For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Sales Enablement Defined

Sales Enablement Is The Bridge Between Go-To-Market Strategy And Tactical Execution

by Scott Santucci, August 4, 2010

Tectonic forces are at work transforming business relationships away from their traditional dependency on products and services toward a focus on business outcomes and results. Inefficiencies noted within a sales organization are only early warning signs. . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Coming Upheaval In Tech Services

Four Economic And Technology Factors Will Combine To Recast The Business

by John C. McCarthy, Pascal Matzke, July 29, 2010

The tech services market is about to undergo a massive transformation that will call traditional provider business models into question. Four factors will combine to dramatically change the dynamics, economics, and competitive landscape of IT services . . .

For CMO & Marketing Leadership Professionals

Let Your Product Do The Talking

Build Your Brand With A Product Experience Platform

by Chris Stutzman, July 28, 2010

As the effectiveness of traditional communications vehicles continues to decline, marketers must think differently about brand building. Forrester has identified that consumers are tuning out marketing messages, but they are actually engaging more with . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The VSB Market Under The Magnifying Glass

The Very Small Business Profile: Growing, Young, And Mobile

by Tim Harmon, July 22, 2010

The very small business (VSB) market is growing in importance for an increasing number of tech vendors, in large part due to the fact that it is the fastest-growing company-size segment in terms of technology spending. Moreover, VSBs are broadening their . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Technology Buyer Insight Study: How Executives Differentiate Among Their Suppliers

How You Sell Is As Important As What You Sell

by Scott Santucci, June 15, 2010

Executive decision-makers find that the technology vendors that best differentiate themselves from the pack are the ones that can match a relevant set of capabilities to their specific circumstances. For most technology vendors, the sales support responsibilities . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Technology Buyer Insight Study: Executives' Preferred Forms Of Sales Contact

Engaging With Executives Is More About What To Say Than How To Say It

by Scott Santucci, May 17, 2010

Growing the size and health of the pipeline is a major focus at most technology vendors. For the majority of sales leaders, prospecting remains the most reliable form of creating opportunity. Executive buyers still prefer traditional communication methods . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Tech Marketers? Use Of Social Media And Its Business Impact

by Peter Burris, May 10, 2010

North American marketers report on social media trends in 2010.

For Analyst Relations Professionals

What AR Can Learn From Customer Reference Managers

by Kevin Lucas, May 6, 2010

Customer reference management is so important to AR programs at B2B vendors that Forrester includes it as one of the 11 foundational processes within the Forrester Industry Analyst Relations model (FIAR). To identify best practices, Forrester explored . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Tech Marketers Must Tune Their Social Media Campaigns For Europe

B2B Social Technographics® Shows That Europeans Use Social Media, But For Various Reasons

by Peter O'Neill, April 29, 2010

Forrester has now completed its annual North American And European B2B Social Technographics Online Survey, Q1 2010. The detailed regional breakdown for European tech buyers shows that their adoption of social media in the tech buying cycle has accelerated . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Fueling The New SMB: Marketing-Services-As-Software

The Way To A Small Company's Heart Is Through Its Marketing Function

by Tim Harmon, April 21, 2010

The new small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) are polar opposites of their "mom-and-pop" predecessors — they're marketing rock stars (or at least see themselves as such) — and they place a high degree of importance on technology to fuel their newfound . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Technology Buyer Insight Study: Are Salespeople Prepared For Executive Conversations?

Addressing Gaps In How Effectively Salespeople Engage With Executives

by Scott Santucci, April 19, 2010

To avoid being relegated to commodity status, technology vendors are refining their sales strategies to engage with higher-level decision-makers earlier in the problem-solving process. Getting a meeting with these executives is hard, but turning that . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Should B2B Tech Vendors Continue To Outsource Their Channel Marketing?

