“B2B Marketers should stop being lazy by sitting in their chairs. They should have the courage and audacity to be proactive in their jobs”, says Roel Haanappel, business marketer at UNIT4. According to him, B2B Marketers are overloaded with chores and jobs given to them by the sales department. As a result, they become passive. During his presentation on the B2B Marketing Forum on the 14th of March, he hopes to change this. Roel: “marketers should come to my session, and afterwards they should get off their chairs, and kick some ass.”
Having plenty of inspiring notes
Roel participated in the B2B Marketing Forum several times. This year however, Roel will be one of the case study speakers. And he has plenty to talk about. “In the past years I used to go home after the Forum with a lot of notes and ideas. With my presentation this year I hope that other marketers will find my story as useful as I found the stories of the keynote speakers I went to see back then.”
B2B Marketers can play a crucial role in the optimal leadgeneration process. That, however, largely depends on the marketers themselves. The more pro-active they are, the better. Roel sees a big problem in many companies. The marketing department is bombarded with requests from the sales department.
‘Organising events, making banners, writing newsletters or simply making a brochure.’
Roel is convinced that this has to change, because it makes the marketers very passive. “These days we see that a lot of products and services in business-to-business look alike, or are the same. The only way to stand out is to be unique somehow and that is the challenge nowadays”, he says. Roel is a big supporter of audacious B2B Marketers. “They should have the willingness to be active and taking risk. Their attitude and plans can help increase the quality and quantity of leads .”
Marketers without a plan or vision can’t be right
As a result, they don’t have a story to tell”, Roel continues. “You should sell your proposition within your own organisation.” He speaks from experience as he chose to be more active in the past himself. Roel: “I started by creating a whitepaper and webinar. Later on I started a blog. As a result, my knowledge about the company, its products and services and the branch in general, has increased. In the end my efforts turned out to be positive for me, as well as for the company.”
Currently Roel is a business marketer at UNIT4. He knows it’s not easy for companies to adapt. But when they do, a lot can be gained. He therefore hopes that the participants of his presentation will be inspired and that the quality of their lead processes will increase.
To conclude
Roel: “As a B2B Marketer you can choose the safe and easy road, or go for the optimal one. Whatever you do, don’t let yourself be swamped by requests from your sales colleagues that do not fit in your plans. Be proactive and bring energy and new plans to the organisation you work for.”
Roel Haanappel is one of many case study speakers at the B2B Marketing Forum in March. Roel will be giving many practical tips and tricks on how to become a better marketer.