This is part 1 of a series on the challenge of targeting SMB markets and how the use of target buyer modeling and buyer-based marketing help organizations to grow their SMB customer base.
As we continue to come out of the deep freeze over the last few years, we are beginning to see encouraging signs of an economic recovery. However, the purse strings are still drawn tight and new patterns of buying has created an atmosphere of even more exacting pricing pressures from enterprise-wide level buyers and accounts. This means less room for revenue growth to come directly from the fabled 20-30 percent of large customers who typically have made up 70-80 percent of total revenues. This is how a VP of Sales in the software industry put it to me recently in my research:
“Here is what it looks like…we are actually selling more of our product into our larger accounts than ever before….but…over the last three years we've faced stiffer competition that has driven our pricing down. So the net-net has been that we are just holding on as best we can to these larger accounts. Another words, we are not getting significant real... Read more
Tagged 'branding' 
Throwaway Marketing – Why We Trash Some Of Our Best Ideas
Walking away from a good idea is difficult, but it's often just as important as creating one in the process of making a concept come to life.
The agitation that flows from a poorly conceived idea can be endless…I recently told myself that I’d create a relevant and inventive post about the backlash issues regarding the Kony 2012 campaign. A week later I’m deleting drafts, accepting that I simply won’t be writing on that topic.
I had overindulged in information about the foundation, and even reached a point where I was researching tax law and angered with each new Google alert, convinced that everyone had somehow found out my idea and stolen it. This was the nod I needed that my idea was no different than any other marketing blogger and I needed to reevaluate.
Walking away from an idea is difficult. I had created a state of personal angst that I couldn’t complete a project I had assigned myself. I found myself wishing someone had said to me that it was a poor choice, that it would simply be washed away with the flood of other bloggers pouring out similar ideas. Yet even then, if warned, would I have walked away from my... Read more
Q&A: Phil McKinney, Former CTO, HP (Concl): 'Killer Questions' – on WebOS, Meg Whitman & More
So what really happened with the Palm acquisition and webOS? What went wrong during the short reign of Leo Apootheker? And what to make of Meg Whitman as CEO?
In the conclusion of my recent conversation with Phil McKinney, the recently retired chief technology officer for HP - and author of the new book, Beyond The Obvious - I have to ask about all these things, and what, in is view, it could mean for HP over the near term.
Q&A: PHIL MCKINNEY (CONCL): 'KILLER QUESTIONS' - ON WEBOS, MEG WHITMAN & MORE On WebOS
Click here to listen to Q&A: Phil McKinney (Concl)
(6:59)
Listen to Part 1 here.
Listen to Part 2 here.
Listen to Part 3 here.
Q&A: Phil McKinney, Former CTO, HP (Pt 3): 'Killer Questions' for Embracing Risk & Staying Ahead of The Change Curve
Forget "Yuppies." Get ready for "Yuffies."
Part three of my recent conversation with Phil McKinney, the recently retired chief technology officer for HP - and author of the new book, Beyond The Obvious - brings lessons for embracing risk (courtesy of Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks), and questions for ensuring your organization stays ahead of the change curve (that's where the Yuffies come in).
Q&A: PHIL MCKINNEY (PT 3): 'KILLER QUESTIONS' TO EMBRACE RISK & STAY AHEAD OF THE CHANGE CURVE
Click here to listen to Q&A: Phil McKinney (Pt 3)
Listen to Part 1 here.
Listen to Part 2 here.
