Throughout ACCM, I found other indications of “smart change.” There was a new willingness to talk much more openly about the challenges we're all facing. For example, in my session we discussed how sales for March 2009 and April 2009 seemed to be unlike previous years, one month greater than usual and one month less. Many folks spoke up because they'd observed the same unusual sales pattern, describing what they felt were the causes and how the pattern could be normalized for reporting.
“The matchback panel session that I led revealed four different ways to conduct a matchback and how to utilize the data,” Valentino said. “Attendees not only asked good questions, but several people in like industries spent time after the session talking about their specific issues and sharing ideas with each other. I noticed there was more time spent talking in groups and offering suggestions to help each other manage through these tough times. For me it was encouraging to hear them talk about the future.”
Ronda Anderson, marketing manager for American Time and Signal, a retailer of clocks and clock systems, said, “I find the actionable advice the most useful from attending ACCM. I enjoy and thoroughly use the advice from the catalog and Web site critiques. I return home with an extensive to-do list, prioritized by what I can implement right away, and then add the rest to my long-term plans.”
Whether these smart changes are strategic or tactical, immediate or long term, they need to be tested in a calm and controlled environment. David Gaudreau, senior vice president of B-to-B media and services at Direct Media, summed it up nicely: “My main ‘takeaways’ from the 2009 ACCM were that those marketers who continue to prospect aggressively typically increase market share and, as merchants, you need to be looking at and considering all of your marketing assets as potential sources of new revenue.”
Mary Ann Kleinfelter is vice president of marketing at L-com, a B-to-B marketer of cables, connectors and other connectivity devices (mkleinfelter@L-com.com).
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