BEST PRACTICE: Hello I'm a persona, but I'm lost. Can you please help me find my way? Philip Martin, head of marketing, Amadeus Rail, Amadeus

1. Hello I'm a persona,
but I'm lost, can
you please help me
find my way?
©2015AmadeusITGroupSA
Philip Martin,
Head of Marketing
Amadeus Rail

2. I'm a persona, get
me out of here!
©2015AmadeusITGroupSA
Philip Martin,
Head of Marketing
Amadeus Rail

3. Explain personas to the sales team
Engage with sales using personas
Use personas in negotiation

4. In the beginning
We had always gone to negotiate business with our customers
or prospects a bit like “ok – what do they want?”
We were too company segment focused
People do business, not companies

5. Receive a RFP* and it goes straight to
the product team…
when it comes back it’s a complete mess in terms of it
being a sales document…
“ooh can you make this pretty and with lots of marketing
messages”
Love hate relationship
*Request for proposal
How can we apply a more human touch?

6. You cheat…in a sneaky way
How do you convince your sales team to use
personas?

7. Volunteer from the audience please

8. Building personas from key buyers,
stakeholders, key relationships or
members of the DMU
Better understand customer needs
and challenges
Build a tighter relationship that creates trust and understanding
and a long term partnership

9. 1. Name & Job Title:
2. Self description:
3. Demographics:
4. Background:
5. Skills:
6. Reports to:
7. Career path:
8. Responsibilities:
9. Goals:
10.Challenges:
11.Learning:
12.Personal relationship:
Persona makeup

10. Personas and Account Based Marketing
Building personas is a great way to make them valuable in aligning
goals with sales.
Understanding together on the way to
communicate properly and accurately
Try them out with each other

11. Break it down into manageable pieces that are driving the request
Providing value
Customer Case study
Discover why are they actively searching to buy
something to change what they do today?
Get in early and understand the business
requirements

12. Building a value proposition
Understanding the person’s (DMU) needs, coupled with
company goals / challenges
Interviewed our points of contact and then enhanced the
findings with website / LinkedIn data
Simple template to put us all on the same page

13. Page 13
Main challenges and opportunities – matching needs only
©2015AmadeusITGroupSA
Challenge #1
1. Description
2. Which sales channel?
3. Which service?
4. Which product?
5. Sales tools:
Challenge #2
_Description
_etc.
DMU
_Persona #1
_Persona #3
_Persona #4
Additional notes for each
person…
Customer Negotiation

14. 14
Methodology example
_ Organise a “review”
• x days/hours questions and answers
• x days/hours results of review
_ Provide and present value data
• Hypothetical approach
• Use segmentation and personas
_ Active listening to today’s business
• Start with yesterday, then today then tomorrow
• No talk of solutions
• Pure business reasoning
_ Identify opportunities
• Use models to validate and discuss
• Repeat customers wishes
_ Present results and proposal
• Outside looking in
• Ask customer to agree
_ Plan follow up meeting
Manipulation
_ Where there is no need for the
customer to buy
Motivation
_ Where there is a need for the product
or service
_ Selling value to that specific customer

15. Putting it all together
Consultative selling approach, match the needs, listen 80%
Work with sales and bid team on what to say
Empathy goes a long way
1. Identify DMU, 2. Define DMU Personas, 3. One Pager, 4. Messages, 5. Delivery

16. Persona understanding brings success
Better alignment & teamwork, understanding of the customer, and
therefore a better human matching offer
And a better result…for all
People do business, not companies
Try this at home…practice with people you know or thought you know

17. Thank you
©2015AmadeusITGroupSA
You can follow us on:
AmadeusRail
amadeusrail.net