Although I agree with the concept of engaging earlier I don’t believe it is Marketing’s job to assist the customer in defining requirements. It is Marketing’s job to figure out a way to uncover those future prospects so Sales can come in and be that third party that assists in solution development.

Second, I think the research phase is greatly compressed in the self-service, on-demand world we live in. As an IT sales person for 15 years I can attest that customers USED to browse catalogs, attend trade shows, etc. Now the customer moves from epiphany to research in moments. Most customers validate the concept quickly by googling potential solutions and visiting sites. Marketing must be waiting with a strong enough call to action for someone in the research phase.

Great article.

Dale

http://www.echoquote.com
http://www.b2bcalltoaction.com

When the customer comes out with the RFP, in most probable cases, it can safely assumed that it was written by a third party or in consultation with the third party. Which means that the customer has the problem defined and a vision of a solution created already by someone else.

Now when the Sales people start responding to RFP, they are just being another “column” in the customer’s evaluation phase. Now, the customer is trying to see how he can leverage other companies to get the best quote against the company who helped them define the RFP.

So, I too feel the best point for a sales person to enter a sales process is, at a time of preparing the RFP.