5 CONSIDERATIONS

FOR YOUR CUSTOMER

ENGAGEMENT

STRATEGY Ellen Barnes-Pfiffner

Consultant, EBP Business Consulting

“My team and I enjoyed the trip. It (The

Briefing) built trust and showed us the

depth of (the host company’s)

capabilities.”

ABPM MCS 2016 external customer

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO HAVE A BRIEFING? Identification

Needs Awareness

Information Gathering

Evaluation of Specific

Solutions

Evaluation of Vendors

Finalize the Buying

Decision

Vendor Support Post

Purchase

5 CONSIDERATIONS

I. Product/Solution

II. Sales

III. Customer, Prospect or Suspect

IV. EBC Resources

V. Customer Journey

Content: ABPM MCS, Video, Discussion, EBP Research, Best Practices

I

Identification Needs Awareness

Information Gathering

Evaluation of Vendors

Evaluation of Vendors

Finalize the Buying

Decision

II

WHAT IS SALES ENGAGEMENT?

• Sales engagement is about getting the

right customer in the right seat at the

right time” Ellen Barnes Pfiffner EBP Business Consulting

WHAT DO ACCOUNT MANAGERS CARE ABOUT?

COMPONENTS

Revenue and Margins Targeted Products and

Services

Retention Competitive Barriers

Compensation

HOW IS YOUR SALES ORGANIZATION

STRUCTURED ?

HOW TO ENGAGE

III

Decision Analyst

14

External Customers: Rate the usefulness of each of the following

for information on solutions for your business

Base: Respondents Who Answered

Q30. You have access to a variety of interactive sources for information regarding solutions that benefit your business. Please rate the usefulness of each of the following. (SR)

Aggregate: External Study

4.3

3.3

3.8

4.0

3.3

3.7

3.7

3.7

3.7

3.2

3.1

4.3

3.3

3.7

3.9

3.3

3.8

3.8

3.7

3.6

3.2

3.1

4.1

3.1

3.5

3.7

3.2

3.7

3.7

3.5

3.7

3.2

2.9

1 2 3 4 5

Executive Briefings

Trade Shows

Seminars

Conferences or Customer Forums

You Visit Sales Office

Sales Staff Visits You

Partners/Integrators

Industry Analysts/Consultants

Internet Websites

Webcasts

Social Networking*

2016 2015 2014

Not At All

Useful

Extremely

Useful

Finalize the Buying

Decision

WHEN TO HAVE A BRIEFING

Information Gathering

Id Needs Awareness

Suspect……………………….

Prospect……………………………………………..

Evaluation of Vendors

..............................………………..Customer………………………

Vendor Support Post

Purchase

Evaluation of Specific

Solutions

IV

QUALIFY A BRIEFING REQUEST

• Purpose

• Decision Maker

• C-Level

• 30 Days in advance

• Customer, Prospect, Suspect, Other?

• Opportunity – Current Spend

Decision Analyst

External Customers: Rate the importance and performance of these briefing elements

Base: Respondents Who Answered

Q24. Please rate the importance and (Sponsor’s) performance of each item. (SR)

Aggregate: External Study

Lowest Highest

4.0

4.1

3.7

4.3

3.8

3.9

4.0

4.0

4.0

4.2

4.0

4.3

4.2

4.0

4.2

3.8

4.3

4.3

4.0

4.3

4.2

4.4

4.1

4.0

4.2

4.3

1 2 3 4 5

Customer Overviews Business Goals

Sponsor's Strategy/Direction

Customized Solutions Demonstrations

Knowledge of Discussion Leaders

Level of Discussion Leaders

Executive Involvement from Sponsor

Facilitator Actively Managed

Role of Sales Rep

Helpful Center Staff

Follow-up Actions

Customized Briefing Content

Relevance of Content

Presentation Skills Of Discussion Leaders

Importance

Perfromance

Importance Performance

Decision Analyst

19

External Customers: How successful was the briefing in building or strengthening your business relationship?

Base: Respondents Who Answered

Q5. An important goal of Executive Briefings is to build and strengthen continuing business relationships. How successful in accomplishing this goal was the Executive Briefing you attended? (SR)

Aggregate: External Study

Strengthen Bus. Relationships (% 4/5 Rating) ’06 ’07 ’08 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16

Aggregate: 77% 82% 82% 83% 83% 87% 88% 87% 84% 88%

Customer Loyalty (% 5 Rating) ’06 ’07 ’08 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 ’16

Aggregate: 27% 31% 30% 39% 34% 43% 41% 40% 38% 45%

50% 51% 52% 44% 49% 44% 47% 47% 46% 43%

27% 31% 30% 39% 34% 43% 41% 40% 38% 45%

77% 82% 82% 83% 83% 87% 88% 87% 84% 88%

2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

4 Rating 5 Rating N=306

CUSTOMER JOURNEY

V

“We believe that forming personal,

emotional connections with our

customers is the best way to provide

great service.” Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh

CUSTOMER TOUCHPOINTS

Branding Tradeshow Account Teams

Seminars EBCs Installation

Marketing Sales Operations

Advance Sales Cycle Lead Generation Qualify

COLLABORATION

• Customer journey

• EBC Advisory Board

• Agenda

• Shared objectives and measurements

Collaboration is a Contact Sport

5 CONSIDERATIONS

I. Product/Solution

II. Sales

III. Customer, Prospect or Suspect

IV. EBC Resources

V. Customer Journey

CONTACT INFO

Ellen Barnes Pfiffner • Ellen@ebpbusinessconsulting.com

• www.ebpbusinessconsulting.com

• (214) 789-3571

26

June 2, 2017 Workshop – Waltham, MA June 27, 2017 Measurements Executives Embrace- Paris June 27-June 29, 2017 European Conference - Paris October 16-20, 2017 Fall Workshop Series - Austin