing different perspectives at different touchpoints within the buying journey: Pain mapping is a powerful tactic because the human desire to avoid pain is incredibly high, whether financial, strategic, or personal. The wrong thing would be to take everyone to golf or dinner and expect everyone to be at the same point in the journey - because they aren't. People don't buy products; they buy the improvement of the business. Marketers and sellers must convince the buyer not about the product's viability, but how purchasing the product will correlate with meeting their business objectives. Constrain the pain - Use social liberation with positive insertions of company collateral in pitches and develop the processes in later-stage opportunities to make the buyer process not only seamless, but designed explicitly for the organization to implement. Environmental changes either add positive or remove negative elements to the deal that convinces the buyer to move forward. Aligned Episode Resources: Read the transtheoretical theorem of behaviors in “Changing for Good” by James Prochaska, John Norcross, and Dr. DiClemente. Check out the Pentateuch, otherwise known as the first five books of the old testament. Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Selling and marketing for today's consumers according to behavioral science You got to start with a belief that selling is about helping people, not manipulating people to do something. In Marketing, we call it a consumer decision journey or a buyer's journey. Sales know the pipeline report, which is just a codification of that. We all know that.   But the behavioral science that we follow is called the Trans theoretical theorem of behavioral change. There are nine codified best practices to help people as they make the decision, from no action to action, from being unaware of your product to understand the need of your product, to buying your product.   And there are some things that sales can do intuitively and intuitively that can be codified by these nine best practices. It's countering. It's environmental controls. It's rewarding for private, for good behavior. It's helping relationships. It's social liberation. That's a bunch of scientific terms. That's what sales do.  (If you want to grow your sales from $60K to $350K per year, I invite you to join the live Catapulting Commissions workshop this Aug 17-18! Get your slot here)   Buyer-centered We call it centricity because it's centered not on sales need, not on marketing need. It's centered on the buyer. And if you center all your company's thinking, your sales teams, and your marketing team's thinking on the understanding of the buyer, there's an alignment that's created out of that. Sales and marketing should never align with each other. They should align with the customers. The result that is they'll be aligned with each other.   What is Private-Public commitment? Private-public commitment is effective from the middle of the buying journey to the very end. In sales barrier analysis we break down a pipeline and understand where there are problems in this pipeline. And in a client's pipeline, we almost always find there's more money to be made in late-stage deals and fixing late-stage deal problems than there is in creating more awareness where most marketing advertising starts.    So private public commitment is one of the most powerful tools because you've got to equip both sales and marketing to understand what it is. So if you can fix that, you'll close more deals that get stuck.    Why you should have Private Commitment in sales Buyers have to have safety first as they make a change. So if you're going to buy a new service or product, if you're going to put risk, you're not going to do it without understanding privately first whether this is good to proceed.    Founders, you're leading your sales and marketing efforts. Have you created an intentional way where a buyer can, without revealing to anybody else, explore your product or your service? And if your marketing team and your sales team don't have a way to create a private commitment, then that's a gap that you've got to add. You've got to fix that. It's going to stop people from moving forward.   Take a look at what Sean did with his company FitzMartin. His prospect has eight agencies to choose from. So Sean offered to pay $10,000 of service for his prospect so they could see if it's going to be a good fit. (It cost him around $5,000 in actual employee time and materials and costs. He lowered his internal cost of sales and given his prospect value, and gave the prospect enough safety in that journey.)   So the prospect gets to (safely) experience the service, while Sean's company gets to evaluate his company's ability to help him and the prospect's capability to purchase. FitzMartin gave them the equipment and eliminated the risk through this journey and lowered his cost of sales.   *Take note that Sean said he, as a founder, is going to pay for it and not say it's free.   Frictionless buyers journey Remember that time you decided you were going to get in shape and lose weight? Right? You didn't post it on your social media first. You went to the gym and you're like, ‘okay, I've been going for a month now. I might post it on my social media. I've lost ten pounds.' Now you are comfortable telling people about it.   Well, think about your salesperson. You've set up a commission structure or some sort of motivator, and your goal as an owner is to fire up that salesperson to close deals. So now they're in front of a prospect, and they are fired up to slow the deal down. But the buyer isn't where you are. If you're a buyer, it's taken you a long time to understand and get to the point of preparation to purchase.   Slowing down, offering a helping relationship and a private commitment where there's no risk, gives the buyer the time to come around and understand the solutions with full transparency. It's giving frictionless buyers' journeys.   We would call it Stage five closed or exchange relationship. But you should have a stage five closed deals, diagnostic or private commitment stage. It is a true engagement. It's an ongoing relationship. So add that little step to your pipeline.   Triage Use triage as your scaled-down version of the private commitment stage. So you've been pushed out of late-stage deals by sales for a long time. Why? Because sales don't trust marketing when the deal is close to the finish line.   Why? Because you don't know what the buyers need. You're good at early stage stuff, but you've never studied this late stage. You've never studied what it takes to close a deal. So you should be understanding things like private-public commitment and you should be bringing ideas to the table. Role of marketing And by using marketing automation technology, you'll know if your prospect read the report or not or how far down the report they read. Marketers, you can do so much to help a salesperson close late-stage deals. If your marketing team is not doing this, then that's a gap in your organization.   You're going to close more deals, you're going to make more revenue. If you get somebody that understands how to close deals in the marketing role, you don't need a salesperson in the marketing role. You need a marketer in the marketing role. Marketers have long views. Marketers are not driven by this week's commission or this quarter.  Sales should be focused on this week. Marketers should be focused, though, on a full pipeline approach.   So in finding an agency for you, ask about the agency's theology, understanding of a full pipeline, buyer's journey, and how marketing impacts every step in it. Build a deal page Build a deal page for your most important deals. If you build a page where you look at this business and you know from your experience with other clients, you know that they're looking for safety, right? So build a deal page where a previous client does a little video or has a dialogue with you, or be a written quote that says, ‘I trusted Anthony when we were at this stage in my series, as investors said he was the best thing that happened to us.'   Build a deal page where you know there are specific weaknesses that you don't want to be public about, per se, and then guide and direct people to that deal page. It's marketing. It's not closing deals.   So deal pages are incredibly effective if you've got an agency helping you. There's a term called account-based marketing where you can deliver advertising just to one business.    So at the very least, your marketing should equip your sales team with a deal page. It's not a page on your website that anybody else can find, but it would say, ‘ABC Manufacturing rapid Growth Medical.' The language changes. It becomes very specific. You could use people's names.   It's a way to represent. Privately looking at it, the prospect might forward it to other people in the executive team and say, ‘hey, Anthony sent me this. I'd love your opinion, and marketers can track that engagement.' It's a trackable metric that you can realistically, you can learn a ton.   About Sean Doyle Sean is a principal at FitzMartin, and our leading mind and voice on sales and marketing strategy. Sean is particularly adept at applying the science of behavior change to the art of sales and marketing. It's an approach that he and FitzMartin have developed over thousands of client engagements since 1992.   Sean is an author and speaker. His first book, Shift: 19 practical, business-driven ideas for an executive in charge of marketing but not trained for the task, was published by Rockbench Publishing in 2018.   Website: seanmdoyle.com Company website: fitzmartin.com Get Free Help from FitzMartin

On today's episode of Aligned, Sean is joined by digital marketing devotee Ed Rusch. Ed is passionate about customer experiences and is the current CMO of Blue Ridge. In a three-part series, Ed will articulate his major takeaways from his years of experience in the marketing space. Today's topic? Common myths and misconceptions of executive-level marketing. Ed's marketing origins: Born and raised in Cleveland, his first gigs post-college were hosting various radio (playing adult contemporary and Today's Top 40 hits.) As he's grown and learned more about the industry, Ed is now intrigued by the concept of modern marketing and what that means for professionals today. Primarily a B2B marketer, Ed emphasizes maintaining a learning mindset to understand the challenges and struggles of modern marketing. There is still a disconnect in how marketing is viewed.  A common misconception of marketing is its emphasis on “arts and crafts.” Sure, design plays an integral role in marketing. But that's far from the only thing (or the most important thing) that marketers do. An exciting thing about marketing today is the ability to touch and impact many aspects of the business beyond what traditional marketing could do. But because the possibilities are extensive, it can be difficult for marketers to know where to leverage their influence. A clear marketing goal: make an impact on your company's revenue growth.  Marketing can articulate a value message to the financial community, which is a needle-mover for those equity transitions. There's a need for both short-term success and long-term value creation, which marketing can create and influence. Marketing can be far more than a sales supplement when given the proper support. Ed's past work exemplifies the importance of strategic marketing. Initially viewed as a technology company, Ed's company had a commanding market share of their industry (an amalgamation of technology and construction.) They couldn't grow until they found a new avenue to expand into. And that avenue was connecting suppliers to buyers. Establishing this new avenue involved creating not just a strategy but the story and messaging around their platform. It also involved creating a community between buyers, sellers, and logistics providers (and agree, as an organization, that they were a supply chain platform.) This means both internal and external factors were at play. Marketing adds value in ways beyond its traditional implications. For example, marketing attracts new talent to your purpose and mission. Why do people want to be a part of your organization? Marketing can explain that. From a marketing perspective, the ability to reimagine your story and then leverage that in both employee engagement and the acquisition of new talent pays dividends. Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth or looking for new levers to pull.  Read more about cognitive marketing on FitzMartin's website. Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  To get in contact with Ed, connect with him on LinkedIn.

