The Competitive Advantage

March 15, 2016

How to Be Remarkable

In Seth Godin’s ground-breaking marketing book, Purple Cow, he espouses that all businesses should aspire to be ‘remarkable’… as a way to stand out from the crowd and build their brand.

On a recent trip to Dallas to visit my son, Alex, I got to experience something truly remarkable – something Godin, himself, would be proud of! My son took me to a place called Top Golf… ostensibly a driving range – but it was s-o-o-o-o much more! Top Golf combines the skill and sport of golf (they even provide the clubs) with the food and beverages of a fun sports bar (delivered to your ‘driving bay’) with the scorekeeping and competition of bowling (yup – it’s on the overhead screens here, too). It’s all very hi-tech/hi-touch… and it’s only $20/hour for all the balls you can hit, regardless of the number of people you’re with!

It not only redefines what a driving range is… it has created an entirely new category and made it a new kind of destination… ideal for fathers & sons, small groups, corporate outings and dates. A wait of more than 2 hours is not uncommon.

Top Golf is a great reminder that ‘remarkable’ is achievable…. that something truly different will capture people’s attention… and that a unique customer experience will create loyalists who come back again and again.

March 8, 2016

Networking at a Conference… 8 Ways to be Awesome!

There are a bunch of conferences in our industry – TMRE, ESOMAR, Quirk’s, CASRO, MRA and more… not to mention all of the industry-specific ones. And even when you’re attending for just the education (not exhibiting… not sponsoring), networking at a conference can still be a remarkable marketing & sales opportunity for you and your firm.

As you get ready to attend your next event, consider these ideas to maximize your time there…

February 29, 2016

The Sales Presentation: Stop Reading the PowerPoint Slides and Tell Your Story

5 Proven Tips to Improve your Sales Presentation Process

I get it. Not everyone – particularly in our industry – likes to stand in front of a group and deliver a sales presentation. It’s so much more comfortable to not look into the eyes of the audience, turn away from them and read the PowerPoint slides up on the screen. But that’s not very engaging.

And to exacerbate the situation… often the slides themselves are horrible. 6-7-8 (or more) bullet points on a slide, each with a long, complete sentence. And because you don’t want to miss any of that detail, while your back is turned (see paragraph 1 above), you just read the slides… one long sentence… after another… after another. Not very compelling, huh?

February 25, 2016

The Mobilization of Marketing… what’s the rush?

Along with topics like ‘inbound marketing,’ ‘growth hacking’ and ‘social media,’ the ‘mobilization of marketing’ has been one of the most written-about topics on most of the marketing blog sites and portals for some time.

So, with “everyone” accessing the internet for from their mobile devices, shouldn’t we be doing everything we can to move our marketing initiatives to align with that? Not so fast, my friend! (with props to Lee Corso of ESPN).

February 16, 2016

Your Clients Don’t Have Research Problems

I know, for most firms in the research industry, that statement seems a little counter-intuitive… but it’s true. That CPG firm you work with doesn’t really care about focus groups. The automotive company doesn’t get all that excited about conjoint analysis. And that healthcare firm… let’s just say that max-diff doesn’t keep them up at night.

The fact is, your clients don’t have research problems… they have business problems – that they need research to help solve.

February 9, 2016

Content Marketing? But I’m a lousy writer!

Content Marketing is a core marketing initiative for many – if not most – firms in the market research industry. A good Content Marketing program can position your firm in the markets you serve, build awareness, generate and nurture sales leads and so much more.

But the biggest [perceived] obstacle related to content marketing – particularly among the principals of small and mid-sized firms – is this, “But I’m a lousy writer!”

And while that may be what many MR professionals believe… honestly, it’s not that true. Based on our work with firms throughout our industry and across the country, here are 5 ideas to explode that myth and get you over the hurdle:

January 30, 2016

Content Marketing not working? Eh, don’t worry about it!

Do these sound familiar?

• “Only about 40% of the people who registered for our webinar actually showed up.” or
• “I’ve talked to a number of those who downloaded our latest eBook and less than half have even read it.”

Here’s my advice… don’t be too upset about it. It’s not that big a deal!

The reality is… much of what you do from a content marketing perspective will fall on deaf ears – or more appropriately – might never make it to the ears they were intended for. Don’t sweat it…

January 27, 2016

A Brilliant Example of Communicating in Plain, Simple English

I’ve been looking for some new software lately to help with processing credit cards online for our upcoming workshop series. One of the vendors I was investigating is WaveApps.com.

While I was browsing their website, I did something I almost never do… I took a look at the Terms of Use. You know… that long, legal document that we usually completely ignore, or when necessary, just click ‘Agree’ and move on.

But WaveApps has done something remarkable… something I’ve never seen before with this kind of document.