The Proof Point

Trailblazers in competitive intelligence, Andy McCotter-Bicknell, Clara Smyth, and Alex Eaton share insights on knowing competitors, balancing competitive and customer intelligence, investing in CI, creating comparison pages, and enhancing sales effectiveness by acknowledging competitors in positioning strategies.

Sy Pendergast (Goldcast), Lauren Alt Kishpaugh (Pendo), and Myles Bradwell (UserEvidence) discuss collaborative customer success strategies to reduce churn. Addressing customer churn as a company-wide concern, the guests highlight the need for alignment between marketing, sales, and customer success teams. They emphasize the importance of delivering value to customers, honesty in sales conversations, and integrating successful client stories into marketing efforts.

Robert Kaminski challenged Calendly's homepage messaging, sparking a debate on B2B marketing strategies. The key focus is on aligning homepage messaging with the audience's needs and balancing benefits with clear communication. The podcast delves into the importance of storytelling, user-centric approaches, and the evolution of B2B messaging models.

Experts April Dunford, Kyle Lacy, and Marcus Andrews discuss crafting compelling B2B stories for sales teams: tailor-made storytelling, avoiding writing by committee, the importance of strong positioning, customized narratives, adaptability, internal alignment, and buy-in. They share tips on resonating with audiences, updating strategies, and aligning sales and marketing efforts. The chapter descriptions include clashes over PowerPoint slides, humorous turd analogies, and strategies for success in the age of technology.

The TL;DRFeatures, benefits, or outcomes - where should your marketing strategy zoom in? With a sea of opinions out there, here's the lowdown from some folks who really know their stuff.Anthony Pierri (FletchPMM), Emma Stratton (Punchy), and Chris Orlob (pclub.io) tell us where to shift our focus in messaging to B2B companies to be successful.What’s working in B2B marketing:CONVERSATIONAL, CRYSTAL CLEAR MESSAGING Speak plainly, or you might as well speak alien. Keep it simple, keep it straight, and watch visitors turn into leads.What’s not working in B2B marketing:MIMICKING THE GIANTSFind strength in your niche market. When it comes to start-ups; narrow & deep will outdo wide & shallow.The key takeaways:Tailor your messaging to the audience's pain points: Understand and directly address the specific problems that your target audience is facing. Mirroring customers' pain in messaging helps build trust and understanding. Using visual aids and credible niche targeting to resonate with risk-averse buyers is extremely effective.Contextualize everything based on where your buyers are: This is the technology adoption lifecycle curve comes in handy. Messaging should be customized to appeal to different groups, from early adopters who might prefer customizable solutions to the late majority looking for pre-built, low-risk options.Humanize your message: The "barbecue exercise," a strategy to strip away jargon to create a human-oriented, relatable message can significantly differentiate a company from competitors who rely on dry, indistinct language.Balance outcome and feature-driven messaging: While many believe that leading with outcomes is the most effective, focusing on the "what" and "how" makes messaging more memorable and effective. Send a balanced message that appeals to the intelligence of sophisticated buyers yet remains specific and tangible.Niche-ing down can lead to bigger opportunities: Achieving relevance often means excluding a larger part of the market to focus on a specific niche. A focus on a niche market, like Tesla, led to significantly larger opportunities, a key strategy, especially for early-stage startups. This reinforces the power and potential of targeting and growing from a narrowly defined market.The things to listen for:[00:00] Intro[10:30] Be specific and differentiate in crowded markets[15:35] People need a branding agency for tech[18:24] Effective sales messaging focuses on customer pain[25:09] Focusing on sales is challenging in this economic climate[26:57] Product expansion leads to strategic complexity and stress[30:37] Create content, target niche, reduce risks, and find success[35:11] Startups can succeed by owning niche markets[37:32] Use provocative messaging to engage pragmatist buyers[45:19] Avoid dry business speak & write conversationally[46:12] Encourage natural communication & simplify complex jargon[49:43] Jargon's value in specific contexts

