Get the name right

Just listened to a voice mail from a guy who’s company does “interactive holiday marketing.” In the voice mail he mentioned the name of someone that he claims he spoke to in the past here at my company. Only problem is there is no one here at my company that goes by the name he [...]

Have to vs. get to

If you are not telling everybody about your service, then its probably not that great. You recommend movies, restaurants, and TV shows to others without hesitation. That’s because you have an emotional attachment to them. They brought some joy to your life and you want to share that with others. But do you have the [...]

Who needs collateral material?

The topic of collateral material comes up often at my company. Its one of those things that everyone has an opinion on, and every opinion seems to be a little different. From copy to color to images to layout, everyone seems to love offering their opinions on how a brochure should look. But is collatreral [...]

Marketing Key #7 of 13

Marketing Key #7 – Be a resource to your customers.
You absolutely have to be more than just the person/company your customer calls when they need to purchase your service. Do whatever it takes to be the industry expert in your customers eyes.
1. Send them the occasional email with a link to an article that [...]

You learn nothing while you are speaking

I posted about this last December but it seems to be a subject that comes up over and over again.
People love to talk. They especially love to talk about themselves, which includes whatever it is that they are selling. I can’t count the number of times I have listened to sales pitches that started with [...]

Who’s the stupid one?

More than once I have heard colleagues complain when a client goes with a competitor.
“What are they, stupid?” seems to be the comment I’ve heard often, “that company is horrible.”
In fact, I think I myself have uttered these words more times than I care to admit.
But is it really the client who is stupid? [...]

Your second most important business relationship

I was talking to a friend the other day who stood to lose a big chunk of business because a competitor had come in and offered lower prices. She was pretty worried. The more I spoke with her the more it became clear that she provided a vital service to her client and charged a [...]

Tell me why

Just got off the phone with another sales person trying to sell me CD and DVD services, whatever that is. He seemed like a nice enough guy so I let him do his thing. Only problem was that my company rarely uses CDs or DVDs for anything so when he asked me if I [...]