Phenomenon conducted a research study across 250 marketing and sales executives (C-Suite, Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Leaders) across enterprise (1,000+) and medium-sized (250-999) businesses to assess obstacles teams are facing and their primary go-to-market challenges, and analyze the differences in perception across organizational function and executive level.

1. 1
B2B Marketing
& Sales Survey Results
April 2019

2. 2
Phenomenon surveyed 250
marketing and sales leaders
Phenomenon conducted a research study across 250 marketing and sales executives (C-Suite, Presidents, Vice
Presidents, and Leaders) across enterprise (1,000+) and medium-sized (250-999) businesses to assess obstacles
teams are facing and their primary go-to-market challenges, and analyze the differences in perception across
organizational function and executive level.

3. Contents
06
07
08
15
19
34
36
Survey Results
Themes From This Report
Challenge 1: Divide in Ranks
Challenege 2: Marketing and Sales Alignment
Challenge 3: Go-to-Market Challenges
Opportunities
About Phenomenon

4. 4
Business Size and Organizational Role
Organizational Role:
Marketing 62.1%
Sales 37.9%
Decision Maker refers to those in the C-Suite,
President, and Vice President levels
Leader refers to those at the director level
Senior Marketing
Leader
Senior Marketing
Decision Maker
14.2% 23.7% 28.9% 33.2%
Senior Sales
Decision Maker
Senior Sales
Leader
Enterprise
1000+
Medium
250-999
43.1%
56.9%
4

5. 5
Industry
5 10 15 20
Retail
Manufacturing
Consumer Goods & Packaging
Finance & Banking
Education
Consumer Technology
E-Commerce
Construction
Wholesalers and Distributors
Publishing
Beverages
Electronics
Automotive
Chemical
Other
Information Technology
Entertainment & Media
Professional Services
Healthcare
Percent

6. Survey Results

7. 7
Themes from this report
Primary obstacles facing B2B sales and marketing leaders as they look to the year ahead.
Divide in Ranks: C-Suite
to Mid-Level Executive Divide
There is disparity in how leaders across
marketing and sales departments identify:
the performance of their teams, primary
challenges facing their teams, and
opportunities for improvement. While
higher-level executives view conceptual
performance more optimistically, leaders
place more confidence in processes.
1.
Sales and Marketing
Alignment: A Unifying Vision
Misalignment can lead to teams approaching
opportunities with recycled content and
processes that fail to generate meaningful
engagements. And, as the buying landscape
becomes more complex, and buyers become
more sophisticated, it’s imperative to
approach the market with a unified,
strategic message.
2.
Go-To-Market Challenges:
Standing Out In a Sea of Noise
Today’s buying behaviors are constantly
changing, making it harder to craft strong pitch
narratives and organize sales and marketing
materials around distinct buying audience
needs. Moreover, executives lack confidence
in their team’s abilities to craft and deliver
strategic narratives, highlighting a need for
more involved training and support.
3.

8. Challenge 1:
Divide in Ranks
C-suite to mid-level executive divide

9. 9
Divide in Ranks: C-suite to mid-level executive divide
Across marketing and sales departments, decision makers are more optimistic
than their leader counterparts when responding to prompts in four key areas:
By nature, C-Suite level executives have to be optimistic, and this shows in their
responses across the following examples (slides 10-13).
“Bigger picture” positioning concepts are often driven by higher-level executives, leaving
them more in-favor when asked questions around the performance of those concepts,
and the adoption of them.
• Achieving business goals
• Presence & clarity of corporate narrative
• Presence & clarity of customer value proposition
• Workforce adoption of corporate narrative

10. 10
Divide in Ranks: C-suite to mid-level executive divide
Decision Maker
No confidence
0%
Neutral Confidence
0%
Slight Confidence
5.1%
Moderate Confidence
42.9%
High Confidence
52%
Leader
No confidence
0%
Neutral Confidence
3%
Slight Confidence
8.3%
Moderate Confidence
51.1%
High Confidence
37.6%
Looking forward, how
much confidence do
you have in your team’s
ability to meet your
business goals in 2019?
O

