When challenged, we humans have a tendency to resort to the known and familiar path (not taking “the road less traveled”). And in the B2B arena, this can often mean figuring out a way to sell faster, harder, more aggressively, etc. This can mean upgrading sales skills, hiring more sales people, changing comp plans or […]
My team and I are often asked to comment on – or do a more formal evaluation of – a product or business concept prior to launch. This may be part of a new venture concept or a new product line in an established business. In either case, the basic question is: “Will we be […]
Rather than my usual practice of writing some in-depth content about a specific subject area, thought I would share some quick thoughts on some important subjects related to B2B marketing and sales. Sometimes there’s just too much going on for a single-topic post! Monitoring Performance A guy named John Wanamaker, who was a pioneer of […]
At the beginning of each year, my team and I publish a report on significant trends in B2B sales and marketing. This report is based on our experience with our B2B clients as well as relevant industry research. The purpose or the report is to provide information that is timely and actionable. You can read […]
eMarketing Strategy’s Ruth Stevens, one of the nation’s foremost practitioners of B2B marketing, posted the above graphic on LinkedIn. Based on our experience speaking with many B2B organizations, these results pass the smell test. My only problem with the graphic is the 45 percent who claim they are “getting there.” This group could range from companies […]
Friends and colleagues occasionally ask me if they should accept the various connection requests from social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. This usually leads to a lively discussion since most business people are faced with this issue on a regular basis. On one end of the continuum are those that are […]
In my last blog post, I talked about the criteria of effective B2B offers and also shared the concept of a soft vs. hard B2B offer. Keeping this information in mind, let’s talk about the differences between good and poor marketing offers? Let’s start with the poor offers: Straight sale with no special inducement. Contact […]
B2B marketing is always challenging, but even more so when you are in a crowded market space filled with tough competitors. There are ways to stand out from the crowd, such as having a strong and differentiated product and precise targeting of the potential audience. But one of the most neglected weapons in the B2B […]
Of all the threats to your ability to achieve marketing success, perhaps the most insidious is inertia. According to Wikipedia, “Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its motion (including a change in direction).” This basically means that if you are currently doing little or nothing, chances are you will […]
I wrote an article last year titled How to Recognize and Avoid the Seven Deadly Sins of B2B Marketing. Sin number six is “stagnancy.” Stagnancy occurs for a number of reasons but it usually has negative consequences. More often than not, it is better to act than to wait. The more often you postpone a […]