The other day I was at Bed, Bath and Beyond looking at juicers. They had two models to choose from. One was a well known product heavily marketed on television. Let’s call this Juicer A. The other was a brand I hadn’t heard of before. It was pricier, looked slicker, and had better engine specs. We’ll call this one Juicer B. I called a store clerk over to help me…

In their desperation to get as much out of a first contact as possible, some scriptwriters commit the following sins: 1. Aim too high 2. Mix objectives 3. Sell the sizzle 4. Marketing Speak AIMING TOO HIGH Asking for a commitment in time and money (time is money, after all) from a prospect before developing a relationship and proving value is an example of aiming too high. Unless the prospect…

“Warfare is a great matter to a nation; it is the ground of death and of life; it is the way of survival and of destruction, and must be examined.” Sun Tzu. In the same way, how effectively you wage marketing warfare determines whether your company succeeds or gets trampled by the competition. Telemarketing is one of the highest-cost marketing activities and can easily consume 50% to 100% of your…

Today a prospective telemarketing consultant called me to see if I had any script-writing projects he could work on. Before I could answer fully, he told me about financial obligations he carried, about his nontelemarketing related job experiences, what he wanted out of a job, and other life changes he was going through. The “conversation” lasted five minutes and concluded with him asking for reassurances that CCI was not another…

LAST weekend, Lindley Ross was watching “Batman Returns” on cable when he was ambushed. Skip to next paragraphEnlarge This Image Illustration by Gary Hallgren It wasn’t the Penguin or any other criminal mastermind — it was the deafening volume of the commercials that played during the movie. “It bothers me. You’re watching a movie, you’re absorbed in it, and next thing you know, you get caught by surprise. I had to get up, find the remote and turn down the volume,” he says.No one is denying that advertising is a part of life

A poker professional I chatted with recently spoke of the importance of developing a sixth sense about the strength of your opponent’s hand. He can tell, with a high degree of accuracy, when he is beaten and needs to fold his hand to a raise. To refine this ability, he suggested monitoring your gut for certain feelings before you decide on a course of action. A “sinking” feeling, akin to…