11. Divide in Ranks: C-suite to mid-level executive divide
Commentary
Decision makers agree more strongly than their
leader counterparts that their companies have a
clear customer value proposition.
They have more confidence in the majority of their
workforce having the ability to articulate the
customer value proposition, with 91% agreeing
verses 79.5% of leaders.
However, decision makers later identify “customer
value proposition development” as the foremost
area their team would benefit from help in 2019.
Decision Makers Leaders
25
0
75
50
100
Level of agreement (%)
Presence of CVP
Ability to articulate CVP
11

12. 12
Divide in Ranks: C-suite to mid-level executive divide
What percentage of your workforce do you believe has adopted your brand’s corporate narrative?
0
0% - 25% 25% - 50% 50% - 75% 75% - 100% No corporate narrative
34
17
51
Decision Maker
0
0% - 25% 25% - 50% 50% - 75% 75% - 100% No corporate narrative
34
17
68
51
Leader

13. 13
Divide in Ranks: C-suite to mid-level executive divide
Commentary
Decision makers have more confidence in cross-
individual ability to explain their brand’s corporate
narrative.
As a result, more decision makers believe their customers can
articulate their brand’s corporate narrative (85% of decision
makers vs 78% of leaders believe this).
Both of these findings point to a stronger confidence from
high-level executives in their team’s training and
articulation abilities.
However, decision makers later contradict this confidence when
identifying that a top challenge their teams face is “lack of
consistency when explaining their enterprise value proposition
and solution offerings.”
Regardless of the individual, my brand’s corporate
narrative gets explained consistently.
100
75
0
25
50
Decision Maker
78%
Leader
73%

14. 14
Divide in Ranks: C-suite to mid-level executive divide
Sales or marketing materials are created based on ad hoc requests
instead of being organized around distinct buying audience needs.
Levels of optimism shift when asked questions about their
team’s ability to complete their daily tasks successfully.
Leaders have more confidence in their team’s process and ability to execute against business objectives.
0 010 1020 2030 3040 40
LEVEL OF AGREEMENT
My team doesn’t have the skill or training necessary to successfully
create a compelling pitch narrative that marries our solutions with
buying audience.
Decision Maker Decision Maker
Leader Leader

15. Challenge 2:
Marketing and Sales Alignment
Across decision makers & leaders

16. 16
Marketing and Sales Alignment
Commentary
Marketers are more confident in the clarity of their company’s
value proposition. However, there is little discrepancy in how
strongly the two departments feel in their workforce’s ability
to articulate the value proposition.
This highlights a leading challenge in today’s B2B sales
landscape —that those in the highest sales roles within an
organization don’t feel strongly that their company has a
value proposition.
It presents a unique opportunity, that if marketing and sales
worked more closely together, it could solve the disconnect
that exists.
My company has a clear customer value proposition.
Marketing Executives
Sales Executives
90.3% 83.9%

17. 17
Marketing and Sales Alignment
When identifying top challenges facing their sales teams, both marketing
and sales executives identify the same three, just in different orders:
3. Lack of consistency when explaining their enterprise
value proposition and solution offerings.
3. Lack of consistency when explaining their enter-
prise value proposition and solution offerings.
2. Combating competitor’s undermining
counter-narratives with foolproof messaging.
2. Precisely knowing their audiences
and what is important to them.
2. Precisely knowing their audiences
and what is important to them.
1. Combating competitor’s undermining
counter-narratives with foolproof messaging.
Marketing Sales

18. 18
Marketing and Sales Alignment
Not surprisingly, the desire for marketing and sales to function as one
department was identified as a key challenge one marketing executive
would solve in 2019 if given the opportunity. There is clear value in these
departments working more closely together, and one respondent’s remarks
on the unpredictable market highlights the need for unity in the face of rising
challenges. As the buying journey becomes more complex, those companies
that approach their audiences more strategically and collaboratively will
differentiate themselves against disjointed competition.
I would bridge the
gap between sales
and marketing, making
them function more
as one department
than as two.
- Senior Marketing Decision
Maker, Medium Business, Retail
The challenge of rising
costs and competition,
combined with an
increasingly complex
sales and marketing
economy.
- Jack Dawson, Vice President
of Sales, Intellect Inc.,
“
“ “
“

