Frontline Perspectives

Albert Einstein should have been in marketing. “The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over, and then expecting different results.”

I think of this when I talk to marketing teams that are going to the same trade shows year after year and coming back with 40 leads, or placing print ads in the same publications that generate 0 leads, or using brochures that are five years old, or haven’t put new content on their Web sites in over a year….. Why? Why are you doing these things again and again when they obviously don’t produce tangible results? Read more »

When new clients come to us, I am always amazed at how little thought has been given to lead fulfillment and follow-up in a lead generation campaign. I can get a detailed list of what has been done in marketing, but I rarely get a database that provides insight into what produced orders, and the status of the other leads.

This is a huge misstep. Every marketing campaign should have a metric to measure responses, and every lead should be entered into a database that then scores, qualifies and fulfills the lead request. Along with this, you need to have mapped your buying cycle so you understand what needs to happen next to nurture this prospect further down your buying cycle. Read more »

We all know that customer service is important. Answering questions, resolving complaints, providing suggestions. Almost all companies today will say that they have “good” customer service. But the companies that move from good to great customer service, and deliver great consistently, are the ones that win repeat business.

I just finished reading “The Cult of the Customer: Create an Amazing Customer Experience that turns Satisfied Customers into Customer Evangelists,” by Shep Hyken. Initially I thought this book might be just the “remember to treat your customers nicely” reminder. And in several places it was not only predictable but repetitious (everyone in marketing has heard the story about Nordstrom’s taking back a customer’s tires -even though they don’t sell tires).

However, Hyken pushes you further by focusing on the premise that too many companies have a great product, nice people, and talk a great story (just read their mission statements). But the reality is that most don’t walk the talk. They just don’t deliver on their brand promise, and if they do, they don’t do it consistently. He contends this is the single most important thing a company should do…LIVE your brand. Read more »

So… my vacation’s over and I’m caught up on my reading.  Luckily June, July and August issues in the trade pubs are very light months- light on editorial content, and light on ads.  It only took me 4 1/2 hours to go through the 27 publications on my list.

Here are a few things I found that peaked my interest: Read more »

I have to go to many trade shows every year.  Some because clients are exhibiting,  some because clients want to determine if they should exhibit, and some because they are where our business prospects are.

I don’t really like going to trade shows because they take a lot of time.  But because most only come around one time a year and because trade shows are generally an expensive line item in our clients’ marketing programs, I take walking these show very seriously.

Read more »