SalesTechStar Interview with Michael O’Malley, SVP of Strategy at SenecaGlobal

Besides simply measuring ROI on sales and marketing, it is also important to measure the opportunity cost of chasing segment wise revenue; Michael O’Malley, SVP of Strategy at SenecaGlobal chats about the missing lags in sales processes and what sales teams should be keeping in mind in this quick chat:

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Hi Mike, we’d love to hear about your journey through the years…tell us more about your role at SenecaGlobal?

 I’ve been in technology for 20+ years in various roles leading product/business units. At SenecaGlobal, I am the SVP of marketing and sales. We help customers develop and deploy innovative software products to grow their businesses. If someone has an innovative idea, we provide the talent to architect, design and deploy software to bring that innovation to life.

As a marketing-sales leader, what are some marketing and sales alignment practices that you drive to ensure better unison among processes/teams?

I start by determining the company’s financial goals.  I then work backward into marketing and sales strategies and tactics to achieve these goals. For example, if I need to grow a business by $1M in revenue and my average deal size is $200K, I need the sales team to close five deals. And if my win rate in a specific sector is one of every three opportunities, then I need to find 15 deals. If I run a marketing campaign to highlight my differentiation in this sector, to drive 15 deals, I need 1,500 Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) if my conversion rate is 1% of MQLs to sales opportunities.

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What are some top concerns facing sales leaders today that you’d like to talk about?

One of the top mistakes I see sales leaders making today is – not understanding their companies’ differentiation. Often, I see sales leaders spending resources to chase opportunities they are not well positioned for or that are not in large and growing markets. For example, my current company provides complex quality software for native cloud development. This service addresses the needs of a large market growing at an 18% CAGR. So, our sales focus is looking to find as many companies as possible that fulfill these demographics because that is an area where we stand out in delivering a high degree of value for our customers. Good sales leaders understand that in addition to measuring ROI for both sales and marketing, it is important to measure the opportunity cost of chasing revenue in areas where they aren’t well-positioned, or the market is not large and growing.

How are you seeing the impact of changing customer interactions change the way sales teams now have to connect with prospects?

Digital marketing and online engagement with customers and prospects continues to grow in importance. The digital experience you create as a company defines how your brand is seen by your customers. Understanding your customer pain points and communicating how your company can help over multiple digital channels and platforms is critical to getting your message across.

What are some top B2B sales and marketing trends you feel will shape the rest of 2021 as business reopen?

Contactless experience is a trend that is here to stay. Giving people the opportunity to reach out to companies and ask for assistance through social media and company websites with better chatbots continues to be critical. While face-to-face interactions will always be the most important way to build relationships with customers, good contactless experiences can reduce friction and make people feel more satisfied with your company and how you do business.

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Some thoughts on the top marketing technologies you feel marketers of today need to be investing more in?

Marketers need to invest more in Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. This effort includes investing in intelligent chatbots on websites and AI algorithms that predict the right time to speak and the right offer to provide directly with a customer.  Marketers should also consider AI algorithms that look at the usage of software platforms and how users are interacting are investments marketers should consider.

A few thoughts on what today’s sales and marketing leaders need to do differently to create and build better customer experiences? 

The future of sales and marketing should focus on your customers’ digital experience working with your company. One of the key ways to optimize this experience is to leverage AI so that you can understand how customers interact with your brand. We want to know how and when customers want more interaction to help them evaluate and purchase products. My company, SenecaGlobal sees an increase in the number of companies wanting complex software development with AI technologies to help them better understand their customers. We focus particularly on SaaS model companies; however, it is a lesson all companies can learn. Gaining a better understanding of customers and their behavior can lead to tailored products and offerings and ultimately more satisfied customers.

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