Escaping the Black Hole: Minimizing the Damage from the Marketing-Sales Disconnect
Product Description
A fourth of all B2B marketing and sales resources are wasted on misguided initiatives and activities. As much as 80 to 90 percent of the content produced by marketing is considered useless by salespeople. And only 29 percent of a B2B salesperson’s time is actually spent on selling. Companies who sell complex products and services struggle with the growth in the raw volume of content, the constant change, and the number of contributors. This often leads to significant duplication, inconsistent information, and a dilution of the message that complicates the sales process - confusing prospects and sales reps alike. Written by sales and marketing expert Bob Schmonsees, this enlightening book aligns marketing and sales organizations, putting everyone companywide - from the CEO to the assistant - on the same page. The last decade saw an increasing misalignment between marketing and sales, as well as allowed inefficiencies to creep into the marketing and selling model. Schmonsees reveals the secrets to bridging the gap, cutting the clutter, and eliminating the waste.
Escaping the Black Hole: Minimizing the Damage from the Marketing-Sales Disconnect
I am a professional reader on sales & marketing material and have read atleast over 50 books and hundered articles on same topics. Frankly this is the WORST book ever read and totally confuse how such a …… book can even get published!!!!
The whole book is full of jargons that author invented in order to make his wrtings professional but totally opposite is true.
Imagine you are a consultant who is invited to give a talk about closing the gap between sales and marketing process and your presentation material contineously describe:
Core Intellectual Assets
Integrated/syncronized marketing & sales Ecosystem
Sanctioned content
Message Mangament Process
Value-Centric Communications Model
Buyer-Centric Revenue Acceleration Model
Content Optimization Framework
…….
and you end up by suggesting by using these processes you get ride of black hole which exist between marketing and sales function in your organisation. Believe it or not if I am among the participants my first feedback and concern is how to free the author from the black hole first !!!
List of big words and acronym just goes on and on … without any practical example just contineous bragging words of author that he discovered, uncovered and developed…….
The last funny point is he -among others who have nothing to offer and desparate to get consultancy job with some poor company-claim and link every theoretical nonsense to company stratigical issue and highly recommend that that his model only works if it is implemented as part of long term stratigical process of company ; means he has to stay long time with company $$$$$
I really hope that publishers in future pay more attention to content of book and atleast review it with some professional and do not get trapped by acronymes and big words that authors try to make their writings professional.
I also hope that the reviewers also be more professional in writing their comments about the book since their credibility and professionalism is at stake ; they are in my black list already and do not buy any books which is even ranked 3 stars by them, I might try a book which is ranked one star by them and tell you more about it!!!
Rating: 1 / 5
Having experienced first hand the frustration of the disconnect between marketing and sales, it is nice to see a practical solution to the problem. This book is a “must read” for every sales executive, marketing executive, and “C level” manager. Aligning the marketing and sales message to focus on the customer and aligning the team to maximize the message will immediately improve the bottom line. If that is your goal, and you are looking for how to do it, here is the book for you.
Rating: 5 / 5
I found this book to be very on-point to the vast chasm’s that exist between marketing and sales organizations. Especially helpful for companies with over 100 sales people who sell a diverse portfolio of goods and services in a value-based selling model. To which my company is now evaluating a number of vendors who specialize in what is also known as Enterprise Sales Enablement. One vendor in particular, The SAVO Group, http://www.savogroup.com stands alone. If you’re serious in improving sales effectiveness and aligning your marketing organization with top line revenue production, this book is for you and you should check out The SAVO Group.
Rating: 5 / 5
I have been trying to put my hands around a specific set of deliverables between Sales and Marketing. This book has done more than any other to create a framework for that.
Rating: 4 / 5
Marketing managers in high tech rarely have direct experience being on quota. They struggle to understand the differences between how they think and how sales thinks.
Escaping the Black Hole bridges this gap. Any marketing manager, and especially product managers, ought to read this book. And if you are in sales, it would help you as well.
Plus, this book contains several new ideas and concepts, some of which are based on the kind of insights and perspectives that only come from years of experience in the trenches. In order to make these new concepts come alive, the author includes a lot of useful visuals. If that wasn’t enough, the book contains a very helpful cardboard tear-out glossary that doubles as a book mark. This is a feature I would like to see in more thought leadership books.
Rating: 4 / 5