In this special bonus episode of Go To Market After Hours called Closing Time, Mark Bliss is joined by growth sales executive Doug Roberson, and event marketing guru Nicole Stasiak, to discuss various topics related to sales and marketing in the B2B SaaS industry. They talk about aligning sales and marketing, share their worst boss experiences, discuss their favorite growth hacks for 2024, and highlight outdated practices in sales and marketing. They also discuss what makes a good event and how to approach it from both the marketing and sales perspectives. They emphasize the need to think outside the box and avoid generic swag and alcohol-centric experiences. They also highlight the significance of collaboration between sales and marketing teams in event planning and budgeting.

Takeaways

• Aligning sales and marketing is crucial for success in the B2B SaaS industry. Communication, defining a North Star, and collaboration are key.
• Trusting your expertise and being confident in your knowledge is important in overcoming imposter syndrome.
• AI is a powerful tool that can revolutionize sales and marketing. It can enhance efficiency, provide valuable insights, and improve customer experiences.
• Outdated practices in sales and marketing, such as event passports, should be replaced with more creative and experiential approaches.
• A good event requires buy-in from both the leadership team and the sales team. It should focus on engaging attendees, understanding their needs, and providing personalized experiences.
• Hack the human by appealing to the interests and needs of potential customers to attract them to your booth and start meaningful conversations.
• Understand the target audience and create unique and engaging experiences at events.
• Collaboration between sales and marketing teams is crucial in event planning and budgeting.
• Make a positive impression at events and avoid underperforming.
• Measure event success and adjust strategies accordingly.
• Hope for the future lies in the accessibility of resources and technology.

Sound Bites

"Aligning sales and marketing is more of a partnership in the startup environment."
"Gen AI has been a fun and valuable growth hack in 2024."
"Letting go of imposter syndrome has been a personal growth hack in 2024."
"What would make me walk by and be like, 'oh I'm going over there, you know, it's not a generic water bottle. It's not a stress ball. It's not all this stupid swag, right?'"
"How lazy it is for marketers in general to go all in on just an alcohol-centric experience."
"The venue needs to be unusual or really upscale or hard to get in or something that people can be like, 'wow, look where I got to go tonight.'"

Support the Show.