It's time to start taking a different approach to sales and marketing collateral. Every piece of collateral that Marketing produces and Sales uses contains data that is influenced not only by the contents of the collateral but by the approach taken during the sales process. This data can enable the Moneyball Manager to identify what collateral works based on defined criteria and historical data. Marketing is then able to refine collateral so that it stays relevant, not only for the prospect, but for Sales. KnowledgeTree helps companies use and improve their best collateral. Sales teams get collateral that closes deals. Managers identify what's effective. And Marketing makes collateral that drives more sales.

1. Moneyball for
Sales & Marketing

2. Moneyball for Sales
and Marketing
It was 2002, and the Oakland Athletics knew they needed to do things differently. Based in a mid-sized city,
they had a loyal, but small, fan base compared with their opponents. And with a smaller set of fans comes
lower budgets to hire big-name players. In fact, their payroll was the third lowest of all teams in the league.
Competing to sign marquee players was simply not an option.
A Different Approach
But then again, baseball is a different kind of
sport. If you’ve ever been to a baseball game
you know that it is a game of numbers. When
a batter steps to the plate, you’ll see their
$
On Base Percentage, Batting Average, Runs
Batted In, and other statistics flashed beside
their picture.
Managers study this data relentlessly, looking
for small advantages in match-ups between
batters, pitchers, and other players. This
meant that Oakland’s management could hire
less expensive specialists that deliver a lot of
value in specific match-ups. So, a player that
bunts well against left-handed pitchers can be
called in at the right time. And the investment
is lower.
This statistical approach to investing in players got a name (and a book, and a movie). It’s called Moneyball.
This mathematical approach led Oakland to win 63% of their regular season games, their divisional
championship and broke the 1906 Chicago White Sox record for the longest win streak in the American League.
This winning season happened despite the loss of three major stars to other teams. And despite paying just
one-third of the New York Yankees on player salaries.

3. Marketing is the Same Sport
What can sales and marketing teams learn from this? Let’s see what Moneyball for sales and marketing
looks like.
Sales teams only have limited time in front of prospects and customers. And they need to spend that
time wisely. That requires that they put their best foot forward each time they deliver a presentation, send
collateral, or submit a proposal. Collateral that supports a sales engagement needs to deliver the right
message for a prospect no matter where they are in the sales cycle.
And from marketing’s perspective, money is a major consideration. Research by industry analyst ITSMA
reveals that 18% of marketing communications budgets goes to collateral – writing, producing, and delivering
collateral. That is the largest single component of any marketing budget. So, that money has to be invested
intelligently.
How does this all apply? Let’s walk through some common baseball scenarios and see Moneyball for sales
and marketing in action.
It’s a rare enterprise sale that closes with a single
call. Most business-to-business deals close after
advancing through a known, established sales
process.
Getting On Base
Despite the hoopla around home runs, the reality is different. Most runs come from players getting to first base,
and then advancing around the diamond. The same is true in sales. It’s a rare enterprise sale that closes
with a single call. Most business-to-business deals close after advancing through a known, established sales
process.
So it’s important to get over the first hurdle and get awareness and interest from your prospects. Since
Marketing has already created collateral, Moneyball Managers choose players that hit well against a certain
type of pitcher in a certain situation. Sales teams should choose case studies and content that piques a
prospect’s interest. Materials that engage, inform, and are tuned to the pains of different prospects are going to
get you on base with prospects.
Moneyball Managers must know how match-ups play out. Do case studies generate more interest than white
papers? Does an ROI calculator really have any value? Do banks respond to case studies about insurance
companies? Understanding this kind of data lets sales and marketing teams match-up their best content with
different customers – and get more pipeline.

