Sell to people, not job titles

Mike Marn | B2B Selling | February 15th, 2008

Maybe you remember the old TV show or the line that it made relatively famous: “Kids are People, Too.” Well, for those of us whose businesses involve selling products or services to other businesses, we might do well to remember, “Job Titles are People, Too.”

Consumer marketers learned long ago that a target audience is far more than a demographic profile. And the more personal and resonant the message, the better the response to it. Those of us in B2B marketing have been a little slow to catch on. (more…)

Comments (2)

Oh, I see. It’s the client’s fault!

Mike Marn | B2B Ad Agencies | February 15th, 2008

I’ve worked at a number of advertising agencies of varying sizes in small and large markets, and I’ve heard the same wistful joke voiced at most of them: “This business would be great if it weren’t for clients.” Of course it’s just sarcastic humor, and those saying it were kidding. But a recent Client Quality Survey conducted by SCAN International suggests that at many agencies, that may reflect a prevalent point of view.

Study results showed that a significant number of the nearly one hundred agencies surveyed were quite critical of client performance as it impacted agency performance. Indeed, 45% of them said that clients needed to work on providing better input and direction, and 35% expressed the need for better client decision-making.

I doubt there are many rookies reading this, so it’s safe to assume almost all of us have been disappointed or even frustrated with a client at times. And it’s certainly beyond argument that a client who offers precise, timely, and thorough input will likely get better work as a result. (That old “garbage in, garbage out” cliché applies to most situations in life.)

But resting the problem on your client’s doorstep does little but ensure that a new agency will be walking through that door soon. And for that, you can blame no one but yourself. In the B2B realm in particular, (more…)

Leave A Comment