I was interviewing a CISO for one of our clients a few weeks ago and he said, “Do you have any idea how many emails and phone calls I get from vendors every week? It feels like a thousand. And, they are all saying the same thing. It’s just noise to me. Very few take the time to ask me what’s on my mind. Instead, they tell me how great their product is. That’s not what I care about.”
It seems as though there are as many B2B technology vendors as there are stars in the sky. For example, according to Gartner, there are nearly 100 sub-markets across IT Risk Management, Privacy and Cloud Security alone. Not vendors, sub-markets.
It’s no wonder business executives have had enough.
Years ago, my first manager told me, “Seth, there’s a reason we have two ears and only one mouth. Listen more than you talk.” It seems like a pretty simple thing and it almost seems pedantic that I’m writing about it. But if that’s the case, why aren’t more companies following that advice?
It’s astounding how many emerging B2B technology vendors talk about their products and services features and capabilities. This inside-out or product-first approach doesn’t work. It’s just noise to your target buyers.
So how do you rise above the noise and get the attention of your target buyer? It all starts with crafting the right message. Marketing tactics and sales strategies won’t work if you don’t start with a compelling story that resonates with your target buyer.
Use an outside-in approach to your go-to-market strategy, one that’s based on buyer motivation and differentiated value.
We’ve encapsulated this into our approach, which we call Buyer Voice Branding. With Buyer Voice Branding, you can:
- Surface what matters most to buyers
- Craft the hard-hitting message
- Put your competitors in a box
Buyer Voice Branding is based on market and competitive analysis, and takes advantage of Qualitative Primary Research (QPR). QPR delivers insight impossible to glean from any other source, and entails executive-to-executive interviews with key decision makers. Only QPR:
- Goes beyond typical Voice of Customer exercises to uncover factors central to buying decisions
- Delivers an executive perspective into market perception, core business triggers and pain points, key buying criteria, and perceived strengths and weaknesses
- Is the basis for building all marketing tactics and supporting sales strategies
So, have you’ve been a victim of product-first messaging, or have you had the success of buyer voice branding. Share your experiences here.