Comments on: Four ways to create marketing excellence

By: Robbie Walsh

Robbie Walsh — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 18:50:07 +0000

Love this article! The use of the four P’s is a great technique. Thanks for sharing 🙂

By: Michael O'Daniel

Michael O'Daniel — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 00:37:23 +0000

Hi Harley. Rather than get into a point-by-point refutation of your take on my “common mistake,” why don’t I just say that we totally disagree on what constitutes Marketing and what constitutes Sales, and leave it at that. If your POV and your practices that flow therefrom work for you, great! Agreed, definitely two areas of responsibility, but outcomes are so much better if Sales and Marketing collaborate in the various aspects where they interface with each other instead of operating in silos…

By: Harley Kaufman

Harley Kaufman — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 16:30:00 +0000

Hi Dave. Michael O’Daniel makes the common mistake of mixing up ‘Marketing’ vs. ‘Sales’. He’s describing sales technique, not marketing approaches. Validates my long standing opinion that almost invariably when a company is missing sales targets it is a failure of marketing, not a failure of sales. That’s why I have always insisted on two areas of responsibility exist in companies where I held sway.

Always enjoy your messages.

By: Chris Brecher

Chris Brecher — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 14:58:35 +0000

Great reminders and new content Dave. I use the 4P’s whenever I launch a new product or enter a new company that needs to fix its growth story (the “I” in your IDCL model). You’ve given me a couple new tools to add to my toolkit with the 4C’s, NWSE & IDCL models. Using these types of tools are worthy of a day-long brainstorming session. This approach truly works. Thank you!

By: Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 20:30:21 +0000

Michael,
Great comment. Yes, I will address benefits vs. features more than once over time. That subject is one of the top ones I coach entrepreneurs about in their marketing efforts. Seems most developer-entrepreneurs want to speak only of their great features. Worse yet, some young businesses come to market without understanding the context of the marketplace, either ahead or behind the demand opportunity.
Dave

By: Michael O'Daniel

Michael O'Daniel — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 20:23:00 +0000

Possibly this will be covered in a subsequent Berkonomics, but one of my cardinal rules is BENEFITS vs FEATURES.

In other words, how will all the great bells and whistles your product or service offers — the features — benefit the potential buyer?

Keep the features list to a minimum and focus on the benefits to the customer, in a clear, concise, compelling manner. (Those are my “3 C’s,” which apply to any type of storytelling.)

Far too many marketers get hung up on “we” (the features) instead of “you” (how the product or service benefits the customer. And ideally the benefits are described in a manner that either directly or by implication differentiates your product or service as superior to your competition’s.

Visit a typical marketing website and you’ll see tons of content about “we” and little or no focus on “you” the customer…