Value-Ology: Aligning Sales and Marketing to Shape and Deliver Profitable Customer Value Propositions

This book offers both marketing and sales professionals a rare combined insight into both worlds to continuously capture customer intelligence and create value, by blending detailed research with academic rigor and commercial experience of the authors in both Europe and North America.

It has never been easier to produce great marketing content and sales collateral. And yet, 90% of the content that marketing produces is NEVER used by sales. Why not? Because it’s not relevant to the audience or the prospect doesn’t even know the content exists. Furthermore 58% of deals end up in “no decision” because Sales has not presented value effectively.

Companies are creating lots of noise but failing to resonate with the customers.

So what? The danger, aside from marketing wasting tens of millions of dollars on ineffective content and tools, is that customers will disengage. 94% of prospects say they have completely disengaged with vendors because of irrelevant content.

In order to grow fast, the authors argue, Sales and Marketing teams need to slow down. They need to work together to truly understand their customers’ needs, wants, motivations and pain points so that they can offer customized “value”. The book sets out how to establish a formal program to continuously capture customer intelligence and insights – the shiny gems of understanding that help prospects to connect the dots – so that value can be consistently articulated in marketing and sales conversations.

By integrating the best ideas and practice from commercial experience and academic research the authors show how to create value across the entire marketing and sales value chain – not only get a new customer, but to continue to create value for future purchases by creating “post-sales” value.

About the Authors

Simon Kelly has 35 years’ experience in the ICT industry in customer service, sales and marketing. He was Marketing Director for BT Major Business where he pioneered the move from ‘product push’ to ‘value-based’ selling and marketing. He led a canon of knowledge for the CIM on best practice B2b marketing. Now a ‘pracademic’. he has developed innovative marketing and sales skills modules for Sheffield Business School where is is a Senior Lecturer. He is President of SHAKE Marketing Group, based in London.

Dr Paul Johnston joined Sheffield Business School (part of Sheffield Hallam University) over ten years ago. Prior to this, he spent 20 years in the gambling and electronic games industry. He served on the boards of several companies in competitive strategy, research and product innovation roles. Paul has recently been involved with a customer-centric services module of the Sheffield City Leadership Programme and a range of large corporate projects, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate student tutoring.

Stacey Danheiser is Founder of SHAKE Marketing Group, based in Denver, Colorado. Prior to founding her own consultancy, she had 15 years’ experience as a marketing/sales enablement leader (including at board level) at large firms across cable, telecom, financial services and banking sectors.