Marketing Moment:  Lost in the Market? Let the 5-Cs Guide You By Desiree Grace Let’s get something straight: Marketing is not a walk in the park. It’s often underestimated, but the importance of good marketing is equal to having a solid map on a remote trail without WiFi. Frameworks like the 5-Cs help us navigate unfamiliar terrain and create order out of chaos. The 5-Cs are your compass, a tool that helps you analyze and strategize, guiding you through the marketing wilderness. You’ve probably heard of the 4-Ps: Product, Place, Price, and Promotion, the classic Marketing Mix. Let’s ditch the amateur level and talk about something more advanced: the 5-Cs. The 5-Cs are a framework for conducting a serious situation analysis. It’s how you take a long, hard look at where your business stands, where it’s heading, and how to outsmart the competition. Think of it like an annual inspection for your car, a health check that could save you from an overheated engine down the road. The...

How would your company fare in a competition against the 1980s version of itself?  Many would say, “We’ve come a long way, baby” but have we really? Check it out HERE!   Let us know how you think your company would perform. Need enough for a team? Call us before you orderr! It's not too late to get your 2025 sales goals on track. Pick up a copy of Frank's latest book to hit the ground running! ...

Marketing Moments are brought to you by River Heights Consulting. An occasional offering by RHC designed to educate and inspire our readers about Marketing and Related Topics. Search Listening may be a new term to some of you, so let’s answer the question “What is it?”  Search listening is the process of using search data (usually Google data but whatever search engine is most popular in your country is best) for customer research. 1. Analyzing the searches and trends happening around your brand and your industry as a whole, and using the insights to make better marketing decisions.  2. Monitoring and analyzing what people search for online to identify trends, understand audience wants or needs, and create related content. 3. Gaining customer insight by monitoring Google searches for specific keywords, topics, competitors, or industries. 4. Understanding what people are saying about brands and markets and the questions they are asking. Why should you care?  1. ...

Come see why your services, especially those with a fee, are your ultimate differentiator when it comes to competition.   Making changes NOW will mean success in the future. Special thanks to IMARK Now Electrical Magazine for getting the word out! Frank Hurtte, Founding Partner of River Heights Consulting, shares his personal experiences with 28 years of "in the trenches" training and 18 years as a consultant.  He serves as a personal coach to industry leaders across many lines of distribution.  He has authored 5.5 books (one is almost done) and has written hundreds of articles for national trade magazines, including IMARK Now Electrical Magazine. Frank is also a sought-after copywriter of marketing materials for technology companies.  His charismatic, yet laid-back, easy-to-follow manner makes him a favorite among public speakers. ...

Several years ago – June 7, 2013, to be exact, I hit on the  topic of direct sales. Ever being the purveyor of catchy phrases, I called out the practice for what it can be and often is - “More Channel Killing Blunders: Direct Sales Policies.” Being an easy touch for requests from readers, especially those who flatter me with kind words and mentions in their group posts, I decided to touch the third rail on more time. Moistening my finger, I have fortified myself for hate mail and ardent argument. Receiving these questions from a friend in Latin America where the water drains in a clockwise direction, the Southern Cross (constellation Crux) serves as a navigational guide and I am happy to say distribution flourishes. I decided to share my thoughts with everyone. ⦁ What would happen if the manufacturer had to deal with all the contractors and electricians in the country? ⦁ If a manufacturer chooses to “cherry-pick” some of the best geographies to work direct, who handles t...

Last week I received a question which is worthy of sharing. This was more than just a question; it was positive reinforcement. There are executives in the manufacturing world who believe distribution is key to their success. Thinking further, some of these leaders are exploring ways to help their distributor channels improve and prosper.   This was the question: In a world where some of our competitors are quick to take business direct and bypass the distributor all together, what can a distributor-friendly manufacturer do to help their distributors outperform the pack? Since I believe manufacturers need to get their distributor channel "into shape" for the fight – a battle for the very market distributors and their partners created, I felt it appropriate to share some thoughts.   The following things are imperative to the health of the channel: 1) Shed distributors who are not performing.   We analyzed one manufacturer’s channel and discov...

A couple of weeks ago I published an article called Pricing Professional – The time has come . The piece outlined the need for distributors to consider how they run their business and develop a new position. We hit on why the person who typically handled ‘pricing tasks’ was likely more of an administrator responsible for loading the prices of income purchases rather than a margin building professional. We pushed for distributors to consider the impact of a true pricing process and the qualities of the person best equipped to make the pricing process work. Somewhere along the way, we touched a nerve. Building a pricing process is a viewed as a top secret strategy. While a number of our readers commented, it seems no one wants to go on record with their plans. Here is a sample of the way the emails began: “Hope things are going well. While you'd probably prefer I comment directly on the post I really don't want our competitors to know we're doing this. So feel ...