The Competitive Advantage

January 19, 2021

It’s a New Year… What Are You Going to Blog About?

Here are two methods to make sure your blog posts hit the mark!

About this time each year, many firms are looking at their newly minted marketing plan and getting excited about the upcoming possibilities. Then, they look at the plan’s timeline and it reads, “Write the January blog post.” Instantly, that excitement turns to fear.

“Oh crap… what do I write about?” Don’t laugh, we’ve all been there!

December 29, 2020

The Top 10 Most-Read Blog Posts of 2020

According to Google Analytics, there were more than 10,000 Page Views of our blog this past year. And as I do every year at this time… I wanted to do a count-down of the most-reads topics. But I did the measurement a little differently this year.

Instead of looking at the most popular posts that were written in 2020, I looked at which posts were the most viewed in 2020, regardless of when they were written. Interestingly, these “hot topics” spanned the entire life of our company… from as early as 2012 (the year we were founded) up to several from this year.

We hope you enjoy them…

November 3, 2020

How to Define Sales Territories for Larger Sales Teams

I started my career as a technical sales rep for the DuPont Company (a long, long, long time ago). Back then, the de facto way of structuring a sales team was to give each sales rep his/her own territory. And those sales territories were almost always built around geography… whether the company was selling regionally, nationally or globally. It made it easy for ‘road warriors’ to visit a lot of clients and prospects on a single road trip.

But today, with so many geographically-dispersed companies working virtually – and so much selling being done by phone and on tools like Zoom™ – defining sales territories by geography is not your only option. It’s also likely not your best option.

October 20, 2020

Should You ‘Pivot’ During the Pandemic?

If your firm is like 99% of all other firms, your business in 2020 is not what you thought it would be when you were planning for it a year ago.

Clients are placing a ‘hold’ on projects or canceling them altogether. Some of your clients might have gone through layoffs and are not spending a dime. Perhaps you work in a certain industry vertical that has taken a real hit this year (travel, restaurants, etc.).

And when that happens, as business leaders and managers, we are obliged to take a step back and ask, “Should we pivot and be looking outside of our core business for other opportunities?”

June 16, 2020

The Best Marketing Strategy? “Try It and See!”

While there have been a few remakes over the years… many of us remember the very first Life Cereal commercial featuring ‘Mikey’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgB25WBeBxA) which debuted in 1990. It features a couple of young brothers who didn’t know what to expect from a new breakfast cereal their parents gave them. So, they pass it on to their little brother, Mikey, who – to no one’s surprise – tries it and likes it!

September 10, 2019

The 5 Strategic Questions You Must Answer for Success in 2020

The end of 2019 is in sight. And as it nears, wandering minds turn to the future… and what’s going to happen next year.

As a result, over the next few months, many firms will convene their annual gathering around the conference table and talk about what they want to do in 2020 to grow their business. Unfortunately, these meetings seem to end the same way every year, with a bold directive from the boss… something like, “We want a 20% increase in sales next year… now go get ‘em!” And while that might rally the troops a little (though, I doubt it), it doesn’t provide any real direction or guidance for making that happen.

February 26, 2019

Don’t go it alone! An Advisory Board can help with growth (and loneliness).

Many small business owners are often gripped with the fear of “being alone.” Of not having anyone to bounce ideas off of or share concerns with.

In larger firms, there may be key employees or colleagues to share with… but not so much in smaller firms. Masterimnd groups seem to be very popular, but are often full of competitors. And most businesses are too small for a formal Board of Directors. So, what’s the solution?

According to Rachel Crenshaw, founder of Strategy Sourcing Solutions, “Every small business owner could benefit from having an Advisory Board.”

February 19, 2019

11 Smart Marketing & Sales Tactics to Try in 2019

Is it going to be a good year for you and your firm? Kind of hard to say, as this point, isn’t it? But one thing is sure… you can’t just sit back and hope that something good will happen. You need to grab the bull by the horns and make it a great year!

To help get you started down the path of being proactive, here are 11 proven ideas to consider…