Article in June 2013 edition of B2B Marketing, quoting Steve Revill giving his top tips for securing internal buy-in.

1. b2bmarketing.net JUNE 2013 B2B MARKETING MAGAZINE 29
f reaching out to a
demanding external
business audience is tough,
internal engagement and
buy-in can often prove a
B2B marketer’s nemesis.
It’s all very well having the
next ‘big idea’, but if the person holding
the purse strings is a sceptic, marketers
will never get their activities off the ground
successfully. In 2013, top-level support and
endorsement from internal stakeholders has
become more critical than ever.
So why is gaining internal buy-in often
considered so difficult a challenge? What
are the kinds of things B2B marketers are
seeking buy-in for exactly – and who are
they seeking it from? And, crucially, is
there a secret weapon for dealing with this
contentious issue?
Buy-in barriers
Gaining internal buy-in is not a new
challenge and remains something marketers
are often accused of failing to tackle.
This may be the reason why historically
the marketing department has been
unsuccessful at aligning with other
business functions.
“Few people like surprises in business and
sometimes marketers have been guilty of
engaging key internal stakeholders late or,
worse still, not at all when seeking buy-in
for major projects or change initiatives,”
suggests Steve Revill, consulting partner at
Positive Momentum.
“Reactively engaging colleagues at the
11th hour is rarely a recipe for success.
It makes us look inefficient, disorganised
and isolated from our colleagues across
the business. Instead, we should adopt
a more proactive and sustained
approach to strategically managing our
key internal relationships.”
Catherine Howard, head of private sector
marketing at Fujitsu, also highlights some
of the reasons marketers have struggled
to gain buy-in in the past but suggests
this is now an improving situation. She
says: “The delivery of marketing activities
typically requires money to be spent. With
most private sector organisations, their
main goal is to grow in terms of increasing
revenue and, in turn, profit. And therein
lies the conflict. Sometimes, internal
business stakeholders can’t see past the
‘spending money’ that comes with delivering
marketing activities. Over recent years, I
marketing excellence director at Brand
Learning, advises: “In the first instance, they
should ask themselves whether or not the
problem sits at their own door. Is it clear
that they connect with the business as a
whole and with the agenda of the board
and senior colleagues? If not, this needs to
be fixed.”
She continues: “To build influence
internally, marketers need to ensure they
speak the language of their peers and they
demonstrate how their plans deliver on the
commercial objectives of the business.”
Internal targets
When it comes to who B2B marketers
typically try to gain buy-in from, board
members and the C-suite are primary
candidates. Justine Arthur, head of
communications and campaigns at BT
Expedite Fresca, and winner of B2B
Marketer of the Year 2012, offers this
advice for reaching out to the board in
order to encourage endorsement. She says:
“Demonstrate that a specific marketing
activity contributed to a sale, whether that’s
to an existing customer or new one – plus,
achieve (and if possible exceed) what you
committed to deliver on time and on budget.
I also like to involve as many of the board as
is relevant during the early planning stage
of a campaign, and if it’s an event, make
sure their diaries are blocked out well in
advance so they are able to attend and can
see for themselves the return on investment
and what an impact marketing is having. In
terms of nurturing them, it’s important to
keep them informed, either ensuring you get
a slot on the quarterly senior management
meeting or informally over coffee or a short
phone call from time to time.”
Howard’s top tip to getting on the radar
of board members in order to win their
support for a campaign or investment is to
demonstrate a clear ROI from the outset.
She says: “Within Fujitsu, we have a process
in place where we complete a business case
that outlines what the marketing programme
is, what the expected ROI is in terms of new
sales leads to be generated and expected
revenue plus it outlines which business
directors and sales directors have already
signed up to supporting the programme.
This process really helps in terms of
illustrating how marketing spend can deliver
results for the organisation.”
As well as board members, the finance
director and sales department, in particular,
INTERNAL BUY-IN
Gaining internal buy-in remains one of
B2B marketers’ greatest challenges.
Victoria Clarke investigates the need
for support from internal stakeholders
and, crucially, how to get it
I
GETTING
LIGHT
GREEN
THE
have seen this change as CMOs take on a
more strategic role in the business.”
Investment and endorsement
One such change initiative where B2B
marketers are seeking the thumbs up
to invest is marketing automation. In
its 2012 State of Demand Generation
Report, analyst firm SiriusDecisions
predicted marketing automation adoption
to increase by 50 per cent. However, while
marketers may understand the benefits
of marketing automation, persuading the
wider organisation to come on board – and
potentially part with a large amount of their
budget – is another matter.
