B-to-B Insight: More Summer Reading
Books that can show you how to make a million dollars in direct marketing
August 2006 By Russell Kern
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It was with great joy that my wife, Lynne, and I recently moved our eldest daughter, Michelle, to New York City to start her new career in advertising. As soon as she graduated from the University of Southern California with a double degree in Communications and Spanish in May, she hit the streets of Manhattan and landed her first “real” job in Hispanic marketing. She has always had a great deal of passion for the Spanish language and the cultures that accompany it.
Michelle is eager to learn her new craft in advertising and direct marketing. However, as I look at this young upstart—through the eyes of an employer, not a father—I realize she has so much to learn.
Keeping her future aspirations in mind, she recently asked how I learned all I know about direct marketing. I told her that while work experience is important, much of my expertise comes from the hundreds of marketing books I’ve read, some of them many times over. This, I told her, will shorten her learning curve. “OK Dad,” she said, “so what should I read? If you give me a reading list, I’ll do just that.”
Remembering that I prepared a summer reading list for Target Marketing readers last year, I told my daughter that I would forward it to her. My wife, a former journalist, quickly popped into the conversation: “Russell, why don’t you prepare an updated reading list containing all the books you’ve found valuable in the past 12 months, as well as the must-reads for anyone seeking to expand their marketing skills? This way you can help Michelle and your readers.”
So, as a man who loves to kill two birds with one stone, I am offering you and my daughter the second annual “How to Make a Million Dollars in Direct Marketing” summer reading list.
The Best B-to-B Marketing Book of 2006
• “Lead Generation for the Complex Sale: Boost the Quality and Quantity of Leads to Increase Your ROI” by Brian Carroll. This new release is a must-read for any direct marketer who wants to acquire a solid foundation of multichannel integrated marketing methods for high-end, complex products. Carroll does an outstanding job of presenting a proven approach to generating qualified leads. Not only has he synthesized how to blend consultative, competitive and team-selling approaches to target potential buyers, while culminating a complex sales transaction, but he presents specific examples on how to define and evaluate your sales leads. He offers clear and highly informative cases on targeting your sales approaches; aligning sales and marketing to optimize the number of leads without wasting marketing resources; filling lead pipelines; and using multiple lead generation vehicles, including e-mail, PR, referrals and speaking events, to start and close a complex sale.
Michelle is eager to learn her new craft in advertising and direct marketing. However, as I look at this young upstart—through the eyes of an employer, not a father—I realize she has so much to learn.
Keeping her future aspirations in mind, she recently asked how I learned all I know about direct marketing. I told her that while work experience is important, much of my expertise comes from the hundreds of marketing books I’ve read, some of them many times over. This, I told her, will shorten her learning curve. “OK Dad,” she said, “so what should I read? If you give me a reading list, I’ll do just that.”
Remembering that I prepared a summer reading list for Target Marketing readers last year, I told my daughter that I would forward it to her. My wife, a former journalist, quickly popped into the conversation: “Russell, why don’t you prepare an updated reading list containing all the books you’ve found valuable in the past 12 months, as well as the must-reads for anyone seeking to expand their marketing skills? This way you can help Michelle and your readers.”
So, as a man who loves to kill two birds with one stone, I am offering you and my daughter the second annual “How to Make a Million Dollars in Direct Marketing” summer reading list.
The Best B-to-B Marketing Book of 2006
• “Lead Generation for the Complex Sale: Boost the Quality and Quantity of Leads to Increase Your ROI” by Brian Carroll. This new release is a must-read for any direct marketer who wants to acquire a solid foundation of multichannel integrated marketing methods for high-end, complex products. Carroll does an outstanding job of presenting a proven approach to generating qualified leads. Not only has he synthesized how to blend consultative, competitive and team-selling approaches to target potential buyers, while culminating a complex sales transaction, but he presents specific examples on how to define and evaluate your sales leads. He offers clear and highly informative cases on targeting your sales approaches; aligning sales and marketing to optimize the number of leads without wasting marketing resources; filling lead pipelines; and using multiple lead generation vehicles, including e-mail, PR, referrals and speaking events, to start and close a complex sale.
Companies Mentioned:
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Business-to-Business Lead Generation Strategies (2nd Edition)
Business to Business Marketing Research