Both sellers and marketers can and should use reward-driven behavior to establish rapport and build relationships with potential buyers. In today's episode of Aligned, Sean is joined by the founder and Chief Evangelist of The Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly, to discuss his take on reward-driven behavior and how marketing and sales departments can implement it into existing methodologies. Failure of the trade show fishbowl: Using rewards to gain something upfront (like an email) is not an effective reward tactic. You don't want people to engage with you purely because of free stuff.  You're giving stuff away without understanding why you're giving stuff away. The same idea holds true for the dinners, the golf games, and the drinks. Don't eliminate rewards. Instead, understand them. The most common mistake in sales and marketing is spending too much money too early in the sales cycle. Close the deals in the existing pipeline before allocating money to people who aren't in the funnel at all. Understanding positive and negative rewards: Rewards can take two forms - positive and negative. A punishment could be removing a certain meeting or adding a certain call to an itinerary. Salespeople are bumblebees - misunderstood creatures. They're crucial to the environment, but other people are scared of them. A punishment could be not having the time to meet with a prospect Positioning gives you power. When a company positions itself in a way where they aren't dependent on specific clients to reach revenue goals, it can afford to make clients walk in line. Rewards can be positive. Rewards from the self - A prospect who, upon achieving a certain milestone, should be coached and guided to get a reward. Rewards from the others - Where sales and marketing can have a more direct input Business plan - late-stage only. If you give stuff away too early, it won't convert the prospects and business leads you to want. Managing Give a verbal or written kudos Encourage someone to consider changing and being self-aware of the weaknesses and the self-reflection that results in accepting change  One of Donald's past clients was moving to Google Suite, and he worked for a document management company. Remind them that going to Google Suite, while challenging while it's happening, is the best case for a long-term growth strategy. It's okay to give a reward for self-evaluation. And, if you're confident with the position, you have the safety to make additional suggestions and comments to help guide those prospects. Contracting Right before a deal is closed, and there is no exchange of relationship, there are informal contracts that can move the decision-making team before a formal agreement takes place. It can be meeting at a restaurant, bringing a cup of coffee, scale the reward up and down depending on the situation If you see someone's house, they have to give you a level of trust. A common practice is an NDA, but use it to get an idea of what the NDA includes. When you give the NDA to a buyer, it's akin to a promise ring. You aren't married yet, but there's a level of commitment. The act of signing is almost the same level that would come if it were an actual agreement. The act of signing a piece of paper connotes the finality that an agreement is in place. Shaping There are lots of micro-wins that we can accomplish, and shaping is making small, incremental changes rather than a large sudden change. Instead of requiring one large bulk purchase, just buy a smaller quantity and work your way up to a larger amount. Shaping will reflect integrity and lower the potential risks that might take place. What's In It For Me? (WIIFM) addresses the emotional and political capital a person might lose or gain from making a particular decision. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

