I get interviewed by the ITA
It must have been a slow news day for the ITA but I am thankful for the attention all the same.
Here is a link to the Illinois Technology Association’s website and my interview.
The text of the interview is below:
ITA: In 10 words or less, what pain does Bradley Wiltjer solve?
Ben Bradley: More qualified prospects in the pipeline at a lower cost.
ITA: How does Bradley Wiltjer differentiate from its competitors?
BB: Our focus is very specific. We provide marketing execution for B2B companies with relationship-centric sales cycles. Our clients hire us because they want to move more prospects into the sales pipeline faster and at a lower cost.
Our clients are professional services firms, technology firms, technology retailers and distributors, technology associations and market research firms.
Our focus is 100 percent execution. What that means is we build marketing programs and then work with our clients to execute those programs. We don’t deliver a binder full of recommendations. We actually implement the binder.
When we launched the company, we hired a Six Sigma black belt to help us better define our operating methodologies. We currently use a combination of lean or iterative project management with some of the basic ideas of Six Sigma to help our clients improve their marketing execution and sales efforts.
In addition to our project management methodology, we help our customers reduce project and business risk in other ways. For most of our clients, compensation is based on a combination of discounted hourly fees with a significant upside for successful execution.
ITA: How does Bradley Wiltjer make money?
BB: We are a professional services firm. We make money by trading time and results for dollars. We do this through a hybrid blend of PR, content development, customer studies, marketing strategy, consulting and long-term interim executive placements.
We also function as an extension of the sales organization for some of our technology clients that need an expanded sales presence (especially an expanded Midwest sales presence). For this service, we collect commissions.
We’re currently working on another source of revenue: our marketing measurement dashboard, which is a technology currently in development. This technology will be a hosted service.
ITA: How has your sector evolved over the last five years?
BB: Marketing measurement has emerged as the holy grail. Companies that successfully integrate financial systems and metrics with marketing results are the ones best positioned to optimize marketing spend. This is the new reality.
ITA: How is your company funded?
BB: We are not seeking funding. We are funding our growth by paying ourselves less than we should.
ITA: What are the biggest challenges you face as an Illinois IT company?
BB: The real challenge is setting priorities and learning to say “noâ€. It is easy to get distracted. There will never be enough time or money to do everything we want to do.
ITA: What are your thoughts in general related to the Illinois IT community?
BB: Illinois is the center of the most fertile sales territory in the country. The tech community is strong but different from the technology communities on either coast. Perhaps it is the stewardship mentality that is so unique to the Midwest.
ITA: How much of your work force is based in Illinois?
BB: All of our employees are based in Illinois. Our customers and our contractors are all over the world.
ITA: Are there any plans to get into industries beyond your current core?
BB: No.
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