Category Archives for "Soft Sell"

Insight that Increases Your Marketing Effectiveness

By John Aberle | Sales and Marketing , Soft Sell

I love it when someone can help me appreciate my profession in a new way. The fascinating part of it is that after over 30 years in sales and marketing, it took a couple psychologists to give me a major insight into how to make my marketing activities more effective. I found their tweak to the definition of marketing in The Heart of Marketing by Judith Sherven & Jim Sniechowski, known as Judith & Jim.

This significant change is so subtle yet simple. I was always taught that marketing is about making yourself known in the marketplace. To quote them, “The essence of selling is converting your prospective customer into an actual customer. And the essence of marketing is — preparing your prospective customer to buy.” (p. 25)

While things like sale flyers and discount coupons obviously have that goal in mind from the beginning, many of our marketing activities lack that clear intention. A common example is blogging. Continue reading