Channel Success Will Require Something New And Some Things Different

by Peter O'Neill, March 30, 2010

In Forrester's Q4 2009 North American Global B2B Marketing Organizations Online Survey, tech marketers indicated that channel enablement and management is low on the budget list, just above PR. Yet channel dynamics are becoming a major driver of industry . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Customer Input Shaped Office 2010

How Customer Input Improves Product Creation Efforts

by Doug Williams, March 29, 2010

This report isn't about what's new in Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft's forthcoming release of its popular productivity software suite. Rather, it's a case study that highlights best practices in injecting customer input into the product creation life . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Seven Myths About Unified Communications And Collaboration

And Corresponding Realities That Further Adoption And Acceptance Of Unified Communications And Collaboration

by Henry Dewing, March 23, 2010

Unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) has become a hot topic in technology circles, making it critical for technology vendors to know the market and deliver products that will be bought and used. Separating hyperbole and conjecture from . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Banking And Insurance Key Security Technology Shopping Influencers

by Ellen Carney, March 5, 2010

This data chart summarizes findings from Forrester's Enterprise And SMB Security Survey, North America And Europe, Q3 2009, regarding online and traditional media that influence the purchase of IT within the banking and insurance industries.

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

B2B Interactive Spend Will Double By 2014

B2B US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2009 To 2014

by Michael Greene, March 4, 2010

B2B interactive marketing spending will climb to nearly $4.8 billion in 2014 as interactive channels continue to grab a larger share of the marketing pie. B2B marketers will continue to invest heavily in paid search but will also begin to invest in display . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Banking And Insurance Managed Security Services Buying Intentions

by Ellen Carney, February 26, 2010

This data chart summarizes findings from Forrester's Enterprise And SMB Security Survey, North America And Europe, Q3 2009, regarding managed security purchasing intentions in the banking and insurance industries.

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

How To Assess The Impact Of Social Media In B2B Tech Marketing

by Laura Ramos, February 23, 2010

As business-to-business (B2B) marketers experiment more with social media like blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube, they worry if venturing into uncharted social waters will pay off in tangible business results. Rather than trying to discern . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Do B2B Tech Marketers Localize As They Globalize?

Field Marketing's Eyes And Ears Complement Sales' Feet On The Street

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., February 18, 2010

As the global economy rebounds, opportunity beyond traditional markets will only expand. New local audiences and new requirements for meeting specific local needs — both in terms of the products and services delivered as well as the marketing of those . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Technology Buyer Insight Study: Executive Involvement In The Buying Process

Changing Buying Patterns Create Opportunities For Vendors

by Scott Santucci, February 18, 2010

As technology extends its reach more deeply into every corner of business, conflicting demands from business units, functional heads, IT groups, and finance are forcing enterprises to change their traditional methods of buying technology — as well as . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Technology Buyer Insight Study: The Expanding Role Of Procurement In The Buying Process

Vendors Need To Expand Their Knowledge Of Procurement Functions

by Scott Santucci, February 17, 2010

With increased cost savings through more strategic implementations of spend management programs and the tremendous results being realized by global enterprises, procurement functions will be growing in scope and scale and will play an expanded role in . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Technology Buyer Insight Study: Preferred Or Exclusive Vendor Relationships

As Buyers Stratify Their Suppliers, Sales Must Re-Evaluate How To Deliver Value

by Scott Santucci, February 16, 2010

Buyers are actively evolving their techniques for dealing with technology vendors to either get more value from a particular supplier or negotiate more favorable terms to save money. While many technology vendors are all too aware of the presence of procurement . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Organizing For B2B Tech Community Marketing

Social Success Requires New Roles And Functional Changes

by Laura Ramos, February 3, 2010

After testing the social media waters through much of 2009, business-to-business (B2B) marketers now realize that successful community marketing requires more than setting up group pages on LinkedIn or posting videos to YouTube. Taking a closer look at . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

For B2B Tech Companies, Demographics Shape Adoption

Technographics® Data Depict Critical Differences Among Target Audiences

by Tom Grant, Ph.D., January 28, 2010

Technology companies must appreciate the critical differences among customers. Each demographic dimension — geography, industry, company size, and role — affects customer adoption paths. For tech marketers, choosing the right channel of influence requires . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Building B2B Technology Markets

Case Study: Cisco's Emerging Market Strategy And "Country Transformation" Initiative

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., December 21, 2009

As penetration and the current economic downturn in traditional geographies caps historical growth rates, technology vendors are accelerating searches for new opportunities. Many vendors, such as Cisco Systems, have increased focus on emerging markets . . .