Navigating B2B Media Sales with Chris Turner-Green of TechnologyAdvice

This week on the Revenue Insights Podcast we are joined by Chris Turner-Green, Vice President of Sales, EMEA at TechnologyAdvice.

In this episode, Lee and Chris explore B2B media sales, discussing how it differs from wider B2B sales and how it is shifting towards being more similar to B2C sales. They also touch on how to become a thought leader and the impact of AI on both business and buyers.

Chris is the current VP of Sales, EMEA at TechnologyAdvice, a full-service B2B media company delivering marketing and data for over 600 technology companies. Prior to this he was UK Managing Director at G+J iMD (International Media Sales) and Head of Title & Campaign Management at News UK.

 

• Chris Turner-Green on LinkedIn
• TechnologyAdvice Website
• Chris’ Book Recommendation: The Jelly Effect by Andy Bounds
• Ebsta Revenue Insights Newsletter  

Time Stamps:

• 01:41 – Chris’ career story
• 03:02 – Comparing B2B media sales with wider B2B sales
• 06:52 – The role of data in sales
• 09:47 – Emerging B2C trends in B2B environments
• 14:45 – Becoming a differential thought leader
• 18:17 – AI’s impact on businesses and buyers
• 26:48 – Determining success of sellers
• 31:42 – Chris’ book recommendation: The Jelly Effect by Andy Bounds
• 35:24 – Where to find Chris

Highlights:

Emerging B2C Trends in B2B Environments

50% of B2B buyers are millennials, and an ever-increasing amount are now Gen Z, which means that there is also an ever-increasing percentage of buyers who are working more flexibly, and are contactable outside of standard working hours. This means that B2C trends are coming into B2B environments, which so we need to be thinking in a new way about the buyer’s journey as it is becoming far more complex and dynamic. Brand awareness and attention are now more important than ever for bringing buyers in, as they will keep them interested in the brand throughout the funnel.

Becoming a Differential Thought Leader

Chris explains that the most important attribute for a thought leader is to have a differential point of view, as this will help you to stand out from the crowd and be memorable. To Chris, true thought leadership is not proclaiming what the next 12 months will look like in December based on current trends, but recognizing something that is happening in the distant future. For example, AI is clearly the future, but a differential thought leader will be thinking about the long-term implications on both business and lifestyle. 

AI’s Impact on Business and Buyers

AI can already do a lot, but its validity and trustworthiness is questionable at best. In Sales, AI enables businesses to scale a lot of processes. One such process is that we can send out a phenomenal number of emails, but the problem is that they all look exactly the same and can easily be recognized as AI. At the moment, nobody wants to be sold to by a computer, and so this can negatively impact your sales process. The challenge is to find the happy medium whereby AI is leveraged to streamline and scale processes, but without removing the human element. To Chris, AI is an enhancement tool that can be used to edit and improve emails and other texts, but it can’t be the only thing you rely on. 

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