A process is a series of actions or steps taken to achieve a particular end. It’s not more complicated than that. But there are things to keep in mind along the way.

OK…fair enough. The Commercial Ratio (CR) provides a high-level view to the impacts of marketing and sales spend. However, the CR is incomplete and unnecessary. The link to a podcast where the merits are debated is in the blog post.

If you’ve generated a sale, the good news is you already have a sales process - technically speaking. However, the process is most likely unwritten, unrepeatable, unmanageable, and quite FRUSTRATING! Create a winning sales process by first considering the desired outcomes, define the important milestones of the deal, then support the process and people with technology.

Gotcha with that clickbait title! Metrics are important but they aren’t overly important. Several outcomes are more important than hitting metrics. Consider the Outcome Hierarchy.

Inbound marketing is like sitting at the bar putting out your mojo while waiting for an attractive person to start a conversation with you. Outbound marketing is like approaching an attractive person and starting a conversation.

Round Canoe Syndrome is a metaphor for what happens in a misaligned organization. Left untreated, it’s deadly.

Product-market fit is less like two puzzle pieces and more like two piles of LEGOs. Mix-and-match to make a unique and flexible pairing.

Commercial teams benefit from clearly understanding three things…who the customers are, why the customers care about you, and how customers want to engage with you. Always.

Do the math on what a misaligned team is costing the company. Results vary by team, but consider this scenario.

One might think “we don’t do that here.” In fact, it’s impossible NOT to have done sales, marketing, and product development if you have at least one customer.

Best-in-class outbound marketing campaigns can still be epic fails and qualify as “horrible marketing”

Are you ready for some Football?  Think of your professional business team this way…