Eric Wittlake asked me a great question on thought leadership (Thanks, Eric!) in #B2Bchat a couple weeks ago. And like so many B2B topics, there are many, many viewpoints as to what constitutes thought leadership.
For those of you who think corporations are people, this post isn’t for you.
Let’s get one thing clear: Companies cannot be thought leaders. Nope. Nuh-uh. Companies can employ thought leaders and that can reflect well on the company, but the company itself cannot be a thought leader.
In the space I serve – B2Bs with a direct sales force executing a complex sale with buyers/decision makers who are VP and above – thought leadership can and should play an important role in sales support.
What is Thought Leadership and Why is it important?
Thought Leadership is the desired result of the evidence that an individual has the intellectual savvy both to understand and articulate a root cause and a solution to an industry or niche pain. There are two primary ways for individuals to evidence thought leadership:
- Author a viewpoint, citing excellent research and case studies. Should go without saying that it should be factual, compelling, and relevant (otherwise it’s NOT thought leadership, eh?)
- Provide savvy, 3rd party research, articles, industry-specific content (i.e. NOT authored by selling company) to prospects and customers.
I think we’d all likely agree on the first definition, while noting that mere ‘content’ is also definitely NOT thought leadership. We’d also agree that not everyone can be a #1 thought leader (right?), in fact they’re likely a small part of any population.
Most of the B2B space isn’t thinking about how beneficial the second definition of thought leadership can be to the sales process.
When I coach salespeople to position themselves as thought leaders with their prospects, I almost always ask them to refrain from sending company-developed “stuff.” Sure – there are times when an analyst org does a write-up, or the selling company exec is quoted in a reputable publication, but marketers must remember that the more salespeople push their own company-developed content, the less that salesperson will look like a thought leader.
Sales people want/need prospects to think “Wow. That guy REALLY gets it.” Because buyers have an almost instant gag reflex when buyers talk about themselves, 3rd party news is a huge opportunity here.
And marketers are missing this opportunity.
In an ideal B2B, marketing organizations would have a dedicated FTE scanning news, analyst reports, industry reports, etc. and filter those stories to share with salespeople, so they could then share with prospects.
Remember Miracle On 34th Street? How impressed customers were that the Santa at one department store would refer them to a competitor for an out-of-stock item?
Similar dynamic for sellers: IF sellers primarily share content that is HQ-created, then you’re looking at a very me-focused approach. BUT, if sellers can pass along content that’d truly be helpful to prospects and customers, but it has little or nothing to do with the salesperson’s company = that salesperson is a thought-leader in the buyer’s eyes.
Let me be clear: I am a fan of great thought-leadership. I am a fan of brilliant people who see root causes and viable solutions. I am in awe of those people who can then write about it, partner with other smart people to develop a story, and then present it to the marketplace. Casts a favorable halo on all who are near, including their employer.
But we are missing an opportunity to help sellers position themselves favorably 1:1 with prospects and customers if we don’t help them find more great 3rd party content for them to share throughout the sales process. Most sales people have some time to devote to this task but not much time.
I don’t know the ideal ratio for sellers of HQ-generated content and 3rd party content sources. My gut says it’s 4-5 pieces of 3rd party info for every 1 communique of HQ content.
What do you think?
