CASE STUDY: SAP
BRIDGING THE GAP: Helping SAP make the most of its marketing opportunities:
No technology vendor likes the idea of qualified leads going to waste. Certainly not when you’re one of the biggest out there, with constant pipeline pressures and an exciting portfolio of products you just can’t wait to talk about.
And certainly not if you’re called SAP. One of B2B’s top players (top 3 in fact when it comes to global technology vendors), with a pretty impressive story to take to market that spans over 4,000 product lines – including the highly acclaimed SAP S/4HANA.
Background:
On one side of said gap sits SAP’s complex sales structure that covers multiple teams, product, and industry specialists – as well as account management functions, focused on different sectors, geographies, and solutions. On the other sits a UK marketing team responsible for generating demand and those all-important MQLs (marketing qualified leads) through ongoing campaigns, events, advertising (including PPC), and social activity
In the middle was a hole, into which many a lead had fallen. Indeed, experience had taught that while the volume of MQLs being passed between marketing and sales was high, the resulting opportunity generation remained stubbornly low. An additional layer of qualification and validation was required, with the goal of reducing the number of leads being passed to sales - while increasing their overall quality and timeliness. An additional layer delivered by Quantum…
The approach:
First things first, Quantum had to get embedded into the SAP go-to-market process. Experience taught us that success would be achieved at the personal level, which was why we quickly moved to place a team of crack lead generation experts on-site at SAP’s HQ in Clockhouse Place.
Once there and with access to the coffee machine, our people got busy working to one overarching objective: taking the large volume of MQLs being generated by marketing activity and continuing the engagement – thereby pushing each lead further down the buyer funnel.
MQLs that found a way to their desks via any of three distinct routes:
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People responding to outbound activity created by the UK marketing team
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Click to chat – anybody enquiring through the chat function on SAP’s website
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In-bound calls
Quantum Marketing was therefore tasked with using our know-how of talking to key decision-makers and influencers to ensure each lead justified entry into the sales pipeline, that they were assigned to the correct sales representative, and that further follow-up was timely and informed. We also took on responsibility for those leads falling into the nurture bucket, and helping keep them ‘warm’ until the time was right for more direct sales involvement.
The outcome:
Operation No Lead Left Behind (our naming convention!) continues to impress. Now firmly established as part of the SAP in-house furniture, the Quantum team has provided an invaluable link between marketing and sales, while also representing the needs and expectations of new prospects.
The Results
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623 Leads Generated
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112 Opportunities Generated
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Opportunity Value created £45 Million
This is the power of on-going involvement, deep product insight, and an agency’s added expertise for turning initial interest into solid sales opportunities. This is Quantum Marketing.