PR- The Finishing Touch to Your Marketing Plan Desiree Grace Public Relations (PR) is an important tool in a Marketing Manager’s toolkit. While it may seem like a minor or decorative aspect of your company communications, similar to decorative light switches, don’t underestimate the importance of having a PR expert on your team. Just as you need a master plasterer to prepare your walls and finish your ceilings, it’s essential to manage your company’s image and oversee your corporate communications effectively. Let’s break it down. While PR is related to organizational image and is a close skill set to corporate advertising, it’s more than that. The audience for public relations is much broader than your current and prospective customers. It includes ALL stakeholders, people like current and potential employees, vendors, neighbors, the city and county where you work, even government officials, your industry at large, in addition to your customers. The objective with proactive pu...

White Swan Strategy: Increasing Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)—It’s NOT Magic! Desiree Grace   Some people think loyal customers are like magical unicorns—rare, and subject to luck, alignment of the planets, and other uncontrollable nonsense—the stuff of fairy tales. I would argue that loyal customers are WHITE SWANS. White Swans are highly predictable events that can be easily anticipated, and their size and importance can be easily estimated. You DO have control, if you know what to do. The choice is yours. Customer Lifetime Value defined Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is key to customer retention and long-term profitability.  You can measure this easily by multiplying customer annual revenue by customer lifespan. Then, subtract any acquisition costs for year one and retention or servicing costs, like rebates, from the annual number, and presto! You have customer lifetime value. Let’s walk through an example: Cobalt Electric buys $10,000 per month per year from St...

Tariff Troubles & Supply Chain Scandals By Desiree Grace & Frank Hurtte The plot twists are enough to give you vertigo. Your friends are now your enemies, or are they frenemies? Your cousin next door is persona non grata, and your old arch-nemesis is now your bestie. The pairings and couplings get stranger and stranger. No, we are not talking about daytime drama, aka Soap Operas. It’s “Tariff-Time!” What to do? You can’t change the channel. Eating popcorn and sitting on your couch isn’t advisable, either. Let’s break down some of the challenges and talk about how to cope. While the numbers and countries impacted change by the hour, directionally, we know that products and components sourced from the bid C, China, are most impacted. This impact will flood downstream from manufacturers to distributors and end-users, with potential impact on rep agents, too.  Major issues and concerns – Manufacturers: • Manufacturers are concerned that tariff prices will impact their market ...

Tools of the Trade: When Promotion Beats Advertising By Desiree Grace Sometimes you need a hammer, sometimes you need a mallet. Sometimes you need a crowbar, and other times a pry bar is the right tool for the job. This holds for the marketing trade. You need the right tools for the job. In the case of good marketing, sometimes Sales Promotion is the best tool. Sales Promotion is an incentive used to motivate action. Your target could be end-users, the channel, aka distribution, or it could be business buyers, like the MRO buyer or government procurement gal. Whichever target market you choose, Sales Promotion is gaining in popularity because it is easily measured and is a great way to stand out from the competition. It can also increase the perceived value of your products and services, as well as add value to your channel. I like Sales Promotion because you can put together a strategy and execute it quickly, as compared to traditional Advertising. Also, you can undermine a ...

12 Ways to Win Distributor Mindshare (Even If You're the Smallest Vendor)  By Desiree Grace You are number 47, and they’re now serving number three. The big idea: Experience dictates that the typical distributor manager has time to manage between 5-7 supplier-partner relationships effectively. These management duties typically involve such tasks as ensuring proper sales activities and engagement, continual oversight of sales volumes, promotional activities, and participation in supplier-partner initiatives.    Typically, the 5-7 lines receiving support are the largest suppliers to their organization.   This creates a daunting task for smaller manufacturers or those just launching in the market. Further, this situation is known and appreciated by most progressive distributors, however, the time constraints outweigh the concern. A few have assigned duties for championing the cause of new products/technologies to category managers, specialists, or, in some instances, s...

Marketing’s Makeover: From Fluff to Facts By Desiree Grace She’s got a bad reputation. Marketing—she’s a party girl. Golf outings, customer appreciation events, expensive meals at trade shows—when the economy gets rough, she’s the first thing to go. But much like the cheerleader with a perfect GPA, there IS more to Marketing than meets the eye. Done right, it’s not just entertainment and good times. Effective marketing involves discipline and hard work that is measurable. Let’s discuss Marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These are metrics that demonstrate results and return on investment. There is some rigor underneath all that fluff and fast talk. To understand the impact of your work, you must assess the outcomes of your strategy and optimize your programs and campaigns accordingly. This can include channel-specific marketing activities if you’re a manufacturer selling through distribution. Some good basics you can and should measure include the following: 1.  ...