A net promoter score is one of the best market research metrics available. With it, you can determine if a user is a potential promoter of the product, service, or company. In today's episode of Aligned, Sean interviews research professional and founder of Thoughtful Research Erin Sowell and Fitzmartin's Anna Svarney to discuss the utility of a net promoter score and why middle-market leaders should research before making decisions. Research shows areas you could improve. To transform for success, you can't expect perfection. You must bring people to guide you as you make customer-facing company decisions. An NPS question often asks, “have you ever recommended or not recommended a line of research?” but human interactions are not always so cut and dry. An NPS gives more actionable data regarding who is a promoter and who's a detractor. Limitations of an NPS score: NPS, from a performance standpoint, creates bias.  For employee NPS (ENPS), scores determining leadership interactions inherently contain interpersonal bias. The same holds true for service and customer relationships - the customer knows the score will influence the employee. Those happy with your brand should be training for advocacy, whether through a testimonial or follow-up, to understand how they experience your brand. Different testimonials influence people differently depending on where they are in the sales cycle.  Passive consumers and promoter advocates: Passives are people who have a good experience but are not good enough to warrant promoter levels of advocacy.  These consumers don't need to speak positively about their experience, and they're influenced by competitors.  With passives, you want to ask them different questions, learning what experience or change will drive them past passivity. Because they're looking at different competitors, they'll have a specific but essential market perception. What do they think about competitors, and how do they compare? Transactional versus relational loyalty from consumers: Transactional loyalty is using a product or service as long as it meets your needs. Relational loyalty is using a product or service because you like the company and are excited to work with them. Some businesses will function with either model - one is not inherently better than the other. An NPS can indicate which model your company uses but look for a directional trend instead of an absolute number in your NPS score. Research is about meeting customer needs to connect with audiences. Inspire your CEO to take steps to learn through research. Don't let an NPS be your only insight into customers this year - there should always be some level of customer research within your company. For more insights from Erin, contact her at erin.sowell@thoughtfulresearch.com or via her website, thoughtfulresearch.com. You can reach Anna Svarny at anna@fitzmartin.com. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Today's episode of the Aligned Podcast continues Sean's discussion with guest Ed Rusch, Chief Revenue Officer at Deck Commerce, to understand the best way to construct a high-functioning SDR department. Handling the SDR workload: SDR teams help buyers make private commitments before a public close. If you have one SDR who handles leads they come and just does outbound when they can, what gets dropped first when the workload is too great? The outbound calling. Assuming inbound teams close only 50% of leads, that's an inherent problem. You must have dedicated outbound callers who can ensure the job gets done. Use specific KPIs to understand the language, verticals, and nuances of the selling process. Know the one or two KPIs most important to your audience and accompanying sub-verticals.  Is a conversation a valuable metric? Yes, if it achieves two pieces of qualifying (or disqualifying) information.  There's a cost to everything - from emailing, writing content, and maintenance. Getting disqualifying people off the list is the best way to save money. Outsourcing an SDR team: Outsourcing can be a powerful solution, depending on your circumstances.  Part of Blue Ridge's success is (in part) due to third-party work. However, what you do with an inbound SDR team is not the same as a third-party team.  Outsourced teams can support your company with the right direction and support, but you must mitigate third-party risk by being selective in where you deploy those teams. Using third-party teams to investigate adjacent verticals outside your primary audience is a smart way to gain insight into the viability of the vertical and in situations where having a conversation is better than no conversation at all.  Starting your SDR team from scratch: First, understand that few decisions are permanent. There are ideal and mediocre situations, and most of the ones you make will be somewhere in the middle.  Set expectations and metrics based on where you're at today, in 90 days, and six months. After that period, adjust your KPIs and expectations as the team matures. Don't look for a level of perfection from a new sales team. If you fail to allow growth and outsource, it will likely fail. Work with expectations to understand the journey and what you'll do later to meet expectations. When building an SDR team, start with an internal outbound team that targets low-hanging fruit to secure funding and talent for scalable growth.  For more great content from Ed, connect with him on LinkedIn. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Today's episode of the Aligned podcast continues into part two of our three-part series featuring Ed Rusch. Ed has served as Chief Marketing Officer for several different companies, and his efforts yielded significant parts of their success. In this series, he and Sean discuss the importance of finding a happy medium between sales and marketing alignment.  Generating leads to fuel company growth: Growing a pipeline can be accomplished through multiple strategies. In general, aiming for a consistent and reliable method might be a better long-term strategy than others. If you have an ambitious 30-50% growth rate, driving growth relies on the sales development reps establishing an effective strategy to move mid-market prospects through the funnel. Developing the SDR team: Senior sellers don't necessarily want to spend their time managing early-stage buyers - no should they. An early-stage seller uses the opportunity as a starting experience. SDRs shouldn't complete sales development work throughout the funnel in a broad capacity.  Instead, an SDR team should be segmented into different areas of specialization and accountability. Inbound SDRs encounter prospects who know what can properly affect their problem and need guided content based on how they enter the conversion. As an outbound, we're reaching out to the people, generating interest based on competitive analyses and market research.  A recent study found that, for the first time, prospects wanted a seller to enter the conversation earlier in the process than in previous years. Be disruptive and spark imagination (professionally.) Ensure your SDR team understands the buyer from their own perspective. You must have the external voice of the customer to be influential. It's essential to see and contemplate the buyer's needs and take action based on those established needs.  There is no shortage of content. So, positioning your brand to put important, need-based content in front of a prospect will make the most headway. Don't speak broadly about “SaaS” content as a SaaS company. Instead, make meaningful specific content that addresses prospects' needs.  Tune in to our next episode for the conclusion of Sean's discussion with Ed. For more great content from Ed, connect with him on LinkedIn. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Today's episode of the Aligned podcast launches a three-part series featuring Ed Rusch. Ed has served as Chief Marketing Officer for several different companies, and his efforts yielded significant parts of their success. In this series, he and Sean discuss the importance of finding a happy medium between sales and marketing alignment.  Run your business like you want to sell it. Many elements of sales and marketing would work if they were correctly integrated. Unfortunately, and most frequently, the gap between the two is where there isn't enough support. In many ways, the closing game has not changed in its goals. However, the applications of closing are what have changed so rapidly. If you can combine these two facets, you'll find new opportunities. SDRs, or Sales Development Representatives, play a vital role in that process. What would an SDR do? Also known as BDRs (Business Development Representatives), these roles provide many supplemental resources to pursue alignment. Marketing-based leads frequently produce prospects considered “low quality.” However, they aren't low-quality; they're just in the early stages of the sales funnel. Sales professionals like end-funnel leads because they're closer to purchasing. SDRs can take those early-stage leads and nurture them later in the process so a sales professional can close more quickly. This also speaks to the increased ability to act on leads promptly. A company that responds to a form fill within 60 minutes will win almost every time. Frustrations arise when high-quality leads fizzle out.  This issue arises when there's a difference between what they want to hear and what your business communicates.  SDRs keep this from happening by maintaining consumer expectations and aligning those expectations with what sales will bring to the table. Five qualifications Ed uses to define a sales-qualified lead: SDRs should book prospect meetings within 30 days. Have stated sub-verticals you know your business can support and win. Include revenue bands in your ideal consumer profile that automatically qualify if they pass that threshold. Determine if you can serve where they're located.  The situation must be in an area your solution can help solve. Ed's qualifications aren't a silver solution for every business - decide that qualities automatically qualify a lead for your organization. Tune in to the next episode of Aligned to learn more from Ed and Sean as they detail how an SDR can contribute to the lead qualification process.  This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Sean M. Doyle is principal at FitzMartin Inc, a leading consultancy focused on sales marketing and management, sales and marketing technology services, and revenue operations. Sean and his team at FitzMartin are focused on long term value creation through a sales-first, scientific approach to driving revenue. Over a 25+ year career and more than 5,000 client engagements, Sean has amassed unmatched expertise in helping B2B companies sell more to their most profitable customers.   Sean's latest book, Shift, explores 19 practical ideas, grounded in the science of behavioral change, that can transform a business's marketing efforts and, by natural extension, its profitability. A native Pennsylvanian who's put down deep Southern roots, Sean is a man of family and faith who strives to be a selfless leader. On weekends, you'll find him out fishing local streams and teaching the art of fly fishing to anyone who wants to tag along.   Listen to this informative Publish. Promote. Profit. episode with Sean Doyle about transforming a business through behavioral change.   Here are some of the beneficial topics covered on this week's show: - Why someone else sending your book as a referral is a great way to get new clients. - How we've learned to tune advertising out making it less effective than having a book. - Why positioning yourself in a specific market will make your book stand out more. - How the value of having a book hasn't changed over the years. - Why authors must find ways to get their book into their ideal clients' hands.   Connect with Sean: Links Mentioned: https://www.fitzmartin.com https://www.fitzmartin.com/freehelp https://www.fitzmartin.com/freehelp Guest Contact Info: Twitter https://twitter.com/fitzmartinb2b Instagram https://www.instagram.com/fitzmartinmarketing/?hl=en Facebook https://www.facebook.com/fitzmarketing LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/fitzmartin/ Connect with Rob: Website https://bestsellerpublishing.org Twitter https://twitter.com/bspbooks Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bspbooks/?hl=en Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bestsellerpub YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/BestSellerPublishingOfficial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode of Aligned, we continue our conversation featuring Fitzmartin's Jessica Jardin and Hubspot's Jordan Benjamin. In this second-part conversation, Jordan discusses the importance of understanding how data-driven decisions and an integrated toolset impact your sales cycle. The evolution of Hubspot: Hubspot has made several strategic changes over its history, culminating with over 120,000 users worldwide. Hubspot's original goal was simply to help people get more leads. They wanted to change the conversation from “Hey, buy my stuff,” to answering questions and aligning with the buyer. Companies use different tools to meet their needs. However, multiple tools and systems made it inefficient to use and operate, especially when extrapolated insights and data are needed in tandem. Initial CRMs were a glorified Rolodex, and Hubspot set out to change that perception.  They expanded their services to include other essential teams to make it a systematic and efficient experience that helps everyone do their jobs. Shifting the executive perception: When aligning teams, Jordan thinks about measurement and analytics. When using several systems, it's challenging to get quality data to understand the customer journey. Can you get the information you need? Yes. Is it more expensive, challenging, and time-consuming? Also yes. Hubspot brought an inter-departmental alignment responsible for driving revenue and limiting excess costs. Hubspot was sold primarily as an inbound marketing tool, and some executives are surprised when they learn that the versatility goes far beyond that limited capacity. Practical applications of Hubspot: You can receive notifications when a lead opens or engages with your email. Coming from a marketing perspective means you can leverage marketing automation to reach out in a way that resonates with the buyer. Companies purchase other solutions for calendar scheduling, but that's already available in Hubspot, meaning marketing can send out emails that include a salesperson's schedule. Focus on what you do best because Hubspot has a thousand developers on standby to refine and evolve the product to fit your needs. For more content from Jordan, follow him on LinkedIn or tune in to his podcast, Peak Performance Selling. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Sean and his team are focused on long term value creation through a sales-first, scientific approach to driving revenue.

Today the Biz Bros chat with Sean about taking a deeper dive into company plateaus and ways to move past them! Sean M. Doyle is principal at FitzMartin Inc, a leading consultancy focused on sales marketing and management, sales and marketing technology services, and revenue operations. Sean and his team at FitzMartin are focused on long term value creation through a sales-first, scientific approach to driving revenue. Over a 25+ year career and more than 5,000 client engagements. Sean has amassed unmatched expertise in helping B2B companies sell more to their most profitable customers! To learn about Sean and his work, check out: https://seanmdoyle.com/ Stay Tuned for more ~

Today's episode of Aligned is a section from Fitzmartin's webinar featuring Hubspot's Jordan Benjamin and Fitzmartin's Jessica Jardin to discuss what Presidents, CEOs, and any middle-market leaders need to know when analyzing technology solutions.  Every decision-maker has their own views and motivations.  Regardless of cost or usability, user experience is fundamental to successful technology integration. If people don't use it, what's the point? Moving towards cloud-based software means IT and technical roles need input into the decision-making process.  Make something incredibly easy to adopt because if people don't use it, you aren't moving your business forward. Establish a bottom line of trust between departments: In many cases, IT and marketing teams might find it challenging to establish a software solution that satisfies all teams. A data-driven approach helps establish a solution that drives results. A highly customizable and nuanced solution might sound appealing, but the increased integration costs might make the solution less beneficial than expected. The truth behind CRMs: By definition, a CRM is a customer relationship management tool. However, it is synonymous with a sales platform. Shouldn't relationship management encompass more? Growth is a team sport; it's not just the job of sales, marketing, or any one department. Track touchpoints throughout the relationship to have shared context throughout the customer's buying journey. Remove complexity to scale growth: Simplifying the buying process and the communication model between internal teams makes scaling dramatically simpler. Identifying opportunities to work in alignment fosters a development process that benefits both consumers and your business. A time-to-value system is critical. Value progress over perfection, because taking time to make significant steps means your new system might lose value once integrated. Join us for part two for a more in-depth application of new tech integration. For more content from Jordan, follow him on LinkedIn or tune in to his podcast, Peak Performance Selling. This episode is sponsored in part by FItzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Outsourcing and hiring new talent is a natural outgrowth of scaling a business. But how can a small or mid-sized company do this process effectively while retaining a full-funnel? In today's episode of Aligned, Sean is joined by the founder of Sales Schema, Dan Englander, to hear his thoughts on the issue.  There is a proper time to hire: With the caveat that his domain space is marketing and advertising, the first order of operations is getting client work off your plate. From there, establish a process for teeing up prospecting opportunities. When accommodating people on your team with defined roles, once a process is in place for getting prospects, invest money in a closer. The skillset required to get a skeptical person to talk to you is numerous: creativity, strategy, systems and operations thinking (and a good amount of hustle and follow-up.)  Dan's philosophy is that it takes more than one person to make the process work. Identifying your value: To lower risks in hiring, figure out where your value lies. Oftentimes an agency has never had to figure that out because they rely solely on the strength of referral. So how do you identify value? Through positioning and experience. Companies frequently outsource something for the partnership to end up failing. Why? Because that company is doing the same repeated action done by different companies. While that still works if you're selling something new, it won't work forever. Use the trust and relationships you've built to grow. Realize when you hire a salesperson, you are now a part-time sales trainer. You can't just give collateral and expect them to succeed. Dunbar's Number is the psychological research that discusses someone's circle of influence informs our outreach. There's a difference between asking for an introduction and manipulating people into giving referrals. Mapping connections and doing it at scale is what leads to success. Clients typically do this anyway, but it's just done somewhat haphazardly. What if you can figure out the people you already know in specific accounts? All sales and marketing is about change. Social liberation elevates and allows someone unaware of a need for change to consider it. Breakthrough Advertising from the 60s is a hard-to-find book, but it addresses the stages of marketing sophistication.  For more great content from Dan, visit salesschema.com, check out his podcast (The Digital Agency Growth Podcast), or email him at dale@salesscema.com. FItzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  FitzMartin's Innovation and Insights The FitzMartin approach to research is simple: start with data. We use statistical analysis and data visualization to clarify the haze around customer sentiment, behavior, and lifetime value metrics.  Our most recent study helped a financial institution understand a group of new customers, identify their ideal customers and craft a plan to acquire more ideal customers. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to download a free Sales Barrier Analysis Worksheet to find the gaps and barriers in your organization and read for yourself about the values a partnership with FitzMartin can deliver to you.

