B2B Sales and Marketing #FriTalks

Hando Sinisalu, the founder of Marketing Parrot, with extensive experience as an event organizer, and over the years, he has noticed that some companies tend to use their speaking opportunities during sponsored events to deliver sales pitches, which often end up frustrating the audience. This missed opportunity could have been used to build trust and establish relationships with potential customers. In this conversation, we discuss why this happens and explore strategies for maximizing the value of event sponsorships. We'll be hearing both positive and negative examples of conference sponsorships, from preparation to activation and gain insights into successful event sponsorship strategies.

The USA stands as the world’s largest and most lucrative market. However, it is also a market characterized by intense competition and some of the highest marketing costs. In this conversation with Kristine Lamberga, CMO of SAF Tehnika, we delve into her insights about the US market. SAF Tehnika specializes in the development and manufacturing of a range of high-end equipment, with its wireless data transmission technologies being its flagship offerings. Over the years, the company has successfully established a foothold in the US market. Interestingly, the largest part of the roughly 3,000 National Broadcasters in the United States are using SAF Tehnika microwave radios.

In this episode of #FriTalks, our guest is the founder of Mailigen and former VP of Product at Pipedrive - Janis Rozenblats.He is joining us to share his valuable experience of building an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and the practical aspects of using it to optimise marketing execution and ROI. In our conversation, we discuss the following topics:- How should we understand the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and what value it can provide to SaaS companies- How to build an ICP and what data sources needed for that- How to practically apply it across Product Development, Marketing, Sales and Customer Success

Marketing often feels like an endless uphill struggle. Moreover, marketing managers often complain of poor internal alignment, conflicting and ever-changing priorities and pressure for short-term results. In this episode, Andrejs and Rolands explore the marketing planning framework that they tested and improved in well over 200 campaigns. Their framework stands on four solid pillars: alignment on revenue goals, comprehensive audience research, strategic Go-To-Market (GTM) planning, and regular review of planned marketing activities.

The decision-making process of B2B buyers has undergone significant changes.Over the past few years, there has been a notable shift in the behavior of B2B technology buyers, marked by reduced trust in new vendors and their sales representatives. Present-day buyers exhibit a preference for conducting independent research, forming their own conclusions and using self-service options.- In this episode, we explore the following topics:- The shifts in buyers' behavior since the onset of Covid-19- The objectives and tasks that buying groups aim to achieve- The increasing significance of communities in the buying process- The evolving role of salespeople in the modern buying landscape- Strategies for how marketing can adapt to the changing behaviors of buyers

Increasing pricing is the single best and most straightforward way to increase business profitability.Pricing is so important, that companies would be well advised to spend a lot of time and effort to set optimal pricing.Yet, according to research, SaaS companies only spend 6 hours on pricing. No monthly, not annually, ever.In this episode of FriTalks, we are joined by pricing strategist and founder of Soft Fight Emanuel Martonca.We discuss: Why pricing is so important for SaaS? How an average SaaS company approaches pricing and what are the problems? How does pricing impact profitability? Principles of pricing Where do companies start if they want to review their pricing?

In this first FriTalks of 2024, Andrejs and Rolands look at key trends in B2B marketing and discuss what challenges and opportunities they bring for lead generation in 2024.

Did you know that marketing and sales alignment is the most significant roadblock to business growth? According to Gartner, companies with strong marketing and sales alignment are 3 times more likely to meet their new customer acquisition targets. In this #FriTalks episode, we discuss: How does marketing and sales misalignment hinder business growth? What are the key issues companies face? And what are the first necessary steps to reduce conflict and build trusted relationships with both teams?

In the rapidly evolving digital economy and with the changing customer behaviour, marketing's role in B2B organisations is being redefined. Marketing teams are now expected to facilitate and enable growth more than ever before. We invited Jens Tinapp, VP of Marketing and Communication at Diehl Metering, to talk about the path of building a future-proof marketing team.We discussed:- How has the role of marketing evolved- How have the CEO’s expectations changed- What are the must-have skills and capabilities of the modern marketing team- What to keep in-house and what to outsource- How to bring an impact and build trust for the marketing team

In today's era of customer-driven buyer processes, the role of salespeople is evolving. What exactly are customers expecting from salespeople today and how can salespeople stay relevant to their customers while achieving long-term success?Listen to an insightful conversation with Bostjan Strazer, a business trainer and ice pilot at Hansen Beck, where we address these questions and more.We discussed the following topics:- How have buyer’s behaviour and priorities changed- What do they expect from salespeople?- How has the ultimate goal of sales changed?- What does it mean for the salesperson?- What skills and behaviours does it require?- How to develop it in a practical matter?