19. Challenge 3:
Go-To-Market Challenges
Across sales and marketing decision makers & leaders

20. 20
Aligning narratives to buying audience needs
Crafting strong pitch narratives
Legacy as both a driver and hindrance
1
2
3
In response to prompts around
primary go-to-market challenges,
three themes dominated responses:
Go-to-market challenges

21. Aligning narratives to buying audience needs
1

22. 22
Narratives that align to buying audience needs
Commentary
There is agreement across
marketing and sales executives
that stronger narratives, aligned
with specific buying audience
needs, would result in an increase
in pitch win rates.
However, when asked how they
are differentiating in pitches, the
majority of sales executives
responded that they are still
differentiating based on price.
61
305
183
427
122
366
244
488
549
Technical
Differentiation
Feature
Differentiation
Price
Differentiation
Philanthropic
Differentiation
Customer
Service
Differentiation
Values-Based
Differentiation
Brand
Differentiation
Category
Leadership
Differentiation
Storytelling
Differentiation
0

23. 23
Narratives that align to buying audience needs
Commentary
Despite leaning on a sales strategy that differentiates on
price, sales respondents acknowledge that approaching
customers with a unique sales strategy would result in a
positive increase in sales.
While they acknowledge it would help sales, they aren’t
doing it, because they’re unable to. The majority of sales
executives identify knowing their audiences and what is
important to them as their primary challenge.
And, that’s no surprise 74.2% of executives across
marketing and sales roles agree that the buying process
has grown in complexity, with more decision makers,
making it difficult to craft messaging aligned to buying
audience needs.
0
Legacy messaging that
distracts and misguides
purchase decisions
3015 50
Lack of consistency
when explaining their enterprise
value proposition and solution
offerings
Precisely knowing their
audiences and what is
important to them
Combating competitor’s
undermining counter-narratives
with foolproof messages
Absence of the right context
and information to inform
strong pitch narratives
Innability to craft strong pitch
narratives, despite having the
right context and information
None of the above

24. 24
Narratives that align to buying audience needs
We sometimes convince ourselves
internally that we have our customers
figured out, but we have more work to do
to determine real need states, pain points,
and solutions to help them succeed.
- Senior Marketing Decision
Maker, Medium Business, Retail
“
“

25. 25
Narratives that align to buying audience needs
Often, materials are created in a rush reactively
instead of diligently and proactively, with 61% of
enterprise marketing and sales executives citing
that sales and marketing materials are created
based on ad hoc requests instead of being
organized around distinct buying audience needs.

26. Crafting strong pitch narratives
2

27. Crafting strong pitch narratives
Commentary
There needs to be organizational transformation to
support strategic selling.
When asked if their teams have the autonomy and flexibility
necessary to create new solutions that directly address
audience needs, only 68.2% of sales executives agreed,
in contrast to 84.8% of marketing executives.
And, there needs to be more training and support of the
sales team, as executives all poll below 50% confidence in
their ability to craft narratives aligned to audience needs. 10
30
20
40
Enterprise
Executives
(marketing &
sales)
Marketing
Executives
Sales
Executives
0
My teams don’t have the skill or training necessary to successfully create a
compelling pitch narrative that marries solutions with buying audience needs.
LEVEL OF AGREEMENT
27

28. 28
Crafting strong pitch narratives
We need a clear
go-to-marketing
strategy and clear
corporate messaging.
- Senior Marketing Leader,
Enterprise, Healthcare
Commentary
There is hesitancy across respondents, regardless of
role, in their team’s ability to craft strong narratives.
And, the top areas executives identified as needing
support in are in line with supporting their team’s
customer-facing communications.
Marketing executives rank customer value proposition
development followed by go-to-market strategy, and
sales executives identifying marketing communications
followed by customer value proposition development.
One executive said,
“
“

29. Crafting strong pitch narratives
of sales executives feel that sales teams are stretched too
thin, and don’t have the information or time necessary to
speak to the bigger picture their products enable for the
buying audience’s business.
54.6%

30. Crafting strong pitch narratives
25%
of sales executives believe their teams lack the
ability to craft strong pitch narratives, despite
having the right context and information.

