16 Sep 2015 wtf Spend Matters?
Let me very quickly explain that I mean “wtf” in the sense of “What’s the fax-number?” It’s not a phrase you hear very often these days. It’s what we used to say in the 1980s. We’d also say “Ciao. Fax me”.
I was reminded of it yesterday when I attended an event hosted by Spend Matters to launch SpendLead. I should explain the fax reference. Peter Smith described his confusion when he first saw a fax machine. How was it, he thought, that paper can be transported through the ether? And, when very few other businesses had faxes, what was the business purpose of such a machine. Until, of course, the number of fax users reached a critical mass and then, we were faxing like there was no tomorrow. And it’s that sudden growth in uptake that Peter and Jason are hoping for in the uptake of SpendLead.
What is SpendLead? It’s actually not a new concept – it’s a supplier/buyer matchmaking service. But although it’s not new, the execution is contemporary. It borrows from social media although I’d not say it’s a social media channel like twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. It’s much more specific than that. It allows suppliers to put information out to an audience of potential buyers – anything from advertorial content to thought leadership white papers.
SpendLead was founded by Helsinki based Franco-Italian, Fabrice Saporito whose strong track record gives SpendLead considerable credibility. I’d echo Jason Busch’s words and say that internet based buyer/supplier matchmaking services (to put it simplistically) are a modern necessity. Google is a great tool of course but it so easy to reverse engineer the google algorithm to get any business on the front page of a search results page that buyers run the risk of shortlisting the strongest search engine optimized suppliers rather than those that are most appropriate for their needs. SpendLead may not be the tool that becomes dominant among B2B marketers and buyers but if it doesn’t, something else similar will.
I’m going to keep a close eye on SpendLead – it might just be the platform that takes off big time.
Pete Loughlin can be found on twitter @peteloughlin