As the third-party digital cookie begins to crumble, what does that mean for marketing professionals? In today's episode of Aligned, Sean and FitMartin's Revenue Operations Director WIll Riley discuss the implications of upcoming internet privacy changes and outline tactics to maintain effective digital marketing in 2023.  Cookies and Privacy - What's the difference? Privacy involves a company's intent with your data and what it does with that data. In contrast, cookies have been an addendum to privacy policies over the years, dictating what specific data companies store and how that data is used for marketing. The year 2022 will define privacy laws.  We're entering an era of technological responsibility because anyone who visits your website can allow (or disallow) how you aggregate and use their data. Companies now have both a legal liability and a corporate standard they must maintain - not only can a company's data collection be shut down by the government, but the companies who run advertising platforms can as well. Predominantly, digital marketers spend money through Facebook, Instagram, and Google. Because these platforms are all run by just two companies (Meta and Google), you must comply with their standards to maintain website traffic. First-party cookie versus third-party cookie: First-party cookies are stored from a website the user visits directly, like when you search for products on Amazon.  Third-party data is data tracked from another domain. So, if Amazon (hypothetically) sold your data to another company, that would be third-party cookies. Consumers tend to like first-party cookies because they directly benefit the user. With Amazon, it's helpful to see recommended products and recent searches because of the data they collect.  In 2023, Google Chrome (which accounts for 80% of data traffic) will completely phase out third-party cookies. This will bring a fundamental shift in developing digital campaigns. Marketers will have to adjust how they spend digital advertising dollars without precedent to rely on for successful campaigns. Strategies for companies to start implementing: It comes down to where you get your data. Are you collecting data directly from a source or buying it from elsewhere?  If the latter, that decision might no longer be an option. Take practical measures to prepare and stop relying exclusively on third-party data.  Start shifting advertising strategies to pull data directly from consumers. If you invest in the right technology and are upfront with your member base, you're already ahead of the game. Above all, you must focus on a sales and marketing alignment. Buying data is a crutch; marketing moves towards a more authentic experience.  Episode Resources: FitzMartin's standardized compliance policy is an incredible foundation that informs you what you need to include in a privacy policy with these new privacy changes. If you want to be ahead of the game, download our compliance foundation PDF here! Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull.  Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page. 

Continuing from our last episode, today's episode of Aligned is the second half of Sean's conversation with Taylor on storytelling. Check out the episode to learn how you, as a business executive or marketer, can implement storytelling best practices into your business. (And be sure to check out the previous episode for the entire conversation.) What's one thing people miss when trying to tell stories? In a marketing context, it's a lack of identifying who “the hero” of your story is and the stakes that drive the story forward. People in marketing are scared to show the negative. But that can remove the impact of a story. Great stories always end with some form of transformation. The catalyst of the change is what your story is about. Taylor's top pick for storytelling inspiration: Taylor loves Jaws because of the movie and his experience with the film itself. As a child, he found Jaws terrifying but intriguing. And now, as an adult, he remembers the fear the movie once instilled in him. The movie's filming was riddled with problems, so the ingenuity that arose from desperation made some of the most iconic cinematic scenes of all time. In Jaws, the external problem is the huge shark killing people (that's pretty obvious.) But the internal problem is Matt Hooper. He's new to town, his family doesn't want to be there, and he tries to find his place in the community.  The story of Jaws is about Hooper finding his place while also dealing with the external problem.  Dealing with constrained budgets of nonprofits, churches and ministries: What Taylor's grandmother says is true: you get what you pay for. But you have to be careful what you pay for. Hire the right people who understand who you are and what drives your organization. Some businesses just can't afford professional filmmakers. Taylor dislikes when organizations request professional services with the caveat of, “we're a ministry; you should do things differently.” There's value in storytelling to achieve a purpose. But there is also value in storytelling purely for the aesthetic. Taylor recommends the book Angels in the Architecture. From an aesthetic standpoint, filmmakers and storytellers must operate at the highest level possible. The act of storytelling in marketing is about helping communicate to somebody why they should choose to assign their limited resources to you and your product or service. The foundation of why you should pay more for an aesthetic: beautiful things are effective things. Beautiful things are effective things. Nothing else in marketing has the complexity or capacity to reach, touch, and affect other human beings. More than ever, people can tell when something looks cheap or isn't very good. So why would you ever create something that wasn't going to be as good as you could afford it to be? In post-production, the beauty of powerful storytelling is removing the extraneous components to create the greatest impact with the least material possible. It's a great way to a better piece, and it's better storytelling, Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull.  Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can find Taylor Robinson's production company at sixfootfive.com and his storytelling organization at arcstories.com.  Save the Cat by Blake Snyder details the steps to a great story, especially on the screen. Taylor created FlyKid to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ through storytelling. Check out the website Flykid.tv to see Taylor's methods and organization to help teach the craft of storytelling.

Storytelling isn't just a way to share your business's stories and information; it's a way to connect with your audience and elicit meaningful emotions on their voyage through their customer journey. In today's episode of Aligned, we're taking a look through the Aligned Archives to relisten to Sean's conversation with commercial film director Taylor Robinson in this two-part episode. The topic? The art of storytelling. Applying storytelling to sales: The difference between bad and good storytelling is the dialogue that allows the viewer to participate. A good story is, above all, relatable to the audience in some way.  Taylor's favorite movie is Jaws, yet he has never been attacked or bitten by a shark.  However, he knows what it's like to be scared. And great storytelling finds the shared link (like an emotion) to make the audience experience the story themselves.   Often, the most challenging hurdle Taylor encounters when working with clients is the initial creative process, and the marketer or professional doesn't know their story. Companies tend to talk about themselves. But the secret is to stop and ask what stories your audience wants to hear. Starting a Successful Story: Start with two things: First, what do you want to accomplish? Second, what information does the audience need to achieve what I want to accomplish? When crafting your story, begin with a hook: an attention-grabbing narrative that establishes the problem. Story structure can be broken down into four parts: the problem, the character, the solution, and the place. Crafting stories to achieve business goals: Your business should always be secondary. If you want to create a powerful video, your true star is the relatable emotion or problem. An essential secret to storytelling? The stakes, or what the main character stands to gain or lose. If you've got a story with no problem, you don't have a story. You have a list of features. What do I do if I see my competitors also telling people stories?  Testimonials are a popular thing, and many businesses rely on them. So how do you make better ones? The good can only be as good as the bad is bad. People want to know what happens next. Even if it's a bad or repetitive story, the journey to the solution is naturally captivating. You want the audience to be the hero, not the business (or the product.) You want the highest possible production value you can afford. If you want your brand to appeal to your target audience, you need to create messages that look valuable. For smaller companies and organizations, you probably don't need to (and can't) spend $2 million on a TV commercial. But companies like Coca-Cola have to because they're selling more than sugar and water; they're selling a brand, lifestyle, and identity. Storytelling is a business tool that can draw more value from your marketplace. Your marketing message should look like the brand you aspire to be, not who you currently are. The customer should be the hero, not your business. By demonstrating what is at stake, you'll keep people invested in the outcome.  But also, just don't overthink it. The art of storytelling is very simple, and if you understand the simple elements of a great story, you'll be successful. Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull.  Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can find Taylor Robinson's production company at sixfootfive.com and his storytelling organization at arcstories.com.  Save the Cat by Blake Snyder details the steps to a great story, especially on the screen.

