I don't know about you and your college experience, but my undergraduate years at BC were largely focused on balancing classes, taking copious notes, prepping for exams, working part time jobs and commuting back and forth-rain or snow-on my $250 motor scooter. I was younger than most, wicked naive about what to expect and how to act, and very rarely got the opportunity to critically think. When I had the opportunity 22 years ago to teach at MIT, which I still do every fall, and I'm now in my 20th year at Tufts teaching Marketing and Sales, I structured everything around activating critical thinking among my students by working in teams around complex projects. In fact, that's exactly what we've been doing in our consulting practice so transferring that discipline of project-based critical thinking to the classroom has been very direct.
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2025 Business Planning
Every spring, everything tumbles and crashes into one another in our business. It's merely the rhythm of our consulting business when the excitement and optimism of the annual January sales meetings meets the reality of Q1 sales forecasts measured against actual results Sometimes up, sometimes down, but never exactly as was planned, which then results in increased business for us at the firm. It's just the rhythm of our business which always seems to align itself with the seasonal calendar rhythms of the year.
Add to this cyclical rhythm the reality that the implementation of any new sales or marketing plan will always take a minimum of 90 days before any results are seen, which is why we always focus on Q2 as being the most important quarter of the year. By the month of May, we know what's working and what's not, and there's still plenty of time to make adjustments that will pay off in Q4.
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In today's lightning-paced world of marketing, do events and conferences still hold a significant position in your marketing toolkit?
While they demand meticulous planning and often represent a hefty chunk of your customer acquisition cost, the answer is a resounding YES—events are indispensable!
In my continuing quest this year to simplify the definition of "What's Marketing?", what I absolutely know is that the essence of Marketing's success lies in one basic principle: "Generate qualified leads that yield desired outcomes at the lowest sustained cost!"
No fluff. No vague terminology. Just results-driven results, measured by expense over numbers of days.
If we opt to include events in our marketing arsenal, acknowledging their substantial cost, we must exercise even greater discipline:
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Direct Sales Capability:
Events should offer opportunities for immediate product sales. Consider a recent B2C pop-up event for our Tufts entrepreneurs, where hundreds purchased products, providing both revenue and valuable feedback. https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/
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Uniqueness: Stand out from the crowd! Whether it's a symposium on climatetech or an annual conference, differentiation is key. I recall how HubSpot, in its infancy, captivated attention with everyone wearing orange jumpsuits and providing short innovative demos using iPads.
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Expense Management: Beyond venue and fees, scrutinize necessity. Ask: "How many attendees are essential?" and "Do all sales representatives need to attend?" Rationalize expenses to maximize ROI.
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Defined KPIs Consensus: Establish clear, measurable goals. Determine prospect interest indicators, follow-up protocols, messaging strategies, and conversion rates—all within a rapid time frame. Without strict KPIs, event participation lacks purpose, and just maybe, you shouldn't attend at all.
This week's highlights showcase the power of impactful events:
At my Wednesday's Tufts Marketing class, we were honored to host David Meerman Scott, renowned for his expertise encapsulated in our course bible: "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" His visit was nothing short of transformative, from AI insights to engaging anecdotes about The Grateful Dead.
The session was met with enthusiastic participation, culminating in a standing ovation—a testament to David's unmatched prowess in the field.
In my two decades of teaching marketing, David stands out as an unparalleled luminary in the field.
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The first time I heard the phrase "business plan" was when I was purchasing manager of a division of Becton Dickinson. That exercise given to me by the Controller was actually to just set prices on 10,000+ components for the year ahead.
Click HERE for the 2024 edition of Writing the Winning Business Plan
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Fall officially starts tomorrow, but in my trip to Vermont house last weekend, it was obvious that the rhythm of the seasons was in full cycle which is great since the fall season provides 25% of the tourist income for the state. Vermont is absolutely in full rhythm for the fall:
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Rhythm
Most everything in business has a definitive rhythm. Every quarter is marked by various events of annual planning, budgeting, sales kickoffs, trade shows, and of course...summa' vacations, which no matter how carefully we plan around them, they always seem to impact our sales forecasts with delays.
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The Dog Days of Summa are here in full force, and what are we already hearing since last week's turn of the calendar page?
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Welcome to the Summa!
Just a superb holiday period last week, as I took unfair advantage of the fact that I live on the NH beach by lugging my book-filled beach bag out the door every afternoon and laying claim to my time-tested perfect location of sand and surf.
- Perfect for catching up on my long list of required reading assignments
- Necessary for the final edits to the fall syllabus which went out on the 5th
- Relaxing from being at the tip of the spear for the last quarter.
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Although not the best snowboarding season, this winta' has been easy on the shoveling, my fuel bills and other than last weekend's frozen pipes (-33.1 F ambient at the top of Stratton) in the VT house, it's been a relatively smooth kickoff for the new year.
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