Dick Lush and I are discussing Sales Channels at the Rhode Island Business Exchange on May 3rd. We welcome your participation.

Bad news Timmy, not only is there no Santa Claus, but account control no longer exists! So if you are living in the old world where sales people knew everything about their accounts, where they provided the customer with all the “necessary information” and helped guide them down the path that eventually led to an [...]

  In my last posting, I talked about a number of critical considerations/ activities that one must review when selecting to use an indirect channel. As I have said in other postings regarding channels  make sure you have an overall strategy and ask; will this channel selection support this strategy?  I then talked in more detail [...]

A posting that highlights the 6 most common mistakes we see Marketing managers making today, along with suggestions on how to correct them.

  If you are considering selling your product or service via an indirect channel (when you sell your product or service to an intermediary or middleman, who then sells it to the end user) there are numerous considerations that you must examine. As I have said in other postings make sure you have an overall [...]

As most of you know back in the 60’s four (some still use just three) Marketing P’s were suggested.  I would propose that we might consider modifying some of the four P’s and actually adding one more.   But first let’s review the original four P’s. Product:   the “thing” manufactured by a company and sold to [...]

Are you getting the best “bang” for your Marketing bucks? Today’s environment has created challenges for all marketing organizations.  First, the economy is probably having a negative impact on your business, which is being reflected in your marketing budget, personnel and flexibility. All of this with increasing requests to generate additional leads (sales). The other [...]

In business to business markets, I am often asked which is best to focus on, advertising or personal (relationship) selling. Before I answer the question, let’s look at what functions each perform and then draw a conclusion. Assuming your enterprise has a direct sales force, it performs many functions such as; relationships, promoting your company, [...]

Like everything else in this world, there are often multiple choices that can be made. Selecting a sales channel is no different. I have listed below the more popular sales channels and a very high level advantage and disadvantage of each. Channel                                                      Chief Advantage                        Chief Disadvantage Direct Sales Force                                  Account Control                                   Can be expensive      If you [...]

The expression “You get what you pay for” actually has a deep and comprehensive meaning in the B2B marketing world. The following is a B2B marketer’s guide on what needs to be considered when pricing a product or service.  1-     Understand the goals and go to market (GTM) strategy for the enterprise and /or the [...]