TMC: Marketing Games

CMOs, chief marketing officers,  average very short career spans.  So, if printers think they have problems marketing, imagine the life of a marketing person!  One has to wonder if CMOs can't seem to get it right or find career stability, how can printing sales reps?

According to Peter Winters of The Winters Group, that's exactly what's supposed to happen.  In his session "Big Ticket Selling to the CMO" he advises printers to become marketing partners and discover where a client fits on the Big Marketing gameboard before trying to sell him or her anything.

The takeaway is that in today's world clients such a bank executives, publishers, and others are facing their own challenges and don't know where to turn. Winters suggests that you make the sales call and put yourself in the chain but not by providing solutions -- at least not at first.  Rather than boast about your great applications (read VDP,PURL or whatever you've got that's hot), first find out the marketing problem the client's facing.  Only then do you even have a chance at being part of the solution, preferably longer-term.

P.S. I've been the Marketing head of a publishing operation. In 10 years (apparently a long, and hardy marketing career), a few printers did try to call on me.  Mostly, I'd refer them to Purchasing or our Ad Agency because I wasn't buying printing.  I was buying media reach.  Our agency was buying the brochures. Well, I guess that was Winters point afterall.  Don't sell what the CMO isn't buying.

You can't be in the game if you don't know what game the CMO is playing, or what's considered a home run for the CMO with his or her superiors.  For too many CMOs the game's over fast and printers never even get a chance to be considered part of the team.

-- Rhona Bronson