As Marketing vs. Sales moves into its second year, Doctor Dave and Ramblin' Rob discuss major takeaways from the first 30 issues! Many thanks to listeners as they jump into new waters and attempt to help anyone who might want to brand and sell themselves and take new products to market! Stay tuned for Season Two of Marketing vs. Sales coming soon in October 2024...

Doctor Dave concludes his Marketing Process with the 10th step - Execution. The difference between "Marketing Strategy" and "Go-to-Market Strategy" is discussed with respect to AI... Continuing on to execution, the entire process is skillfully told through story and example. This gives the listener an entire grasp of the idea within a single issue. Marvelous listen!! Tune in!

Ramblin' Rob talks about a few nuances and intricacies while continuing to focus on basics. This is a really pertinent augmentation to the prior sales-centric podcasts. The key ideas represented in this issue will immediately make all salespeople more efficient and productive. And don't forget the value picked up by utilizing skillful counters, positive value statements, warm fuzzies, etc...

What actually goes into the Marketing Plan? It is important to all businesses, and how much do you have dedicated to this plan after you account for forecasted revenue and all costs. Doctor Dave dives into detail and talks specifically to this. What steps to take and what are the considerations? Doctor Dave speaks to the EPIER analysis vs. the older school SWOT analysis. Concepts such as sustainability and DEI are brought up and talked about. What are the new responsibilities with respect to the environment? CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility is a thing, and it's important. How does this all play in to the Marketing Plan?

POST-SALE follow-up and IN-SALE follow-up is discussed in detail. Making the tough calls and connections is something all sales consultants must learn to love. It's part of you and part of your personal Brand or Promise to the customer. Keeping all of this in mind, follow-up is necessary and we, in the industry, do not generally do it well. Ramblin' Rob tells us how to get this done. As with anything, we have to embrace the opportunity, and just get good at it!

Doctor Dave is talking about money! The Return on Investment. Financials and Budgets are discussed - they are vital. What will we spend and how will that relate to our forecasted revenue? That will dictate ROI, of course! How are budgets determined? How can they be adjusted, how can they be influenced? How is the money distributed?

Ramblin' Rob speaks in detail about reinforcing the promise made by the consultant to the customer with respect to the product, service, or solution that has just been agreed to. Sorry, I know - preposition! We'll get over that. The importance of these steps also are designed to eliminate any potential buyer's remorse and solidify the deal! Once the documentation is accomplished, now the consumer must know HOW to use what they have just purchased. Nothing can have a more negative result than a customer not being able to use your product, service, or solution to it's full potential. If this does not happen, they might feel as though they overspent, did not receive full value, or worse, cheated. Repeat business and referrals are dependent upon the ability to feel full value in the item purchased. Implementation, in the proper way, fulfills this and makes the future more of a certainty!

Doctor Dave's students are doing a case-study of the automotive manufacturer, Subaru. The are reading the book Where the Suckers Moon, a book from 30 years ago about the advertising campaign developed for Subaru. The students have hypothetically hired Ramblin' Rob as a Executive Vice President of Business Development and have a whole host of questions for him. Kind of a departure for this podcast, but not so much! It is marvelous!