The 7 - 3 E Marketing Quality Indicator
Ximena Hernández Buffa
You need to see a company 7 times to start recognizing it
An average of 5.4 people is involved in a B2B buying decision (CEB).
If a B2B service company wants to grow and sustain itself over time, it must generate processes, as we perceive is the case with large companies that have been in the market for a long time. Just as there is an ISO quality process for project implementation, it is essential for a commercial process to be adopted (sales and demand generation), with constant, customary actions, habits and KPIs (key performance indicators or quality indicators).
A process usually has quantity and quality indicators. Let’s focus on those pointing out when an opportunity is of quality for the sales area to seize it.
The 7 - 3 E model to measure the quality of generated opportunities
At MTI Selling, we envisage the 7 - 3 E model as a way to point out that an opportunity is more likely to advance through the sales funnel, and faster. The model breakdown is as follows:
7 - TIMES: The customer needs to have contact with you and your company 7 times. This can be achieved:
- By interacting with them digitally: through a visit to their LinkedIn profile, giving it a like or commenting on content from their company.
- By causing them to become aware of your company (increasing brand awareness): sending invitations to webinars and events, posting valuable content on your social media platforms; leading them to find references to your company in digital searches, or sharing an email with links to your website with success stories.
3 - CONTACTS: Having 3 contacts from the same company before the first meeting. More than one person from your company can have these 3 contacts, and they can meet on LinkedIn, there is no need to meet them personally. According to CEB, B2B buying decisions are made by 5.4 decision makers.
E - ENGAGEMENT: The customer expresses to remain engaged with and committed to your company to solve a business need. It means that we achieved the trust and interest of the customer in our service.
The positive thing about this model is that the actions depend on you, you do not need the customer to advance internally in the business.
Apply the 7 - 3 E model prior to a meeting
The next time you have a first meeting, set the goal that the counterpart has already built trust in you because “they already know you”, since they perceived your expertise, that you have solved business problems similar to theirs and learned with you (event, webinar). Hopefully, they have already seen the customers that appear on your website and follow you on LinkedIn. This is likely to generate a second meeting or they may ask you for a proposal immediately. It is also likely that other commercial conversations will be encouraged within that company because in your customer’s team there are three people who already know your company.
Classic measurement and adaptations
The 7 - 3 E model is based on the new trend that suggests a renewal of the BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Time) classification of the Solution Selling methodology. According to the trends towards giving value to the customer, buying behavior and new media, there are proposals for renewal of the Solution Selling model and the BANT classification. One is the GPCTBA & CI model, which suggests focusing more on the customer and their business problems rather than on the product.
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