ETL London 2022 is over, and we are already looking forward to the 2023 edition. Building connections with event pros across the globe, soaking in the past year’s advances in event technology, and having fun with edible balloons by the side of our booth — it was an experience to cherish.
Rachel Moore, Director of Content and Communications at Hubilo, used this opportunity to interact with our Senior Field Marketing Manager, Kathleen (Timbol) Abdeen, fondly known as KT at Hubilo, and pick her brain about the combination of events and sales.
Before we start with the key takeaways from their conversation, let's get to know a little bit more about our Hubilot, KT.
Kathleen acts as a bridge between Hubilo’s sales and marketing teams, and her day generally revolves around overseeing sales enablement.
KT says, "I sit in the middle of sales and marketing, and I see my team as a team that sets everyone up for success. In my opinion, marketing is like a marathon with a baton pass; we want to make that baton pass as seamless as possible. Field marketing sits right there and ensures that the sales teams have what they need to build relationships with the customers that marketing is pulling into their pipeline."
Sales and marketing are one of the most vital parts of an organization. As the marketing team works hard to generate demand and leads, the sales team turns those opportunities into paying customers. According to KT, sales enablement's primary goal is to help these teams thrive by bridging the gap between them. It helps set up resources for success to ensure they are tipping in the right direction.
People-centric strategies to drive sales and marketing are garnering global attention. Marketers and demand generation veterans have been focussing on creating outstanding customer experiences. As Gloria Zhu (Director of Demand Generation at Hubilo) said during In Any Event, you must ensure your content and marketing resources focus on improving customer experiences. This not only includes talking about their pain points and extending help to address them — people-centric strategies include customer experiences across all touchpoints and stages across the funnel.
Taking this discussion further and tying it to the B2B scenario, KT shares, "Building relationships is important if your target audience is B2B. We know we need to help them achieve certain outcomes, but that's not where it ends. They interact with you regularly and are working with you. You need to prove that you are helpful to them, and keep in mind that each customer is an individual at the end of the day."
"We often miss out on this aspect and keep thinking about how I am helping drive the outcomes that my customer wants,” she adds. “It's undoubtedly wonderful, but we, as marketers and sales representatives, need to realize that it has become a standard now. People are asking, ‘Do I like this person?’"
Sales enablement significantly impacts the organization. 76% of the business with sales enablement in place see an increase of 6-20% in sales. Events can help you take the effectiveness of sales enablement to the next level.
KT says, "If I compare sales to my kitchen, events are my favorite pans. They are versatile, effective, and most importantly, no matter what I want to cook, I know with my favorite pan, I can do it. Events open great avenues to get the creative juice flowing. They offer amazing ways to build relationships."
"Even with our booth, we pulled product in to ensure we show off the most stunning features and have the best demos,” she continues. “Events are the culmination of a lot of the work the whole company does, and it's brought to life, and then people get to feel and see and interact with it."
Have you ever wondered what drives the sales team's weaponry? What if there were no budget constraints? Are they free to spend it on anything they feel is essential to driving sales?
KT says she would want those expenses to go toward tools.
According to KT, everything adds to the sales team's tech stack. For instance, with the right sales intelligence, representatives can know their prospects better to personalize their communication and build relationships. Social media listening tools can help them build upon the information shared in the industries.
"We're all working remotely. The challenge is to work efficiently as well as spend time with my family,” states KT. “I think the tools that I need are the ones that can help me be more efficient with my time. If you have the right tools, you don't have to repeat so many processes and can have resources built for yourself."
ETL London 2022 was full of brewing conversations like these, and we can't get enough of them. One thing we learned during our discussion with KT was that events will also be the hit of 2023. Events make it easier to craft people-centric marketing strategies and schedule touchpoints to build relationships with your customers, which in turn eventually creates the sales funnel.
While we’ve covered the key takeaways for you, there are a lot of moments from the Studio Chat with KT that you would want to capture. Head over to the video right away, and don’t forget to sign up for Hubilo Insiders to stay ahead of more compelling conversations like these.
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