The 10-20-30 Approach to Sales Management

One of the biggest challenges facing B2B sales managers is knowing whether or not your reps are engaging customers in meetings that are likely to produce revenue. That’s what leads many sales managers to require call sheets. But as we all know, call sheets don’t work, because sales reps learn quickly what you want to hear, and they tailor their weekly reports to meet your expectations. So what you’re really managing with call sheets is how well your sales reps manage you.

But what’s the alternative? Read more

Net Promoter Redo

Fascinating experience, this week, with a major telecom provider. It started with a customer satisfaction survey. The call began with the usual questions: “Was your technician on time …courteous …knowledgeable …neat, etc.” And it ended with a Net Promoter question: “On a scale of one-to-ten how likely are you to recommend us to a business colleague?”
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Where are the Gatekeepers?

Joni Mitchell called it the “Starmaker Machinery,” the maddeningly complex world of music critics and publishers and agents who used to decide which artists would make the top 20 and which would remain obscure. Oh, there was corruption and injustice, to be sure: disc jockeys and program directors, unscrupulous music critics and record labels all playing payola, but some say the music was better. To be sure, it was more formulaic. Rock groups put out album after album of predictably safe, same-sounding songs, and even die-hard fans could mistake Badfinger for the Beatles. (Their smash hit “Come and Get it” was written and produced by Paul McCartney.)
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Mouth Full of Crackers

Ask any of my clients, and you’re likely to hear about my penchant for analogies. Cognitive metaphors, as linguists call them, refer to understanding one conceptual domain in terms of another. When we use analogies, we help our audiences understand a “target domain” by applying their understanding of “source domains.” So, when we say things like “brands evolve,” we don’t mean they evolve in the literal sense, inheriting specific characteristic from their biological predecessors, over many generations; we mean that our understanding of the concepts fundamental to evolution (e.g., gradual change, inherent DNA, natural selection and extinction) are helpful in developing an understanding of brand.
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Fishing with the Wrong Lure

Went fishing, some years back, with a close friend and colleague. We talked through the morning about a marketing challenge he was facing. His CEO was pressing for a formalized marketing strategy, and he “just wanted to bounce a few ideas” off of me.
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Definitely Worth a Look

Just yesterday, as I scrolled through my Facebook feed, I came across a comment, written by someone I have never met. In fact, we’ve never even spoken or exchanged email.

All her comment said was, “definitely worth a look.” Read more

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Laura Pasternak Published in IABC’s Communication World

Laura Pasternak, Principal and Chief Brand Strategist for MarketPoint, has joined a select group of leading communications experts published in the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) July-August issue of Communication World (CW). Read more

A Plan for the Brand During Mergers & Acquisitions

A merger can be one of the most challenging transitions for an organization. And even more so for a communications professional tasked with navigating branding decisions.

In my recent article written for and published in the July-August issue of Communication World, the official magazine of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), I’ve outlined the benefits of having a detailed communication plan and shared seven steps communicators and business leaders alike should consider when undertaking this type of transition. Read more

Leading the Marketing Department through Product Launches

In each organizational setting, there is a unique set of expectations we may consider optimal for good management. The management behaviors that may be most effective for encouraging participation at a brainstorming session, for example, would be very different from the management behaviors required to ensure victory in the heat of battle. And though that principle seems self-evident academically, people tend not to alter their behavior effectively in different settings.
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Goldman on Brand: an Interview with the TeaEO of Honest Tea

In the 14 years since Seth Goldman co-founded the company with Yale professor Barry Nalebuff, Honest Tea has grown from humble beginnings to become the first organic and fair trade brand to move into the mainstream beverage distribution system. During the past 10 years the company has posted a double-digit (66%) annual compound growth rate, capitalizing on consumers’ shift toward healthier and more sustainable diets. Recently, MarketPoint met with Goldman, to learn how his brand played a role in the company’s success.
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