Why the CEO Owns the Prospect Experience

Bridging operational silos between sales, marketing and customer success to drive revenue takes a smart combination of strategy, process and technology. It also takes involvement from the very top. It requires ownership by the CEO.

The concerted effort by the CMO, CSO and the CCXO to make the organization a revenue machine is vital. But it’s even more important that the CEO takes a seat at the head of the table. Why? Because ultimately, it’s the CEO who can cut through the crap and take care of prospects.

The revenue leader (aka the CEO) needs support in the form of:

1) Generating prospects (CMO or senior demand managers).

2) Progressing prospects through the funnel (CMO/CSO or senior marketing and sales managers).

3) Turning prospects into customers (CSO or senior sales managers).

4) Continuing to treat customers like the prospects they are (CCXO or other customer focused managers).

The work of the CMO, CSO and the CCXO is vital. The problem is, too frequently, the three aren’t working in sync:

Marketing’s “strategy” is to purchase technology that automates processes which make it possible to funnel more sub-optimal leads to sales faster than ever before. The technology “works” from the standpoint that it’s automated as compared to doing lead generation manually. But without smart processes in place (including teleprospecting) all that is happening is that you are accelerating the generation of more bad leads for sales to ignore.

Sales’ “strategy” is to complain about the leads marketing generates. Because they’re used to getting lots of unfiltered, unqualified leads, they often don’t bother to follow up on any of them. That means the dollars spent generating leads is wasted, and the time field sales reps and/or inside salespeople spend starting from scratch just adds to expense.

The Customer Experience “strategy” is to set processes in motion as soon as the contract is signed, instead of treating prospects with more respect right from the beginning. 

Let’s elevate the conversation and talk about what the CEO can do to seize opportunity. The revenue leader can take the steps to make the prospect experience a single, unified series of planned events that can have huge impact on results.

The prospect experience is broken in most companies. Some recommendations to enhance the prospect experience:  

1)      Stop beating up prospects. Often, they’re not listened to, which results in too many calls, too few calls, and demonstrates a lack of empathy and understanding on the part of the salesperson. Make sure every prospect you touch is part of your total addressable market, is in a high-priority segment and meets your organization’s agreed upon definition of a lead--

2)      Nurture prospects through the funnel by giving them what they need. Know where they are in the sales cycle, and make sure you address them appropriately with the right content each step of the way.

3)      Make the sales process more deliberate. Close rates today probably more are a function of unconscious incompetence and not unconscious competence. Fix the prospect-experience with defined messaging and cadence and close more business.

4)      Show prospects what it means to be a customer and you will end up with more advocates for your service/solution. It’s never too soon in the process to start building loyalty.

How Prospects Describe their Experiences

As difficult as this problem is for companies to try to deal with, it is unfortunate that the prospects bear the brunt of inefficient process. Here are how prospects describe how they are being prospected:

1.      I am pushed into appointments by pushy appointment setters

2.      I receive way too much, non-targeted (even inappropriate) email

3.      I get calls all day every day from junior telemarketers reading from a bad script

On receipt of a poor-quality lead, sales reps say “the leads suck.” After delivering on the quota of leads promised by marketing to sales, marketing says “sales reps don’t follow-up on our leads.”

If the customer experience is about keeping customers, the prospect experience is about converting prospects to customers so that you have customers in the first place. Why make it more difficult for prospects to buy because marketing doesn’t talk to sales and vice-versa.

Prospect-Experience Transformation Process

Here is what’s in it for you and what’s in it for them (prospects)

Market - What’s in it for:

You: You save money because every prospect touch is targeted and prioritized.  Actively segmenting and re-segmenting the total addressable market (TAM) lowers prospecting costs.

Them: Prospects respect persistence with professionalism. Prospects appreciate and respond to a one-to-one approach. They value actionable insights you create.

Message - What’s in it for:

You: More precise messaging can be created for the more targeted TAM resulting in higher lead qualified lead rates. The creation of a living, breathing playbook optimizes results and minimizes investments in unnecessary marketing material.

Them: Prospects value an insight driven approach to conversations with them. Prospects “get” and respond to value statements that include differentiators that result in an emotional response. 

Media - What’s in it for:

You: Benchmarking allows you to optimize the cadence resulting in lower the cost per closed deal and more revenue. Nurturing substantially reduces prospecting costs allowing a deeper and more satisfying relationships for both you and the prospect.

Them: Prospects don’t enjoy being bombarded with wasted touches driven by flawed attempts to “personalize at scale.” Prospects respond to being touched by the right person, with the right message and the right time.

Of the emails you get every day, what percentage of them are wasted? Even if you are interested in a product or service, how many times do vendors shoot themselves in the foot by sending out error laden emails (often starting with “Dear First Name”)?

CEOs, your prospects need you. They need someone looking out for them. Your team will respond to direction. But you must direct them.

Even if you just want to talk about this informally, email me at dan.mcdade@prospect-experience.com.