Should you outsource your B2B marketing? (Yes, probably – here’s why)

Back in 2008, when the global financial crisis hit, many businesses were looking for ways to cut down costs – fast. There was a mass-culling of staff and marketing teams were one of the first to be bid adieu. But those businesses that wanted to keep selling knew they’d need some kind of marketing support. So, they looked for external experts who could help at a lower cost – and outsourced marketing services took off. Over the last several years, outsourcing has really caught on. It’s gone from something only big companies do to something businesses of READ MORE ›

2020-12-16T14:32:23+11:00By |Strategy|
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6 lessons we learnt running workshops remotely

Virtual workshops can be measurably better than physical workshops if you have the stamina of a bull, can work in three time zones simultaneously, and have the technical dexterity of a 12-year-old. For the rest of us, there’s work to be done to master the craft. For context, we've been building go-to-market plans for B2B companies, large and small, around the world for 20 years. This planning is usually carried out in a workshop setting; we've done about 500 physical workshops (or ‘Funnel Camps’) - usually 2-3 days in duration - in some 30 countries. We’ll typically READ MORE ›

2020-09-16T08:09:05+10:00By |Strategy|
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Take your Sales and Marketing Processes to a whole new level

We're going to help streamline your Sales and Marketing process, every step of the way If you’re a B2B sales and marketing consultant, you’ve probably already got some pretty strong insights into what works and what doesn’t. But you likely also know that poor alignment is one of the most common causes of an underperforming sales and marketing engine. Our clients often feel they can solve all of the world’s problems. And getting them to boil it down to just one problem that Sales and Marketing agree to can really help them improve their sales closure rates READ MORE ›

2020-12-19T07:25:30+11:00By |Alignment|
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B2B Sales+Marketing: you end up talking to the person you sound like

Sales training traditionally encourages B2B sales people to “call high” - in fact, it’s hard to keep track of all the articles and publications focused on selling to the C-level (a simple Google search reveals over 100 million hits). “Thought leadership” is no less fashionable amongst the B2B marketing community (over 200 million hits). But if you want to engage at the right level, and stay there as opposed to being bumped down the decision-making stack, you need to bear one simple principle in mind at all times: you’ll end up talking to the person you sound READ MORE ›

2020-06-03T11:05:27+10:00By |B2B marketing blog, Sales, Strategy, Tactics|
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Why the Cost of Inaction is so important in B2B Sales

Return on Investment (ROI) projections are often regarded as a critical element of B2B sales proposals, particular for high-value considered purchases. There’s no arguing that they have a role to play - but your sales people would be very unwise to rely on them. In fact, I’ve become convinced that over-reliance on ROI calculations is one of a number of key factors that are driving the high level of “decisions to do nothing after all” that so bedevil many long and complex sales cycles. Are you keen to find out why? 1. Most prospects distrust vendor-supplied ROI projections Most prospects have READ MORE ›

2020-06-03T11:07:17+10:00By |B2B marketing blog, Strategy, Tactics|
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Leveraging templates for corporate identity, consistency, and efficiency

  By Charlotte Mackenzie At align.me, we communicate with many different businesses all around the world and, like everyone else, we like to look professional when we do it. It goes without saying that all written communication should contain well-written content that represents your company well. But how it looks visually is just as important, and often neglected. Essentially, every communication piece should instantly notify the recipient of who you are via a clear and consistent corporate identity. What’s the best way to establish and then maintain that corporate identity? By leveraging templates. Customised templates are an READ MORE ›

2020-06-03T11:05:29+10:00By |B2B marketing blog, Strategy, Tactics|
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align.me CEO & Founder, Hugh Macfarlane’s featured keynote at DemandCon now available

Hugh Macfarlane’s featured keynote at DemandCon in May 2011 now available as an interactive video. July 8, 2011, Melbourne, VIC, AU – Hugh Macfarlane, Founder and CEO of align.me and author of The Leaky Funnel, was a featured keynote at DemandCon in May 2011. He then joined Funnel Coach, Charles Besondy, to run a full day Funnel Plan training workshop with the foremost thinkers in B2B demand generation. His keynote was centred on a topic that has made it to AMA’s Top 10 list of primary focus areas two years in a row – Sales and Marketing READ MORE ›

2020-06-03T11:05:41+10:00By |B2B marketing blog, Strategy, Tactics, Velocity|
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How exactly do you network for success in B2B marketing?

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... How do you make a conference on b2b marketing and sales pay big dividends? ’Networking opportunities’ are one of the major reasons cited for attendance at conferences, conventions and seminars. B2B marketing companies know that most people never take full advantage of these networking opportunities by actually achieving meaningful connections with the other people in the audience – as amazing as those other people may be. So how exactly do you network for success in b2b marketing? At DemandCon in San Francisco this May, Thom Singer will serve as your READ MORE ›

2020-06-03T11:02:14+10:00By |B2B marketing blog, Strategy, Tactics, Velocity|
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