The Competitive Advantage

January 13, 2015

Stop it already with the bad marketing, part 5: Selling!

Over the past several weeks, we’ve explored several common marketing tactics (websites, email marketing, advertising and LinkedIn) and discussed many ways in which they are each being executed poorly in our industry… and several ways to improve them.

In this last post in the series, we take on SELLING. Whether you’re a dedicated sales rep, a researcher/consultant who does some part-time selling or the principle of a firm charged with revenue responsibility… this blog post is for you. And because we have all been on the receiving end of someone’s [bad] selling effort, I’ve written this post from the buyer’s perspective. I hope you find it helpful.

January 6, 2015

Stop it already with the bad marketing! Part 4: LinkedIn

In the first three parts of this series, we’ve delved into…

• Bad websites
• Bad advertising
• Bad email marketing

This week, our focus is on the bad use of LINKEDIN. Note: while this post focuses on LinkedIn, most of the comments below also apply to other social media platforms like Facebook, Google+, etc.

For professionals in B2B firms, LinkedIn should be your #1 choice for social media marketing. I’ve seen some recent stats stating that LinkedIn has more than 330 million users worldwide, with over 107 million of them in the U.S.

January 3, 2015

THINKING! A framework for creating better business plans in 2015.

As the past year ends and the new year is getting started, many firms are in the midst of planning for 2015… business plans, marketing & sales plans, operational & staffing plans, etc.

All good things, to be sure!

But too often, the planning process is focused on making sure the forms and spreadsheets are filled in… after all, you gotta have timelines, budgets and metrics to monitor, right? What’s often missing is the one thing that’s necessary for the planning to be truly successful – THINKING.

Without thinking, you’re just “doin’ stuff.” Without thinking, you’re just “wingin’ it.” Without thinking, all of that planning that you’re doing is just “guessing.”

December 29, 2014

Stop it already with the bad marketing! Part 3: Email

So far, in this series about the bad marketing taking place in our industry, we’ve discussed websites and advertising and made numerous suggestions on some things you can do to enhance the effectiveness of those marketing tactics for your firm.

This week, we’ll take a look at EMAIL MARKETING.

By all accounts, email is still the #1 marketing tactic used by B2B businesses today. Done right, it can help you achieve four very important goals:

• Nurture sales leads
• Maintain top-of-mind awareness among your existing clients
• Position your firm in the markets your serve
• Inform and educate your readers

Sadly, far too many firms are doing their email marketing badly, which keeps them from achieving those goals…

December 17, 2014

Stop it already with the bad marketing! Part 2: Advertising

Last week, we started a series discussing how to address much of the bad marketing taking place in our industry… horrible websites, rarely used social media sites, far-too-salesy e-newsletters, boring exhibits and so on.

This week, we’ll take a look at ADVERTISING.

December 9, 2014

Stop it already with the bad marketing! Part 1: Websites

This is the first in a multi-part series where we’ll discuss much of the bad marketing & sales we see throughout our industry (sadly, it’s in many other industries, too) – and what you can do about it.

Don’t believe me? Just look around. And while I’ve been involved in marketing & sales for most of my 30+ year career, it doesn’t take an expert to see all of the lousy marketing happening around us…

December 2, 2014

Forget the mission statement… create a ‘covenant.’

I took my wife’s car to the dealership last week for a little service. It was my first time at a Lexus dealership. Very nice… professional and friendly service staff with a very comfortable waiting area (serving Starbucks coffee and cinnamon rolls!).

But what really impressed me was the large acrylic display containing the words to the Lexus Covenant. What struck me was the directness and simplicity of it…

November 28, 2014

Not happy with your marketing & sales? Then make just one change in 2015!

There isn’t a business owner or manager who is ever 100% satisfied with where the “growth” of their company is today! We all want it to improve – more revenue… better mix of clients… new services to sell… more repeat business… and so on.

And it’s at this time on the calendar – when one year winds down (for better or worse) and we all look ahead to the next year (and the hope that it holds) – when we naturally think about making improvements. But tackling so many changes can be daunting… so much so that, often, nothing changes and we stay on the path we’re on right now.

To avoid that kind of paralysis, don’t think about making large-scale changes… commit to just one thing – then go do it. To help you get started, here are 15 where-to-start ideas to help get your creative juices flowing. Good luck…