12 Inspiring Insights on B2B Sales and Marketing from 2010

During the past year I've benefited from the insights of people and organisations that have made telling contributions to raising the standard of B2B sales and marketing. As we approach the New Year, I'd like to share a dozen of the best with you - in the hope that some might stimulate your own ideas about how you can realise the potential of 2011.

I'll start with three video clips, in which Simon Sinek explains why people don't buy what you do - they buy why you do it, Dan Pink reveals the surprising truth about what really motivates people, and Steven Johnson suggests that chance favours the connected mind.

I'd then like to highlight three articles inspired by the ground-breaking research of Sirius Decisions - suggesting that bigger pipelines aren't always better, explaining why investments in social media  must be accompanied by thought leadership, and reminding us why we need to understand where our offering fits on the demand spectrum - is it a new concept, a new paradigm or an established category?

Donal Daly of the TAS Group offered some fresh perspectives on B2B sales success by sharing 5 facts about how B2B sales cycles are changing and suggesting that there are only two reasons why you lose a sale.

McKinsey published a stream of fascinating findings through the year - my attention was drawn in particular to measuring the value of word-of-mouth marketing and their explanation as to why too much sales contact can cost you business.

Finally, the excellent research done by CSO Insights suggested how organisations might boost sales performance in 2010 (and beyond) and inspired my own article on the 7 reasons why CRM systems so often get forecasting wrong.

I'd like to conclude by wishing you, your family, colleagues and friends a peaceful and prosperous New Year - and hoping that some of the ideas I've shared might contribute in some small way to your success in 2011.

Regards, and Best Wishes!

Bob