In this episode of the SME Growth podcast, Rich and Dave from Wellmeadow dive deeper into customer acquisition strategies, building on their previous discussion of Go-to-Market approaches. They explore how technology is transforming traditional sales and marketing roles, while emphasizing the continued importance of relationship-building and personal connections in business development.
You can listen to the full episode here
Sales and Marketing Collaboration
The hosts address the imbalance in many SMEs where lead generation is seen solely as marketing's responsibility. They discuss how sales teams need to take a more active role in customer acquisition, while marketing teams should engage more directly with customers through advisory boards and focus groups.
Technology-Enabled Prospecting
A detailed exploration of new tools and technologies that are transforming customer acquisition, including:
Browser extensions for LinkedIn data capture
Buyer intent tracking tools
AI-powered prospecting agents for personalized outreach
CRM integration and automation capabilities
Traditional Networking and Referrals
Discussion of the continued importance of traditional business development methods, particularly in service industries where up to 95% of new business comes from referrals and recommendations. The hosts explain how to map and analyze referral networks to better understand business growth patterns.
"Sales is everyone's responsibility - from marketing to customer service, everyone in the company has a role to play."
"Marketing should get out more. They should be talking to customers, doing customer advisory boards, doing focus groups."
"In a service industry setting, 95% of your work is going to come from either existing customers or referrals."
"CRM is there to help sales people and help marketing people, not as a tool to beat them up with."