Recently, I came across an interesting column in a national marketing publication. The writer indicated that marketing programs don't perform well because of 'business marketers' dogmatic belief that 'selling is the only form of marketing I need to do.''
This is an amazing statement because our experience at Graham Communications is quite different. As we see it, the problem is failing to achieve the benefits of marketing because the emphasis is always on sell, sell, sell.

This provides an outline of a client contact program for Marketing Representatives.

Focus on attracting customers not making sales.
With effusive CEO testimonials and countless articles and books describing how companies have transformed themselves into tightly focused, totally energized commerce machines, it would seem that change should be easy. But let’s face it: If it were simple, there’d be more of it. Even when the evidence for change is compelling, most companies continue to cling to the known and the familiar.

To succeed in today’s selling environment, you’ll need to think out of the box.
There’s one revolution no one wants to think about, let alone discuss. It’s what’s happening to selling. Although the Internet has a profound effect on sales, it isn’t the only challenge facing salespeople. In fact, the Internet might only be the tip of the iceberg.

NURTURING CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS by Jack Burke I opened the book Relationship Aspect Marketing with some statistics that have withstood the test of time in relation to why businesses lose t...

Remember, as salespeople we want to hear objections. When buyers send out these signals, they're giving you clues about their interest. Give the buyer a chance to make the decision based on the information you've provided. If you've done a good job throughout the sales process, the objections you hear should enable you to reconfirm your value to the buyer and close the sale.

OWNERSHIP ISSUES AND COMPENSATION by Carol Hammes During the past several months we have been addressing methods for compensating agency staff, managers, and salespeople. How should...

Two major problems for insurance sales professionals are the limitations of their own mind-set and the lack of definition.

PERSONNEL AND COMPENSATION DILEMMA by Carol Hammes Its never been easy to attract the best young people to the insurance industry. In a competitive job market, it becomes almost impossi...

It seems as if we all need a good, old-fashioned whack on the head to get our attention. This is a moment when businesses need to connect with the business end of a two-by-four.
Change is in the wind. If there's one lesson the last decade or so has taught us, it's that there's a new economy, and it's global, integrated, and interdependent.