Ned Daubney, a guest columnist, talks about the role of an embedded “customer strategist” in closing large B2B sales.

At different times I have heard people say, “branding, what is the big deal?” or   “Branding can not be that important.”  Along these lines people say, “hey I know that product, so why so much of a fuss about their branding activity. Branding really does not make any difference to the intended audience.” Well, nothing [...]

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 [...]

I was recently asked by a business owner if he should move into the “cloud”.  After a lengthy discussion, I realized even though this is a current topic and there are many articles about cloud computing, it still seems to be confusing for many.  So for those who are wondering if cloud computing is for [...]

In a previous posting I talked about Five Myths for the direct sales force. This posting will discuss five major misconceptions about the indirect channel (reseller, distributors, partners and etc.).  Five major indirect channel misconceptions:  1-      Partners, resellers, etc. are all alike. Nothing could be further from the truth! The major impression is that most [...]

In my previous postings I talked about the three major sales channel models (direct, indirect and direct marketing). This posting will discuss five major misconceptions about the sales force in the direct sales channel model. Five major direct sales force misconceptions:   1-      That the sales force is only “coin operated”, meaning they are motivated [...]

All too often companies sign up a reseller(s), roll the dice and as they say, “hope for the best.” Trivia Corner   In communication, what does DSL stand for?Last week’s answer: During the17th century in England,officialdocuments were wrapped in red tape.  When the best doesn’t come, everyone wonders why goals are not being met, why the sales [...]

For those who are creating a web site and want to gather data on how your                  Trivia Corner : Where did the expression”Things are tied up in red tape” come from? Last week’s answer: Jazz musicians during the 20s & 30s called getting a gig in a town or city an apple. If you got a gig in [...]

Trivia Corner  For you New York fans: Where did the term “The Big Apple” come from?Answer- Next time      Last week I was in my local bookstore and I saw a book whose title stated “50 mandatory marketing metrics.”  My reaction was WOW, 50!  So I went home and after only five minutes of surfing [...]

A guide for CMOs in planning for 2010.