The TL;DRToday, we're all about research—audiences, customers, markets, you name it. No fluff, just the raw truth.Amanda Natividad (SparkToro), MJ Smith (CoLab), and Evan Huck (UserEvidence) talk about research (or lack thereof) for many B2B companies.What’s working in B2B marketing:CREATIVITY + CUSTOMER INSIGHTResearch needs to validate creative ideas. Hear how these three avoid marketing myopia.What’s not working in B2B marketing:INCONSISTENT RESEARCH Research isn’t a one-off activity. Don’t fall victim to the trap of institutional knowledge.The key takeaways:Understand the full scope of audience influences: B2B marketers should move beyond simple demography and firmographics to include the broader context of what influences their audience, including peers, competitors, and societal trends.Blend creativity with customer insight: Although creativity is vital for differentiating your brand and marketing efforts, it needs to be backed by solid customer insights. B2B marketers should leverage research to validate creative ideas, ensuring they are addressing the real needs and challenges of their customers.Utilize a mix of research methods: A combination of quantitative data and qualitative insights is crucial for a well-rounded understanding of your customers. Advances in technology are enabling richer qualitative insights at scale, but marketers must also look for the non-obvious insights that come from in-depth, tailored research conversations.Consistent research is key: Research is a continuous process. B2B marketers need to stay on top of changes in customer behavior, industry trends, and underlying motivations by making research an ongoing practice.Democratize access to customer feedback: In many organizations, customer feedback becomes siloed within certain departments. B2B marketers should advocate for democratized access to customer feedback across the organization to allow for diverse perspectives and to gain a broader understanding of customer needs and challenges.The things to listen for:00:00 Intro05:27 Frequent research ensures institutional knowledge remains accurate09:11 Audience research: interviews, surveys, content consumption10:38 Balancing creative risk-taking in marketing16:07 Be specific19:22 B2B marketing relies on assumptions, which are often boring20:15 Identify the correct target for potential sales26:12 Use cross-functional customer engagement for better insights27:14 Scarcity of customer feedback presents challenges for companies34:20 AI-driven insights37:35 Summarizing caller data to identify recurring pain points42:10 Acquisition brought strategic MBAs, but lacked practicality43:00 Closing

Listen to Emily Kramer, Adam Goyette, and Jeff Ignacio discuss the importance of alignment in revenue models and how poor planning processes hinder success. Key takeaways include aligning goals with team ownership, embracing full-funnel reporting, and practicing realistic revenue forecasting.

Adam Schoenfeld woke up and chose violence with his hot take on this one.Adam (Keyplay) joins Trinity Nguyen (UserGems) and Jarod Greene (Vivun) to dig into some of the most common misconceptions around TAM, ICP, and ID’ing fit.What’s working when defining your ICP:LET DATA LEAD THE WAY Set it up in your CRM. Track your customers. What’s changed? Who’s churned? Why? Is our hypothesis for who’s a fit actually our best fit?What’s not working when defining your ICP: OBSESSION OVER INTENT SIGNALS Fit > intent. For real.Key Takeaways:Importance of a Defined ICP: Precisely defining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is crucial. Adam Schoenfeld stresses the need to establish clear parameters around the ICP to ensure sales and marketing efforts are aligned and focused. Trinity Nguyen's approach of regularly revisiting the ICP at User Gems illustrates the dynamic nature of ICPs and how companies must adapt to shifts in customer fit and market trends.Patience with Strategy Implementation: Give new strategies time to take effect before making changes. Trinity Nguyen points out that particularly in a commercial SaaS context, it's important to allow time for the market to absorb and react to advertising efforts. The pitfall of frequently changing ICPs can be counterproductive and may not provide sufficient data on what works and what doesn’t.Utilization of Multi-Source Feedback: Utilize both wins and losses to refine your ICP. Jarod Greene's insights into Vivint's process of refining their ICP by considering various attributes signal the importance of using diverse feedback channels. This informs a more strategic and adaptable approach to targeting customers.Alignment Across Teams: Ensure alignment across all teams regarding the ICP. The importance of keeping sales, marketing, product development, and customer success teams on the same page regarding the ICP cannot be overstated. This unity ensures a cohesive go-to-market strategy and ensures that all customer-facing teams are targeting and supporting the same customer profile.Focus on Fit Over Intent: Fit should be a priority over intent signals. While intent data platforms can suggest potential customer interest, understanding whether a lead truly fits the ICP is more valuable. The episode discusses the tendency of B2B marketers to over-prioritize intent signals, yet the panel agrees that a deeper understanding of the customer—including their challenges and fit within the ICP—is essential for effective marketing strategies.Things to Listen for:00:00 Deeply understand customers for building ideal profiles. 05:02 Focus on serving the best customers effectively. 09:46 Tracking customer criteria, part of company DNA. 12:48 Learning to navigate variance for business success. 15:07 Set boundaries, focus on strategic growth mindset. 17:26 Challenges in using limited historical data explained. 20:36 No's and not nows provide valuable insight. 25:25 Rely on accurate CRM data for sales. 27:27 Listening to gong recordings for sales improvement. 30:59 Implement strategy into operations, test and analyze. 34:05 Companies expand product offerings due to complexity. 38:23 Champion needs to handle objections, targeted messaging. 42:17 Team enjoys memes, aims for brand recognition.

Experts discuss the need for B2B sales to evolve, focusing on creative training methods and personalized approaches. They highlight the importance of speaking the buyer's language and ditching traditional discovery calls for more engaging tactics. The podcast also explores the impact of empathy, observation, and communication dynamics in sales strategies.

Experts discuss key pitfalls in GTM messaging such as crafting in a silo and the importance of starting with the problem and value. They emphasize trust in sales, internal alignment, and data-driven marketing strategies for success.