If you can’t make my talk at the Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit on 4/21, here’s a free webinar where you’ll hear why CEOs, marketers and other leaders should stop brainstorming and go ask customers 5 very thought-provoking questions.  For more information and to register, click here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4426981640236003329

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I’m excited to be speaking again at the Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit–this time in Washington, DC on April 21, 2017. Here’s the topic and description from the web site:

BURN THE WHITEBOARD! STOP BRAINSTORMING AND GO ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS THESE 5 QUESTIONS

There are five provocative, insight-producing questions that your customers (and prospects) will be happy to answer. Their responses might surprise you—and will definitely help you improve your positioning, value proposition and messaging based on what’s important from the customer’s perspective. All you need to do is ask them. Bob London, a marketing advisor, mentor and CEO of Chief Listening Officers, has helped hundreds of companies hear what their customers are really thinking.

To learn more and register, visit: http://mamsummit.com/sessions/presentation-6. I hope to see you there.

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I had a blast being interviewed on the Bootstrapped podcast, courtesy of the University of Maryland’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship where I’m privileged to serve as Entrepreneur in Residence. Co-hosts Elana Fine, Managing Director Dingman, and Joe Bailey, Associate Research Professor, Robert H. Smith School of Business, are excellent interviewers who asked me some thought provoking questions.  As you’ll hear there were plenty of laughs along the way.

Why should you listen? To quote the Dingman web site,

During a time when there is a constant “war for customer’s attention,” London advocates for listening. If your startup is not getting customers, try asking someone, “What would make you a customer for life?” Starting with a customer’s “elevator rants” or complaints about a product or service makes for a solid foundation for a new enterprise.

Enjoy the podcast.

Link to the Dingman site here.

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I’m very proud to acknowledge and congratulate several DC-area companies I’ve had the privilege of working with that were just named to the 2016 Inc. 500/5000 List of the Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S.

Resonate (Reston, VA)
CrossCountry Consulting (McLean, VA)
Optimal Networks (Gaithersburg, MD)

In addition, there are a number of outstanding executives I’ve gotten to know–and in some cases work with–over the years whose companies made the list. Kudos to these folks and their teams (listed in alphabetical order):

Shashi Bellamkonda, Chief Marketing Officer, Surefire Social
Michelle Boggs, President, CEO and Co-Founder, McKinley Marketing Partners
Marc Gonyea, Co-Founder, Managing Partner, memoryBlue
Ron Novak, Executive Vice President, Segue Technologies
Pat Sheridan, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Modus Create
Barg Upender, Founder, Mobomo

Please check out these great companies when you have a chance, and keep them in mind when you are looking for excellent vendor/partners.

On a related note, along with the pride of being on the Inc. 500/5000 list, these companies will also experience a barrage of unsolicited calls and emails from commercial real estate brokers, accounting firms, benefits firms and more! Here’s a blog post with tips for how these vendors can improve their pitches.

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I caught up with serial entrepreneur and investor Tien Wong at the October 2016 Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit where he spoke on using SnapChat for B2B, and I gave a talk called “You are not your customer,” which focused on using the customer’s real perspective to improve marketing strategy.

In this video Tien comments on the increasingly noisy environment marketers face and how to be relevant. He also talks about how HubSpot has become the arms dealer to practitioners of what he calls “interruption marketing” (aka content marketing and marketing automation)–which contributes to the noise level.

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In 2012, with T-Mobile mired in 4th place in the U.S. wireless wars, new CEO John Legere–this honorary “chief listening officer”–decided to go straight to the source to get insights and inspiration for the company’s new strategy. He began monitoring live customer service calls. What he heard shocked him. And it eventually led to his T-Mobile’s dramatic resurgence. Read Fast Company’s account here.

Read the seminal account of how John Legere listened to his customers to formulate T-Mobile’s amazing turnaround.

Because Legere’s efforts led to widespread innovations which drove a sustained period of growth, Chief Listening Officers is pleased to award him with the inaugural “Ear of the Year” award. No trophy, no ceremony, no podium. Just kudos. Legere has reminded us all that marketing strategy begins with understanding what the world looks like from the customers’ perspective–not ours.

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