The Competitive Advantage

October 10, 2017

My son quit his job to pursue his dream!, Part 2

Three months ago, I wrote a post about my son, Alex… quitting his job in Dallas to pursue his dream in New York City. Not only did he want to relocate to a city where he had no real network of contacts, he also wanted to change industries – from healthcare to music – again, with no real connections. But he had a dream!

October 1, 2017

Running a small firm? Who holds you accountable?

If you are responsible for revenue growth (i.e. you’re a sales rep or a seller-doer hybrid) and you have a boss that you report to… then being held accountable is pretty easy. You record your activities in a CRM that he or she reviews. Or you provide a simple report on your activities, progress and sales prospect status.

Do that… and your boss knows you’ve been working hard and he/she can even provide feedback and suggestions that can help you get better. Don’t do it… and your job is at stake.

But what if YOU are the boss… and also the rainmaker (a very common ‘structure’ in the Market Research industry)? Who’s holding you accountable for revenue growth? Who are you reporting to and getting feedback from?

September 26, 2017

Bad Salesperson… or Bad Sales Manager?

True story… earlier this week, I was the recipient of bad selling – a “cold call” email from a sales rep in our industry pitching his services.

It started with “We’ve never met, but…” Immediately, my defenses went up! I knew what was about to come – a sales pitch of some kind.

Then, at the end of the pitch, the email went on to say, “I have no idea if this is relevant to you.” Which, of course… it wasn’t.

This kind of amateurish sales effort – very common in the Market Research industry – drives me up the wall! AAARGH!!!

September 19, 2017

What Makes a Specialist Special?

Most research firms are ‘generalists’… offering a variety of research methodologies to all kinds of firms in all kinds of industries. If it’s a profitable opportunity and if it fits their team’s skill set – they’ll take it.

And that’s fine. But with that broad approach to business comes a muddled and murky approach to marketing… decisions are difficult to make. Trying to serve so many kinds of companies in so many industries means far too many marketing options. So, how do you choose?

September 12, 2017

How Sharp are Your Marketing and Sales Skills?

Over the next couple of months, I have the privilege of speaking about marketing and sales at several Market Research industry events:

• QRCA’s Business Development SIG inaugural event
• The Insights Association Annual Conference
• Greenbook’s Insights Marketing Day

These events got me to thinking… every year, most MR professionals and principals attend a few conferences, workshops or webinars as a means of improving their research skills and staying on top of new trends in our industry.

But what about staying on top of business development for your firm? What can you do – in addition to attending the events above – to improve your marketing and sales skills? To help, here are few other resources to investigate if your marketing and sales skills need brushing up…

August 28, 2017

Marketing & Sales Success Begins with a Simple Step… Thinking!

Consider this… nearly every key business process involves three fundamental steps: Think – Plan – Do.

Think: You gather together all of the key players that will be involved in the particular issue. Then you brainstorm, discuss, vet ideas and then settle on a final concept, idea or direction.

Plan: With the direction set, a plan is developed to manage the execution. The plan provides instructions for what needs to be done, by whom, by when and for how much money.

Do: Then finally, you get to work… using the Plan to guide the execution.

And the most important part of the process? The Thinking phase! Why? Because it lays the foundation and sets the direction for everything to follow. It drives the process toward achieving your goals. Without it, you’re rudderless.

August 22, 2017

Are you ready for ‘conference season?’

For as long as I have been in the market research industry, Fall has been ‘conference season.’ And while organizations like Quirk’s have established solid events in the first part of the calendar year, September-October-November continue to host most of the industry’s top events:

Insights Leadership Conference

TMRE – The Market Research Event

The ESOMAR Congress

The Corporate Researchers Conference (CRC)

The AMA Annual Conference

If you’ve got conference plans on your calendar this Fall, there are three areas that – if you’re properly prepared – can have a dramatic impact on your success at these events.

August 15, 2017

Content Marketing Has No Value, If No One Sees It!

It’s very interesting… almost all ‘content marketing’ planning sessions focus solely on the first word: content – what topics are to be covered, who you’re writing for, which keywords should be focused on, which format you will use (blog, case study, eBook, infographic, etc.) and who’s going to create it.

But that’s only half the equation. Many people (most, in fact) assume because their content is “good” (at least they think it is), that it will be found by their target market. Not necessarily!