Issue #4 - Scan, Ponder, Ignore
In this issue: ABM chatter | Trade Show natter | The agency conundrum | VC forcing a move to Enterprise
Ooh the year is moving fast. eCommerce is fully in the doldrums, with most pondering investment taking a little more time, putting some distance between the Christmas car crash and any decisions.
Whilst we remember - here's a followup blog about what retailers really care about right now.
ABM chatter
For our Sales & Marketing readers a thought about the phrase “Demand Generation”. This phrase has lost some meaning, but in our view should refer to a target account whose employees are not aware of you - gradually understanding that their unknown/known issue not only has importance, but can be solved by your product/service.
It seems that most vendors are actually running “Demand Competition” programs currently, focused on those accounts which Zoominfo/6th Sense confirm are “In market” - and then having sales compete for those deals. In turn these programs are leading to poor win/loss ratios and low value wins.
We are firm believers in taking the time to create a compelling value proposition (which problems you solve), and then using really meaningful creative to bring those issues to life. We have tried to demonstrate this in our inspo meme this episode :)
Trade Show natter
NRF - what a huge horrendous mess of a show. The side events at NRF do seem much more robust than those at a big show like Shoptalk (for example), and of course Store Tours dominate.
Crucially, it seems as if the attendees at NRF are much better known to the exhibitors, and so deals are accelerated here much more than they’re introduced. Most of our clients spending at NRF had 50+ meetings pre-arranged, and were running at least 2 owned events.
Agencies in particular should start to think about using these for moving existing pipeline forward in a more organised fashion. We are running our own big UK experience this May, and as we gather more information for our “Hundred” takeaways there is already a trend for clients to shadow the day with a breakfast/dinner of their own. These events will be much more collaborative in the future 🙂
If you need the client deck - here it is. We’re applying everything we learned from MACH ONE - Ooh, and if you’d like to submit a takeaway of your own you can do so here.
The agency conundrum
In the current ecosystem agencies have had to pivot the fastest, but the payoff has been significant. In general we hear of mid-market SI’s being “rammed”, no downturn and no issues with day rates.
Equally, as MACH fills up with agency members, differentiation will become challenging, and so ambitious agencies need to think about marketing. For years this has been tricky. SI’s feel they want to remain “agnostic” in front of clients, but what clients actually want is an opinion, a demonstration of expertise.
There are very few examples of good opinions IMHO - only one comes to mind, from Neil at E2X back in 2020. I can cite 3 retailers who mentioned this blog to me - a huge rarity.
So - stop chasing vendors around everyone and think about your own expertise and opinions.
VC forcing a move to Enterprise (or is it?)
It seems that a few weeks before Christmas VC-land had a little meltdown. As late Q4 deals started to unravel, so the top 3-4 VC’s in our space pressed the big red button and told their portfolio to shed some staff.
Equally, everyone now wants to go Enterprise (even those who were launching lower end mid-market offerings have retrenched back). You could easily argue that there isn’t enough business here to get everyone started, and yet the briefs we’ve seen in recent weeks more than compensate. On a call last friday a GSI classed “Enterprise” to us as above £50m 🤣
Sad word of the week: #techbro
A word that started in the valley for alpha male VC’s, and has been adopted by men in tight t-shirts selling software in Staines
Finally - a thought on “over-hugging” at Trade Shows.
We feel that some hugs are inappropriate. Middle-aged male hugs young female without permission - noticed in NYC a number of women looking distinctly uncomfortable in these situations. Having asked the office here at BuyingTime the group is split. How do you feel about work hugs?