A 12 slide practical guide on how to tap the value of what you know to attract, nurture and close your prospects. How to give away some of your most valuable information to connect you with your most valuable prospects: customers who need what you sell. A quick guide on improving your sales and marketing pipeline.

1. Almost all companies have untapped value in what they know, in
their expertise, and in what they do. Our business is about helping
B2B clients use that value to create new customers. In the next 12
slides we will walk you through how to do it.
Who are we. We are a start-up with lots of experience. You can
check us out here http://www.brainrider.com/about-us
Three great questions to think about before we get start are
•Who is your customer?
•What are the stages they go through when deciding to buy from you?
•What do they want to know at each stage of the decision process?
If you are interested we have a blog post about best practice in
answering these questions here
http://blog.brainrider.com/2010/03/b2b-marketing-understanding-
decision-stages/
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2. Let’s start with some research about today’s market and today’s
buyer.
At most companies the message is the same, selling is getting harder
because prospects are simultaneously more connected and
harder to reach!
1. The internet and more specifically Google have changed
customer expectations and behavior
2. More than 85% of all B2B purchase decisions, globally, start
with research on the web not with a sales call
3. The truth is that many buyers no longer think they need a
sales conversation until it is time to negotiate a lowest cost
deal
Across all industries, sales performance is becoming more difficult
with 5%-8% declines in key sales metrics because
• Buying cycles have become disconnected from the selling
cycle
• Buyers have more access to information, not just from
sellers but from other buyers and third parties
• Single decision makers are being replaced with committees,
multiple layers of approval and more purchasing scrutiny 2

3. One of the major reasons the context for your marketing and
selling is changing is that new technology is enabling a world of
connections.
Many of these connections are trivial, lots of them are just social,
often they are very geeky, but the overall adoption rate, impact,
and penetration growth are incredible. And it is world-wide,
according to Nielsen 2/3’s of the world’s internet users connected
through some type of social media in 2008.
Research study after research study is showing that these changes
are affecting the B2B sales cycle and how your customers are
running their businesses, looking for information, and buying.
But overwhelmingly for B2B markets this world of digital
connections still relies on buyers dealing with sellers over a
handshake. The solution is an approach that leverages technology
to get you to more handshakes.

4. There has been an incredible amount of innovation in the past 10 years in
the strategy & tools to work and sell smarter.
Today’s opportunity is about all the ways you can connect with your
customer. And how to track their digital footprint to create sales
intelligence and customer relationships.
It is about the email from your sales representatives, it’s your digital
tradeshow collateral, it is your business card, it is about what they are
searching for, its your follow-up and thank you notes.
Most importantly it is about working smart by using the value of what
you know to create customers. The next slide shows an example of great
knowledge marketing.
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5. Let’s look at an example of how one of the world's largest oil field
services companies uses Knowledge Marketing to get and retain more
customers.
15 years ago they used what is still a typical B2B approach. About us
credentials, product and service descriptions, contact us, etc. You can
see this on their website in the 1996 example on the left.
10 years ago they moved to dynamic content by adding 3rd party news
headlines giving industry updates by web or email, local weather
updates, and even a cartoon of the day.
But the most interesting content they shared was market data called
the rig count. It is proprietary data, produced by a Schlumberger
subsidiary, and a real customer hook. Something worth connecting
with Schlumberger about.
But with that learning Schlumberger started to work smarter not just
harder.
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6. This is Schlumberger in 2010.
They still offer tablestakes content including their credentials,
products, and contact us information on their website.
And their content has expanded over time into an incredible
library with a broad range of content types.
But check out the red circles on the left. RSS feeds and Premium
Content opt-in. This is how Schlumberger is working smarter not
just harder.
They actively connect with their customers with multiple levels of
opt-in from RSS, to desktop tools, to email newsletters, to
“premium content” And behind the scenes they are tracking all
these digital footprints with a tool called demandbase.
After 15 years of trial, error and learning Schlumberger has
combined their credentials, content and connections to build a
valuable business pipeline. 6

7. Our business is helping clients make this happen using a practical 3
stage strategy, an agile approach, and the right combination of
technology and execution.
The truth is that you don’t need us to this. In fact check out our blog
and resource library for tips on how to make it happen.
But we have the experience to help you do it faster and smarter. And
to help you get to work getting more customers today.
But enough about us, we want to share how to do it.
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8. The most important question you can ask in your business today is
“WHAT DOES MY CUSTOMER WANT TO KNOW?”
So we recommend you start by understanding what your
customer wants to know, what they are searching for, what they
are sharing with their colleagues.
•And how and when they are asking for it.
•And how they want to approach the answer.
•And how to segment different customer types and understand what
they want to know at different stages in your pipeline.
Then we suggest you audit your existing communications with the
chart on the left to see how many types of questions you really
answer.
And we think you should use your digital data to track prospect
behaviour in order to understand what they are interested in. And
of course you should use that intelligence to attract and nurture
them through your pipeline while giving your sales team more
intelligence about who they are selling to.
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9. If you are like most successful B2B brands you have already put a lot
of investment into your knowledge, marketing, and sales assets.
You might even be experimenting with sharing these valuable
resources in various channels and formats like blogging, PR,
tradeshows, webinars and events.
But the most important step is to actively use these assets to connect
with more customers.
•Asking them to opt in for more information
•Being ranked in search results relevant to your expertise
•Offering content in emerging social media like blogs, LinkedIn,
and email.
•Generating more effective tradeshow content
•Building smart collateral
And tracking what is working and where it is connecting with your
customers. Above is a client example of how to turn what you know
into more powerful marketing and sales assets.
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10. In order to better connect with your customers you need a flexible
and smart platform that does the job of capturing digital
footprints and using that data to track your customers and deliver
real time sales intelligence. This slide shares a real example from
BrainRider’s marketing program. If you have seen some of our
content then we have started tracking you too! Ask if you want to
see a live demo.
The good news is that while there are lots of powerful tools out
there, we have experience working with many of them. And we
are happy working with any tools you prefer.
But in case you do not already use any marketing automation tools
we have also inked a preferred partner deal with a great tool
called Pardot Prospect Insight to get you started quickly and easily
and without a long-term commitment.
Check them out here http://www.pardot.com/

11. If you want to see a short demo video (still DRAFT), go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCbmvKt8c8w
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12. Here are three basic options of what we can deliver for you.
But we will work with you to customize a solution to your needs.
The place to start is understanding your business objectives and:
•Who is your customer? How do you segment their needs?
•What are the decision stages they go through when buying
from you?
•What do they want to know at each stage of the decision
process?
After that your knowledge marketing program can be up and
running in less than 4 weeks.
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13. That’s it. You have made it through 12 quick slides (we cheated
with 1 extra video slide) on How to Use Knowledge Marketing To
Create Customers.
Thanks again for taking the time.
Visit our website for more knowledge marketing resources and to
learn more about who we are and what we do.
http://www.brainrider.com
Or contact our General Manager Scott Armstrong at 416 900 3310
or scott.armstrong@brainrider.com for more information on how
we can help your business get more customers.