The Competitive Advantage

December 26, 2017

The Top 10 Marketing & Sales Posts of 2017

One of the ways that we support our mission of helping the Market Research industry to more fully embrace marketing & sales is to provide educational and useful content to the marketplace… in the form of eBooks, in-person presentations, webinars, tip sheets and – in 2017 – more than 50 articles and blog posts. To the thousands of visitors who came to our website this year to read that content… “thank you!” And for those of you who are not regular or frequent visitors, here is a list of the Top 10 Posts of 2017…

December 12, 2017

Corporate retreat coming up? Here are 3 key questions to answer there.

It’s that time of year when a business will gather its management team together and head to a secluded location somewhere in the woods or at the beach for their annual corporate retreat – to talk about and make plans for the future of their firm.

I am a HUGE fan of the idea (even doing it when I was a solopreneur: https://www.harpethmarketing.com/competitive-advantage/corporate-retreat-part-1/). In fact, we had this year’s corporate retreat just last week… and I have the pages and pages of flip chart notes to prove it!

As you prepare for your retreat, I believe there are three key questions that must be asked, discussed and collectively answered by the group. They are:

November 28, 2017

Looking for Growth? Do Just One Thing Differently in 2018.

‘Tis the season! No, not the holiday season. The season for planning for next year.

Have you started yet?  Have you even started thinking about 2018?

Planning is hard work. It requires time, critical thinking and attention to detail – all at a time of year when we are often very busy. And while I genuinely believe in the value of planning, there are a large percentage of my blog readers who won’t do it.

For those who fall into that category… I’ve got your back!

November 21, 2017

Want to Be Successful at Sales? Then Change your Mindset.

I hear these kinds of statements all the time in our industry:

• “I don’t like selling.”
• “I’m no good at sales.”
• “I don’t want to sell.”

I think one of the reasons I hear those things is because of the perception of the profession of selling. Consider this… when I say the word, ‘salesman,’ what sorts of images comes to mind for you? The stereotypical used-car salesman? That guy near Disneyworld selling time shares? Or (for those of you in my generation) maybe Herb Tarlek, the radio ad salesman from the late 70’s sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati?

I get it. No one really wants to associate with “salespeople” like that.

November 7, 2017

The 4 Reasons You’re NOT Doing Marketing & Sales

We all want to do more business development – more marketing & sales – because we know it’s important for the health of our firms. And yet we don’t.

Why is that? Why are we rarely implementing marketing & sales at a level and frequency that we wished we were? What’s holding us back?

September 12, 2017

How Sharp are Your Marketing and Sales Skills?

Over the next couple of months, I have the privilege of speaking about marketing and sales at several Market Research industry events:

• QRCA’s Business Development SIG inaugural event
• The Insights Association Annual Conference
• Greenbook’s Insights Marketing Day

These events got me to thinking… every year, most MR professionals and principals attend a few conferences, workshops or webinars as a means of improving their research skills and staying on top of new trends in our industry.

But what about staying on top of business development for your firm? What can you do – in addition to attending the events above – to improve your marketing and sales skills? To help, here are few other resources to investigate if your marketing and sales skills need brushing up…

August 22, 2017

Are you ready for ‘conference season?’

For as long as I have been in the market research industry, Fall has been ‘conference season.’ And while organizations like Quirk’s have established solid events in the first part of the calendar year, September-October-November continue to host most of the industry’s top events:

Insights Leadership Conference

TMRE – The Market Research Event

The ESOMAR Congress

The Corporate Researchers Conference (CRC)

The AMA Annual Conference

If you’ve got conference plans on your calendar this Fall, there are three areas that – if you’re properly prepared – can have a dramatic impact on your success at these events.

July 25, 2017

Why Are You Afraid of Marketing & Sales?

Twelve years ago, this month, I started my career in the Market Research industry. And it didn’t take very long for me to come to the conclusion that “This is an industry that does not embrace marketing & sales.”

Over the years, I have repeated that statement to scores of people – in all kinds of companies covering all kinds of roles – and guess what? Not a single person has ever disagreed with me. It’s amazing to see in 2017 just how many firms…

• Have a website that hasn’t been updated in years
• Have virtually no social media presence
• Have not published any thought leadership
• Have no proactive sales effort