As a B2B marketing or sales strategist, you’re supposed to have all the answers.
Sounds great in theory, but in practice, these know-it-alls are a pain in the you-know-what. The colleagues we actually love and respect are the curious, critical-thinker types who ask the right questions when setting a strategy, whether it’s a sales funnel audit, a positioning exercise or developing new messaging.
These are the fearless ones who aren’t afraid to ask the question that everyone is thinking but no one is saying.
Thing is, asking questions we don’t know the answer to can make us feel vulnerable.
But it shouldn’t. Because it shows we have the grit to get to the bottom of things. And that, when we don’t have all the answers, we are willing to listen and learn from others.
And now a little bit about me (in case we haven’t met).
I was that little girl who questioned everything. And I have proven that curiosity will definitely not kill you (although it can you into some fiery debates). On the contrary, makes you an incredibly valuable strategist. In fact, I’ve built a business around it.
One client once shared “Your greatest strength is asking the right, open-ended questions to drive the right conversations. And then, turning those new insights into content that connects with the business strategy”.
A colleague once told me “The times I’ve worked with you, I’ve been really grateful for your willingness to dive into projects in a fact-seeking, answer-asking manner. It is NOT my strong suit and that’s exactly why I need it”.
Over the last 8 years, I’ve worked with +40 B2B businesses on content strategy, buyer research, website messaging, sales enablement and more and according to my clients and colleagues, this mindset is my superpower (although if I’d been asked, I probably would have gone with shape-shifting).
And I think we’d all do a better job at sales and marketing if we asked better questions. Starting with this one:
How can we make B2B buying easier?
Now that you know a bit about me, my promise to you is this: Every two weeks I’ll fire off a thoughtful piece of content that will help you become a smarter marketing and sales leader by asking the right questions. You in?
Learn more about how I help big and small B2B organizations make buying easier at http://sarahmackinnonwrites.com/
