It's that time of year again! A Sales Kickoff (SKO) meeting is a cornerstone for energizing your sales team and aligning them with your company's goals. It sets the tone for the year, fosters collaboration, and provides valuable insights to empower your team to succeed.
Thu, Apr 19, 2018 — There are many ways to think about growth, and many models to help stimulate your thinking. One of the more traditional, best known, and still effective models, is this one:
Thu, Oct 26, 2017 — Here’s to those of you who currently have that title and are performing effectively in a “Vice President, Sales and Marketing” role today! If you are confident, balanced and managing both roles effectively at the same time, you are unique. I think, though, that this combined role will become less common in the future. Here’s what is driving my thinking. I’ve been in a VP Sales and Marketing role in three companies. Most recently, I served in an interim VP Sales role added to an interim VP Marketing role for a client which had an unplanned executive opening. After five months of trying to perform both roles productively and with balance, I have greater empathy for those who have that title and who actually can do both concurrently.
Thu, Apr 20, 2017 — Don’t have a digital savvy CMO? You’re likely losing the digital game. A CMO’s job description is no longer just about brand awareness and big positioning, but more about driving revenue, now and in the long term. In fact, 70% of CEOs expect CMOs to lead revenue growth. CMOs are expected to do more because of the digital tools that allow them to do more. New digital marketing tools better connect companies with their customers in ways they couldn’t before. It’s a constantly evolving process, and the key to growth is to get into this game sooner versus later, so you can win.
Thu, Mar 16, 2017 — Many of you probably read Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” somewhere in your educational career. It’s a short poem of four stanzas and 20 lines total. For a poem so brief, it’s surprising that Frost’s famous work is so powerful yet often misinterpreted. If you can’t recall the poem, or want to read one commentary, you can do a refresh here.
Sun, Feb 26, 2017 — The Expanding Role of Digital Healthcare Marketing - The role of digital marketing as a key factor in achieving growth at community health plans continues to expand. However, having employed a traditional approach for decades, your health plan marketing organization may lag in the adoption of digital marketing methods and best practices. Your marketing ROI may even be slipping or is not accurately measured. A recent ACHP (Alliance of Community Health Plans) survey shows that most health plan organizations consider digital marketing mediums to be more effective than traditional print and broadcast communications. Increased competition and the shifting consumer-to-patient journey amplify the urgency of adopting digital methods. In addition, the need to more closely track the effectiveness of tactics and improve ROI amid pressures to reduce spending, mean that it’s time to enhance and refine your digital healthcare marketing efforts.
Wed, Oct 21, 2015 — Before the digital marketing boom, sales teams were the hunter-gatherers – the ones that had to go into the forest and slay or harvest what our company would subsist upon. In those days, the typical B2B marketer was asked to sharpen the arrows, restring the bows – and hope that our prep work was good enough to ensure an acceptable bounty. When the sales team shouldered 100 percent of the prospective buyer’s journey, it was up to us to ensure the prospect knew about your company, could call or visit the office for more information, and were loaded down with a highly polished set of sales materials (and telephone script) that hooked them on the notion that yes, we are the definitive answer to their problem.
Sat, Jun 6, 2015 — If more than 50% of your new visitors land on your homepage, you might have a problem… When people “walk in the door” of your website, what are you serving them? Have you thought about your first impression beyond the colors and design of your website?
Thu, Jan 22, 2015 — I was recently asked my thoughts on how technology and digital trends will shape the future of marketing. As I pondered this question, I took note of all of the ways that I am digitally connected to the outside world. My laptop, smartphone, phablet, tablet, and e-reader were all dripping digital data to some unseen force through my WiFi connection. A fitness tracker awaited the opportunity to observe and report my next activity. Acting as marshals for many of these resources were my modem and router, which collected the needed inputs and outputs and converted my actions into trackable information.
Tue, Dec 16, 2014 — Digital Demand Generation: A New Level of Marketing In my last blog, I talked about the need to have your marketing plans be mindful of the increasing importance of marketing technology infrastructure, data, content, mobile and privacy regulations. Assuming you are ready with your new marketing strategies, it’s time to take a deeper dive into the great level of the marketing playing field – digital demand generation marketing. In a little under a decade, the advent of new social and online tools has dramatically changed demand generation – using tools that are accessible, easy to use and offer the ability to micro-target like never before.