Magnus Marketing Blog

To get an idea of what we actually do at Magnus - click on the title "What is Sales Intelligence" and it will take to you ITSMA (Information Technology Services Marketing Association) website. ITSMA works with a lot of large companies designing programs around account-based marketing. I went to a seminar they hosted last year and was probably the most vocal in support of their programs. The seminar was great as an introduction and I would recommend marketers attend it. One of the ITSMA members acknowledged me as one of the people who was doing this method for a long time. That is why Magnus exists also - IBM, Sun, Hitachi, Hexaware all belong to ITSMA and have access to resources. We bring the same expertise to midmarket/SMB! Account-based marketing is not JUST for technology companies, research can be key to any vertical.

Executing an account-based marketing program is not a day-to-day event. Account based marketing, which is highly selective target account identification, penetration, and upsell should only be applied to specific accounts and a limited number. In a small/midsize company - telemarketing is used to do broad based awareness/lead generation, marketing (which is usually marcom) builds branding and awaress. Research-based marketing is the next level up. It is focused on select accounts or one vertical. Prospecting is one-to-one, multilevel (target messages to decison-makers and next level), business driven, and based on research uncovered about the account. Research is NOT a cursory sweep of the website or 10K, it is business analytical. More than a list of recent news, business description, and list of key contacts - it tells a story about the company. What it is doing, what the suggested pain areas are, what is important, it is like building a case study and analyzing it in business school. If it is done right, it is possible to identify sales opportunities very early, find a fit with the company that bypasses RFPs, and differentiate your company as one that "is in the know". A sales rep, empowered with the right information, will be able to have a meaningful dialouge with the C-Level/VP level person and provide value.

A story:
Most reps call companies with scripts highlighting features/benefits which is very "I,me,my" focused. Hi, I am Bill, I am calling from XYZ reseller, we have geographic presence in YZQ area, are certified in PDQ, and have done work with LMN. Are there any projects that we can work with you on?? Response: Send info, RFP is in June, we have many vendors.

True Story:
Researched target client. Read 15 articles or more about client. Noticed a lot of global hiring, found numbers of people hired, trends, uncovered some issues about global hiring and candidate tracking, identified latent issues. Found head of global hiring. Crafted specific email highlighting issues uncovered, discussed how my client's services can help solve or mitigate issues, sent email. Waited two days. Called head of global hiring. Left message. Waited a week. Caught global head on the phone. He remembered email, voicemail, and asked me questions. Two weeks later, in discussions with overseas division head. Opportunity: estimated at multi-million dollars.

Not the first time that happened to me. Most companies cannot have a biz dev, sales, or marketing person taking hours of time to research a company at that level, which is why they don't do it. Plus, people who can research at that level, call C or VP's articulating info, and secure meetings are not a dime-a-dozen. Most sit at IBM, Accenture, McKinsey. I managed to find a bunch of great analysts, call us McKinsey rejects, who can do this efficiently. That is why you outsource that type of research, prospecting, and sales support. Your telemarketers can go thru the list finding low hanging fruit and inviting people to webinars, your marketing manager does ads, brochures, and puts on the webinar/tradeshow, your salesguys close and work on keeping existing customers happy. Magnus does the rest!