Blog:
The Competitive Advantage
October 8, 2024
Fish Where the Fish Are… How Sales is Like My Favorite Hobby
For those of you who know me, you know that one of my hobbies/passions is fishing. There’s nothing quite like standing in a cool stream, water flowing around your legs (washing away your stress) with a nice smallmouth bass on the end of the line. My happy place!
As I was standing in the Harpeth River recently – yes, that’s why I named our firm as I did – it dawned on me that sales is a lot like fishing. Let me explain…
Continue ReadingMay 8, 2024
“It’s always feast-or-famine around here!“
If ‘feast-or-famine’ is not the top complaint I hear from business owners, it’s certainly in the top three. And to be honest, it’s their own fault!
Think about it… when you’re busy (the feast), you focus on your clients’ projects. But when they slow down (the famine), it’s only then that you decide to spend some effort on sales and marketing. When that has an impact, business picks up (the next feast)… until it doesn’t any more (the next famine).
And so it goes… an endless cycle of revenue ups and downs, which makes your business difficult to manage and extremely stressful.
Continue ReadingApril 22, 2024
Stop Relying on Others for Your Success… Take Charge of Your Business
Creating a Revenue Growth Plan for Independent Consultants and Small Businesses
It’s an interesting dilemma. Most people become independent consultants, or start small shops, so they can focus on research and on doing great work for their clients. They certainly didn’t start their businesses so they could spend their time doing sales and marketing.
And yet—as small-business owners—they absolutely have to do that. If they don’t, who will?
Continue ReadingAugust 22, 2023
I’ve Been Blogging About Sales & Marketing Since 2012… What’s Changed?
I was scrolling through my blog posts last week… and just for fun, I decided to go back to read some of my very first articles (written in 2012) to see how much sales and marketing have changed in the past 11 years. Guess what? Not much!
Sure, technology tools are more pervasive and capable today than in 2012, but the core fundamentals of sales and marketing are pretty much the same… and I can prove it!
Continue ReadingApril 26, 2023
“If I can’t measure it, I’m not doing it!”
My technology manager and I were chatting with a client last week about different ways to approach marketing, when the client suddenly said, “If I can’t measure it, I’m not doing it!” Wow! I love that!
Most businesspeople we talk with don’t think a lot about measurement when they’re talking about marketing. And if they do, it’s very rarely to that extent. I was genuinely shocked!
Continue ReadingJanuary 17, 2023
Establishing Your Marketing and Sales Priority for the New Year
I came across an article this morning in my daily online reading entitled, ‘5 strategies B2B marketing and sales teams can bank on as markets tighten.’ Looks interesting, I thought… so I clicked on the link to read it.
And while the overall article was just OK, the first item on its list is what really caught my eye: ‘Stop chasing leads, double down on customers…’ The author is right, I thought… but only partially.
Doubling down on customers shouldn’t just be your top priority during difficult times, it should be your top priority ALL the time!
Continue ReadingDecember 28, 2022
The Top 10 Blog Posts of 2022
Over the past year, our blog posts were read thousands of times. To all of you who stopped by to take a peek… thank you. We hope you found the articles to be interesting, helpful and maybe even a little inspirational.
Secondly, our blog now houses more than 500 articles on sales and marketing (this is actually #521), all related to growing your business in our industry. And the fact is, if you keep reading them… we’ll keep writing them.
Continue ReadingDecember 21, 2022
Are You Prepared for Sales and Marketing in 2023?
As 2022 winds down, and you start looking at your sales and marketing efforts for 2023, there’s one question you’re probably asking yourself – like we all are – and that is, “How do we grow [more] next year?”
Before I try to answer that question, let me share one of my favorite business philosophies… “If you keep doin’ what you’re doin’, you’ll keep gettin’ what you’re gettin’.” The fact is, if you want to grow in 2023 – or grow more than you did in 2022 – you’ll have to try something new. Or maybe several somethings. Maybe this is the year you test LinkedIn advertising, create some videos or employ SEO in your marketing. Or finally pull the trigger on hiring your first full-time sales rep.
Whatever it is… you need to embrace it. If not, then the best that you can hope for in 2023 is exactly what happened to you this year.
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