On today's episode of Aligned, we're rerunning a fan-favorite episode featuring Sean's interview with Luke Allen, President of OHD, about finding, developing, and retaining A-level employees. As we enter the new year, fostering positive relationships with your team is critical to creating the culture and atmosphere that retains them. The development process begins when you attract people.  In the hiring process, you paint a picture of their future with your company. Onboarding should execute that plan. Luke's company onboarding process begins long before the new employee starts. His company builds a profile for each new employee, so everyone knows the new hire before they walk through the door.  The new hire also receives a mentor, an existing employee, who reaches out to the new hire before they start to answer questions and provide support. The new employee's first week is meticulously scheduled, so they know what they'll be doing and who they'll be with. Marketing is an onboarding key player. Marketing impacts how a new employee perceives the company. Therefore, marketers should create not just customers who are raving fans but also employees.  Employees should want to share company details with their friends and promote the brand they work for. Companies that don't foster these relationships lose top performers because people want to know their value. They want to see that they're important. Marketing should customize their outreach by each person and understand what people employees care about. (It's not always around money.) Overcoming onboarding and hiring challenges: Don't lower expectations for C-level employees. Instead, be clear about the demands and provide encouragement and support to help them move up. When you're attracting talent, share expectations early on. Sales training and consultants can fix ability, but they can't fix culture. You need to ensure people like and want to work in the culture you create.  Many companies find employees who act as lone wolves, operating according to their own set of rules. These employees might get pushed out of success (even if they're successful) due to company culture. Your team will notice if one member isn't held to the same standard as everyone else. As salespeople grow in revenue, they grow in control (and thus fear change.) Executives can be held hostage by that kind of seller. Having multiple candidates eases that pressure because your team will be less likely to push against the process.  Aligned Episode Resources: FitzMartin is all about a sales-first culture and a solid sales culture as well. We want you to find new ways to leverage marketing and sales.  Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives looking for new ways to leverage sales and marketing for more revenue.  To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can also connect with Luke Allen on LinkedIn.

In today's episode of Aligned, Sean is pulling a fan-favorite episode from the archives: his conversation with Luke Allen about how to attract, develop and retain talent. Luke Allen is the CEO of OHD, an international company specializing in inside sales, outside sales, and sales reps.  The proactive attraction of talent is key. What if you lose someone who is a key player on your team right now? How do you replace that person without it impacting your business? Particularly for sales teams where each member has deep expertise in a topic, just one person's departure can result in a point of failure. Assess your team to determine the different roles and then proactively build a network of other key people who fit your culture and expectations.  Begin the work of finding great people, even if you don't have openings at that time.  Don't wait until you're hiring to begin the search. Stay in touch with people you interviewed but couldn't hire. Develop relationships with them because they can become valuable assets later down the line. By developing relationships with star performers, even if they don't work at your company, you're setting a precedent and company culture that respects and fosters good talent.  Identify the financial, personal, and strategic pains people have, and use those in your hiring. Focusing solely on financial pain is a mistake. People want to know before they sign on how you'll develop them and further their career aspirations, so communicate that upfront.  If your people don't talk to you about their lives, that's a blind spot you can't protect your business from.  By anticipating changes in staffing, you can avoid additional costs, consultancies, and downtime due to vacant positions. While this process will never be perfect, limiting last-minute scenarios is an excellent practice for any company to adopt. “Proactively Seek Great Talent” episode resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull.  To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can connect with Luke Allen on LinkedIn.

The ultimate goal for salespeople is pretty simple - to close more deals. But how do we make that happen? Today's episode of Aligned is a rerun of Sean's guest appearance on The Sales Evangelist Podcast hosted by Donald Kelly. The pair discusses the science-based approach to sales and marketing (and the alignment between the two) that Fitzmartin specializes in to drive revenue for clients.  The idea of a science-based framework: Most of us love superheroes (who today isn't a devout Marvel fan?) As the last touch, salespeople are considered the hero for most clients in the business world.  While a sales team might complain about bad leads, science has a different view. 80% of leads are in some degree of consideration. Behavioral science is the transtheoretical theorem of behavioral change, according to Prochaska & DiClemente: there's more to human behavior than awareness.  Sean's pro tip: When interviewing an ad agency, ask them what the most effective marketing approach is just before closing a deal. A good marketer knows how to impact a deal throughout the sales process. Looking back/looking forward: From a marketing and sales perspective, there are specific ways to help when customers want to move forward.  Scientific research has determined nine processes across all forms of behavioral science that allow people to move forward, but only at specific places. When people are contemplating a purchase, they go to your website. However, just because the prospects haven't bought doesn't mean they forget your company and their needs. Awareness isn't everything; consumers need a later stage process to finalize their decision.  Marketers need to help people move from contemplation to preparation and eventually to action.  Episode resources: Follow Sean M. Doyle on LinkedIn and visit his website.  You can also get his book, Shift, for free by clicking this link.   Speak with Donald directly on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook about any sales concerns.  The book Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving Your Life Positively Forward by James O. Prochaska talks about the change of behavior applicable to everyone who seeks to change.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and produced by Brightseed and Hill.

On today's episode of Aligned, we're pulling out an all-time favorite episode featuring our first episode with Will Riley that benefits virtually any business owner looking for simple changes that can lead to high impact across your business's performance. The secret? Revenue operations!  LinkedIn did a study last year that found that job titles with “revenue” in the title spiked up to 87 percent last year.  Marketing in the last four decades has probably evolved faster than any other industry, and marketing is having to shift again.  In a 30-year career, the power has shifted from belonging solely to sales so that consumers can go around the sales team now to get information. The consumer has more power.  Marketing evolved from creators of brand and art to integrate more deeply into operations.  Sales will always be what closes deals, but for many years there was no communication between the two elements. Technology stepped in to connect the two and overcome the lack of alignment.  We live in a rich technical environment now, and rev ops seeks to connect all the dots among technology.  Customer success became part of the dialogue. Now, these programs are being innovated more than ever. Businesses are buying more tech to automate systems and processes and make more money, but it isn't enough. It's important to understand how the technology will produce more leads, generate a higher close rate, and continue with upsell and cross-sell opportunities.  Rev ops breaks down silos and helps integrate different departments. Three different departments may have three different goals with three different objectives, and rev ops will apply a new operational framework to outline how they should be performing.  Misalignment has a hidden cost that creates difficulties. It leaves teams working harder than they need to.  Supporting data Fifty percent of sales time is wasted on poor prospects and bad leads.  Sixty-five percent of CMOs can't measure ROI of marketing activities across multiple channels.  Ninety-five percent of buyers buy from someone who gives them content at each stage of the buyers' journey.  Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50 percent more sales-ready leads at 33 percent lower cost. Tightly-aligned companies are achieving revenue growth 24 percent faster and 20 percent faster EBITDA profit growth.  Misalignment between sales and marketing technologies cost B2B companies 20 percent of revenue more per year.  Twelve percent of B2B buyers want to meet in-person with a sales rep but 71 percent start their process with unbranded research. We put all this effort into the sales rep and 12 percent are starting their decision there. Sometimes customers mask their value and hide from salespeople because they aren't ready to talk to them yet. The result is poor lead quality. Rev ops will solve that problem by aligning marketing and sales. Rev ops is marketing, sales, and training and it must have buy-in from all departments. Sometimes it's easier to hire a third-party firm to focus on the areas of current operations, enablement opportunities, future toolset, and areas where you can make more and spend less. Rev ops only work if there's an internal team left behind after the third-party rev ops team departs. Small-to-middle businesses can also elevate their revenues, and data shows that large companies get about a 10 percent lift, and small companies can get about a 20 percent annual growth rate with the integration of rev ops. Smaller businesses are more agile and it's easier to change the culture. As a result, they are better able to leverage this tool. “The Power of Rev Ops for Small-to-Middle Business” episode resources: Download FitzMartin's Cognitive Marketing Framework, which will apply to anybody's sales pipeline.  To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can also connect with Will Riley on LinkedIn.  Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies; executives of rapidly growing businesses; and executives who are pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull. FitzMartin is a sales-first company that is driven by those things, and we want to pursue those things, and we know that you do, too.

