Most folks in the startup community are familiar with the Lean Startup methodology popularized by Eric Ries. In this post, I will make a case for why most startups should seek to build a Lean Marketing Org.
Product Category Creation
Losing Sleep Over B2B Tech Conversion Rates
Ask any VP of Sales or CEO to explain their pipeline conversion rates. Often, they will jump right to the win rate: “We win at least 50 percent of the opportunities we get!” Not so fast. We want to know the conversion rates (plural).
Many of the qualified opportunities that turn into closed deals quickly come from referrals. These, by definition, are very late stage opportunities in the pipeline. Your conversion rate for these types of opportunities probably needs to be at least 50 percent - otherwise, you do not have a scalable business.
Your Product is Amazing, BUT Your B2B Marketing Sucks
Glad I got your attention. Marketing does not suck. But, it can suck and that is what we should all try to avoid.
Marketing will suck if it is not a critical component of driving the overall go-to-market (GTM) strategy. If your marketing is merely supporting the GTM, I would say that you will continue to have low expectations from marketing.
In this post, I will address the topic of how you can make sure that your marketing drives the GTM. For that, let us begin with the person for the job.