There are a lot of branding agencies out there doing brilliant work when it comes to building websites, creating fonts, designing logos, and organizing brand platforms for Business to Consumer (B2C) environments. Many agencies are applying the same expertise and proven approach in Business to Business (B2B) environments. The problem is, in the B2B world, […]
If you talk to enough architects, you’ll quickly realize there’s a belief in the A/E/C world that relationships are the name of the game. Not that long ago, one respected marketing and business development consultant told me that 80% of new commissions come through relationships. I don’t want to discount relationships. They’re important to us […]
What a year! Congratulations to everyone in a professional services firm that just finished their best year ever. I count myself as blessed because so many of you, so many leaders of firms (whether accountants, or architects, or attorneys, or contractors, or engineers) shared feedback about your firm’s successes and struggles and what you see […]
It’s Octoberfest in Michigan, which happens to have more craft breweries than 46 of the 50 States. You can’t throw a stone here without hitting a brewery. And it’s rare to see anyone picking up a Bud these days. While overall beer consumption has been reported as down, the craft beer industry is booming. It […]
Convincing advantages will help you stand out and position you to win. Note: I recently wrote about messaging vs. convincing advantages (read it here) and launching your competitive advantages (read it here). Here are three must haves for your convincing advantages. Simple – must be easy to remember – easy to connect to real and […]
Messaging doesn’t work any more in sales situations (read the earlier blog post here.) The Convincing Advantages approach works much better. With tens of thousands of competing messages hitting your prospects on a daily basis, it’s important that your communication is clear, convincing and focused solely on how you solve your prospect’s pain. (Because that’s […]
There are too many instances of “messaging” hitting your prospects. Consider using the convincing advantages approach to stand out from the crowd. As you’re out competing to keep existing customers and gain new ones, the importance of messaging becomes evident very quickly. It’s purpose is to drive a clear and differentiating buying advantage for you […]
There are five critical components of B2B marketing— neuro-science based claims development and messaging, content, website traffic, a website, and, of course, conversion. These are ultimately the only five that really matter and yet the B2B marketing landscape is like a field of broken dreams. I originally wrote in the context of social media marketing […]
Increased product and service offer commoditizationCommoditization Absence of any perceived value, making it so that price becomes the only determining factor. Whether there is real differentiation or not, if the prospect’s brain cannot or will not distinguish this differentiation, it doesn’t matter. and customer indecision are severely reducing the effectiveness of the sales operation, says […]
You can’t expect customers to come to your door if they’re uncertain who you are or what benefits you can bring them, argues Bryan Gray of Revenue Path Group. Lack of a Strong Message – AKA a unique, compelling and consistent value proposition – is one of the Five Great ThreatsThreats What the primitive brain will act on. Whether real or perceived, the brain prioritizes acting on threats above and beyond any other action. This hurts sellers who are unable to connect the real impact of their product/service to a prospect’s threats. to revenue growth through […]