We know It goes against the typical belief. So how does structure liberate creativity? For any group of people, whether an acting troupe, a film set, or a marketing department, operating within a framework is the key to creating content that best reaches your set goals. And on today's episode of Aligned, Sean is joined by actor, writer, producer, coach, and speaker Michael Allosso to discuss why structure doesn't limit creativity; it liberates it.  It's one of the most overused phrases in the English language: think outside the box. You need the box, and you need a direction. Otherwise, how will you know when you've accomplished your goals? In 2009, Michael worked on the Pink Panther 2 movie with actor and producer Steve Martin. While Michael was in just three scenes throughout the film, he had to endure five callbacks for the role.  In auditions, the best directors are the ones who provide a structure to act within. The bad ones don't. Boundaries serve as guidelines to give people a space to operate within.  There are many different types of boundaries. Whether it's a physical, mental, or another type of boundary like time, boundaries motivate you to be excellent and find unexpected solutions to problems. We as leaders forget to ask the most crucial question: what is the objective? People in teams might have different objectives, especially across departments. Communicating what needs to be done is a structure necessary for creating what best supports objectives, especially when multiple objectives are in place.  Do not have a meeting if you don't have an objective. If you don't know the objective, how can you properly prepare for a meeting or presentation? Your thinking should've come before you came into the room. If you want better answers in those meetings, give boundaries to your marketing department. It won't constrain the results you get; it expands them. Solving problems doesn't happen in a given moment; it happens organically. Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth or looking for new levers to pull.  Read more about cognitive marketing on FitzMartin's website. Order Sean's book Shift for practical, business-driven ideas for marketing executives. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  To get in contact with Michael, connect with his website michaelallosso.com. His website details 35 secret weapons that make for a great communicator. He might be bad at doing the dishes, but his website has excellent content. (And we'll count that as a net-positive.)

In the conclusion of Sean's series with Blue Ridge's CMO, Ed Rusch, Ed and Sean discuss the importance of incrementalism. In a field filled with explosive growth, particularly one burgeoning with new technology, tactics, and strategies, finding a route to sustainable but progresive growth is necessary. Consider how customers buy technology today:  The days of multi-million dollar tech implementations and installations are quickly dying. When you look at how people buy software and services today, buying capabilities are specific to what the company needs: rapid deployment. This is indicative of a broader mindset; people want to experience value over time. The number of marketing technology platforms is growing fast, with nearly 10,000 platforms offered to help with different services. How do you break that down? You throw away the technology component and focus on the buyer. When is it okay to apply incrementalism versus just getting it done? You pivot internally for your clients to determine what strategies and platforms would be most effective. So, why wouldn't you do that for yourself? Think along those lines, drive meaningful value, and address acute pains within your organization. (For more information about addressing acute pains, check out the previous episode.) Select the right technology solution for where you're at in this moment. Don't go from 0% to 100% overnight. Instead, pick the solution knowing that it might not be the right solution for you two or three years later. If your success relies on a heavy adoption that needs high degrees of support, you might find yourself asking the same questions you started with (which you definitely don't want.) Make sure the platfrom is something your company is able to implement successfully. Fear in the modern marketplace. Whether it's a recession, a pandemic, or any other factor, there is invariably something injecting fear into the marketplace. (That's just the way life works.) Whatever your role is in your company, do it with confidence and be a genuine business partner for the functions of your organization.  Learn and understand how to hold a conversation that even the finance level, board level, or private equity world would understand.  If you're a marketer and are unsure how to do that, just ask! People will respect you for asking and learning more about what other people do. Ed's final takeaways: COVID forced people to overlook the depth of conversation that would've typically occurred. Leading a company and being unafraid to ask questions will help your company move forward. Have the clarity, passion, and power to impact your organization, and you'll find success. Demand more from your marketing. And to demand more, you must understand what it is that you really should be demanding. Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth or looking for new levers to pull.  Read more about cognitive marketing on FitzMartin's website. Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  To get in contact with Ed, connect with him on LinkedIn.

Marketing has universal truths that guide how to operate best to marketing initiatives. Today's episode of Aligned is a continuation of our conversation with guest Ed Rusch. He and Sean discuss how these truths, which Ed discovered by working in the supply chain for oil and gas, can be applied for any marketing strategy.  These marketing truths can be applied to everyone. Marketers love to say their industry is different and an exception to the rule. But Ed has yet to find an industry where that is the case. The key is identifying the patterns and seeing how you can successfully apply those principles to the company to inspire evolution and forward movement. A core principle of these truths is macroeconomics - the study of the aggregate of how economics behaves.  The Baltic Dry: As a B2B marketer, Sean follows the Baltic Dry to see some of the nuance and intricacies of modern transoceanic shipping and its effect on the economy. The Baltic Dry Exchange Index is a benchmark for the price of moving major raw materials by sea. Essentially, it's how much stuff is floating around on boats. There are regular spikes and fluctuations (just like anything else) because many companies rely on transoceanic shipping to create, build, or sell their products.  The challenge for marketers is taking this complex process and distilling it into a simple explanation. You want to articulate a journey forward in a way that's done for a business mindset. Pain Mapping - Humans do anything to avoid pain. Everyone has a threshold to manage pain. To sell or convince someone of a particular point, your message (as a marketer) needs to diminish or nullify the actual pain and any transitional pain. Marketers focus on intermittent and chronic pains rather than acute. We as marketers need to be more specific, more focused, and better tailor our macro messaging into something that addresses a specific and acute pain point. Once you solve the acute pain, companies will be more willing to trust you and assist them in solving their chronic and lasting pains that might not be solved as easily. Low-hanging fruit that you can easily solve for your clients: Help a customer be a better supplier or vendor to their customers. If you cannot capture orders, confirm those orders, and provide an Amazon-like experience to alert your customers about the status of a shipment, those are pains you can and should quickly solve. From a financial perspective, demonstrate an increased yield from your materials and equip customers to work with consumers to maximize that yield. It is an acute pain that needs to be solved because it directly impacts your customer's bottom line. Many companies carry excess inventory to avoid production shutdowns, and the problem with that (from a financial perspective) is working capital. The speed at which solutions are solved is integral in the B2B world, and massive corporations (like Amazon) can address those acute pains immediately.  These problems are solved by digital transformation. The main takeaway? Fast is not fast enough. When you look at the normal tempo of B2B businesses, they are highly planned. While it can be beneficial to have a plan for the entire year, is the messaging you planned out nine months ago really the most effective? Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth or looking for new levers to pull.  Read more about cognitive marketing on FitzMartin's website. Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  To get in contact with Ed, connect with him on LinkedIn.  Learn more about the Baltic Exchange Dry Index.

On today's episode of Aligned, Sean is joined by digital marketing devotee Ed Rusch. Ed is passionate about customer experiences and is the current CMO of Blue Ridge. In a three-part series, Ed will articulate his major takeaways from his years of experience in the marketing space. Today's topic? Common myths and misconceptions of executive-level marketing. Ed's marketing origins: Born and raised in Cleveland, his first gigs post-college were hosting various radio (playing adult contemporary and Today's Top 40 hits.) As he's grown and learned more about the industry, Ed is now intrigued by the concept of modern marketing and what that means for professionals today. Primarily a B2B marketer, Ed emphasizes maintaining a learning mindset to understanding the challenges and struggles of modern marketing. There is still a disconnect in how marketing is viewed.  A common misconception of marketing is its emphasis on “arts and crafts.” Sure, design plays an integral role in marketing. But that's far from the only thing (or the most important thing) that marketers do. An exciting thing about marketing today is the ability to touch and impact many aspects of the business beyond what traditional marketing could do. But because the possibilities are extensive, it can be difficult for marketers to know where to leverage their influence. A clear marketing goal: make an impact on your company's revenue growth.  Marketing can articulate a value message to the financial community, which is a needle-mover for those equity transitions. There's a need for both short-term success and long-term value creation, which marketing can create and influence. Marketing can be far more than a sales supplement when given the proper support. Ed's past work exemplifies the importance of strategic marketing. Initially viewed as a technology company, Ed's company had a commanding market share of their industry (an amalgamation of technology and construction.) They couldn't grow until they found a new avenue to expand into. And that avenue was connecting suppliers to the buyers. Establishing this new avenue involved creating not just a strategy but the story and messaging around their platform. It also involved creating a community between buyers, sellers, and logistics providers (and agree, as an organization, that they were a supply chain platform.) Which means both internal and external factors were at play. Marketing adds value in ways beyond its traditional implications. For example, marketing attracts new talent to your purpose and mission. Why do people want to be a part of your organization? Marketing can explain that. From a marketing perspective, the ability to reimagine your story and then leverage that in both employee engagement and the acquisition of new talent pays dividends. Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth or looking for new levers to pull.  Read more about cognitive marketing on FitzMartin's website. Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  To get in contact with Ed, connect with him on LinkedIn.

