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Category Archives: MarketStar Channel 
How great would it be to only have customers who buy frequently, never return products and drive a ton of referral business without ever needing support?
Of course, we all know this is not possible but implementing the right after-sales strategy might get you closer than you think. The key, as bad as it sounds, is to use your customers. While social media has increased competition and evolved buying behaviors, it also has amplified the potential value customers can bring to your company. Continue reading
Posted by
Manuel Rietzsch
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
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Back to the topic of content marketing! Today, I spent some time viewing and dissecting a couple of videos created by Coca-Cola. These videos provide a great overview of how Coca-Cola will evolve its marketing to change from “creative excellence to content excellence.” They are very well-produced and fun to watch, but the amount of information communicated is a little overwhelming. I am not sure why Coca-Cola decided to share these videos with the world — probably so people like I can blog about them. I highly recommend watching these videos but here are some great insights: Continue reading
Posted by
Manuel Rietzsch
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
4 Comments
The term “Outsourcing” is a bit of an enigma. For many the term conjures up images of painful experiences coordinating overseas partners. For others it’s an admission of failure when it comes to internal processes, or even success that can sometimes be a bitter pill to swallow.
The reality is businesses outsource many tasks on a daily basis based on relationships of trust and experienced results. We don’t think twice about outsourcing our overnight shipping or janitorial services, do we? MarketStar has just published an exciting new eBook titled, “Why Outsource?” It’s a great primer for anyone interested in learning more about Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), how it’s evolved and, more specifically, what sales and marketing services can successfully be outsourced to cut costs and increase sales.
“Why Outsource?” attempts to quell some of the misconceptions around outsourcing and remind readers that outsourcing, when managed and executed properly, has many distinct advantages. Not only can it be a cost-saving endeavor, but outsourcing is proven to drive incremental revenue, improve efficiency, instill operational focus and expertise, and improve customer satisfaction. Continue reading
Posted by
Adam Gunn
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
2 Comments
Don’t miss our lead nurturing webinar featuring Jeff Ernst of Forrester Research, Inc. and Tracy Thayne of MarketStar as they discusss the need for lead nurturing to increase the output of your revenue engine. We still have a few spots left and would love to have you join us! Continue reading
Posted by
Manuel Rietzsch
Monday, August 22nd, 2011
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Content marketing is a “hot” topic for marketing folks right now. But do you really know what it means and how it fits into your overall marketing strategy?
Content marketing involves the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases with high-quality, relevant and valuable information to drive profitable consumer action.”
Boring datasheets and white papers are history – at least until later in the buying process! It is absolutely necessary to publish content that interests and engages your audience, since it increases the time they spend with your content, creates anticipation for further communication, and builds a relationship of trust resulting in increased sales.
When developing content, ask yourself these three questions: Continue reading
Posted by
Manuel Rietzsch
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
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Research shows that only about 10 to 20 percent of the leads in sales funnels are actually ready to be engaged by sales, and most of the leads that are currently not ready will purchase eventually – from someone else.
The reason for this is the internal battle between your Sales and Marketing team that leaves many leads uncared for. What does this have to do with Cowboys and Aliens, you ask? I can tell you the comparison yielded many similarities, but you will have to take a look at our humorous, yet insightful infographic to find out. It perfectly illustrates this conflict in going after the herd (leads) and will provide answers to many of the questions you probably have by now:
Continue reading
Posted by
Manuel Rietzsch
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
1 Comment
I have been thinking a lot about the decision-making process lately. As contributors to society, and I say that loosely, we make hundreds of decisions daily.
Some are simple and easy and personal – how many times to hit the snooze button before getting up, what to wear when we get up, what to eat for breakfast. Some are moderate and influence others – which way to go to work, how should you prioritize your daily list, how will you handle your commitments. And some can be very complex and affect many, requiring a thoughtful analysis of the pros and cons, building strategies around potential outcomes, and even possibly affecting what the physics Chaos Theory calls the “butterfly effect.” Continue reading
Posted by
Chris May
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
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To say “communication is a problem in business” is like saying “the sky is blue.” There is not a truer, more factual, fundamental and indisputable statement.
I’ve worked in professional sports, I’ve worked with the media, I spent time in manufacturing, and now I find myself in the more specialized business craft of channel marketing. Lots of variety, but it’s the same everywhere I have gone — the right hand, often times, has no idea what the left hand is doing.
Now, once you get into the channel, this communication problem is compounded. A HUGE corporation has highly technical offerings packaged into highly specialized products. They also have thousands of partners they have to support, in thousands of different ways. If it’s hard enough to communicate within your own friendly confines, think about reaching out to thousands of other companies with their own communication breakdowns. Continue reading
Posted by
Phil Mickey
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
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On a quick jaunt to Chicago a few weeks back for the CompTIA annual member meeting, I started thinking about the word “ecosystem.” It is defined as, “a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment.” In everything there is an ecosystem and in every ecosystem there is a channel.
In the technology world there is an ecosystem; within the channel, there is an ecosystem. Why, if you really keep digging there are little ecosystems within bigger ecosystems everywhere. Continue reading
Posted by
Chris May
Friday, May 6th, 2011
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Let’s pretend you’re a sales manager and you’re opening a new territory that really needs to show success. You’re offered a choice between two sales reps from a neighboring department, and you have to make your decision only on the following information:
- Tommy Tortoise is well-grounded in sales methodologies and is a steady performer. His sales performance has been somewhere in the middle of the pack for the past three years. However, he is known to work long hours, through lunch hours, nights and weekends. His reporting is top notch and he always hits his deadlines for activities. He makes 40 calls a day, rain or shine, and never leaves until his to-do list is completely crossed off.
- Harry Hare, on the other hand, is a bit erratic. He has been the top producer in three of the last eight quarters and has set sales records in several categories. Of the top 10 customers, Harry landed six of them. On the other hand, Harry tends to be a loose cannon when it comes to following established guidelines. His methods are unorthodox, but he finds ways to get through gatekeepers and speak with C-level customers. He often shows up several minutes late to work, takes long lunches and sometimes distracts others on the team with his spontaneous behavior. He’s terrible on his reporting and sometimes misses deadlines and even meetings. His call routine is anything but routine; he makes anywhere from 10 to 50 calls a day.
With apologies to Aesop, if you had to hire a new sales rep, would you hire Tommy Tortoise or Harry Hare? Continue reading
Posted by
Paul Stout
Monday, May 2nd, 2011
20 Comments
