It's no secret that all leads are not created equal. Not every contact at your prospect company is going to have the authority to make purchasing decisions.

However, a team of people reaches purchasing decisions. Each individual in that team has the power to strengthen or kill your relationship with the company. This means that every contact counts, some far more than you realise.

A common misstep among salespeople is underestimating who they're talking with at a company. Naturally, their preference is to speak with someone who can make purchasing decisions. Most salespeople give and show a great deal of deference to higher executives. But they don't always provide the same level of consideration to people they view as less important in reaching their goal. If this has ever been the way you communicate with people at a company, it's working against you.

The old methods of prospecting and selling don't work the same today. When you consider current statistics, such as the fact that it takes an average of 18 calls before you connect with a buyer and nearly a quarter of all b2b email marketing communications aren't even opened, every contact becomes increasingly important. It's more challenging to reach the person with buying power directly. They often don't answer sales email or phone calls. They guard their time by putting buffers between themselves and the salespeople trying to get their attention.

So the question becomes, in addition to investing in a strong email marketing strategy, how do you cut through the noise and get heard above every other salesperson prospecting that company?

Identifying Sales Leads — How to Determine Who You're Talking With

It's not as cut and dry as it used to be. Company hierarchies are often not as easy to figure out. There are creative job titles that don't necessarily tell you much, and it can be relatively tricky to prospect cold leads. Sometimes it's challenging to figure out who you're talking to and what their position is in the buying process. Your marketing strategy can miss the mark if it isn't clear who your audience is and how best to engage them. Your sales department can't simply wait for prospects to call them.

Do your research on each individual. You might gather insights on LinkedIn or other social media platforms. If you have contacts in common, asking for an introduction can be an excellent way to connect, as these word-of-mouth statistics clearly convey.

The key to b2b marketing is in establishing your role as a great advisor who works to understand their customers' needs and motivations. That's what marketing automation is all about — getting to know your prospects so that you can provide them with a level of service and a customer experience that shows you value them and delights.

Customer Personas: A Marketing Strategy and Powerful Sales Technique

When you look at this evolution, it becomes clear that building personas to help your sales team understand their contacts and better personally serve them makes a great deal of sense in your b2b marketing strategy. Here we're going to look at some of the most common personas your team will encounter at a company. We'll break down how to develop their buyer personas in a way that informs your team for better customer engagement.

Gary: The Gatekeeper

The Gatekeeper is most often a person working as an administrative assistant, executive assistant, or some other title that works in a support capacity of your decision-making executive. 

Gary the Gatekeeper can be your best foot in the door at the company. If treated well, he can be an even better lead than the decision-maker he works for. 

Salespeople work to get past the secretaries and administrative assistants. Conversely, these professionals are trained not to let salespeople get through. The smart salesperson figures out pretty fast that it's better to build a relationship with a Gatekeeper because trying to get past them any other way is liable to be counterproductive.

In many companies, assistants don't field their executive's phone calls. Executives have voice mail to weed out sales calls. The assistant's job descriptions have also changed significantly. Many of these professionals work closely with executives are sounding boards whose judgment is trusted when making recommendations on projects and purchasing decisions.

Gatekeepers won't pass all of the sales material that lands on their desk up to their executive. Put yourself in their shoes and you'll understand why. Most of the products and services they see are not advantageous for their company. Gary the Gatekeeper is only interested in passing on information that will make him stand out as an innovative thinker and problem solver.

Keep that motivation in mind when crafting your communications with Gary. The decision-maker often won't do the research portion of purchasing. He or she makes their final decisions based on the recommendations of their staff. 

Cultivating an ongoing relationship with Gary can be an excellent asset for today and the future. Gary the Gatekeeper often moves up in the company to higher executive positions where he may be making purchasing decisions himself.

Inez: The Influencer

Inez the Influencer is typically someone higher than entry-level but without buying discretion. An influencer might be someone who works in a freelance or contract capacity, as well. Often they are a junior employee or someone who works underneath the decision-maker. In many cases, Inez the Influencer will make the first contact with your company because she's gathering information on products or services to solve a specific problem.

The Influencer can be an excellent lead into a company. Like the Gatekeeper, Inez only wants to recommend services and products that make her look good. By cultivating a relationship with Inez, you have the chance to find out more about the pain points she's concerned with, so you can position your solution as the best way to solve her problems.

If Inez has made first contact, she's already added herself to your traditional sales funnel. Make sure to personalise the attention she gets to strengthen the trust between her and your brand. Remember, Inez is very concerned with making a solid purchasing recommendation, so she's looking for solid tips and lots of value. Create your follow up to give her the information she's looking for with carefully crafted answers to commonly asked questions and make sure they solve her pain points.

Inez is looking to be educated and values insights that help her excel at her job. She'll find worth in following your marketing content if there are great tips that help her grow as a professional. Building that trust is key to being the first on Inez's mind when her company is looking for a service you supply.

David: The Decision Maker

David, the Decision Maker, is an executive with purchasing power. Depending on the size and structure of the company, David's title might be manager, executive, vice president, member of C suite or even CEO. In most cases, David will not contact you directly. He makes the final decisions based on the information he's receiving from staff.

In some cases, though, David likes to cultivate relationships with salespeople. When this happens, he's always looking for someone who's knowledgeable, commercially minded and who can cut to the chase and offer expert advice to help him solve his pain point. David the Decision Maker might only want to discuss the product with a salesperson after his staff has narrowed the field down to a few products or services. If this is the case, be prepared to work flexibly with the contacts David gives you but make sure to follow up with him personally.

Betty: The Blocker

Betty the Blocker often starts as a promising lead. She might have started as a Gatekeeper or an Influencer, cultivating a relationship to research information about your products and services. But, at some point in the relationship, she started blocking your access. She has stopped returning calls and no longer opens email correspondence.

Betty has decided that your solution was not the right solution for her company. It's really that simple. She may have recommended another solution, or she may have stopped trying to solve that particular problem and moved on to some other project in her pipeline.

The question you need to ask yourself is whether it's worth the time to try to reopen that line of communication. In some cases, a Blocker represents a closed door or a firm "no". However, you can do further research on the company to see if there's another lead there that you can cultivate.

Do You Want to Be Able to Build Personas and Trigger Personalised Campaigns?

Identifying sales leads at the company is integral to engage with your prospects successfully. Build personas that matter, as opposed to generic personas that don't speak to the motives of your contact and the emotional needs they want you to deliver on. Remember, your contacts all have a secondary goal to the problem they're trying to solve for their company that's mostly ego-centric.

Your contacts want to recommend the best products that reflect well on their professional decision-making. They're often using their recommendation power to inspire respect from peers and superiors, as well as wanting to fix a pain point that impacts their responsibilities.

As a sales professional, using this knowledge helps you cultivate the best long-term relationships at a company. All you need to do is use the information you have effectively and tailor your messaging to suit each contact. At 1827 Marketing, we've developed a marketing automation offering to give you the power to be able to build personas and trigger personalised, dynamic campaigns based on a deep understanding. Contact us today or request a demo to see how our automated solution can improve your b2b marketing strategy.