Sales and Marketing


Recent Sales and Marketing Articles

The Virtual Road Show

By Jerry Useem |  Jan 1, 1997

A quick look at how another piece of the capital-raising process, the road show, may move into cyberspace.  Read more

Power of an Open Book

Jan 1, 1997

Here's a new argument for opening your company's books: It can be a hot customer-service tool. Unipower Corp., a Coral Springs, Fla., electronics manufact...  Read more

It's Smarter to Barter

Jan 1, 1997

Madhu Sethi, founder and former owner of Innovation Computers, a computer dealer, in Deerfield Beach, Fla., took an innovative approach to handling a coll...  Read more

Medical-Food Start-up Offers Tasty Treatments

By Alessandra Bianchi |  Jan 1, 1997

An overview of a hot start-up that's marketing good-tasting foods designed to help treat chronic medical conditions.  Read more

Making the Transition to One-to-One Marketing

By Martha Rogers, Ph.D |  Jan 1, 1997

Two marketing experts offer advice about how companies can establish one-to-one marketing.  Read more

Are Your Prices Right?

By Susan Greco |  Jan 1, 1997

An overview of how a revenue management pricing strategy can increase revenues without losing customers.  Read more

Cutting a New Deal

Jan 1, 1997

Recruiting new customers is expensive. That's why Ron Provenzano, co-owner of $5.2-million Zano's Hair Design, in Naperville, Ill., finds it more profitab...  Read more

Lemon Aid

Jan 1, 1997

Many customers feel cheated if a product breaks shortly after the warranty expires. How can businesses overcome customer suspicions that the warranty was ...  Read more

A Graceful Goodbye

Jan 1, 1997

You undoubtedly give good service to new and current customers, but how do you treat the ones who are switching to your competitor? If you treat e...  Read more

Long-Term Commitment

Jan 1, 1997

As much as Dan McNulty, president and CEO of Acoustic Imaging Technologies, in Tempe, Ariz., tried to convince prospects about his diagnostic ultrasound e...  Read more

Red Alert

Jan 1, 1997

Some people, it seems, you just can't please. But Neil Cannon will die trying. Cannon, chairman and CEO of Schmidt-Cannon International, a distributor of ...  Read more

No Service, No Sale

Jan 1, 1997

Turning down a sale is tough. After all, selling is what salespeople are trained and paid to do. But, if Multiplex can't provide foreign customers in remo...  Read more

Let's Play Tag

Jan 1, 1997

Friendly interactions delight customers. A little nudge from management can make it happen. The Jordan Pond House Restaurant, in Acadia, Maine, cre...  Read more

No Time for Downtime

Jan 1, 1997

Many firms wouldn't dream of providing warranty replacement hardware until after the damaged equipment has been returned. But RapidFire Solutions, a $13-m...  Read more

Ask Us Anything

Jan 1, 1997

When Patricia Gallup and David Hall launched PC Connection (PCC), in Marlow, N.H., the nation's first mail-order business devoted exclusively to the IBM p...  Read more

Fixed to Stay Fixed

Jan 1, 1997

Just because you think you've fixed a problem for a customer doesn't mean the customer is satisfied. That's why Carol Brachman, customer-support manager f...  Read more

Match Their Medium

Jan 1, 1997

Hoss's Steak and Sea House, located in Duncansville, Pa., prides itself on its customer orientation, but it was stumped on how to reduce the most frequent...  Read more

Customer Alert!

Jan 1, 1997

Emotions escalate when a customer is forced to call technical support multiple times for an ongoing problem. Frustration increases when someone has to ret...  Read more

Over-the-Top Customer Service

Jan 1, 1997

Pushing the limits of customer service may not be a part of your marketing plan. It's not a tactic -- it is a philosophy, a principle, and an attitude tha...  Read more

Payback Time

Jan 1, 1997

When the end of the month arrives, sometimes the only type of service a customer receives is an invoice. But Fred Barnes, founder of Working Assets Long D...  Read more

Jump-Starting Customer Service

Jan 1, 1997

Shortly after you buy a car from Hayes Brothers in Salt Lake City, the $60-million dealership invites you over for dinner. The sales staff serves up a com...  Read more

Establish a Late Arrival Policy

Jan 1, 1997

Isn't it frustrating to rush to a store, only to find yourself staring at a locked door a few minutes after closing time? What's worse is watching employe...  Read more

How Sweet It Is

Jan 1, 1997

Customers thirst for an opportunity to buy local products that offer something special," asserts Bill Webster, owner of Haven's Candies, a candy manufactu...  Read more

More Dependable Than Mom

Jan 1, 1997

Eve Rubins, general manager of WBLM, "superserves" the loyal listeners of her Portland, Maine, classic-rock station. From a weekly audience of 160,000, Ru...  Read more

Image Building

Jan 1, 1997

Who says nice folks finish last? Iris Harrell, based in Menlo Park, Calif., would say that's nonsense: Being thoughtful indirectly accounted for 72% of he...  Read more

No More Nickel-and-Diming

Jan 1, 1997

Fifteen years ago, Chris Zane, owner of a $1.6-million bicycle shop in Branford, Conn., stopped charging customers for anything that cost less tha...  Read more

Clients Are Made, Not Born

Jan 1, 1997

Hanson Galleries, a U.S. art dealer with galleries in four cities, works hard at developing its clientele. In keeping with the Hanson Galleries method, a ...  Read more

Share Your Intellectual Capital

Jan 1, 1997

You're an expert on your industry. So, why not package that expertise for customers? Flexible Personnel, a $56-million staffing company, located in Fort W...  Read more

A Piece of the Puzzle

Jan 1, 1997

Elms Puzzles, in Harrison, Maine, makes a product that's too expensive for most people--a 500-piece handcut wooden jigsaw puzzle that might cost $800. So,...  Read more

Expanding Horizons

Jan 1, 1997

It's no secret that educating prospective customers on how to make the most of a product increases both sales and satisfaction after the sale. Mickey Robe...  Read more

Pest-Free--Naturally

Jan 1, 1997

All-natural biogardening: Can it exist? We're talking organically correct fertilizer here, not to mention toxin-free insecticides and herbicides that harn...  Read more

Interns as Interpreters

Jan 1, 1997

In an ethnically diverse area, business owners often have a difficult time connecting with potential clients because of language, cultural, or religious d...  Read more

Helping Kids Is the Ticket

Jan 1, 1997

Sometimes the best way to satisfy customers is to help them do something nice for someone else. The Orlando Magic professional basketball team giv...  Read more

All the News That's Printed to Fit

Jan 1, 1997

Creativity for Kids didn't want its marketing newsletter pitched into a circular file. So, the Cleveland-based company cut its circulation in half byRead more

Lending a Vending Hand

Jan 1, 1997

Share your commitment for great service with your vendors so that your customers receive great service, too. Champion Mortgage Co., in Parsippany, N.J., n...  Read more