The Competitive Advantage

April 9, 2014

Is “giving away” work a good idea?

I’ve been nurturing a relationship with a particular sales prospect for a little while now and he recently asked me to give him my comments on a press release he had written.  I reviewed it, rewrote some of it… and I did not charge him for my time.

There are many who say to NEVER give away any work – that doing so diminishes the value of what you do.

I’m in the other camp… I believe that there are times (not all the time, of course) when building some good will by giving away a small project might lead to bigger things down the road.  Here’s my rationale…

April 1, 2014

Don’t hire a sales rep until you’re ready… and most firms in MR aren’t!

In the discovery process with new clients, we talk about the kinds of things they’ve done in the past to help grow their businesses.  One of the statements that seems to be made by nearly every firm in the Market Research industry is, “We hired a sales rep back in [insert date years ago], but it didn’t work out… and haven’t had one since.”  Why is that?

While “below-goal sales” may have been the rationale for the sales reps’ dismissal, much of the lack of a sales rep’s success is often the fault of the MR firm itself.  And it generally boils down to one of four things…

March 26, 2014

How to Turn First-time Clients into Repeat Clients

A few months ago, we published an article on several ways to get potential clients to try your firm for the first time… to “take a chance” with you on that very first project.  But the fact is… you cannot build a company on first-time clients.  To grow a sustainable, successful firm, you need repeat clientele – those firms that come back to you again and again.  And turning first-time clients into repeat clients is an integral part of the marketing & sales process.

From a business development perspective, though, we rarely include that kind of thinking or discuss the kinds of activities necessary to help us keep our existing clients… most conversations that take place around marketing & sales center on the ‘new!’  New sales leads, new prospects, new presentations and – ultimately – new clients!  And that’s all good stuff.  But we need to change that mindset… according to a November 2012 article in Forbes magazine, “attracting new customers will cost your company 5 times more than keeping an existing customer.”

March 26, 2014

Do you have a favorite client?

I’ll bet you do.

But have you ever thought about WHY they’re your favorite client?

Interestingly, it’s almost never the size of the client.  Bigger isn’t always better.  And it isn’t always those clients that have the employees you connect with on a personal level – though that’s surely part of the equation.

More often, it’s defined by the ‘relationship’… and specifically, by the collaborative nature of it:

March 19, 2014

If you build it, will they come? Not necessarily!

As I write this, I’m sitting in a coffeeshop that opened about 3 weeks ago.  It’s in a fairly busy shopping center along a well-traveled road, has the latest barista tools and they even roasts their own beans in the back of the store.

And I’m the only one sitting here.  OK, it’s Sunday morning at 8am, but even when I’ve driven by at “normal hours,” I’ve never seen more than one table full.  Good location… good product… even a unique POD (Point of Differentiation) – the roaster.  So, why is that?

March 12, 2014

Same ol’ marketing & sales in 2014? How’s that working out for you?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… “If you keep doin’ what you’re doin’, you’ll keep gettin’ what you’re gettin’.”

When it comes to business development, it simply means this… if your marketing & sales activities last year resulted in a certain level of business… and the activities planned for this year are essentially the same, why would you expect your level of business this year to be any different?

March 5, 2014

Ever mess up a client’s project? How’d you handle it?

First, you get excited that you picked up a new client.  Then you find yourself really fortunate when that client comes back to you again and again.

And then it happens.  You drop the ball… a detail falls through the crack… the research gods stop smiling on you – and a project goes badly.

What do you do?

February 27, 2014

15 easy, low-cost marketing and sales tactics for 2014 – Part 2

In Part 1 of this two-part article, we discussed eight “little” ways a company can improve its marketing and sales in 2014 without spending much – if any – money. To recap, the list included:

1. Improve you elevator pitch.
2. Hand write thank-you notes.
3. Enhance your e-mail signature.
4. Create impressive business cards.
5. Try A/B e-mail testing.
6. Collect client testimonials.
7. Test LinkedIn advertising.
8. Clean up your database.

I hope you’ve had a chance to give a few of them a try! Here are seven more to include in your business development plans this year.