Ask a B2B marketer which companies they are targeting, and you will usually get a list of prospects in differences phases of the funnel. Ask sales which companies matter most this quarter, and you will get a different list. Companies evaluating suppliers, discussing proposals and approaching a decision. The second list is where the business is closest. Yet it is often the one marketing spends the least time on.
We tend to treat marketing as the activity that creates opportunities and sales as the function that closes them. It is a convenient division of responsibilities, but it does not reflect how complex B2B purchases actually happen.
Deal management is about closing that gap. Using marketing to support a specific business opportunity while sales is working to win it. Not another lead generation campaign, but a coordinated effort to improve the chances of winning a deal that already exists.
The people sales knows are only part of the decision
Sales usually knows who they are talking to. They know the technical buyer, the project manager and perhaps the person responsible for the budget. The stakeholders they often don’t know is everyone else who can influence the decision by saying “no” or “shouldn’t we investigate more…”.
And those people are not necessarily evaluating the same things.
The technical buyer wants the best solution. Procurement wants a supplier they can rely on. Finance wants to understand the financial risk. Senior management wants to know whether the decision will be easy to defend if something goes wrong.
These people might never attend a sales meeting or respond to an email. But they still have opinions about the suppliers being considered, and those opinions can influence whether the deal moves forward or not.
I have written about this before in reaching hidden buyers with targeted B2B ads. The principle is the same, but deal management starts from a different place. We already know which company we want to win, what they are buying and often when they have promised to make a decision.
That gives marketing something unusually valuable in B2B. A specific commercial opportunity to work towards.
One customer in Borås, one deal to win
Some years ago, we supported Nordic ID, a Finnish technology company, during a competitive sales process with Gina Tricot in Sweden.
Nordic ID was competing against three other suppliers for a substantial contract. The company had a strong solution and an established dialogue with the customer, but limited recognition in the Swedish market.
We built a campaign focused on Borås, where Gina Tricot had its headquarters and warehouse operations. Google Search covered relevant product searches, while geographically targeted Display advertising helped build broader visibility around those locations.
There was no ambition to generate new leads. The objective was to make Nordic ID more visible and familiar during the ongoing supplier evaluation, including among people who might influence the decision without speaking directly to sales.
Nordic ID eventually won a multi-year agreement worth several million SEK. The campaign had a modest media budget, and the partnership was later publicly announced, covering an RFID inventory solution for more than 180 stores.
The deal management campaign gave Nordic ID an additional advantage during the competitive sales process. While sales worked directly with the customer, marketing helped build recognition and familiarity among the wider group of people who could influence the decision.
And that is exactly where deal management adds value. By combining direct sales efforts with targeted marketing, we can strengthen our position beyond the people sitting in the meetings and improve our chances of winning the business.
The message has to follow the deal
The Borås example relied mainly on visibility and recognition. Other opportunities need something more specific.
Consider a company that has already received a proposal and is comparing two suppliers. More information about product features may add little if the technical evaluation is already complete. The remaining questions might concern implementation, reliability, service availability or what happens if something goes wrong.
That changes what marketing should communicate.
Customer references, documented results and evidence of successful implementations can become more relevant than the messages used to attract the account in the first place. The aim is to give the wider buying group information that makes the decision easier to support internally.
This is also why deal management cannot be something marketing runs independently of sales.
We need to know which opportunities matter, where they stand and what might be holding them back. Sometimes the answer is continued brand exposure. Sometimes it is a relevant case or a more focused campaign aimed at the account. And sometimes the right answer is to leave the advertising alone and let sales resolve the issue directly.
The campaign follows the opportunity, rather than expecting the opportunity to follow a predefined marketing funnel.
Not every opportunity deserves its own campaign
There is a commercial calculation to make.
A multi-year contract worth several million can justify a focused marketing investment that would make little sense for a small transaction. But contract value alone is not enough. We also need to consider the competitive situation, the number of people involved and whether marketing can realistically make a difference.
The opportunity is that we can influence people sales may never get to speak with. Through repeated exposure, relevant customer cases and messages that address the concerns of the wider buying group, we can build familiarity and confidence in a supplier before the final decision is made.
And that influence matters. Someone in procurement who recognises your company, a finance director who has seen evidence of successful implementations or a manager who has become familiar with your brand may be more comfortable supporting the decision. They might never click on an ad or visit your website, but that does not mean the advertising has no value.
This also changes how we should measure these campaigns. Generating leads is not the objective because the opportunity already exists. What matters is whether supported deals move forward, how long they take and how often they are won. The purpose is to strengthen our position throughout the buying group and increase the chances of winning the business.
We spend a great deal of time and money trying to create the next B2B sales opportunity. Sometimes the better investment is influencing the people who will decide the outcome of the one already on the table.
If you want to discuss how targeted marketing can help your sales team win more business, just reach out to:
Joakim Ebstein
Head of Digital Marketing
+46 725 555 984
joakim.ebstein@sfinxagency.se
