The Competitive Advantage

June 25, 2014

Great business quotes #4 – on measurement.

If you’ve read any of our previous content, then you know we believe that marketing is a process… and part of that process is the commitment to measure each step along the way.

It’s this philosophy that leads to the 4^th great business saying in our series…

What gets measured gets done.

June 18, 2014

Great business quotes #3 – on ‘what’s in it for me?’

See if this describes your capabilities presentation… Slides 1 and 2 are a history of the firm. Slides 3, 4 and 5 are the bios of senior staff members. And slides 6 through 15 are all the “great” things you do.

Want to know a little secret? The sales prospects sitting around the table DON’T CARE! Well, they do… but they don’t. They’ve been to your website… they’ve asked around… they already know all of that. What they’re sitting there asking themselves is, “What’s in it for me?”

In this series on great business quotes, our third one is…

Sales prospects don’t care about what you can do… they care about what you can do FOR THEM.

June 11, 2014

Great business quotes #2 – on relationships

Yeah, I know… we all live in a web-of-all-things, socially-connected, technology-driven world. There’s no getting around it. But even with all those bits and bytes whirling around in the cloud, regardless of what we do for a living, we are still in the “people business.” And because people are the decision-makers and the key drivers of success, the following saying becomes even more relevant…

All things being equal… people do business with people they like. All things NOT being equal, people STILL do business with people they like.

June 4, 2014

Great business quotes #1 – on sales

When you’ve been around as long as I have, you tend to accumulate things. For me, one of those things is a collection of sayings/adages/quotes that – while seemingly a little ‘trite’ – actually contain some time-tested words of wisdom. This week’s blog post is the first in a multi-week series that looks at some of the most popular business sayings and how they apply to today’s business world. This week…

“Activity breeds results.”

May 30, 2014

Do you know where you’re going? Why Strategy should drive your marketing & sales.

Remember the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland? During the encounter at the fork in the road, the Cat says to Alice (and I’m paraphrasing), “If you don’t know where you’re going… then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

Wise cat!

That same thinking also applies to marketing your business. Without any purpose or direction – i.e. without “strategy” – you’re just spinning your wheels… you’re just “doin’ stuff!”

May 28, 2014

“Should I advertise?

I got an email from a client last week. In it, she said that an industry magazine had reached out to her about advertising in an upcoming issue with an editorial theme that tied in nicely with her services. And her question was, “Should I advertise in that issue?”

I wish the answer was a simple one, but like everything else in Marketing… it depends!

May 21, 2014

Exhibiting at a conference this Fall? This eBook can help you succeed.

Harpeth Marketing is pleased to announce the release of our 6th eBook, Marketing & Sales for the Market Research Firm: The Exhibitor’s Workbook.

Done right, exhibiting can be an outstanding marketing vehicle that helps you to generate highly-qualified sales leads, launch a new product or service, generate market awareness and support your association.

However, with the cost of the exhibit space, travel and lodging, your booth, shipping, event marketing, etc., your firm’s presence at an event could very well be the single largest marketing expense you have all year. Exhibiting is one of those things you must do really well to see a return on your investment. And this eBook can help…

The Exhibitor’s Workbook delves into:

• Effectively preparing for an event
• Promoting your presence as an exhibitor
• Guidelines for “working the booth”
• The best way to capture sales lead information
• How to follow-up for maximum ROI

Click Here to download your free copy now.

May 14, 2014

Have a client that’s a pain-in-the-a**? Fire them!

I was visiting a client recently in Southern California… a fast-growing firm with an interesting variety of clients. One of our conversations focused on the fact that several of their smaller clients (company size, not necessarily project size) were much more difficult to work with than any of their large ones.

Sounds backwards, doesn’t it? But that seemingly reverse logic is actually very consistent across most firms. Are you dealing with it?