You are marketing passively if….
Your website has product info only, has a list of trade shows you went to in 2007, or anything else that is not really fresh, interesting, and new.
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You go to the same tradeshows every year and employ the “build it and they will come” or the “oh, please stop by my booth begging/luck/hope strategy”.
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You send e-mail to the same few hundred people with no response and no idea if these people are still alive and then hope someone bites.
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You run the same feature-laden ad in the same trade journals and hope someone calls all the while complaining about ad rates and hearing editors tell you that the ads drive people to your website.
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You send out feature/product-based press releases – just once I would like to see someone lead with the ultimate benefit the customer receives– then talk about how you do it.
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You join a trade group with all of your competitors but not one your customers are in - as my favorite announcer Myron Cope (you Steeler fans know) used to say, “Double Yoi”.
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Your local or regional salespeople (and VP’s and managers) are not known in your field and never join local groups and network as the experts– you can usually recognize these guys by the “I just need more leads and I’ll meet quota” whine.
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You do not know the blogs that are talking about your company, product type, service, industry, etc…much less write one or at least write comments.
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You send out your salespeople and have them mindlessly chase what is “hot” – the “if the phone rang then it must be hot syndrome”.
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Your salespeople cherry-pick what is at the bottom of the pipeline about ready to close yet never generate one lead or referral themselves.
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Your service team waits for the customer to call with a complaint and never proactively calls them to offer ways for them to maximize the benefit and value they get from your product.
There are many more but you get the idea.
Topics: Marketing
