The Competitive Advantage

September 24, 2014

Stop cold calling… follow-up on warm sales leads instead.

I met with a client a few weeks ago that had one sales rep… an experienced and, by all accounts, pretty good rep. Over coffee, I talked with this rep about his day-to-day activities. I expected to hear about his calling on existing clients, responding to inquiries, following up on leads from conferences, etc. And while he did do some of that, he spent the majority of his time (the vast majority) digging through directories for new names, sending out letters of introduction (along with sales collateral) and then following-up by phone. Yup… he was cold-calling.

For a sales rep, nothing is more difficult, induces more fear or is less productive than cold-calling. If you are having your sales rep cold call more than 5-10% of his/her time… STOP IT! It is not the responsibility of sales reps to find leads… their job is to follow-up on leads and close deals. It is the responsibility of your marketing to generate those leads.

September 17, 2014

Churn baby churn! The loss of clients.

I was talking with a long-time industry friend of mine this week and he made a really interesting comment. He said, “For every new client we pick up, we’re losing one or two.” He called it their ‘churn rate.’

Yikes! With those kinds of odds, it won’t take long before they’re in really serious trouble.

It’s a good lesson for all of us… What’s your churn rate?

September 10, 2014

Your sales rep not working out? Maybe it’s not their fault… look in the mirror!

I’ve worked with a number of firms in the market research industry where the one (or first) sales rep they hired didn’t work out… didn’t hit their goals… didn’t meet the expectations of the firm’s owner(s) – and so was let go.

It happens… sometime the rep is just not the right fit with the organization.

But just as often (or maybe more often), the inability of the company to effectively manage that sales rep is just as much to blame. It works something like this…

September 3, 2014

Has marketing become too complex? [chart]

Click on this link (https://bit.ly/MktgTechChart).

I came across this chart recently and my jaw just dropped… hundreds and hundreds of technology products and services – each focused on a particular niche within the continuum of marketing activities. And I am unfamiliar with a large percentage of them… and that’s saying something for an old marketing dog like me.

I think there are two big problems caused by the proliferation of all of this marketing technology…

August 28, 2014

How to Connect with Booth Visitors – An Exhibitor’s Worksheet

During every conference, while you’re “working the booth,” several conference attendees will walk up to you and ask, “So, what do you guys do?” It never fails.

When that happens, how do you respond? More precisely, how do you respond in a way that intrigues the attendee and compels them to continue the conversation with you? Do that, and you’ve gotten the buyer-seller relationship off to a very good start.

Part 1 – The Introduction

The start of this conversation is not unlike any other networking opportunity that requires you to have an ‘elevator pitch.’ Here’s an example…

August 27, 2014

Are there any GREAT Marketers in Market Research? Let’s recognize them!

I spend a lot of time writing about what’s wrong with marketing in the market research industry… and how to fix it.

Lousy websites. Ineffective email marketing. A lack of content marketing. No strategy or planning. Cheesy social media marketing. Way-too-wordy print ads. And so on… and so on…

But not all MR firms do bad marketing all the time. In fact, I’d like to ask for your help in recognizing those firms in our industry (research firms, fieldwork & recruiting firms, technology shops and panel providers) that do exceptional work when it comes to their marketing.

August 20, 2014

Don’t want to buy? Just say ‘no.’

Twice in the past week, I’ve had that experience that everyone who’s ever done any kind of business development hates. No, it’s not getting rejected or losing out to the competition… instead, it’s not getting any kind of response from a sales prospect. Nothing. Nada.

And this wasn’t a ‘cold call’ where I was hoping to get a call back. This was after we had developed a bit of a relationship… both of these prospects had downloaded several eBooks from our website, we had shared long, back-n-forth email threads, had conversations that lasted nearly an hour and I followed-up with proposals that they had requested. And all I wanted to know was if they wanted to move forward.

August 12, 2014

Whoever said ‘Innovate or Die!’ was right!

My wife and I just got back from a walk around Franklin, Tennessee… one of this country’s great small towns, founded in 1799. It has the traditional, quaint Main Street (yes, it’s actually named that), lots of unique shops and restaurants and is jammed with visitors (both out-of-town tourists and locals) every weekend strolling the sidewalks. We’re lucky to live just 15 minutes away.