by scott.gillum | Jun 29, 2020 | 2020, Marketing
by Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
Build Your Personal Brand & Become a Trusted Advisor. Now that we’re online almost exclusively, every interaction with buyers is being scrutinized. You ARE the company’s brand, now more than ever. Learn how to navigate this high risk environment with our CEO Scott Gillum and xiQ, Inc. CEO Usman Sheikh. Webcast now available on demand here.
Before people decide what they think of your message, they decide what they think of you. The more personalized our communication, the more we show that we care. Whether it’s an email or a one-on-one presentation, marketers and sellers need to do their homework on understanding their prospects and their business needs to appeal to their emotions and build trust.
Personality-Driven Engagement (PDE) by xiQ equips B2B professionals with the insights to build highly personalized messages that build emotional connections with their clients. xiQ uses AI to understand what motivates people, what drives them, and how to influence their decisions.
B2B professionals will learn how to:
- Build their own personal brand
- Understand the personality type of their buyers
- Individualize communication
- Analyze content that resonates
Who should view this webcast?
CMOs, CROs, B2B Account Managers, ABM & Sales Leaders, Marketing and Sales Professionals MUST attend this webinar. This session is OPEN for All.
View the webcast here.
Build Your Personal Brand & Become a Trusted Advisor.
by scott.gillum | Jun 9, 2020 | 2020, Marketing
by Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
Episode 5: Getting Sales to Buy Into Inbound Marketing with Special Guest, Matt Stevens
Supporting Sales with Inbound Marketing. Matt Stevens, former head Digital Marketing at Gartner and CEB, faced a significant set of challenges in building out an inbound marketing engine that would deliver sales. Scott and Matt discuss how he was able to get the sales organization to accept Inbound Marketing as a solution to increase their productivity and make quota.
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by scott.gillum | May 12, 2020 | 2020, Opinion
by Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
I was out for a run this weekend and heard the footsteps coming from behind me. Soon, he was on me, and then past me. At that point I increased my pace as the competitive instinct kicked in when the words “run your race” ran through my mind.
It’s a lesson I learned many years ago while training for 10 milers. After many months of training, planning my race strategy, and setting time goals, I’d be thrown off my pace early in a race, as soon as someone in my age group was passing me.
Chasing them, I thought, was pushing me to a better end result. At least, the competitor in me believed. In reality, it only drained my tank causing me to be out of gas later in the race, resulting in a poor time and disappointment. All the months of training wasted because I ran someone else’s race.
Unemployment is now at its highest level since the great depression which has touched all of us in some way. It’s an incredibly difficult time that can easily be made more stressful by how we now measure ourselves, and our success.
It’s easy to become a victim of the trap I fell into running races. Comparing ourselves to others, feeling like you’re falling behind or being passed by your peers. It’s a feeling all too familiar. In the first 2 years of marriage, my wife and I were laid off a combined total of 4 times.
The first, a month after we put a deposit on a house. By the fourth “downsizing,” my parents were helping us pay our mortgage and my wife’s parents were bringing us groceries.
So first know this, this is not your fault, it’s not something you did. You’ve hit a very challenging and unplanned part of the course.
Second, no one remembers where you started or how many people passed you during the race, only the end results will be remembered. And most importantly, the only thing that matters about the results will be how you will feel about them.
By the third or fourth race, I had developed the discipline to stick to my race plan. My performance improved, but more importantly, so did my sense of accomplishment. I also noticed another thing even more satisfying, the guys who passed me earlier were now being passed by me later in the race.
Our lives are made up of a series of marathons. There are still many miles and difficult stretches of road to cover. Keep your head up, eyes focused forward, and run your race.
by scott.gillum | May 5, 2020 | 2020, Observations
by Scott Gillum Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
It’s a good question given the current uncertainty of our world. When will the economy reopen, what will be the impact, and what should we do about it? To gain better insights into what might be, Carbon Design went back and looked at what clients were focused on during the “Great Recession”. Looking at projects from 2007 to 2010 Scott found 5 interesting trends across industries, 3 which he wrote about in the article,WTF Do We Do Now. In the webinar, Scott will share the research behind the article, insights from 30+ client projects, and how you can use this information to help form your marketing, sales, and internal efforts.
Watch the webcast for insight you can use to gain a competitive advantage:
by scott.gillum | Apr 13, 2020 | 2020, Observations
by Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
No one had to say it because we all felt it. After months of research, repositioning the organization, and refining the messaging it all blew up in less than a week.
With the global pandemic in full swing, I’m sure this scenario is playing out across organizations around the globe. Whether it’s relating to sales goals, marketing budgets and/or anything in between they have all been blown to hell.
So what do we do now? It’s a great question that so many of us are struggling with currently. To help answer it I went back into the archives to see what projects clients were undertaking during the “Great Recession” of 2007. Here’s what I learned.
- Repositioning and structural change – I found companies using the downturn to reposition themselves in the market – shifting from product to services, from product focused to customer focused, etc. It was a structural change as well as a change in positioning. Be prepared to see new competitors coming into your industry once the economy recovers…or, it could be your organization entering new markets.
- Fixing the infrastructure – running hard for the last 10 years created very little time to fix basic problems, especially related to the revenue engine. A slowdown is a perfect time to fix the things that can create greater efficiency coming out of a recession. An investment in this area produces a ROI that only gets better over time. Look at the quality of the database, opportunities to leverage AI, better tracking and performance solutions. This requires an investment in time and focus that is rarely found in good times.
- Refining the value – It’s not the value proposition, it’s the entire value package. You can count on one thing for certain about the future. Customers will have to, or will expect, more for less. Don’t get caught flat footed, prepare now to deliver more value for the money. If not expect to 1) be undercut by competitors, and/or 2) take a hit on your profit. If you can’t figure out how to build in new value then figure out how to deliver the same value for less.
In challenging times like these the first reaction is basic survival. And for many that may be the case for the foreseeable future… as a small business owner I feel you! Many of the plans you’re making now are built around business viability, but soon there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Keep in mind, the items I’m suggesting will take at least 16 to 20 weeks to plan, develop and execute.
I understand it may take all your time and energy to ride the storm out, but keep your eyes on the horizon. Good luck, we can do this!
