>Sales & Mareketing Seminar Starts

>The first presentation of “Sales and Marketing: Your Way Out of the Economic Crisis” sponsored by the WIRE-Net Organization has been completed.

The session started of with an introduction by Mark Pinto, Manager of Manufacturing Sales for WIRE-Net. Mark outlined the six sessions that will be presented over the next six months and introduced the faculty presenters and the WIRE-NET staff. I was introduced by Mark and I set the stage for the sessions by using Felber & Felber’s recently created Manufacturer’s Anxiety Closet. All participants shook their heads to acknowledge what keeps us up at night.

I then handed off the session to Erica Root Cikanek of Strategic Marketing Initiatives, LLC. who spoke about understanding your Value Proposition and Brand Promise. Erica outlined the difference between the company and customer’s viewpoint and how to determine the customer’s pain points. Erica pointed out how important it is to analyze your competitor’s brand promise by reviewing their websites, brochures and product catalogs. This part of the session included examples that illustrated the difference between Company A and Company B and their value proposition/brand promise and why we should perform a Gap Analysis.

Erica turned the second half over to me where I spoke about the Lead Generation tools and techniques needed to communicate your brand.

I presented a quick summary of the following: (These will be expanded on in the upcoming sessions.

DIRECT MARKETING
Client Profile
Mailing List
Vehicle (Postcard, Dimensional, Brochure, Promotional, Trade Show,
e-Blast)
Message/Copy Points – Call to Action
Creative
Production
Delivery Method

ADVERTISING
Display Ads (Trade pubs, industry newsletters, business newspapers & directories)
Your Company Newsletters, Blog & Website
Banner Ads
Promotional Products (crosses all media)

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Press Releases
Lead Story
Industry & Client Publication Avenues
Industry Expert
Current Client Case Study
Wire Services
Special Events

SOCIAL MEDIA
Linked In
Face Book
Twitter
Flickr
You Tube
Ning Sites
Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Reddit
Blogs & RSS Feeds

During the session the presenters and participants engaged in Q&A and feedback. The entire group benefited from sharing situations and solutions.

Overall this presenter was thrilled with the outcome. I look forward to the next 5 sessions and will share comments, reactions and results.

Bruce Felber