I once was a sales associate for Eddie Bauer.  Each of the associates, like most sales-oriented positions, had manager-set goals.  I would constantly sell 200-300% of my goal.  The general manager asked me one day, "How do you do it? How do you sell that much in revenue?"  I replied, "It's simple.  I'm not here to sell clothes."

Ever wonder how a long distance runner keeps going?

Its quite simple actually... They never reach their destination.

Amateur runners generally struggle with running distances until they figure out the secret that experienced runners have learned and implement.

"Can you cut me a deal?"

"May I have a discount?"

Ever had a client (or potential client) ask you a question such as these?

And, in response, "Sure, but may I cut the quality and value of my service?"  To which I'm sure they'd reply, "No."

If a client won't accept a diminished value of service, why should you accept a cheaper payment?

Accept full payment; deliver quality service. Neither you nor your client should be satisfied with anything less. You're worth it and so is your client.

To quote @AxelS: "Sales is like Sex - cold calls barely work, online is good to connect, but socializing is the way to go..." Well, that's one way to put it. Social networks push traditional marketing strategies to the back burner.  Marketing practices that worked 20 years ago, were great 20 years ago, but are not as efficient today. Phone calls, letters (and today, e-mails) will only take the client relationship so far. Being social increases sales, closes deals and gets the job done. Here's a video to remind you of that fact.

Background: Marshall University loses their entire team and major boosters in a plane wreck.  A new coach is called in to, perhaps, get a team together. The problem was, at the time, the NCAA didn't allow freshmen to start in football.

I visited one of those post office/UPS stores in a nearby shopping center the other day.  I needed to buy some $.03 stamps - no packaging, no shipping, just stamps.

When I told the clerk (whom I believe was the store owner) what I needed, he got a little irritated that I would even make such a request.  Furthermore, he only had less than twenty $.03 stamps. Gosh, to make him work for $.60 and some change in profit.

Convenience is what brought me to the store.  Customer service is what will KEEP ME FROM GOING BACK.

If you don't appreciate the smallest value that your customers offer, your customers won't appreciate the greatest value that you offer.

Thousands, or even millions, of dollars may draw customers to you, but 5 good minutes of service is what keeps them.

Funny video showing how corporate marketing execs sometimes frustrate designers.

I found this post originally at: http://www.4to40.com/fastforward/index.asp?id=468  I thought it was it very applicable to doing research prior to marketing that I reposted this here.

1. Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer from diarrhea."
   
   
2. Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."
   
   
3. Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "manure stick."
   
   
4. When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the U.S., with the beautiful Caucasian baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's inside, since most people can't read.
   
   
5. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.
   
   
6. An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I saw the potato" (la papa).
   
   
7. Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave", in Chinese.
   
   
8. Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "it takes a strong man to make a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."
   
   
9. The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Ke-kou-ke-la", meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "ko-kou-ko-le", translating into "happiness in the mouth."
   
   
10. When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "it won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you". Instead, the company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."
    
    

Does your mailbox ever look like this one? If you're like most people, you receive tons of junk mail – advertisements, credit card offers, magazines; the list goes on and on.

Ultimately, we know where the mail will end up – in the trash. And, what a waste for the advertising company. But, what an even bigger waste if you don’t take a moment to capitalize on this opportunity to increase your network and turn junk mail into profits.

I recently read an article by the same name discussing an e-mail marketing campaign executed by United Airlines. The campaign asked recipients to add United's From Address to their address books. Why? There are two fantastic reasons for doing this. First, to avoid the "Junk Mail" folder and ensure the message will be delivered to the Inbox and; second, so that all images will be downloaded and displayed automatically with the message.

You may be asking, "What if my messages are already going to the 'Junk Mail' folder?" There are two possibilities for overcoming this obstacle.