Yes, there is a Santa Claus. Free Internet and International Marketing Strategic Plans

Ean Jackson — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:18:31 -0500

I'm teaching two MBA classes at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business this fall. One class is in International Marketing, the other in Internet Marketing.

I will be requiring students in each course to complete a comprehensive study and list of recommendations for a real business or not-for-profit. I believe there will be approximately 8 plans created in each class. I'm expecting a high level of quality from the plans. I would estimate that if I were creating one of these plans professionally, it would cost the recipient between $10,000 - $15,000.

The students can pick whatever company they want, but I suspect that not every one has a parent, a relative or a friend who will benefit. I'd like to offer those who can't come up with a company a few choices. That means a few businesses will benefit from free plans. Maybe your business is one of the lucky ones?

Here are a few details:

I would need the name of your company, a fairly senior level contact, their telephone and email on or before 7 September. It would help if any applicants would also send a brief outline of their company, their specific needs and how they would measure success as this will guide the students
I will provide each class with a list of all companies who contact me. I will ask the class teams (1-4 MBA students per team) to pick a company and contact the company representative directly
I have required that the students pick a company on or before 11 September
final classes are in mid-October, so there is a fairly quick turnaround on this for the lucky businesses
the students (either in person, on the phone or via Skype) would likely need an hour or 2 to gather information
I would invite the beneficiary of a plan to attend the class presentation at UBC. Most likely the morning of 11 Oct 07
there is no cost to the company. However, I hope that if a company benefits from the free plan, a reasonably-senior person would invite the students for lunch or otherwise show their appreciation
No promises. No guarantees. Assume you get what you paid for and you will be likely be pleasantly surprised

Interested? Please contact me.

Not interested, but know of someone who might be? You are most welcome to forward this link to anyone you feel would benefit.

PS I like to spice up my classes with guest speakers from industry. I'm looking for a couple of people who live in the Vancouver, Canada area and who might be available for an hour to tell a few International Marketing war stories. The instructor (me) will gladly buy you lunch or a beer after class and write you a thoughtful testimonial

Identifying Customers-to-Be

Ean Jackson — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:08:50 -0500

Who do I sell to?

My marketing study says that my target market is roofing businesses
withing a 2-hour drive of downtown Chicago. How do I get the names of
those businesses so I can call
them?

Terminology

Before I launch into the how-to part, I thought best to clarify some terms that come up a lot when discussing sales.

Most sales folk refer to the people they sell to as their
"prospects". Those with a bit more experience in sales segment
prospects into "qualified prospects" and "suspects", where a suspect is
unqualified in terms of decision-making authority, timeframe, budget
and needs and the qualified prospect is.

I like the way my friend Pauline O'Malley of The RevenueBuilder refers to sales prospects "Customers-to-Be". It's so much more positive and personal.

Wherever I refer to "Customers-to-Be", I am referring to
decision-makers within the target market. These people may or may not
be qualified.

Identifying Customers-to-Be

Buy a List

Without a doubt, the simplest way to acquire a list of Customers-to-Be
is to buy the list. There are lots and lots of list providers out
there and the prices vary dramatically.
Caveat Emptor. Be sure to ask how old the information is and how complete it is!

I
have not personally enjoyed a lot of success buying a list, so can not
recommend any particular vendors. A recent Internet search for
"prospect list" came up with 3.5 million references.

Create a List

There are lots of ways to develop a list of Customers-to-Be. Some include:

Ask the librarian. Go to the local
business library! Make the best of the librarian's time and yours by
arriving prepared with a very clear idea of your target market and how
you segment that market. While it is the librarian's job to help you,
I find it is always nice to have a few $10 Starbucks cards handy to
show my appretiaton
Internet research.
There are gobs of information available on the net for free. The
challenge is sifting through it and organizing what you find. Many
associations provide their membership lists. I will aim to share some
how-to secrets in another post
Trade shows.
You see the fishbowls at every trade show booth at every trade show.
Some of the people that put their cards in the iPod draw may actually
be Customers-to-Be! I've never seen a lot of gold in trade show
fishbowls, so consider this before shelling out for a booth.