Continuing from our last episode, today's episode of Aligned features another conversation with Taylor on storytelling. Check out the episode to learn how you, as a business executive or marketer, can implement storytelling best practices into your business. What's one thing people miss when trying to tell stories? In a marketing context, it's a lack of identifying who“the hero” of your story is and the stakes that drive the story forward. People in marketing are scared to show the negative. But that can remove the impact of a story. Great stories always end with some form of transformation. The catalyst of the change is what your story is about. Taylor's top pick for storytelling inspiration: Jaws. Taylor loves not just the movie, but the experience he associates with the film itself. As a child, he found Jaws terrifying but intriguing. And now, as an adult, he remembers the fear the movie once instilled in him. The movie's filming was riddled with problems, so the ingenuity that arose from desperation made some of the most iconic cinematic scenes of all time. In Jaws, the external problem is the huge shark killing people (that's pretty obvious.) But the internal problem is Matt Hooper. He's new to town, his family doesn't want to be there, and he tries to find his place in the community.  The story of Jaws is about Hooper finding his place while also dealing with the external problem.  Storytelling is very powerful for faith-based organizations Taylor uses his creative talents to work on projects he's passionate about. As a  Christian, he enjoys working on projects close to his heart Storytelling isn't something that we use; it's something God gave to us. God designed the craft of storytelling to bring glory and honor to himself while advancing the gospel. God didn't just create the concrete world. He created how we understand the world.  Storytelling is the only non-biological thing all humans share. Across all of history, the one thing we share is the ability to understand and tell stories. The Bible is the greatest story ever told. The four secret ingredients to storytelling are transformation, vulnerability, details, and stakes. The Bible excels in integrating all of these elements. Details: The story of Christ is incredibly long and detailed. Vulnerability: God humbled himself and took on the form of a human and offered himself up for sacrifice for our sins, which is very vulnerable. Humans are sinners in need of a Savior; we're in a vulnerable place because there's nothing we could do to redeem ourselves. Stakes: The stakes are the eternal life of civilization (it really can't get more significant than that.) We think about the Bible regarding its theological implications, but it's also the archetype of perfect storytelling. Telling a biblical story:  People will take passages from the Bible out of context to justify and rationalize any belief or decision. It's essential as storytellers and filmmakers to realize, as we're conveying scripture to people, that claiming scripture as true is powerful. Don't take things at face value; take God's truth that he has made clear throughout the Bible.  Dealing with constrained budgets of nonprofits, churches and ministries: What Taylor's grandmother says is true: you get what you pay for. But you have to be careful what you pay for. Hire the right people who understand who you are and what your organization is about. Some businesses just can't afford professional filmmakers. Taylor dislikes when organizations request professional services with the caveat of, “we're a ministry you should do things differently.” There's value in storytelling to achieve a purpose. But there is also value in storytelling purely for the aesthetic. Taylor recommends the book Angels in the Architecture. From an aesthetic standpoint, it is crucial for me as a filmmaker and storyteller to operate at the highest level possible. The act of storytelling in marketing is about helping communicate to somebody why they should choose to assign their limited resources to you and your product or service. The foundation of why you should pay more for an aesthetic: beautiful things are effective things. Beautiful things are effective things. Nothing else in marketing has the complexity nor the capacity to reach, touch, and affect other human beings. People now more than ever can tell when something looks cheap or isn't very good. So why would you ever create something that wasn't going to be as good as you could afford it to be. In post-production, the beauty of powerful storytelling is removing the extraneous components to create the greatest impact with the least material possible. It's a great way to a better piece, and it's better storytelling, Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull.  Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can find Taylor Robinson's production company at sixfootfive.com and his storytelling organization at arcstories.com.  Save the Cat by Blake Snyder details the steps to a great story, especially on the screen. Taylor created FlyKid to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ through storytelling. Check out the website Flykid.tv to see Taylor's methods and organization to help teach the craft of storytelling.

Storytelling isn't just a way to share your business's stories and information; it's a way to connect with audiences. It's a way to make connections between you, your products, and the emotions you elicit in your audience. In today's episode of Aligned, Sean is joined by commercial film director Taylor Robinson in this two-part episode to discuss the art of storytelling. Storytelling is an art. What is the definition of art? To Taylor, it's just any form of expression.  People are attracted to other people's expressions, which is why storytelling is so compelling. Facebook gave everyone a heightened sense of expression by providing the idea that your thoughts and ideas are important, which is why Facebook achieved its high level of success. Applying storytelling to sales: The difference between bad and good storytelling is the dialogue that allows the viewer to participate. A good story is, above all, relatable to the audience in some way.  Taylor's favorite movie is Jaws, yet he has never been attacked or bitten by a shark.  However, he knows what it's like to be scared. And great storytelling finds the shared link (like an emotion) to make the audience experience the story for themselves.   Often, the most challenging hurdle Taylor encounters when working with clients is the initial creative process, and the marketer or professional doesn't know their story. Companies tend to talk about themselves. But the secret is to stop and ask what stories your audience wants to hear. Starting a Successful Story: Start with two things: What do you want to accomplish? Is it to increase sales, or is it to teach a particular fact? What is the information or story the audience needs to accomplish what I want to accomplish? When crafting your story, begin with a hook: an attention-grabbing narrative that establishes the problem. Story Structure can be broken down into four parts: the problem, the character, the solution, and the place. Crafting stories to achieve business goals: When creating a story, your business is always the secondary part of the story. If you want to create a powerful video, your true star is the emotion or problem your audience can relate to. An essential secret to storytelling? The stakes, or what the main character stands to gain or lose. If you've got a story that has no problem, you don't have a story. You have a list of features. What do I do if I see my competitors also telling people stories?  Testimonials are a popular thing, and many businesses rely on them. So how do you make better ones? The good can only be as good as the bad is bad. In great testimonials, people discuss why their previous service or experience with another company was bad, which creates a problem your company can come in and fix.  People want to know what happens next. Even if it's a bad or repetitive story, the journey to the solution naturally captivates people. You want the audience to be the hero, not the business (or the product.) You want the highest possible production value you can afford. If you want your brand to appeal to your target audience, you need to create messages that look valuable. For smaller companies and organizations, you probably don't need to (and can't) spend $2 million on a TV commercial. But companies like Coca-Cola have to. The takeaway: Coca-cola isn't selling just a 50 cent mixture of sugar and water; they're selling their brand. They're selling a lifestyle and identity. Storytelling is a business tool that can draw more value from your marketplace. Your marketing message should look like the brand you aspire to be, not who you currently are. The customer should be the hero, not your business. By demonstrating what is at stake, you'll keep people invested in the outcome.  But also, just don't overthink it. The art of storytelling is very simple, and if you understand the simple elements of a great story, you'll be successful. Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull.  Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can find Taylor Robinson's production company at sixfootfive.com and his storytelling organization at arcstories.com.  Save the Cat by Blake Snyder details the steps to a great story, especially on the screen.

ALI 19: One Simple Strategy to Add Value to Customers in Meaningful Ways Keywords: provide that value for clients and customers.   Today's episode of Aligned is all about one thing: value. But what does value even mean? From a practical standpoint, value leads to increased margins, more effective sales, and increased revenue. But value isn't just practicality; there's a depth involved. And on today's episode of Aligned, Sean dives into the meaning of value and how to provide that value for clients and customers.   Defining Value: From a customer-perceived value framework, value is the difference between a prospective customer's evaluation of the benefits and costs compared to others. There are four categories of value: functional, monetary, social, and psychological. While it seems like a simple word, value has nuance. Its basic underlying concept is meeting the needs of an audience, whether those “needs” are wants or demands.   The diamond water paradox: Things with the greatest use have little (or no) exchange value. Conversely, the greatest exchange values often have little use. Adam Smith's An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations examines the relative exchangeable value of goods by defining two value perceptions: the value in use versus the value in exchange. A simple example: nothing is more useful than water, but it costs nothing. Alternatively, diamond has little practical use but is an expensive commodity.   The value triad:  There are three ways we can offer value to the customer - revenue gain, cost reduction, and emotional contribution. Many B2B companies prioritize cost reduction. But because of that, most B2B businesses can grow by understanding the applications of emotional contribution and how to deliver it to customers. Looking at emotional contribution, we realize things that don't raise revenue or lower costs are still valuable. Value can present itself as social power; it could be a service offering, the product packaging, the installation, the services delivered, or even the intake model.   A quick story: A purchasing manager is talking to a potential buyer who wants to demonstrate to his senior leadership that he's contributing to the business. People in these positions are under pressure to complete transactions quickly and efficiently yet are blamed when something goes wrong. And their diligence and understanding typically get little recognition. If you can help the purchaser get out of a rut, get a visible win, and gain the attention of their bosses, you'll make a huge emotional contribution (and thus provide value.) How can you add value to your clients? Integrate value mapping.  There are three potential aspects to a buyer's behavior in the cognitive marketing model: financial pain, strategic pain, or personal pain. (The previous example would be personal pain.) Strategic pain has nothing to do with the dollars of the widgets or the amount spent per hour; it's how you strategically add value to the entity. If you're selling your products and services on an input basis (using the labor theory of value), try shifting that thinking to an emotional contribution model. You'll understand why that person is buying from you and what that buyer is doing as a company. This lets you sell based not on inputs like labor, but the value labor provides. The key takeaway? Don't immediately look to reduce cost or promise revenue. Instead, provide emotional contribution in quality or services, social recognition, and even marketing leverage.   Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull.  Read more about cognitive marketing on FitzMartin's website. Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  Adam Smith's An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations examines the relative exchangeable value of goods.