4. Batting Order
Once you’ve got someone on base, the dynamic of baseball changes. Now, the game is about advancing that
runner around the bases to score a run. Moneyball Managers know that, so they are careful about the order of
who bats. A player that gets on base a lot is often followed by batters that can advance the first player. That
could be because they’re skilled at directing the ball to different parts of the field, or perhaps they often hit home
runs.
The order of how sales people communicate with prospects is just as important. Sending educational material
at the start of a sales process might work well, while using competitive differentiation documents near the end
of a sale may just lead to complexity. Moneyball for sales and marketing tells us that we should test which
pieces of collateral work best. Understand your collateral batting order, and choose what works at different
stages in the sales cycle.
Fresh Arms
Baseball games aren’t short. And over the course of a game a starting pitcher will often throw the ball more
than a hundred times. With that much exertion, a pitcher’s effectiveness is going to drop off. So a manager
will assess when a pitcher’s endurance is likely to give out, and when they are better off at pulling in a rested
pitcher.
Just the same, sales cycles for enterprise deals are often lengthy. Hitting a prospect with the same message
repeatedly may work for a while. But a sales cycle may get stuck as the champion struggles to make a
business case to his team.
Moneyball tells us that we should be prepared to make changes and substitute in new players (or tools) as
needed. A fresh piece of content, a new perspective or resource, might help. Which pieces of content can
shake a stalled sale up and get some momentum going? The Moneyball Manager will look back to deals that
were stuck at this same stage and recommend a new approach with new collateral that has been proven to
keep the momentum going. That enables your champion to continue building a compelling business case.
Challenging the Superstar
There are often special, risky situations in baseball. The other team has loaded the bases and their star player
gets ready to hit. The star has a great record at hitting home runs and has a phenomenal batting average.
That all adds up to a strong chance that the other team is going to score, and possibly score big.
In a sales situation you’re seldom selling alone. You generally are facing large numbers of competitors. And
these competitors might have great solutions, or strong sales teams, or terrific post-sale service, or some other
differentiation. You need to shut this competitor down before they derail your sale.

5. Again, Moneyball tells us to look at the numbers. The Oakland Athletics may not have been able to invest
in expensive star players, but they knew how to disrupt other team’s stars. The same holds true for your
collateral. Sales teams should choose collateral that helps them stand out against the competition. You
have to look back and see what has worked in this scenario. Getting the right match-up means competitors
quickly drop from view.
The Closer
The end of the game is in sight, it’s the bottom of the
ninth inning and your team is ahead. All that’s needed
)
is to shut down the last few players on the opponent’s
team and it is victory time. In steps your closer. A
closer is a breed of pitcher that calmly arrives and
strikes out the remaining few batters. When the game
is on the line, you want their steely effectiveness.
In a sales situation, you have sales people that are
closers too. You even have collateral that closes. That
is your sales proposal. A fantastically tuned proposal
can put a sale in the win column. But a general,
cover-all-the-bases, generic proposal will leave your
prospect wondering if you’re the right solution. Closers,
like proposals, are specialists. They are finely tuned
to close up any loose ends and get you over the
finish line. But that means you need to find the right
elements to pull together into your proposal. Organize
content intelligently, marking what works in different
geographies, for different products, in various verticals,
so you can pull together the best closing content
possible for your deal.
Conclusion
You only have so many resources. And with the biggest slice of marketing’s budget tied up in collateral
development, you need to make that money work. By selecting the right collateral for use at the right time in a
game – or sales pursuit – you’re going to dramatically increase your win rate.
You even have collateral that closes. That is your
sales proposal. A fantastically tuned proposal can
put a sale in the win column.

6. What is KnowledgeTree?
KnowledgeTree helps customer-facing teams use and improve their
best content. Sales people instantly find content that closes deals.
Managers identify what collateral works best – and where gaps are.
And marketing improves content to drive more sales.
Find out why Network World called KnowledgeTree one of the 10 SaaS
companies to watch. And learn why Alcatel, Genesys, Fuji Chemical,
and 500 other global companies use KnowledgeTree to get insight into
their business content.
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