Becoming a thought leader with Think Patented's David McNerney
Published on April 17, 2012
Think Patented's Director of Sales David McNerney discusses why their clients look to them for answers first as the area thought leader.
My name is David McNerney. I am the director of sales and marketing for Think Patented in Dayton, Ohio and a real initiative for us and really just an overall goal for the organization is to develop ourselves in our client’s minds, in our marketplace as a thought leader and to become that thought leader doesn’t happen overnight and it means hiring some key people, educating some key people in certain positions. As our company has expanded and become this MSP integrated direct marketing company that we’ve talked about in the industry for a number of years now we can’t have the same sales rep go back into a client that’s been talking for 10 years and has been a gung-ho ink on paper print guy, come in the door and say boy I'm now an expert in mailing or I'm now an expert on cross media campaigns. It just doesn’t work.
So for us we’ve had to make some key investments in people, in education, so bringing in someone that’s a director of mailing where all they do and know and live and breathe is mailing and regulations and response rates or in our integrated solutions group bringing someone in that really understands web design and how that interacts with people’s maybe eyesight and following a page down or social media or again personal URLs. So for us we’ve really had to bring in these, I'll call them almost brand managers, that their job is to be an expert in certain fields and so for us it has really become pivotal over the last few years to team sale and work with our clients and our organizations with a team of experts in various fields.
Why we think it’s so important to become a thought leader in our marketplace is if I don’t then I'm like everybody else and then I'm a commodity and at the end of the day if I'm doing the same thing as the next five organizations they’re going to look strictly at price, but if I can walk in the door and impact our client’s business whether that’s increasing sales, whether it’s helping them get more efficient then I've become a partner and more likely than not I have a client for life and so for us it’s worth the investment of hiring these experts for us to transition into a thought leader because then the marketplace, the clients look to Think Patented first for those answers.
Email
Embed/Reprint
Post a Comment
To post a comment Log In or Become a Member, doing so is simple and free
Recent Videos
The Success of Roll-Fed Inkjet and Importance of Finishing
Published: August 15, 2018
Mark Hunt, Director of Strategic Alliances for Standard Finishing Systems, discusses the reasons behind the surge of popularity in roll-fed inkjet, and the importance of finishing. He also discusses what to expect at Hunkeler Innovations Days 2019.
Flexible Packaging Moves From Conventional to Digital
Published: August 14, 2018
Karen English, Market Development Manager for Printpack, shares how this conventional flexible packaging converter has implemented digital printing for a hybrid manufacturing process.
The Ups and Downs in the Future of Print
Published: August 13, 2018
Kip Cassino, Executive Vice President of Borrell Associates, discusses the cross-generational evolution of print: what's expected to grow and what's expected to decline in the coming years.
Frank Looks Back at—and Ahead to—Printing News
Published: August 10, 2018
Frank traces the history of Printing News from its beginning in 1928, and its founder and editor, Leo Joachim. Few magazines have made it to 90 years and Frank is glad that the new relationship between WhatTheyThink and Printing News will see a printed magazine continue. Especially for the printing industry.
Snail Mail Shouldn’t Be Stale Mail: Five Game-Changing Envelope Products
Published: August 9, 2018
Trish features five different innovative envelope products that can increase your direct mail open rate. She’ll share and explain what makes each product engaging, and include useful links and information for further exploration.
Published: August 9, 2018
Jay Samit, author of "Disrupt You!", and keynote speaker at last month's PRIMIR Insights Conference, talks about the importance of printing businesses' ability to adjust and respond to a changing industry, a changing print marketplace, and disruptions of the status quo.
View More Videos