• The SiriusDecisions Demand Unit Waterfall represents the reality that B2B sales and marketing teams face when promoting and selling their solutions
  • The Demand Unit Waterfall relies on knowing the composition of typical buying groups, and organizations tend to capture that information poorly
  • At this year’s Summit, Julian Archer and John Donlon will present the Demand Unit Waterfall Data Model, which helps organizations structure and capture demand unit data

Travelers visiting a new destination – whether for business or pleasure – are always grateful for the cartographers who came before them. These experts spent time and effort mapping out the lay of the land to prevent future visitors from wasting time traveling up dead-end alleyways.

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Organizations considering when and how to implement the SiriusDecisions Demand Unit Waterfall are becoming increasingly aware of the opportunities to be gained by adopting this model. We know that many of you are looking for guidance on the required data structure to help you when you’re in unfamiliar territory. Fear not – at this year’s Summit, my colleague John Donlon and I will introduce the SiriusDecisions Demand Unit Waterfall Data Model, which provides a solid understanding of the data objects and technical architecture your organization will need to support the move to Demand Unit Waterfall implementation.

The Demand Unit Waterfall drives an organization’s sales, marketing and product teams to discuss and agree on the composition of typical buying groups. This is important, because we find that although many organizations today have an overabundance of unstructured data, they have too little data that provides the insight into the people who make the buying decisions. This information tends to be captured and stored poorly, and doesn’t provide all functions with the clarity of buying group context they crave. Within the marketing function, too much emphasis on an individual can lead to a failure to recognize the importance of the cross-functional buying group relationships and behavior.

At our Summit session, we’ll show and discuss in detail a logical data model that allows that insight to be captured and stored effectively. We’ll provide clarity on which new objects need to be introduced within your organization’s sales force automation systems. We’ll describe the four significant ways in which the Demand Unit Waterfall differs from past waterfalls – each of which must be considered when implementing the data model. Finally, we’ll review leads and contacts, buying groups and personas, scoring, and – of course – demand units.

To ensure this session is as practical as possible, we’ll also leave you with a deeper understanding of the technology and process considerations for the four elements we discuss that we deem necessary for model adoption and a successful implementation.

But that’s just the half of it! After a discussion of the model, what could be better than hearing from one of our clients that has already implemented the Demand Unit Waterfall? We are delighted that Sherrie Mersdorf, VP of marketing at Evariant, has agreed to join us on stage. She will talk us through the reasons behind her organization’s move to the Demand Unit Waterfall, explain how her organization built and adopted a new data model, and discuss some of the key challenges she faced.

All good guides recognize the individual requirements of their party members, and John and I will do our best to lead you successfully through this journey. Along the way, we’ll provide decision points that offer you options for your adoption of the new Demand Unit Waterfall Data Model. We hope you join us in Las Vegas on this expedition at 2:10 p.m. on Thursday, May 10!