The Competitive Advantage

September 17, 2013

Get ready to exhibit this fall… part 3 of a 3-part series

Twenty years ago, before I started in into the MR industry, I worked in the conference and trade show industry.  Back then, one of the industry’s key associations – the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (ceir.org) – reported that only 20% of all leads generated at an exhibition were ever followed-up on.  Today, with all of the new tools and technology available to exhibitors, that number is still 20%!

Stated another way, 80% of everyone who gives up their time to come into your booth this Fall (at TMRE, CASRO, ESOMAR, QRCA, etc.) will not hear from you afterward!  That’s not just bad business… it’s downright stupid!

September 10, 2013

Get ready to exhibit this fall… part 2 of a 3-part series

It’s SHOWTIME!  Are you ready to exhibit?

This 3-part blog series will provide some insider tips on managing your exhibiting efforts BEFORE, DURING and AFTER the event.  This week…

Part 2: DURING the event

The fact is, most firms have no idea how to effectively ‘work a show.’  The pop up their booth, set down a table and a couple of chairs, print some literature and think they’re ready.  Virtually no thought goes into how to create an experience inside the booth that generates a very positive perception in the eyes of everyone who comes in the booth.  Here are 11 tips to help you do that…

September 4, 2013

Get ready to exhibit this fall… part 1 of a 3-part series

The conference season is right around the corner… ESOMAR, TMRE, QRCA, CASRO, etc.  And many of you have committed to exhibiting at one or more of these shows. I’m a big fan of exhibiting… done right, exhibiting can be an outstanding marketing vehicle and help you to generate highly-qualified sales leads, launch a new product or service, generate market awareness and support your association.

On the other hand, with the cost of the exhibit space, travel and lodging, building or updating your booth, shipping, event marketing, etc., your firm’s presence there 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 solid return on your investment.

August 29, 2013

How MR firms are blowing it with new customers: Lessons learned while secret shopping

In the past year, we’ve helped several firms gather information on their clients, ex-clients and competitors. One of the components of the competitor analysis is a secret-shopping exercise.

Specifically, we were interested in the initial inquiry and bidding phase. Not only did our clients want to see what their competitors’ proposals looked like – and of course, their pricing – but they were equally interested in how these other MR firms responded to and communicated with prospective customers during the courtship phase.

Some valuable lessons bubbled to the surface. But here’s the thing: Not a single one will come as a surprise to you. They are all fundamental actions that you would think every firm does every day. What was surprising was how poorly many of these firms performed at a time when they had to make a good first impression.

The following are some key areas where we saw many MR firms really drop the ball.

August 27, 2013

“I hate the word EPIC!”

I came across a blog post recently with the title, “19 More Reasons Your LinkedIn Headshot May Be an Epic Fail.”  And I laughed out loud.

Epic?!  It might have been a well-written, thought-provoking post (I never actually read it), but Epic?!  There’s nothing epic in any way, shape or form about LinkedIn head shots.  The Bible is epic.  Super Bowl XVI between the Forty-niners and the Bengals was epic.  Star Wars is epic.  But LinkedIn head shots?  C’mon…

August 20, 2013

If your summer is slow, focus on marketing & sales for a competitive advantage; part 10 – Start planning for 2014

This series has been all about spending time this summer (when things are often a little slower) focusing and working on those things related to marketing & sales.  I hope you’ve taken the opportunity to do that… before you start getting busy again and don’t have the time to work on it.

Did you work on your LinkedIn profile?  Clean up your in-house database?  Create a list of new sales prospects?  Or spend a little time thinking about how to differentiate your firm?

And now, with the summer winding down, I’d like you stop thinking in the present and start pondering the future, that is…

Summer tip #10: Start planning for 2014

August 13, 2013

If your summer is slow, focus on marketing & sales for a competitive advantage; part 9 – Do something!

OK… we’re almost to the end of our 10-part summer series.  I hope you’ve taken the opportunity during this time to work on your business and not just in it.

Based on the feedback I’ve gotten, I know that many of you have grabbed on to some of these ideas and done something about them.  But there may still be a few of you who have done your reading and not yet leapt into action.  If that describes you, we offer up…

Summer tip #9: Do something… even just one thing… and make some progress

August 9, 2013

If your summer is slow, focus on marketing & sales for a competitive advantage; part 8 – Differentiate your firm

Our summer blog series has covered of number of tactical topics like developing a list of new sales prospects, enhancing your online presence or getting active on LinkedIn.  Now, it’s time to do a little strategic thinking…

When I was starting Harpeth Marketing and doing my due diligence, I spoke with research firms across the county.  One of the questions I asked every one of them was, “How do you differentiate your firm from your competitors?”

For those that didn’t have a point of differentiation (a POD) – which was the majority of them – the answers were consistent across the board… and not very compelling.  They all said nearly the same thing, “We do great work… we have great people… and we really take care of our clients.”

Sound familiar?!  Is that how you would respond to that question?  And if everyone is saying that – then no one is really different!  Which, for the most part, is the case.  And if that’s the case… how can research buyers make a decision?  How do you stand out?  Why should they choose you over your competitors?  Which leads us to…

Summer tip #8: Establish your Points of Differentiation