The Competitive Advantage

April 12, 2016

LITTLE things can make a BIG difference in marketing

The value of A/B Testing

A true story… Down the hall from our office is the sales & marketing office for a construction company that specializes in steel buildings. I’ve gotten to be friends with the heads of sales there.

He was telling me about a new video he recently placed on his website’s home page. He had hired a professional spokesperson, written a friendly script and produced a very nice little welcome video. Immediately, site activity dropped and bounce rates jumped. Huh?!

April 2, 2016

6 Marketing & Sales Lessons Learned in our First 4 Years in Business

I am proud to say that April 23, 2016 marks four years since we first opened our doors. And though I’ve led the growth of other organizations, this is first time I’ve built one from scratch. To that end, it’s been truly interesting to learn what it really takes to grow a business.

And based on that education, here the top 6 marketing & sales lessons that I think have had the most impact on our success…

#1. Spend time working ON your business… not just IN it.

As a small business owner or senior executive, it’s difficult not to get sucked into the details. Often, you have no choice. But if you don’t step back once in a while and ‘think’ a little, you’ll always be stuck in the ‘do’ mode and will constantly be forced to be reactive. Use this thinking time to take charge of your business.

March 29, 2016

Not doing Client Satisfaction surveys for yourself? Whuuuuut?!

8 Tips for Building Better Services with Surveys

In the perfect personification of ‘the cobbler’s’ children having no shoes,’ I am amazed at how many market research firms – that conduct studies for clients across the U.S. and around the world – don’t conduct any for themselves.

And the oddest one of those is the huge percentage of firms that don’t conduct a client satisfaction survey after each project. Why is that?

March 22, 2016

7 Tips for Successful In-Person Presentations

Last week, I had the privilege and pleasure (yes – it really was) of speaking to a room full of market researchers at the QRCA-Philadelphia Chapter’s monthly meeting.

It was one of the most enjoyable and successful (based on feedback from the participants) live speaking experiences I’ve had in several years. And as I look back at why it went so well, I think it boiled down to a handful of guidelines that all speakers should follow for in-person presentations…

March 15, 2016

How to Be Remarkable

In Seth Godin’s ground-breaking marketing book, Purple Cow, he espouses that all businesses should aspire to be ‘remarkable’… as a way to stand out from the crowd and build their brand.

On a recent trip to Dallas to visit my son, Alex, I got to experience something truly remarkable – something Godin, himself, would be proud of! My son took me to a place called Top Golf… ostensibly a driving range – but it was s-o-o-o-o much more! Top Golf combines the skill and sport of golf (they even provide the clubs) with the food and beverages of a fun sports bar (delivered to your ‘driving bay’) with the scorekeeping and competition of bowling (yup – it’s on the overhead screens here, too). It’s all very hi-tech/hi-touch… and it’s only $20/hour for all the balls you can hit, regardless of the number of people you’re with!

It not only redefines what a driving range is… it has created an entirely new category and made it a new kind of destination… ideal for fathers & sons, small groups, corporate outings and dates. A wait of more than 2 hours is not uncommon.

Top Golf is a great reminder that ‘remarkable’ is achievable…. that something truly different will capture people’s attention… and that a unique customer experience will create loyalists who come back again and again.

March 8, 2016

Networking at a Conference… 8 Ways to be Awesome!

There are a bunch of conferences in our industry – TMRE, ESOMAR, Quirk’s, CASRO, MRA and more… not to mention all of the industry-specific ones. And even when you’re attending for just the education (not exhibiting… not sponsoring), networking at a conference can still be a remarkable marketing & sales opportunity for you and your firm.

As you get ready to attend your next event, consider these ideas to maximize your time there…

February 29, 2016

The Sales Presentation: Stop Reading the PowerPoint Slides and Tell Your Story

5 Proven Tips to Improve your Sales Presentation Process

I get it. Not everyone – particularly in our industry – likes to stand in front of a group and deliver a sales presentation. It’s so much more comfortable to not look into the eyes of the audience, turn away from them and read the PowerPoint slides up on the screen. But that’s not very engaging.

And to exacerbate the situation… often the slides themselves are horrible. 6-7-8 (or more) bullet points on a slide, each with a long, complete sentence. And because you don’t want to miss any of that detail, while your back is turned (see paragraph 1 above), you just read the slides… one long sentence… after another… after another. Not very compelling, huh?

February 25, 2016

The Mobilization of Marketing… what’s the rush?

Along with topics like ‘inbound marketing,’ ‘growth hacking’ and ‘social media,’ the ‘mobilization of marketing’ has been one of the most written-about topics on most of the marketing blog sites and portals for some time.

So, with “everyone” accessing the internet for from their mobile devices, shouldn’t we be doing everything we can to move our marketing initiatives to align with that? Not so fast, my friend! (with props to Lee Corso of ESPN).