The disagreement grew increasingly intense. His frustration was obvious as he angrily snapped, “I’m the customer! I’m always right!” I didn’t yell back. I simply resigned his business. “The customer is always right” is an outgrowth of the intense competition among early big-city retailers. 19th century titans like John Wanamaker and Marshall Field wisely emphasized customer [...]
The marketing director worked hard on the new campaign and convinced the CFO to budget extra dollars for the launch. It was an exciting promotion with an impossible-to-ignore offer that was certain to boost sales to new highs. Only one problem: nobody told the sales team about it. So an hour after the email blast went [...]
I developed a better understanding of our company’s business model the morning our son and his three-week-old driver’s license crossed paths with another vehicle in a local roundabout. Our car didn’t look too good, but he was fine. The driver who hit him was also uninjured, and her car suffered the worst of the damage. Most [...]
While LinkedIn celebrates its 18th birthday on May 5, few people realize that LinkedIn was launched nine months before Facebook launched at Harvard – making it one of the oldest social networks still in use today. With 55 million companies as members, LinkedIn is clearly a driving force in the economy as evidenced by 61 million [...]
It happens frequently, and it always puzzles me. During an initial conversation with a CEO or company owner, I’ll ask how well their marketing is working. And they’ll reply with something like “I guess okay” or “it seems to be” or “I’m not sure” or even just a shrug. These are companies that invest significant sums [...]
In my last column, I described a variety of effective ways for building trust among those who don’t know you. Once you’ve started the process, how do you maintain and grow that trust? A recent experience with a prospective service provider helped me think about the steps I take to strengthen trust among my customers and [...]
There was a time when cold calling was the mainstay of the sales process. Successful salespeople were those who had the courage to pick up the phone and call prospects, knowing that nine out of ten would reject them outright. Cold calling no longer works for a variety of reasons. For one, people rarely answer calls [...]
As a marketer, I’m always on the lookout for cool advertising – new or retro. Lately, I’ve been binge watching Mad Men – a television drama series about the lives of advertisers and creatives who work at an advertising agency on Madison Avenue in the 1960's. It’s visual style and historical authenticity down to the smallest [...]
I’m not sure why sales and marketing have developed a relationship just as contentious as IU and Purdue. They’re equally important functions that serve the same organizations, and each offers expertise that could benefit the other. But put them in the same arena -- even if that arena is just an average conference room -- and [...]
You’re a smart businessperson who runs a successful company. You oversee production, product development, hiring, finances, and all the other elements needed to run a healthy business. Why in the world would you need to hire an outside marketing agency? No matter what business or industry you’re in, it’s simply impossible for you to know everything [...]
