change management
Work harder not smarter?
Go ahead and slap your forehead in disbelief when I tell you this – it is hard to sell to someone unless you know who they are. Yet most of the sales people I talk to cries about the ugly state of their data. Most complain that they don’t have time to clean it.
Data, like [...]
what is that thing in the CRM punchbowl?
Not too long ago, a prospect asked us to review their sales and lead generation programs because lead flow had dropped significantly. This concerned them because they had just finished a significant new product launch with a well- known interactive marketing agency. We agreed to sniff around.
Every reptilian instinct in my body wanted to find [...]
Dealing with Recessionary Times (from TomPeters)
A great list from Tom Peters about dealing with recessionary times.
I am constantly asked for “strategies/’secrets’ for surviving the recession.” I try to appear wise and informed—and parade original, sophisticated thoughts. But if you want to know what’s going through my head, read the list below:
http://www.tompeters.com/entries.php?note=010922.php
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Thinking about a marketing execution maturity model
Similar to a CMM (Capabilities Maturity Model), I’d like to explore the idea of a Marketing Execution Maturity Model (MEMM). MEMM is a defined path of improvement that helps organizations increase their ability to execute marketing effectively. MEMM I’m not sure I like the acronym MEMM but it will suffice as a working title for [...]
Emergent strategies
You’ve probably heard this statement a hundred times: “no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” Likewise, no marketing and sales plan ever survives first contact with the market.
We’re all guilty. We write marketing plans. The plan doesn’t survive contact with the customer. But somehow we get busy with billable work. The plan stalls but [...]
Stealing liberally from 6 sigma, scrum and xtreme
Way back when we started working with a Six Sigma ninja to understand our own processes. How can we apply lessons from Six Sigma as a formalized process for engaging with customers on multiple levels. Can we look at the client engagement process under the lense of Six Sigma?
The first question…when and why do client [...]
Scrum-tastic
SCRUM is a rugby term for a process for quickly getting an out of play ball back into play. It is also a lightweight and agile software project management methodology. Scrum is explained at a website called ControlChaos.com.
I believe SCRUM ideas should be embraced by marketers for project management.
In ControlChaos, they talk about a concept [...]
CIO as marketer
I just read a fantastic article from a newly discovered blog.
Mike Schaffner writes that…
It is generally accepted that CIOs need to “market” information technology inside a corporation to get other executives and employees to think of it as a strategic area of operations and not just a cost center.
What concerns me is that these marketing [...]
Using Social Media to Enhance Your Sales Effort
The great minds at the CMO Council published a nice piece on the role of social media in the sales effort.
It is a worthwhile read. This article quotes the Aberdeen Group – one of their latest research reports, called Sales 2.0 — Social Media for Knowledge Management and Sales Collaboration, discusses how social media solutions [...]
Does anyone know this joke?
A pig and a chicken are walking down a road. The Chicken looks at the pig and says “Hey, why don’t we open a restaurant?” The pig looks back at the chicken and says “Good idea, what do you want to call it?”
The chicken thinks about it and says “Why don’t we call it [...]
