The cost of customer service is often overlooked. After all, it's not as visible as marketing or sales. But poor customer service can be extremely costly for businesses in multiple ways, from lost sales to damaged company reputation.

Introduction

Memorial Day is a holiday unlike any other: it's a celebration of freedom, but it's also a time that we can all take to reflect on the sacrifices our service members and veterans make in defense of our liberty. Unfortunately, the day has become more known as the unofficial start of summer than a time to remember those who have given their lives for us. We've compiled some statistics about Memorial Day and the military to give you a better sense of what this solemn day should be about:

Over the past decade, I’ve spoken with hundreds of business owners and decision-makers who do not trust marketing agencies. We explore the top five reasons why and address other major issues in the digital marketing world.

Top reasons why businesses do not trust agencies:
1. You don’t understand the cost structure

Sales are not by accident.

A successful sales team does not happen by accident. Instead, success comes from a constant evaluation of what is working or not working, documented in a sales playbook for the entire organization to benefit from, and weekly training is the foundation for sales success.  

Today, it was my honor to speak at Salisbury Academy about Veterans Day and one of their core values - gratitude. From PreK through 8th grade, their minds were engaged and sought to understand the complexity of how our freedoms came to be. 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been asked, “Can you please explain what it is you are doing? How long does it take? What tools do you need?” and my personal favorite, “How much does it cost?” 

It goes without saying as a business owner, partner, or manager you are consistently looking for different avenues to increase revenue, improve customer service, find talented employees, and the list continues to grow. We also depend on professional services we outsource to have “our back”.

Now, this doesn’t mean auto-pilot or what’s in your best interest, it simply means they are completing tasks that you either do not have the skill, time, and/or resources to complete.

“A landing page is a website page with a specific purpose — the objective of a landing page is to convert visitors into leads.

In the past, when newspaper ads, mailers, magazine ads, massive billboards, and other traditional marketing mediums were the only channels to advertise. Measuring the marketing return on investment (ROI) was difficult and typically created tensions between the sales and marketing departments because each believed they should receive recognition for the increase in revenue.

Most business owners, sales managers, and sales professionals strongly believe they have a firm grasp on their ideal buyer. In most cases, they are correct. But, this knowledge was obtained over years, if not decades of experience working in the industry, market, selling to prospects, managing customer accounts, and held in their brain. Now, we both know that everyone in your company does not have all this information at their disposal. This is why developing a buyer persona is extremely important to the overall success of your sales and marketing.