The Competitive Advantage

May 27, 2015

How to Manage Long Sales Cycles

I was talking with a client last week about the long sales cycles in our industry. I was “bragging” that I have one client that took nearly two years to convert from prospect to client. Unimpressed, the client then mentioned that he had one that took eight years!

OK, eight years is a little ridiculous, but a 6-12-18 month sales cycle is an all-too-common scenario in B2B professional services industries… one that we all have to learn to mange. From my perspective, there are two key strategies for “sticking with it” through the long sales cycle.

May 20, 2015

I Lost a Client Today!

In fact, it was our longest-standing client.

No, we didn’t mess up. And no, they didn’t find another marketing services supplier.

The issue is an all-too-common one in our industry… they lost their largest client. In this case, one that accounted for more than 25% of their total revenue. And with that kind of financial hit, my client is facing some serious cash-flow issues… and that’s what got us.

For some firms, a client worth 25% is actually on the low side… I’ve heard of a single, large client accounting for as much as 60-70% of a firm’s total revenue! And with a huge client like that… it’s not IF you will lose them, it’s simply a matter of WHEN.

May 13, 2015

Advertising Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive

There was an article in this morning’s newspaper discussing how expensive it can be to build awareness through advertising… $340k+ for a 30-second spot on The Big Bang Theory, $600k for a spot on a Fox Network NFL game, $675k – per day – for the universal masthead on YouTube, $200k to be an Instagram advertiser and even $1.5million for a spot during the NCAA March Madness final game.

I agree… pretty staggering numbers. Unfortunately, it’s because of articles like this – and sensationalizing the dollars involved – that the overriding perception about advertising is that while potentially a valuable weapon in a firm’s marketing arsenal, it is too expensive for most firms to take advantage of.

And while it’s true that you do have to spend some money to create and place the ads, the actual dollars needed to help build awareness through some of the Market Research industry (or most any industry, for that matter) marketing vehicles are downright pedestrian when compared to those numbers above. For example…

May 1, 2015

The Top 10 Ways to Build Awareness

Two weeks ago, I went to the 25^th Annual Franklin (TN) Jazz Festival. Were it not for a tiny little nugget in the sidebar of an email I received, I would not have even known it was going on. Sadly, as evidenced by the size of the crowd, I was not alone in that regard.

This past weekend, the Country Music Marathon took place – one of the 10 largest events of its kind in the U.S. – with more than 27,000 runners. It’s a big deal. And I only heard about it 2-3 days prior.

Why is that? Why do these important community events – with access to a lot of local marketing channels that you and I don’t have – do such a lousy job of promoting their presence? Is it because they’ve been around for a while and just assume that everyone knows about them? Is it a money issue? Is it a knowledge issue?

April 28, 2015

‘Thanks, but no thanks’ is an OK answer.

This past week… after a number of emails, a proposal and a couple of phone conversations, a sales prospect (a.k.a. a potential new client) got back with me and said, “Thanks, but no thanks.” And guess what? While it wasn’t the answer I wanted, I was actually OK with it.

April 22, 2015

The top 15 webinar tips for your next presentation

I’m a lucky and grateful guy… I’ve been asked by two industry organizations (CASRO and Greenbook) to deliver four webinars over the next several months. I’m a huge proponent of webinars for several reasons…

• They deliver valuable information to attendees, in a non-threatening, non-salesy way
• They are a reasonable way to gather contact data from potential clients (when they register)
• They build awareness for the presenter and help position them as subject matter experts

If webinars are part of your marketing efforts – or if you’d like them to be – here are the top 15 webinar tips to consider as you get started…

April 15, 2015

Do you really know what clients want?

I was flipping through a magazine this morning and came across a small article announcing a new product available to consumers.

It’s a Bluetooth-enabled frying pan that helps you find the right temp so you know when to flip your pancakes (or whatever you’re cooking). Are you serious?!

April 7, 2015

Is bad marketing better than no marketing?

I received an unsolicited email the other day from a company using the holidays (Easter and Passover) as a reason to communicate… not unlike so many companies do at Christmas/Hanukkah time. Now, I appreciate when somebody tries something different as a way to “break through the clutter”… and I admit, I’m not sure I have ever received an Easter/Passover promotional message before.

But the real problem was the message itself… It was simply one short sentence. That’s it!

Now, I’m as big a fan of brevity as the next guy… but there was no real thought behind it. No real value. Not even a nice story in the message. It’s as if the sender tried to do the absolute least amount of work possible, just to get out an email for Easter so they could say they were doing something.

All-in-all… an OK strategy – but lousy execution.

Here’s my point… I see a lot of bad marketing in our industry. Poorly thought-out, haphazard, hastily-executed tactics – just to do something. Anything. And the worst offenders are these…