Manufacturing Project Green LightHow to Gain Corporate Buy-in

To achieve buy-in, budget approval, or a project

green light you must first engage.

You must guide the company to the

realization that the initiative is a change for the better and that they

are a part of that positive change.

Engaging with your internal audience

requires preparation, analysis, relevant content

with context, and storytelling.

So let’s build a story ….

Audience Pre-education

Questions to be answered before the

presentation is developed

Exercise #1: Define who will be in the room. Who is the target audience for the presentation?

Example: CMO, CEO, CFO, Product Management Team, Global Marketing Team

Exercise #2: Define the benefits of the presentation to the individuals attending.

Example: Gain power, gain influence, gain accessibility, earn a promotion, earn a bonus or pay increase, develop my skill set and/or experience, love my job, contribute to the success of the company

Exercise #2: Define the benefits of the presentation to the individuals attending.

Example: Gain power, gain influence, gain accessibility, earn a promotion, earn a bonus or pay increase, develop my skill set and/or experience, love my job, contribute to the success of the company

Exercise #3: Define the benefits of the presentation to the company.

Example: Develop customer intimacy, increase productivity, increase customer lifecycle revenue optimization, and develop demand insight.

Exercise #3: Define the return for the company

with this type of initiative. Consult which

metrics are on the manufacturing executive dashboard.

Example: Develop customer intimacy, increase productivity, increase customer lifecycle revenue optimization, and develop demand insight.

Exercise #4: Define the return for the company with this type of initiative. Consult which metrics are on the manufacturing executive dashboard.

Example: Improvement against net income, return on equity, return on assets, customer delivery and responsiveness metrics, quality metrics, efficiency metrics, inventory metrics, regulatory and compliance metrics, maintenance metrics, new product innovation metrics, brand loyalty

Exercise #5: What are you asking for the company to invest? Define your ask.

Example: Money, people, time, tools, awareness

Exercise #5: What are you asking for the company to invest? Define your ask.

Example: Money, people, time, tools, awareness

Now, let’s build the presentation

Capture this conversation in 18 minutes

Remember to communicate your origin

story (where did you start?).

Paint a mental picture with multi-senses

You must take numbers on a page and turn them into something tangible

Define what the audience needs to know during the

presentation to keep them focused and what they need to know by the time they leave.

Exercise #1: Define your passion behind your marketing programs. Is it supporting sales, helping the customer, driving revenue, etc? Consult your marketing charter and define the passion within it.

Example: Our Company is passionate about enabling customers and dealers to ultimately drive revenue.

Exercise #2: Define the Origin Story

Example: In 1900 the industry was focused on

manufacturing. On building things. In 1960 the industry shifted to an industry of distribution. In 1990 the industry shifted to an age of information. In 2010 the industry shifted to the age of the customer. While these points are succinct, it would be more impactful to tell the story of a particular customer(s) throughout each of those phases, explain why the transformation occurred, and how that customer was impacted.

Exercise #3: Create your twitter headline. What’s the one thing you want your audience to know?

Example: Why We Need to Evolve From the Age of Manufacturing to the Age of the Customer

Exercise #4: Build in the Rule of 3. People can remember 3 things at once. Define those 3 points that support your Twitter headline.

Example:

1. We’re developing an understanding of the customer

2. We’re building a consistent branded experience for the customer

3. We’re providing proactive support and opportunity to our dealer network

Exercise #5:

Support each of the 3 points with a story.

Tell a story.

Have a conversation.

Example Story for Point #1: We’re developing an understanding of the customer. Through

nurturing programs including helpful newsletters and educational blog content, we’re capturing and analyzing customers’ digital body language. And we’re using the information to better support and educate the customer. At our recent trade show our customer FlowJoe stopped by the booth to learn more about our backhoe work tools. He had been researching backhoe work tools online, but abandoned his cart. We entered him into an educational nurture program about the value used parts, like backhoes. He engaged with this content, researched used parts available, and inquired into financing. After stopping by the booth we connected him with a local dealer selling the used backhoe. He purchased the backhoe for $10,900. He explained that it was because of the information delivered that he discovered an affordable alternative to his purchase. We upsold a customer that had initially walked away from a purchase.

Example Story for Point #2:

We’re building a consistent branded experience for the customer. We’ve consolidated dozens of fractured websites into a single website. Our dealer, FABCO Equipment, has had an 82% increase in engagement on our website. We reached out to talk with FABCO. They explained how pleased they are that they can now access all information in one central location. They used to search multiple sites, including competitor sites, for information on parts, maintenance, and rentals. Because they can find all needed information in one location they no longer bounce from the site. When looking at the revenue performance for FABCO we can see that their revenue contribution has increased by 13%.

Example Story for Point #3:

We’re providing proactive support and opportunity to our dealer network. Customers can now request quotes and view important content (while bypassing gated content). These opportunities are then accurately funneled to the appropriate dealer. One of our dealers, METSO had a 32% increase in revenue and a 43% increase in product registrations. By accurately matching opportunities with dealers, revenue is increasing, as is dealer satisfaction. Because we’ve become easier to do business with, dealers like METSO are providing an increase in product registrations.

Exercise #6:

Support each of the 3 points with data that has context.

Example Supporting Data for Point #1:

We’re developing an understanding of the customer. We’ve discovered that 26% of leads are “just looking”, 66% are “comparing company specs”, and 8% are “ready to buy”. This data is justifying our pursuit of a more comprehensive nurture strategy to address the buying stage of each prospect. This is allowing us to better support the dealers, improve both the customer and dealer experience, and as we’ve seen from the FABCO story, increase revenue opportunities.

Example Supporting Data for Point #2:

We’re building a consistent branded experience for the customer. 80% of construction customers use the internet to do research. 70% of B2B customers use the internet to buy. 57% of customers are typically 70% through the buying process before the contact suppliers. These data points have allowed us to identify what percentage of business opportunities we’re missing out on. We can now work to provide more early and mid-stage content to those buyers who are self-educating. This will accelerate the sales process and lead to greater revenue generation.

Example Supporting Data for Point #3:

We’re providing proactive support and opportunity to our dealer network. Dealer opportunities have increased by 43%. Closed dealer revenue has increased by 18%. These stats support our digital marketing and sales investment thus far. But given the digital buying behavior defined earlier, we must continue to invest in our digital initiatives if we’re going to capitalize on the 80% of construction customers utilizing digital channels.

Now, REHEARSE!

REMEMBER …..

ENGAGE

Deliver content that educates, nurtures, and

motivates

Deliver content that educates, nurtures, and

motivates

Define your target audience.

Define the benefits to the individual.

Define the benefits to the company.

Define the return for the company.

Define your ask.

Define your passion.

Define your origin story.

Create your twitter headline.

Define your 3 points to support your twitter

headline.

Define your supporting story.

Define the supporting data and include context

for each data point.

Define the supporting data and include context

for each data point.

Tell Your Story in 18 Minutes.