Craig Rosenberg and Sarah Miller of Focus Expert Network recently pulled 14 sales and marketing leaders together to create the first ever “book of funnels” or The Sales and Marketing Pipeline and Funnel Models book. The goal was to share the different perspectives and methodologies that have evolved alongside Web 2.0 and Customer 2.0.
It’s clear that everyone has a different approach, and no two funnels are alike. Because every business has a different “perfect prospect” all funnels are different as well. A common theme you start to notice is that the sales process and marketing process is something that needs to adapt to the buying process, and that it needs to be a little flexible. Now days, it’s not as straight forward as “in one end, out the other,” now buyers come and go as they please, and not necessarily in the order you’d expect.
I recommend reading this eBook of funnels, to see how 14 different sales and marketing leaders are driving revenue through their funnels. You’ll see Jon Miller of Marketo’s revenue cycle with a focus on lead nurturing to drive “sales-ready” leads, Michael Damphousse of Green Leads “funnel-cloud” with the emphasis on the fact that funnels no longer exist, and Michael Brenner of SAP’s alignment between sales and marketing throughout the buying/sales cycle. Other funnels include those created by; Ardath Albee, Carlos Hidalgo, and Matt Heinz. It’s great to see funnels of all shapes and sizes, and it’ll give you some perspective when designing or modifying your sales and marketing pipeline.
