About Harpeth Marketing

Our [brief] story, as told by our Founder, Steve Henke

I started my Market Research career in July 2005 when I joined 20|20 Research (now part of Sago) as its new President. In that role, I had a very interesting perspective into the industry. It didn’t take me long to observe that this is an industry that does not embrace marketing and sales. A statement – by the way – that no one has ever disagreed with in the 20+ years since!

It was that observation – coupled with my diverse background in sales and marketing – that led me to start Harpeth Marketing in early 2012. Initially, we opened our doors as strictly a consulting shop, but based on market and client needs, quickly morphed to become the ‘outsourced marketing department’ for many of our clients, managing the hands-on execution of a number of marketing initiatives. And in the years since, I’m proud to say that we’ve worked with scores of businesses around the world.

In late 2025, we morphed again… this time refocusing solely on sales and sales management in the MR industry. While marketing is a bit of a challenge for MR firms, sales and sales management are significantly more so. And even though selling is the driver of revenue growth for every business in MR, virtually no one comes to the table with that experience.

We want to fix that!

As you read through the website and learn more about what we do, who we work with and how we might be able to help you, if you have any questions or if we can help in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Good luck and good selling,

P.S. We get asked about our name a lot. Here’s the story: Harpeth Marketing was named for the Harpeth River which flows through middle Tennessee, very close to where I live. It’s a beautiful stream that stretches for over 100 miles before emptying into the Cumberland River, and it is my primary destination for fishing and canoeing.