Sales & Marketing Management - July/August 2008 - (Page 5)

EDITOR’S LETTER WWW.SALESANDMARKETINGMANAGEMENT.COM GROUP PUBLISHER DANIEL J. CORCORAN (646) 654-5107 (646) 654-7367, Fax Daniel.Corcoran@nielsen.com Survey says: Ding! Knowledge is power It’s been more than 400 years since Sir Francis Bacon coined the expression, scientia potentia est (“knowledge is power”). Few statements ever uttered have been truer than that one. In fact, it’s so true that several of its corollaries also have become part of our modern vernacular, including “brains over brawn”and the battle cry of every editor, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” Wars generally aren’t won by the army with more soldiers, but by the one with better intelligence. The most successful generals have efficient, secure supply routes and always scout the battlefield in advance to find the high ground. Knowing where and when to fight is as important as the weapons themselves, and that explains why those of us here at Sales & Marketing Management are so excited about the return of the annual Survey of Buying Power (see this month’s Cover Story, page 17). Last published in 2005, this massive repository of market research contains critical demographic data from every state and county in the United States,breaking each down by population (including age groups and racial composition), retail sales by store group (such as food and beverage, or electronics and appliances) and Effective Buying Income (EBI). Want to know what county has the highest population of African-Americans in the 25–34 age group, with household incomes of $50,000 a year or more? A few quick clicks on our Web site and that information is at your fingertips. You’ve worked so hard,for so long,to ensure your team has the right products and services to meet your customers’ needs. You’ve trained them on pitching and closing, taught them how to overcome a prospect’s objections, and shown them how to negotiate the terms of a deal once the customer is ready to buy. You’ve equipped them with technologies that keep them connected when they’re on the road, visiting with those potential customers.You’ve even spent thousands of dollars on highly targeted advertising and direct mail campaigns to give your sales force the support it needs to close deals and increase market share. But there’s one last hurdle, and it’s a big enough one to render all of that other hard work moot: How do you know your message and sales team are reaching the right people? You might have the cream of the sales crop working for you, and you might have them trained so well that they could pitch and close in their sleep. But it’s all wasted effort if they’re trying to sell apples to a person who wants oranges. Do yourself, your sales team and your entire organization a favor and visit www.surveyofbuyingpower.com (the Survey will be available in August). I promise that you won’t be disappointed! ADVERTISING SALES National Sales Director JASON WAFALOSKY (610) 792-2481 Jason.Wafalosky@nielsen.com Las Vegas Travel Sales Manager PETER V. EDMUNDS (714) 963-3499 Peter.Edmunds@nielsen.com Account Executive MIKE GANGEL (646) 654-5318 Mike.Gangel@nielsen.com MARKETING Marketing Director/Travel and Performance Group ROBERT KUWADA (646) 654-5159 Robert.Kuwada@nielsen.com Marketing Associate JENNIFER GINSBERG (646) 654-7210 Jennifer.Ginsberg@nielsen.com PRODUCTION Group Production Director BERRYL SCHIFFER (646) 654-7302 Berryl.Schiffer@nielsen.com Production Manager JAY KAPLAN (646) 654-7310 Jay.Kaplan@nielsen.com Sales & Marketing Management is published by Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Nielsen Business Media President: GREG FARRAR Senior Vice President, Human Resources: MICHAEL ALICEA Senior Vice President, Marketing: MARK HOSBEIN Senior Vice President, Finance: DEREK IRWIN Senior Vice President, Entertainment: GERRY BYRNE Senior Vice President, Marketing, Media & Visual Arts: SABRINA CROW Senior Vice President, Retail: DAVID LOECHNER Senior Vice President, Online: LINDA MCCUTCHEON Senior Vice President, Building & Design: JOE RANDALL Senior Vice President, Central Services: MARY KAY SUSTEK Vice President, Licensing: HOWARD APPELBAUM Vice President, Manufacturing & Distribution: JENNIFER GREGO Vice President, Audience Marketing: JOANNE WHEATLEY FINALIST FOR THE 2005 JESSE H. NEAL NATIONAL BUSINESS JOURNALISM AWARD FOR BEST SINGLE ISSUE, AND WINNER IN 2004 FOR BEST REGULARLY FEATURED DEPARTMENT WINNER OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL EDITORIAL AWARDS AT THE 27TH ANNUAL AMERICAN SOCIETY OF BUSINESS PUBLICATION EDITORS AWARDS COMPETITION 2004 WINNER OF TWO REGIONAL DESIGN AWARDS FROM THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF BUSINESS PUBLICATION EDITORS Michael T. McCue Editor-in-Chief michael.mccue@nielsen.com JULY/AUGUST 2008 SALES&MARKETING MANAGEMENT www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com 5 http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com http://www.surveyofbuyingpower.com http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - July/August 2008

Sales & Marketing Management - July/August 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Brian Tracy University Smart Sales Sales Strategy Smart Marketing Marketing Strategy Smart Management Management Strategy The Mother Lode of All Market Data Returns Embracing the Future Training Technology Incentives/Motivation Don't Become a Target Abroad Book Excerpt On the Road The Way I See It

Sales & Marketing Management - July/August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.