31. Crafting strong pitch narratives
Commentary
With the majority of executives lacking confidence in their
team’s ability to craft meaningful narratives, it makes sense
that only 10% of enterprise executives identify storytelling
differentiation as a way their teams stand out in pitch scenarios.
Instead, teams are left getting into knife-to-knife combat fights
over features and price.
Having strong, strategic narratives boosts the confidence of the
sales team, which in turn makes buyers more confident in what
they are selling.
In addition, with strategic narratives sellers can outplay the com-
petition with compelling stories that show directly how
their solutions solve the buyer’s needs.
I would like to make
sure each agent is
extremely confident
while pitching their
products.
- Senior Sales Decision Maker,
Medium Business, Professional Services
31
“
“

32. Legacy as both a driver and hindrance
3

33. Legacy as both a driver and hindrance
Overcoming increased
competition in the industry.
Selling our legacy over what is
shiny and new is vital.
- Senior Sales Leader,
Enterprise, Healthcare
The biggest challenge we are
facing is finding new audiences
that we can benefit from.
- Senior Sales Leader,
Enterprise, Healthcare
Finding the pitch that reaches
Gen X. We are loaded with older
customers and need to refresh
our customer base.
- Senior Sales Decision Maker,
Medium, Finance & Banking
I would remove all legacy messaging
from our intranet and from our training.
But it is very difficult to nail down.
- Senior Sales Decision Maker, Enterprise
Business, Information Technology
Commentary
Legacy is a multifaceted topic among executives.
The juxtaposition between leaning on a company’s legacy
within an industry and still finding flexibility within that legacy
to remain relevant to new market opportunities, emerged as a
primary theme throughout respondent answers.
In addition, removing routine, legacy messaging is a primary
challenge facing executives today, with enterprise executives
identifying “legacy messaging that distracts and misguides
purchase decisions” as a top challenge they are facing.
33
“
“
“
“
“
“
“ “

34. Opportunities

35. 35
Three Opportunities
Opportunities for ensuring your sales and marketing leaders are
aligned to deliver an optimal customer experience.
Make the customer the
hero of the story
The increased sophistication of buyers
has driven a demand for control over their
experiences. To break through, brands need
to be customer-centric, reframing narratives,
giving the customer the power and showing
direct correlation between what the customer
needs and what your brand offers.
Craft narratives that connect with
both the head and the heart
True differentiation comes by showcasing creative
ways to understand and address the unmet needs
of customers. Not only does this leave them feeling
understood, it is memorable. In fact, when stories
are used to convey information, retention jumps to
65%-70%, compared to 5%-10% retention when
conveying the same information through statistics.
Develop a continuous understanding
of audience needs
Both of the aforementioned opportunities rely
completely on having a deep understanding of your
audience. This means moving as quickly as your
audience evolves, which requires cross-departmental
collaboration agility. Without remaining abreast of their
most pressing concerns, your brand can’t possibly craft
a compelling reason for them to listen.
1 2 3

36. 36
We reside at the crossroads of many things.
From our perch on the 28th floor, we look
down on the Tar Pits and see what
becomes of dinosaurs. We live across from
Hollywood, where film and culture meet.
We rub elbows with concept cars and
contemporary art.
We wake up every day believing that the
last competitive advantage is being first.
First to identify an unmet need, first to
leverage a new technology or platform,
and always first to question the status quo.
We know that advertising alone has lost
the power to move people and businesses.
So we hire creative thinkers who have as
many questions as they have answers.
People with a passion for solving,
collaborating and smiling.
And we give those Phenos a 360-degree
view. From the Pacific to whatever they
can imagine. A platform to surprise
themselves and the world. Where design,
innovation, creativity and strategy are all
one thing. Because we aren’t content
building marketing plans, we build
marketplaces. With big brands in need
of reinvention and challenger brands in
need of invention.
So please, let us introduce ourselves.
We are Phenomenon.
And we’re headquartered on
the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles.
We are not Madison Avenue, we are not
Silicon Valley, we are Miracle Mile.
About Phenomenon

37. 37
Contributors
Ryan Stoner, Group Strategy Director
Stephanie Burnison, Strategist
Lauren Hutchinson, Designer
Kari Weis, Designer
For more information, please visit phenomenon.com or contact newbiz@phenomenon.com
Follow us
@phenomenonmarketing@phenomenon