The Competitive Advantage

August 30, 2016

They’re not just clients… they’re people!

Think about each of your top 4 or 5 clients. Collectively, they’re likely worth 50-60-70% of your firm’s revenue…. or more!  And I’ll bet you could tell me how much revenue each generates, which services or products they’re buying from you and some details about each of their last few projects. That’s good.

Now think about your key contact at each of those clients – what details do you know about them? No, not their title or their biggest challenges at the office – though those are important. But… are they married or not? What about kids? Their hobbies or favorite sports team? Where they went on vacation last week? And so on… and so on.

Don’t think knowing that kind of thing is important? You’d be wrong!

August 16, 2016

Listen up salespeople… “Your voice mail messages are AWFUL!”

Last Wednesday, I came back to the office to find a voice mail message on my office phone. It was one left by a sales rep (and I use that term loosely) who wanted to connect with me. Without giving away the firm, here’s the message…

After introducing herself, she said, “We have a lot of experience working with firms like yours. I’d appreciate the opportunity to have a short conversation to see if we might be of service to you.” Then she left her phone number and hoped I would call back. That was it.

We can debate the value of leaving phone messages, but here’s what happened (or didn’t happen)…

August 9, 2016

Lost a client? Don’t give up on them.

Recently, one of our consulting engagements – with a large research firm – came to an end… they did not renew with us and continue on as I had expected. It happens… not all client relationships evolve as planned.

The question is… what do you do when that happens? Let me suggest the following…

July 31, 2016

20 Marketing and Sales Concepts Business Leaders Need to Know, Part 2

A 2-part series for CEOs, Presidents and other Execs on the Realities of Business Development

In the start of this series last month, we reviewed 10 concepts that we think are critical to business development success in our industry… an industry that doesn’t always embrace marketing & sales. They included:

1. It’s all about the process.
2. What gets measured gets done.
3. There are two kinds of clients.
4. Be patient.
5. Strategy Before Tactics.
6. Listen and learn… and be prepared to get out of your own way.
7. Not all marketing is marketing.
8. You still gotta execute!
9. People do business with people like.
10. Seek first to help, then to sell.

This month, we’ll add 10 more to the list.

July 26, 2016

Creating a sales training agenda? Don’t miss these critical topics.

Congratulations! You just hired a new sales rep… or maybe a couple of them. Maybe they’re even the first ones you’ve ever hired. And you’re anxious to get them trained and “on the street!”

So, what’s your sales training agenda look like? Like most firms, you’ll focus on all of the different services they will be selling… making sure they know exactly what you do. That’s a good start, but you’re missing a lot. Make sure to include these critical topics as you’re putting your training agenda together…

July 19, 2016

Creating a New Booth for the Fall Conference Season? Follow These 4 Guidelines…

It’s mid-July and the Fall conference season will be here before you know it. Are you ready?

One of the elements of successful exhibiting is a compelling booth. Whether you’ve got a big, solid structure or a simple pop-up, you can still deliver a message to the marketplace that gets attention. Because if you don’t, your ROI on those expensive conferences will be severely limited… not a message you want to take back to the boss! So if you’re thinking about a new booth for this Fall, consider these guidelines…

July 12, 2016

3 Proven Summer Sales Tactics

Summertime is often a slow time for businesses, in general… and for sales efforts, in particular. Clients and prospects are on vacation, their business is slow so they’re not in the buying mood, there are very few conferences and networking events scheduled this time of year and so on. So, what’s a sales rep to do, especially if they still have sales goals to achieve?

Below are three ideas to help minimize the summer doldrums and stir up some sales action…

July 5, 2016

20 Marketing and Sales Concepts Business Leaders Need to Know, Part 1

A 2-part series for CEOs, Presidents and other Execs on the Realities of Business Development

Most of the CEOs in our industry are researchers who either started their firms or rose through the ranks to take the helm. None came out of the marketing & sales world. Yes, they have responsibility for the overall growth of their firm, but many (if not most) built their business on good work, referrals and word-of-mouth. And many (if not most) are uncomfortable with the concept of a proactive, outward-reaching marketing and sales initiative. It’s not necessarily that they don’t want to do it, they’re simply not sure how to go about it.

In this two-part series, we’ll outline some of the primary marketing and sales concepts that all leaders need to understand to help grow their firms in our ever-more-competitive industry.