Marketing includes “the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.” Sales include “operations and activities involved in promoting and selling goods or services.” The two disciplines are clearly linked in a neverending search for the golden ticket. In order to be effective, Sales and Marketing professionals require a particular kind of talent.
Sales: Do You Have Customers or Clients? Whether you have customers or clients is more than a matter of semantics. Some businesses use the term “clients” in an attempt to class up their image. Attorneys usually have clients. Kentucky Fried Chicken doesn’t, regardless of what they might say. Nordstrom? … Read More » Is Distribution Dead? It’s difficult to talk to any owner of a small distribution business without hearing complaints about competition from the Internet. Their criticisms are pretty universal, regardless of the goods being distributed. “Customers call with prices they claim to have found … Read More » Proactive, Preventative Sales Sometimes a topic rises to the top of my long list of candidates because it seems to come up repeatedly. It may be a coincidence (probably is), but a single business ownership issue is raised in multiple coaching sessions or … Read More » Can You Build Your Business in Half the Time? I had an unusual coincidence happen last week. Speaking to prospective new members of The Alternative Board (TAB), I wound up with three CPAs in the same meeting. They were from three different smaller firms, and all three identified their current … Read More » Trimming the Customer Tree Anyone who has shopped for a live Christmas tree knows the drill. They have some on display, but none look exactly like what you want. You start looking through the trees that are still bundled up. If one looks promising, … Read More » The Man (or Woman) Who Knew Too Much Most businesses need salespeople. Most salespeople need to know what they are selling. This leaves many owners on the proverbial horns of a dilemma. Should they hire a great salesperson and teach him the business, or should they take someone who … Read More » The Psychology of Fresh PaintA bit more remains to be said about business owners who are gun shy about doing things in anticipation of an economic recovery. An owner mentioned to me the other day that he wanted to redecorate his conference room and purchase …Read More » The Only Thing We Have to Fear?“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” FDR famously broadcast during the Great Depression. His speech didn’t end that economic slump, and the election next week won’t end this one. It will, however, help. The Republicans are …Read More » Instant, perfectly targeted marketing.I’m finalizing my speaker panel for our Fall seminar series. This season we are concentrating on marketing and sales. The recession is over, but no one can feel the “recovery.” If you are waiting for things to be busy again, you …Read More » Small Business Goes GlobalI know that the business press has described the Internet based global marketplace for a decade now. Certainly I have any number of clients who’ve seen their small businesses impacted by a customer’s ability to search the globe for competitive …Read More » Advertising Effectively I’ve heard it three times in the 24 hours since returning from my vacation; “I’m spending a lot of money on marketing, but I don’t know how effective it is.” The problem goes back for as long as there’s been … Read More » |