Tweet

The Pathetic State of B2B Demand Generation

Guest post by: Jeff Ogden

Article Overview: Jeff Ernst of Forrester Research looked at B2B companies and found them wanting.

The Pathetic State of B2B Demand Generation

Find New Customers is pleased to present this wake-up call on what is really wrong in B2B marketing today.

Senior executives need to wake up. Their businesses are struggling and it is their own fault!

_______

By Jeff Ernst of Forrester Research

In several of my recentreports, I’ve made claims about the current state of B2B demand

generation. Call me Mr. Doom And Gloom, but from my perch, and from my experience in B2B sales and marketing, it’s not a pretty picture. To back up my claims, I decided tosurvey B2B marketing and sales leaders to gather some data points on the real state of affairs.

Just for kicks, I asked people to give a word or phrase that summarizes their view of the state of demand generation, and the word that appeared most frequently in the responses was “disjointed.” Hmmm, how fitting. And there’s no shortage of contexts for how that word fits. Disjointed between sales and marketing, disjointed channels, disjointed messages. Shall I continue or enough said? Some of the other words and phrases offered are:

• Challenging
• Chaotic
• Confused
• Evolving
• In flux
• In transition
• Too much noise

Some of the other findings?

• In 42% of companies, marketing creates leads and sales tools and throws them over the wall to sales.
• Fewer than one-fourth of respondents have defined a lead-to-revenue management process that their marketing and sales teams follow.
• Forty-four percent of respondents say that prospects view communications from them as “disjointed” or “hit or miss.”

The good news is that B2B marketing and sales leaders are planning to make big changes over the next 12 months to address many of today’s shortcomings. For more stats and insight into what their plans are, see my report The State Of B2B Demand Generation: Disjointed.

_____

Amen, Jeff. Thanks for throwing some cold water on business.

What do you think? We love your comments and sharing!

Related Articles
  Identifying Poor & Pathetic Leadership Styles and Related Impacts
  Demand Generation Training | $99 via email
  Find New Customers Helps Businesses Keep SCORE to Improve Demand Generation
  Fix your sales lead problem with the SCORE Program from Find New Customers
  The SCORE Program from Find New Customers fixes the sales lead problem once and for all
  How to Find New Customers – the classic white paper
  What is your Marketing Effectiveness Quotient
  Marketers Lagging in Demand Generation
  CMO.com | Study Finds Marketers Don\'t Practice ROI They Preach
  How to Create a World-Class B2B Demand Generation Program in Your Company
  Find New Customer Announces Demand Generation using the SCORE Methodology
  Joining Insightful Marketing Blogs
  Podcasting Best Practices
  Performing a Solid GAP Analysis
  Focus Expert Series on Demand Generation
  More Ammunition for Outsourcing Lead Generation
  Sales Talk Versus Sales Babble
  Leading Lead Generation & Inside Sales
  The Most Important Thing to Do on Monday - Talk to Customers
  What's the ONE thing I need to do in B2B Lead Generation

Article Tags: b2b demand generation, b2b lead generation, btob demand generation, btob lead generation, find new customers, lead gen, lead generation companies, lead generation company, lead nurturing, sales lead generation, sales leads



Related Forum Posts
Re: Did you reach your goal this year? - Turns out there's 5 meeting locations for Toastmasters International in State College alone... only 30 minutes from my town. Most likely due to Penn State University, but surprising nonetheless that I have never heard of the organization before. I'll have to look more into it as it sounds like something I could benefit from.
Re: Did you reach your goal this year? - [quote="Alan Mater":35bhlot8]Turns out there's 5 meeting locations for Toastmasters International in State College alone... only 30 minutes from my town. Most likely due to Penn State University, but surprising nonetheless that I have never heard of the organization before. I'll have to look more into it as it sounds like something I could benefit from.[/quote:35bhlot8] There are lot of things we never heard of before until someone tells us. This is why I like this forum, the information we get here are priceless
Re: Traditonal Demographics Do NOT Work with Generation V - That article is the first time I ever heard the term. I found this definition - [i:189o61sy]The term Generation V (for Virtual) is used to describe the online culture in which relationships, services and communication are carried primarily and preferably through electronic media. Generation Virtual is made up of people from multiple demographic age groups who make their social connections primarily online - through virtual worlds in online games, in social networks, as bloggers, or through posting and reading user-generated content.[/i:189o61sy] I like the targeting options the internet offers much better than the typical demographics. Age is particular is not nearly as effective in finding a target market unless you want to target kids. Too many of the typical demographics rely on stereotypes and just seems outdated for many types of promotion. That's one of the reasons this article title caught my eye. Shri
Re: Did you reach your goal this year? - [quote="ideasuniversity":1oo0mnde][quote="Alan Mater":1oo0mnde]Turns out there's 5 meeting locations for Toastmasters International in State College alone... only 30 minutes from my town. Most likely due to Penn State University, but surprising nonetheless that I have never heard of the organization before. I'll have to look more into it as it sounds like something I could benefit from.[/quote:1oo0mnde] There are lot of things we never heard of before until someone tells us. This is why I like this forum, the information we get here are priceless[/quote:1oo0mnde] Agreed! As GT pointed out, forums in general are great for learning and finding out new things that we never would have known otherwise. I've learned so much here in the past year, and I look forward to what this year will bring.
Re: Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must; - Thanks Jason I was overseas during the Hippie Generation (but i understand according to you, we have not completed that generation) I just don't see the long hair, bare breasted flower children and open drugs as I understand was so prevalent then or I haven't been looking in the right places. OFF THE CHAIN got me? As to sex and age, I always prefer to see a warning to others, especially minors A question for you, "With so much FREE sex, videos, pictures, stories as such available on the interest, readily accessible to all - Why does SEX still Sell online?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

BUILDING A HIGH PERFORMING TEAM

Word of Mouth Marketing Tips Fuel Success

Igniting Your Unstoppable Business Destiny

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.