Last week, KS&R was able to officially announce its partnership with Buyer Persona Institute (BPI) and my new role as BPI’s President – Press Release. I won’t sugar coat this, I’m thrilled! Here’s why….
I’ve known Adele Revella, the Founder of BPI and author of the definitive book on buyer personas, for many years and have followed her career closely. Like minds as they say, but we have always shared the same fundamental beliefs that made this partnership virtually a no-brainer. Beliefs such as:
- Asking the right questions of recent buyers and REALLY listening to them will significantly improve marketing and sales ROI
- If one of the end goals of marketing is to develop a deeper connection with prospects (and it should be!), then buyer insights HAVE to inform your strategies to do so
- Buyer insights should also SIMPLIFY your marketing and sales strategies by enabling you to focus on what really matters to prospects – i.e., complexity ≠ better
- Semi-fictional representation of a potential customer or market segment is not enough –insights about the actual BUYING DECISION moves the needle
From a methodology perspective, this last point might be the most important because it ensures your buyer persona tells you exactly what prospective customers need to know and experience before they will buy from you. It’s a critical distinction in how BPI approaches buyer personas and the single most important reason I “signed up for this gig” and am confident we will continue to provide significant value to our clients going forward.
On a personal note, I’ve led high-performing market research teams on the client and supplier side for three decades now. In that time, I’ve been involved in hundreds of research studies across what seems like every conceivable topic important to a strategy, marketing, sales or product professional. At this point in my career, three things matter most to me:
1) Working with a talented, client-focused team
2) Having a direct and positive impact on our clients’ business
3) Leveraging my own expertise and experience to enhance the value we provide clients
Consequently, BPI is the perfect “next chapter” for me. The BPI team is A++ in every way; BPI’s core methodology is acutely focused on improving marketing and sales performance; and there are opportunities to enhance what we currently offer to provide even more value to clients (more on that in future communications).
Full speed ahead indeed!