Sales Archives – Page 8 of 11 – Sunwapta Solutions

14 Apr 2010

New Website – Less is Now, More is Later

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:55:56-06:00April 14th, 2010|Categories: Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales, Software Development, Technology|

The shoemaker's kids finally have new shoes. We've always been so busy doing the technical stuff for our clients, we've been ignoring our own marketing. Well that is changing.

Today we launched version 3 of our corporate website. It is using a Content Management System (CMS) behind the scenes so we can keep the site current.

I was inspired recently by several good books. Essentially, the message was pick a date, set a budget and vary the scope. This avoids it is never good enough syndrome and allows you to ship; on time and on budget.

This also follows the agile principle […]

12 Apr 2010

“They” Are Right

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:55:59-06:00April 12th, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales, Technology|

They are the people who can be used to explain everything or cinch any argument.

"They say you should eat right and exercise."

"They say you should look out for yourself because everyone is out to get you."

"They say you should look out for others, especially those who are less fortunate."

They are not always right. They are just a convenient way to prove a point. The best part is that no further proof is required if you use "they".

"They say we need to refresh our corporate website."

On the last point, THEY are quite right this time.

And it is time to do […]

1 Feb 2010

Look After The Customer

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:58:54-06:00February 1st, 2010|Categories: Doug's Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Sales|

I've had it in mind to write on this subject for a while. It is so easy to find examples where companies don't look after their customers as much as they should, but harder to find examples where they do.

Unfortunately, my experiences lately have been more negative than positive; and I find that surprising when everyone is saying they are different and understand their customers; and even more bizarre in a down economy.

The idea is that if you find a great product or service that people want and focus on great customer service, the market will reward you.

If that is […]

7 Jan 2010

Who You Are – Consistency

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:19:03-06:00January 7th, 2010|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Sales|

Over the past few months, we've had a few clients approach us that had important work that needed to get done quickly; and they had limited options. You may be thinking…

Ka-Ching!

Wrong.

You may get the business once that way, but people will ultimately remember you hosed them.

That is not how things are done here. Here we value ethics, honesty and long-term relationships.

We believe we are entitled to fair compensation for our work including reasonable profit margins (every business needs this). But we don't believe in "between a rock and a hard place" pricing.

Sure, if costs are higher because of a rush […]

29 Dec 2009

Sales – Greatness Versus Failure

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:19:21-06:00December 29th, 2009|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Mindset and Motivation, Sales|

What makes one salesperson great and another fail?

We often think greatness is the opposite of failure. That if we look at why people fail and do the opposite we will succeed. Perhaps this is because it seems logical… the easy solution. Maybe the opposite of greatness (or failure) is merely average. Maybe greatness and failure are merely variations on each other.

This is discussed in "First, Break all the Rules… " by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.

"By studying the best salespeople, great managers have learned that the best, just like the worst, suffer call reluctance. Apparently the best […]

14 Dec 2009

Blue Oceans, Red Oceans and Small Ponds

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:19:52-06:00December 14th, 2009|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

I just recently finished reading Blue Ocean Strategy. I found the book to be quite informative with a lot of good concepts that can be put into practical application. In the book they talked about the convergence of competition in the bloody red oceans and the need to create blue oceans of value innovation to break out of the red ocean into the uncontested markets of the blue ocean (read bigger profits).

One premise of the book is that there a sort of formula (a process and tools) that can be applied to create blue oceans in a low risk fashion; sort […]

13 Nov 2009

What Does the Other Person Really Want?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:20:51-06:00November 13th, 2009|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Mindset and Motivation, Sales|

We often go into a situation with preconceived notions about what we want and what the benefits are to the other person or organization.

This applies to partnerships, client relationships, vendor relationships, employee-employer relationships, and personal relationships.

Don't jump to the solution until you really understand the problem.

Otherwise your hammer will make everything a nail.

How do you get this understanding?

You ask and then… listen.

Simple in concept? You bet. Hard for most of us to pull off consistently? Certainly or the world of relationships would be a lot simpler.

Business Owners

What are your personal goals? Does your role in the business align with your […]

10 Nov 2009

A Mix of Messages

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:21:12-06:00November 10th, 2009|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

What is in a Company Name?

I recently saw a truck drive by with the name "Explosive Landscapes". Not sure I would want my landscape to explode or do they blow up old ones or is that how they dig holes? I would probably choose a landscaping company by referral so the name probably doesn't matter.

That begs the question, does a company name really matter as long as it is easy to remember and spell?

How much time does a startup spend agonizing over a company name and logo? Unless you are going to be like McDonald's your logo is probably the […]

20 Oct 2009

Your Marketing Company

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:21:50-06:00October 20th, 2009|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Sales|

Do you think of marketing as a function within your organization? Is it something to do with communicating your message to your customers to generate leads or awareness? Part of the sales process?

In today's world marketing is everything.

Michael Gerber (E-Myth Manager) hit it on the head when he defined marketing as "the promise you make to your customers and your company's ability to deliver on that promise".

This definition says marketing is the responsibility of your entire company. Not in a superficial manner like "we are all selling our product" or "everyone has an impact on our customers"; […]

19 Oct 2009

Fear of Buying – Software

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:21:54-06:00October 19th, 2009|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

In Seth's recent post (Fear of Apples) he talks about how fear impacts buying. People don't want to do things that scare them and for some the threshold is low (buying the wrong apples).

He says:

"Whatever you sell, there are two big reasons people aren't buying it:

1. They don't know about it.

2. They're afraid of it."

Unfortunately, software development (one of the things we do) fits into this category big time. This is why business people often want to bring their IT people with them to a meeting… what if you say something they don't understand and make […]