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...

Remi Ducrocq, KYKLO Guest Blogger:  Remi Ducrocq, KYKLO Co-founder & CEO From Frank:   I wanted to post this article written by Remi Ducrocq for a couple of reasons. First, we know Remi and his team at KYKLO quite well and found the spirit of giving displayed in the article appropriate for our times. More importantly, KYKLO has people in Thailand, Europe, and the US. They have had at least four weeks more experience with dealing with COVID-19 than anyone else I know personally or professionally. I believe in learning from others, and I see this as an opportunity to share and learn. I hope you gather some good pointers from this post. A time for sharing This is a time for sharing. As our industry works through the issues created by this global pandemic, we at KYKLO believe now is the time to share positive thoughts and best practices for our industry. This reach-out comes not as a commercial message but rather as an act of sharing. First, ...

For those of us selling into the industrial sector, the economy has turned tough.  One of the gauges of business levels comes from large manufacturers of industrial products.  Numerous end of quarter reports point to slumping sales.  We’ve seen everything from no growth to decreases from three to six percent being typical.   At the same time, a few large industrial corporations have announced plans to “revisit, reevaluate and rethink” their supply chains.  Their strategy is simple:  The economy is slowing and they plan to squeeze a few points out of their suppliers to offset other slides in profitability.  In the past 45 days or so, distributors have shared feedback on margin squeezing moves by key customers.  Longer payment terms (How does 105 day payment sound?) and requests for across the board price reductions are common.  In the past month alone, at least a half dozen distributors report moves to “eliminate the middleman” with cus...