If you're thinking about what will be happening on the business scene in the future, the first step is to clear your mind of several popular misconceptions. More than ever, it will be dangerous to harbor-let alone act upon-erroneous ideas which can lead a business down the wrong road.

Selling isn’t about making sales — it’s about engaging customers, entering into a conversation with them, and letting them respond when they’re ready to buy. That’s called marketing, and marketing makes sales. In this article, John Graham uses Krispy Kreme Donuts as an example of how a company finds ways to create excitement and build customer loyalty.

In spite of those who claim that “marketing costs too much,” John Graham provides four major reasons why just the opposite holds true.

GETTING IT STRAIGHT
Marketing may be second nature in large companies, but smaller firms tend to have a tough time implementing, managing, and monitoring an effective marketing strategy. The title of 'marketing director' is often conferred on the person designated to answer requests for sales literature, or the title is added as an afterthought to the role of the sales manager who thinks that marketing is just an alternative spelling of 'sales.'

Why all the concern with first impressions? Why do we believe that the first contact makes such a difference? 'No one gets a second chance at making a first impression' — true, or just popular business lore? John Graham looks for the answers in this document.

Selling today is filled with contradictions. E-mail enhances our connectivity, but the number of E-mail messages is often so overwhelming that they go unanswered. Voice mail brings us together, but voice mailboxes are often clogged.

There are still those who believe that something will stick if you toss enough stuff against the wall. John Graham believes that we fail to ask ourselves the right question, the one that defines the marketing and sales mission.

A CPA firm spends $11,200 on a Web site that attracts only a handful of visitors. An insurance agency invests $80,000 in an advertising campaign and no one sees the ads. An alternative health clinic sends out 8,000 direct mail fliers and gets 26 responses. A manufacturer spends $28,000 on an attractive brochure that no one uses.

In the West, cattle ranchers still brand cattle. Once the brand has been burned into the hide, nothing can change it. Altering a brand is illegal and easily detected.
The branding of a business, product, or service is no different.

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.