Head of marketing at Neolane, Martin
Smith, points out: “One problem marketers
face in seeking buy-in from top management
and stakeholders is that, typically, they
have an unfair reputation for not being
able to quantify the return on investment
from their marketing campaigns. This
can make it difficult to prove the added
benefits technology investments, such as in
marketing automation, will make.
“Top management and stakeholders
are very open to the possibilities of
technology, and able to understand the
concepts of marketing automation and
how it can improve demand generation,
lead management and measurement. But
investing in marketing automation isn’t
a cheap option and must be properly
evaluated and presented in a solid business
case proposal.”
Social media, video and mobile marketing
are other key areas for potential marketing
investment and, as in the case of marketing
automation, something many B2B marketers
are keen to exploit. However, despite the
fact social media, for example, has been
around a while, it still presents many
board members and internal stakeholders
with an element of the unknown and this
consequently leads to huge resistance.
As a result, these stakeholders often
demand more justification for investment
and upfront proof of a healthy ROI. In
B2B Marketing’s 2013 Social Media
Benchmark Report, recipients cited their
biggest challenge in social media as ‘proving
ROI’ (25 per cent) and ‘gaining internal
buy-in’ (19 per cent) – second only to
‘engaging the target audience’ (27
per cent).
So what can marketers do if they
encounter internal resistance? Linda Miller,

2. 30 B2B MARKETING MAGAZINE JUNE 2013 b2bmarketing.net
are key targets B2B marketers should be
reaching out to with a solid argument and
sound business case in order to help align
common objectives and win buy-in.
“Sales colleagues are definitely a
marketer’s greatest ally and can really act
as advocates for you, particularly if you can
demonstrate clear ROI that benefits both
parties. The other department essential as
an ally is finance. If the CFO can support
you in decisions and understands how the
marketing spend delivers value for the
organisation then it is much easier for
the rest of the board to understand,”
advises Howard.
Smith meanwhile highlights a couple
of less obvious but equally valuable
allies marketers would be wise not to
forget. “Customer service is another clear
beneficiary, since marketing automation
allows customer interactions and
transactions to be tracked in real-time,”
he says. “When they have access to that
data, customer service can very quickly
grasp a view of the company’s up-to-date
relationship with the customer.
“Procurement can [also] be a beneficiary,
in that demand for products can be better
forecast when a pipeline and timescale for
possible customer orders can be predicted.
This helps avoid under ordering and
stock-outs, while reducing the risk of over
ordering and having costly stock sitting idle
on shelves.”
Interestingly, Arthur reminds marketers
not to overlook less senior colleagues when
it comes to seeking buy-in. She reveals one
of her key tactics to securing buy-in is:
“knowing which team members from each
of the sales and product teams my sales
director and product director trust and
respect. If I gain input from key members
of their teams first, tweak and refine if
necessary, achieving buy-in on a new
proposition from these two directors is
so much easier, and then even more
straightforward if it needs approval from the
wider board.”
Engaging colleagues needs to be the
driver for any marketing activity or initiative
in order to prove marketing’s worth and
help align common business objectives. Just
as marketers should consider the painpoints
and language of their external audience,
they shouldn’t overlook these factors when
reaching out to board members and other
internal stakeholders. A persuasive argument
using common definitions and a sharp focus
on revenue is the recipe to buy-in success –
get these tactics nailed, and the board will
turn out to be your biggest advocates.
INTERNAL BUY-IN
Top tips for
internal buy-in
Help achieve that all-
important endorsement
with this three-step plan by
Steve Revill, consulting
partner at Positive
Momentum
Who? – Map out your key internal
stakeholders. Not just the departmental
and functional heads, but their key
team members and influencers.
What? – Spend time every week
building a deeper understanding of
their key business issues. What’s hot
for them at the moment? How can you
help with them? What parts of your
team’s work are of interest to them?
Which parts do you need their support
for to be successful? Be genuinely
interested and curious.
How? – Use this knowledge across
your team to map out an internal
communications plan to proactively
manage the relationships. Consider
a range of touchpoints from one-to-
one meetings and attendance at team
meetings through to email updates
and board papers. Make sure any
communication is tailored to that
particular stakeholder’s preferences
(style, content and channel).
CATHERINE HOWARD
HEAD OF PRIVATE SECTOR
MARKETING
FUJITSU
“Sometimes, internal
business stakeholders
can’t see past the
‘spending money’ that
comes with delivering
marketing activities”