Marketing Funnel :: Lean Sales and Marketing thru Service Design Thinking

Archive for Marketing Funnel

Nov

Marketers must understand the systems they manage.

Posted by: business901 | Comments (0)

During the past several years, I have seen more marketing efforts geared towards increasing prospects at the top of the marketing funnel. This has resulted in increase spending, greater efforts in innovation and jumping on the Social Media bandwagon. Few will attribute greater profits or increased revenue to these efforts. My contention is that the top of the funnel is the least effective and most expensive method of generating leads. All of these methods will increase variation and can be demonstrated by Deming’s funnel experiment which illustrates the effects of "tampering" with a process and increasing variation rather than decreasing it.

Video courtesy of Rumba Training Ltd -

It is not enough in this day and age to just increase marketing efforts. The reason the pellets miss the target is because of the inherent errors or causes built into the system. Attending to you Value Stream (Marketing Funnel) will decrease variability and create significant improvements. Why would you need to take the riskier methods of innovation and product improvements?

This is were many think that I would discuss the typical Lean theories of reducing waste, improving cycle time, and managing your work in process. Though that is not a bad thing to do but you have to innovate and improve or you will fall behind.

This is what the new wave of Lean Marketing solves. It is an effective way of staying on the leading edge. It is a way improving the way you sell and market through tightening those inherent errors in your system. You cannot predict the future. However, you can build a process that adapts quickly to the changing environment and quicker than you competition. The Future of marketing is Lean!

Value Stream Mapping your Sales Team

Posted by: business901 | Comments (2)

In my Microsoft Newsletter this week, I received the following enticement:

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Today, businesses are asked to do more with less. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online delivers exceptional value because it combines your everyday Microsoft Office applications with powerful CRM software accessed over the Internet to rapidly improve marketing, boost sales, and enrich customer service interactions. Try it now for 30 days! (This is not an affiliate Link).

I am trying it this week but what I wanted to share is a piece of the collateral information, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Power Couple. In this PDF, MSN highlighted the Customer Decision Making Process aka Mirror Marketing( Your Marketing Funnel from your Customer’s Perspective.) but extended the concept to show the process from several other points of view.

I have always been an advocate of seeking Sales and Marketing’s response to each of the customer’s decision steps but MSN (they are selling software), highlighted the technology enabler and a team response to the Customer Value Stream process. This simple exercise utilizing a high level Value Stream Map can really get your individual departments on the same page!

In my recent work, I have been advocating breaking down the Sales Silo and making Sales a team effort. In most organizations, I have been met with strong resistance to this concept. Most sales people look at as another silly initiative and most internal people see sales as a vehicle to customer data. As a result, sales resist and rightfully so preventing themselves from becoming an extended clerk. However, the approach really should be about how to increase face time with the customer. The #1 enabler of increased sales.

Create your own sales team by reviewing who responds to your Customer’s Value Stream Map. Start having a few meetings, similar to a daily standup meeting which may not be feasible. I would recommend at first error in having the meeting to often, just cut them short. In a spirit of true collaboration, don’t automatically exclude your customer from the team. This concept really could increase face time!