Book of the Week – Unleash Possible: A Marketing Playbook That Drives B2B Sales

Marketing and sales are complicated – so you need a go-to guide to refine the process. Turn to “Unleash Possible: A Marketing Playbook That Drives B2B Sales” by Samantha Stone, founder of The Marketing Advisory Network. She covers everything from the fundamentals of marketing to chasing quality leads, tracking the buyer’s journey, establishing crucial metrics, and more.

Learn more about the book from the author:

What is your book about?

Unleash Possible is a how-to guide for high-growth marketing in complex selling environments. Author Samantha Stone, the revenue catalyst, doesn’t just tell you what to do. She shows you how to do it and how to partner with sales to get the right results. There is no shortage of inspiring advice calling you to transform your marketing efforts. They all preach, correctly, that B2B marketing has changed and buyers are in control. The problem is – most advice tells you to transform but does little to address the practical realities of making changes in organizations that have complex relationships with sales.

Unleash Possible changes that. It’s a how-to manual for B2B marketers to:

1. Become a trusted partner for sales teams to turn to for guidance
2. Change the way marketing is done to better serve buyers
3. Drive more revenue, growth and profitability

Topics include

• SECTION 1: MOTIVATION & METRICS
  • Chapter 1: Culture: Go Beyond Candy Walls
  • Chapter 2: Nontraditional Metrics Marketing Must-Own
• SECTION 2: SALES & MARKETING COLLABORATION
  • Chapter 3: The Ice Cream Sundae Workshop
  • Chapter 4: Quality vs. Quantity Leads
  • Chapter 5: Stop Chasing the C-Suite
  • Chapter 6: Account Based Marketing (It’s Not What You Think)
  • Chapter 7: Outbound Calling: The Tactic We Love to Hate
• SECTION 3: BUYER INSIGHTS & MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS
  • Chapter 8: Go-to-Market: Say Goodbye to Ready–Sell–Aim
  • Chapter 9: Catching Turtles
  • Chapter 10: Personas, Not Profiles
  • Chapter 11: Closing the Buyer’s Journey Gaps
  • Chapter 12: Data, Meet Human
  • Chapter 13: This Is a Content Marketing Intervention
  • Chapter 14: Buzz – The Modern PR Imperative, by Guest Author Katie Martell
  • Chapter 15: Referral Marketing

Why should people read it? Who is the book for?

“This is a book that should not only be read by marketers. It’s a book that should be on the desk of every executive in the company. It should be required reading for the head of sales, technology and most importantly, the CEO, to help create a shared vision of marketing to grow and sustain the business (and to do it well)!” – Jere Doyle, Managing Director Sigma Prime Ventures

“‘Unleash Possible’ is filled with case studies and practical ‘how-tos’ delivered with Samantha’s warmth and unique insight. It lends a clear path for how to progress your organization forward. She not only shares what we should and should not be doing, but she shows you how to get it done, and how to hold marketing accountable to meaningful business metrics.” – Claudine Bianchi CMO, ClickSoftware

“Rarely do you find a practical, accessible resource that seamlessly combines sales and marketing into a coherent and motivating call to action as Samantha has written here.  Highly recommended read by those new (and old) to B2B sales and marketing (yes, both sides of the aisle and funnel!).” – Matt Heinz, President Heinz Marketing Inc.

Single most important takeaway:

Unleash Possible is a prescriptive guide for growth marketers of high-consideration offerings who want to forge productive relationships with sales and product development. It’s a step-by-step handbook of what I’ve done during the last two decades to bridge the gap between buyers and revenue. In each chapter, we’ll cover a key concept, review a case study and map out critical how-to guidelines for applying what you’ve learned to your organization.

Now for the big secret: I’m sharing this with you because there isn’t a single tactic in the entire book that you can’t do. It’s not about how much money you have, or how big or small your team has become. I promise you can’t do everything on your wish list, but you can do everything that’s important if you commit. This book will help you decide what to say no to, and where and how to apply your passion. Ultimately, it will help you attract not just more buyers, but the right ones. Above all, I hope it helps you fall in love with marketing the way I did years ago, and unleash what’s possible in your organization.

Meet the author

Samantha Stone is a revenue catalyst who helps ‘unleash the possible’ in organizations that have complex selling processes. She’s a fast-growth, B2B marketing junkie, author, speaker, consultant and persona coach. She’s also managed to find time to raise four boys with her husband, David. Throughout her career, she has launched go-to-market initiatives and led marketing strategies for award-winning, high-growth companies including Netezza, SAP, Ascential Software and Powersoft. In 2012, she founded The Marketing Advisory Network to help savvy business leaders unleash the possible within their enterprises.