Five things to know before creating your new training program.
Training helps professionals become better communicators, more effective managers, or more profitable salespeople. Training is the connection between your people, your products, and your customers that ensures a return on time and financial investment. Training is marketing. It is an extension of your brand. And it is critical to your success.
Training means revenue for brands.
Training helps professionals become better communicators, more effective managers, or more profitable salespeople. Training ensures a return on time and financial investment as it links your people, your products, and your customers together.
Product training: The critical job that (almost) nobody is doing.
We produce a fair amount of technical work that’s used by our clients to inform dealers how to sell, install, and maintain all kinds of products. But even with pieces written and designed to communicate the right information in an engaging way, it doesn’t mean the brand can sit back and watch the sales roll […]
Sales is a Tough Job. Strong Marketing Makes it Easier.
I was at an event recently. The professional kind with a buffet line and well-dressed people balancing small plates of food while maintaining a white-knuckle grip on a cocktail. The topic of marketing came up, mainly because I’m a marketing guy and I started it. Then I hear this: “Sales and marketing are the same […]
The death of branding and other myths.
Brands don’t matter. At least that’s the word these days. Marketers have been trying to sell the power of branding for years, and it’s always been an uphill struggle. In this supposedly post-brand world it’s gotten even harder to convince marketing decision makers that there’s benefit to brand building. A Post-Brand World? For the moment, […]
Product launches? Actually, they really are a lot like rocket science.
There’s a saying that most products launch like a rocket and drop like a rock. The comparison of product launches to rocket science, well, it’s kind of a no brainer. You’ve got the hours upon hours of research and hard work. The passion and anticipation, with equal doses of hand wringing and worrying. All the […]
Is your tradeshow marketing delivering ROI?
Let’s face it, tradeshows are expensive. In many cases, the total cost of participation can rival an entire year’s advertising spend online or in an industry trade publication. And just like branding campaigns, tradeshows are a long-term investment, where sales cycles can draw out for weeks, months, even years. So how do you know if your tradeshow participation was worth it? There’s a simple answer: Measure, measure, measure. Before you tune out, read on just a bit more. You don’t have to be a mathematical modeling wizard to assess ROI, and we can help.
Virtual reality will change everything. Eventually.
It was several years ago when I first experienced a virtual and augmented reality test. My head was spinning, and it wasn’t just because of the motion sickness. Like everyone, I imagined endless ways this could be used in a bunch of industries. Sure, entertainment and gaming are no-brainers. But what I viewed—and still view—as […]
An Open Letter to Marketing Managers
We work with a lot of marketing directors and VPs. They are great, driving the big picture brand initiatives. But by far, most of our time is spent in the marketing trenches with the unsung heroes of our profession. Marketing managers deserve a shout-out. So this letter is that. Dear Marketing Managers, Thank you. You’re […]
Big Data? Try Listening Instead.
Big Data is a fascinating concept. Some of its applications are mind blowing. And the cost of employing it to solve problems and answer questions is shrinking. But face it, for all but the most flush small businesses, it’s still out of reach. Big Data requires connecting the dots between the company, its vendors, distributors, and retailers to capture data across the supply chain and at every transactional point. Using that data demands the resources to store it, and the computing power to perform data analysis to support the questions companies want to answer. Which means a lot of time and energy must go into deciding what questions to ask. That’s time, money and attention that many businesses can’t spare.
A Common Sense Guide to Evaluating Your Dealers: Part II
A Common Sense Guide to Evaluating Your Dealers: Part II Questions & Answers (During our webinar on dealer evaluations, which we adapted for our last article, we got a lot of good questions. This time, we’re giving brands the floor and offering our answers to their burning questions.) “How many people should be on the review […]
The Right Way to Reward Dealers
Awards. Rewards. Incentives. Whatever you call them, brands struggle with the right way to use them to engage and motivate dealers.