On today's episode of Aligned, Sean is rejoined by President of OHD Luke Allen to discuss the sales and marketing relationship. The two departments are often thought of as a water and oil mixture - two necessary components that don't work well together. In today's episode, we're going to find out why (and how to change it.)  It isn't just one half of the equation - both sides miscommunicate. Luke has seen marketing create imagery around a product where it doesn't fit the audience the product is marketed towards. On the other hand, Sean has seen sales staff not understand the role of marketing and the benefits marketing provides while still taking 100% attribution for the sale itself.  Overall, the difficulty with sales and marketing alignment comes from sales lack of trust in marketing. Aligning sales and marketing is a multi-step process. But how can you start? The first step is a common understanding of the way the consumer goes through their buyer's journey, and then creating a common language between sales and marketing. Marketing gets thrown under the bus if something doesn't work out, but marketing has a critical role in moving potential customers through the initial stages of a pipeline without sales having to interact. Developing communication doesn't have to be challenging. You can categorize the strain between sales and marketing and two big camps: economic and cultural. The two functions attract very different types of people - marketing attracts an intellectual or “creative” person. In contrast, the salesperson is the chameleon able to be molded into whatever they need to be. One way to create marketing and sales alignment is to have shared revenue and attribution in early stage goals. Get the groups together to determine the goals, KPIs, and how those goals will be tracked.  Sean's secret? Don't undervalue marketing. Imagine a company has one million dollars to invest in its sales and marketing. Typically, you'll see sales get 80-90% while marketing is left with 10-20%. If you flip those numbers, do you think sales could perform with only 10% of its budget?  You can't undervalue something and then be surprised when they aren't able to do much. Overcome this hurdle by implementing incrementalism. If you start with $100,000 to achieve a specific result, that then allows you to go back and ask for $200,000 next time. And then $300,000.  Different types of marketing and sales relationships: Undefined group - smaller companies who don't even think about how sales and marketing work together. Aligned sales and marketing group - companies with defined boundaries but with joint planning sessions that create a shared language.  The highest level is a revenue and operations group - fully integrated, breaking down the silos of sales and marketing and structures everything within one unit. Sean and Luke's advice to executives and working professionals: Begin measuring some of the hard questions discussed in the episode, like your marketing/sales split.  Marketing should get out of the office. Get them in front of customers to learn fresh perspectives and thoughts they would never know otherwise. Look at your budget from the customer journey perspective and see how much you're allocating for each stage in the customer's journey. Episode Resources: Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies; executives who are pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull.  Read more about cognitive marketing on FitzMartin's website. Order Sean's book Shift. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can also connect with Luke Allen on LinkedIn. 

Will and Sean conclude their 5 for 15 RepOps series with the discussion of a critical (yet often unrecognized) component of business development: innovation. But how does innovation play into revenue operations? Check out today's episode of Aligned to find out. Innovation is integral to company success. A common thread throughout revenue operations - different people are responsible for understanding various customer aspects. Marketing might need to think about long-term strategy while sales develops one-on-one insights directly from prospects. And, of course, current customers provide innovative ideas you know your audience will like. The takeaway? Innovation needs to be a part of the revenue operations conversation because there are multiple stakeholders in the conversation.  Innovation is a posture change.  You can have the right framework, alignment, and programming. But if you refuse to innovate, you'll be the next Blockbuster - the shining star that burned too quickly. But what do we mean by innovation? Innovation is asking questions. How else could we build it? What else can we do with this? How else can this be applied? The command-and-control management model leftover from World War Two inspired this lack of innovation in the workplace. Moving to a distributed approval process for innovation can help you avoid this issue. Idea-killing structures have to be shifted. As an executive, think about how an idea would disseminate through your company to be understood and seen. Is it accessible to everyone? Are certain people encouraged to participate over others?  Make your company aware of biases. People are taught to see something one way, and our brains will frame new ideas to fit that expectation.  How to determine the most important thing to develop in the company?  Develop quarterly objectives with the execution maximizer system. Implement programs to generate innovation. Give each of your employees fake capital and see where they choose to invest in the company.  By avoiding a command and control top-down model, you recognize good ideas based on what has the most investments. What's the key takeaway from this episode? Shift the way you drive innovation in your company. Check out Sean's book Shift to learn how to develop your marketing strategy and skills. Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies, executives of rapidly growing businesses, and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull. FitzMartin is a sales-first company driven by those things, and we want to pursue those things, and we know that you do, too. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can also connect with Will Riley on LinkedIn.  

As we wrap up our series on revenue operations, it's time for a conversation about a driving force behind the expansion and problem-solving for businesses: marketing technology. The number of MarTech companies has exploded during the last decade, and they serve a critical function in business models today. But how can you use them properly? Tune in to this episode of Aligned for the answers.   Why is marketing technology MarTech) important? In 2011 there were only about 150 MarTech companies. As of now, there's an estimated 7000-8000 MarTech companies (AKA a growth explosion.)  This explosion of new tech options can make it challenging to determine which tools are right for your business. How do you evaluate them? Before you start scheduling demos, creating trials, or talking to any other company, you first need to determine which category your problem (and thus solution) falls in.   The Seven Business Categories of MarTech: Advertising and Promotion Content Creation and Enhancement User Experience Journey Mapping  Sales Enablement E-commerce Business Intelligence and Reporting Internal communication For an in-depth look at what these categories represent, check out our blog.   How do you know which tools to utilize? Determine which buckets are most important to your business, and then look for companies that solve those overarching problems. Pro tip: Search comparative technologies and look at crowd-sourced tools to figure out if one is good If you have one tech that fulfills multiple responsibilities, that's great. Fewer accounts and systems can make things less complicated.    Finding a system that works for you: Different businesses have different needs. In some cases, you might want to utilize multiple platforms that each specialize in a specific component. For other people, they might want one giant platform that integrates everything. Some businesses might even need a custom platform that is created purely for them. Each strategy has its pros and cons, and one method isn't inherently better than another. Whether it's usability, communication between interfaces, security, you need to identify what is most important for your business.    The tools-centered approach is the wrong approach. Finding a balance within those seven categories is integral to your success. Before you start booking platform demos, develop a strategy to determine what problems most affect your business and solve those challenges. Upwards of 80% of marketing-generated leads are wasted because of a lack of communication between sales and marketing. Sean and Will recommend starting with a strategic focus on your tech, decide which problems within the seven categories you need to solve, and conduct a MarTech audit. Marketing and marketers all talk about wanting data. 73% of people a year ago needed integrated data points. This year, that number rose to 90%.   The key takeaway - Not every solution is your company's solution. Strategy can drive your business - search for answers to your problems rather than problems with a great solution you might not need. Check out Sean's book Shift to learn how to develop your marketing strategy and skills. Aligned is a podcast for executives of emerging middle-market companies, executives of rapidly growing businesses, and executives pursuing growth and looking for new levers to pull. FitzMartin is a sales-first company driven by those things, and we want to pursue those things, and we know that you do, too. To connect with Sean Doyle, find him on LinkedIn, or learn more about FitzMartin on the company web page.  You can also connect with Will Riley on LinkedIn.

Marketers want to know how to create revenue because money is the scorecard of business. Companies make money when customers buy, but buying requires behavior change. You need people to quit buying from your competitor and start buying from you. To find out how behavioral change influences sales and marketing, I sat down with Sean Doyle, CEO of Fitzmartin, a company that helps mid-market b2b firms solve sales and marketing problems through strategy and process. We talked about:  How people change their behavior How to uncover anxiety in your prospects  How to shift organizational culture to focus on customer outcomes Hear more from Sean in episode 141 on The B2B Revenue Executive Experience. Listen to this episode and more like it by subscribing to The B2B Revenue Executive Experience on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.