Why a one page plan will get you more sales and marketing results

It's quite an eye-grabbing statement to make - that a one page plan will bring in more results. But after 20+ years of shaping the sales and marketing of high growth businesses, our co-founder Hugh Macfarlane has found that brevity really does have merit. And this has never been more relevant than when it comes to your sales and marketing plans. Most sales and marketing plans are quite lengthy due to how much information is in them - everything from your target audience to your problem statements and your tactics. The intention when we build them is READ MORE ›

By |Strategy|
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A Leaders guide to optimising your technology, people, and supply chains

Over the past few years, the align.me team has been regularly holding events for leaders (both our clients and their guests) to share and collaboratively workshop growth insights. Our objective is to create new networks, refine best practice in B2B marketing and sales, and give a little thank you to those who have entrusted us with referrals over many years. When we brought this group together late in 2020, the global economy was climbing out from the depths to which it had plummeted. And, locally, we were dealing with the aftermath of the early lockdowns. At the READ MORE ›

By |Strategy|
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Build a B2B content marketing plan you’ll actually stick to

It's easy to overlook the importance of content marketing. Tactics like blogging, thought leadership and organic posting can often lose out to more lead and sales-based tactics. While positioning with content is a vital part of marketing, the idea that it doesn't convert makes it less attractive to a lot of businesses - and not worth the precious time and resources. However, the value of positioning through content marketing should never be underestimated. We consistently see our clients achieve conversions from customers who have been receiving content from them for months – even years. Even if you READ MORE ›

By |Tactics|
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How the budget, grants, and changing markets will affect business (plus the 4 steps to growth in uncertain times)

In 1966, Robert Kennedy said: "Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty, but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind. And everyone here will ultimately be judged - will ultimately judge himself - on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort."  If Kennedy were alive today, I wonder what words he would use to describe the time we share and the world we live READ MORE ›

By |Strategy|
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The cool winds of change won’t stop blowing any time soon

Well, who'd have picked that? Growth was certain. In January 2020, the International Monitory Fund (IMF) expected global demand to rise from the 2.9% we saw in 2019 to 3.3% in 2021 and 3.4% in 2022. Globalisation was still accepted to be obviously good in most advanced economies. Certainly, the US was heading into a period of uncharacteristic insularity, and the UK was busy extracting itself from Europe. But those shifts were already 'priced in', and there was a strong chance that the US would strike a trade deal with China in early 2020. Fast forward ten READ MORE ›

By |Strategy|
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How to build a marketing brief in 5 minutes

What's in a marketing brief? At it's core, a marketing brief needs to describe what you want done and any constraints like timing and budget But there's more, right? In the very least, some helpful context like a description of your target market and the products / services you offer. And maybe why buyers even need a product like yours so the tactic can speak to this motivation. We'd argue that the context of the tactics also matters. What's happening before and after this tactic, and long side it. Also which stage of the buyer's journey READ MORE ›

By |Tactics|
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Build vs Buy, and some Surprise Benefits from Aspose.Slides

Build vs Buy, and some Surprise Benefits from Aspose.Slides We're all in. Funnel Plan has gone from being a great tool to help our consultants to build sales and marketing plans for clients, to a 'bet the farm' investment in a self-contained software product licensed as a software service (SaaS) model. Our clients have built over 2000 sales and marketing plans using Funnel Plan and we learn more every day about what clients want. So you'd think it reasonable that we feel we need to build everything ourselves, so that we can own all the IP. Our READ MORE ›

By |Strategy, Tactics|
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5 x growth from a 5 day update [video]

Want to 5 x your growth in 5 days? I just analysed 1700 sales and marketing plans in our Funnel Plan database, and found a gem I think you're going to want to know about. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y_-d7AV1wDA   Grow 5 times more with this simple action We've got around 1700 active sales and marketing plans in our 2 databases. I analyse these plans almost every day and find so much gold! And every week, I share the best nugget that I've found in that week. Here’s something you’re going to want to know about: In a simple split READ MORE ›

By |Strategy|
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3 great ways to get help, optimising your sales and marketing process [video]

If you want your sales and marketing process to be awesome, don't build it alone. I've got 3 great tips on how to improve and optimise your sales and marketing process. https://www.youtube.com/embed/NI5G9-16Mn4   3 Effective ways to optimise your sales and marketing process Use free resources; Use your friends; and Hire a professional. Kind of obvious, right? Let me offer you a few rapid-fire tips on the best way to get the most out of each of those 3 resource types. #1   Effective ways to optimise your sales and marketing process Use free resources Read READ MORE ›

By |Strategy|
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3 B2B sales trends that cannot be ignored

Forward from Brett Bonser: As a new member of our team, I am delighted to allow Claudia to share with you her findings - on key B2B sales trends that are shaping the future. Don’t let your sales be left behind. Read on, to prepare yourself for the changes ahead. As a business leader, you need to keep up with the rapidly evolving B2B selling environment. Your customers are continuing to change the way they engage and buy. To make things even harder, digitally aggressive new competitors will be entering into the market, intent on disrupting the READ MORE ›

By |Sales|
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