Reinventing Virtual Events

CHAPTER 11Innovating Around the Curve

Innovation is the unrelenting drive to break the status quo and develop anew where few have dared to go.

—Steven Jeffes

Buyers buy into the vision around the corner when marketed to but then close on the product's most essential features when they finally pull out their wallets. A great example is Justin used to sell personalized, in‐app notifications and interactive surveys. Still, many buyers wanted to do basic push notifications in their apps when “push” came to shove in buying. Julia marketed a revenue intelligence platform that promised to inform management of the “next best action” at every stage of the sales process. Still, buyers preliminarily adopted sales engagement and CRM (customer relationship management)‐to‐inbox sync.

Marketers are notorious for seeking out innovation in study after study by analysts. At the same time, sellers prioritize revenue above all else, not to say that's not also important to marketers. These folks bicker so much because their raison d'être and modus operandi are fundamentally juxtaposed.

We believe you should always play up to the most intelligent members of your audience when you're trying to pull to an event versus dumbing yourself down to broaden the audience. Like a premium product in an industry conveys quality, exclusivity, and thus value, it's okay to be an acquired taste in a sea of “Captain ...