The Competitive Advantage

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!

July 31, 2017

Differentiation: Just Being Different Isn’t Enough

Over the past five years, without a doubt, the most popular topic in my conversations with clients and prospective clients has been around ‘differentiation’… what they can do to stand out from their competitors. Everyone agrees there is far too much “sameness” in our industry – too many firms that look alike and sound alike all offering a range of services that are essentially the same. If you’re a prospective buyer, how do you choose?

July 25, 2017

Why Are You Afraid of Marketing & Sales?

Twelve years ago, this month, I started my career in the Market Research industry. And it didn’t take very long for me to come to the conclusion that “This is an industry that does not embrace marketing & sales.”

Over the years, I have repeated that statement to scores of people – in all kinds of companies covering all kinds of roles – and guess what? Not a single person has ever disagreed with me. It’s amazing to see in 2017 just how many firms…

• Have a website that hasn’t been updated in years
• Have virtually no social media presence
• Have not published any thought leadership
• Have no proactive sales effort

July 18, 2017

The #1 Sales Activity You’re NOT Doing… or Doing Badly!

7 Ideas for Improving Your Follow-up Process

See if this sounds familiar… you attend a conference where you, once again, prove your ability as a networker. You meet a number of potential clients (a.k.a. “sales prospects”), have several solid conversations and collect a pocketful of business cards. All-in-all, not bad!

Then you return to the office and are diligent about sending out the “nice to meet you” emails as soon as you can. And then… crickets! No one responds or says they’re looking for a new vendor. At best, you get a few “nice to meet you, too” responses – but nothing more.

When that happens – and it always happens – what do you do?

July 11, 2017

My son quit his job last week to pursue his dream!

For the last two years – since graduating from college – my son has been working as a financial analyst for a healthcare consulting firm in Dallas. And it’s a great firm… fast-growing, profitable, a leader in its niche, beautiful offices, takes great care of its employees, and so on.

But he hasn’t been happy… he wants to be in New York and he wants to change industries (from healthcare to music/entertainment). So, he’s saved his money, quit the firm and is moving north! Next week!