1. Small is the New Big Merit Co-op July 14 th, 2011

2. Terry Jukes President B2B Direct Marketing Intelligence LLC Best Practice Audits Due Diligence Strategic B2B multi-channel marketing Visit 15-20 B2B companies each year. Former President/Owner Ability Commerce gNeil Companies Misco Computer Supplies Microbits Computer Supplies

3. How NOT to boil the ocean! Merit Co-op July 14 th, 2011

4. What is happening out there? Shaky recovery underway Most back to pre-recession sales Slower 3-5% growth More margin “squeeze” Strong are getting stronger Weak are falling further behind Industry consolidation continues

5. Hierarchy of companies Exceptional >15%Growth, >25%EBITDA Very Good, >15% Growth, 15-25% EBITDA Average, 5-15% Growth, 10-15% EBITDA “Shaky” <5% growth, <10% EBITDA In Denial, declining growth, breakeven or worse.

6. What are the “big picture” trends? “Small is the new big” Explosion of technology continues to drive one to one customer relationships. Web allows small players to be hyper-targeted and focused. Net gnats are alive and well! Market moves to near perfect information. Excruciating focus on doing the right things….doing them perfectly! Realization that non-mission critical tasks need to be outsourced.

7. What are the “big picture” trends? Don’t try to “boil the ocean” Our “breadth and depth” advantage erodes (Apparent) “Specialists” are everywhere. “Sources & Solutions” getting easier to find Don’t try to do everything!...too much! Don’t spread your resources so thin that your risk skyrockets. “Stick to the knitting”…resources spent where only you an create real differentiation

9. What are the six things to FOCUS on NOW?

10. What does “now” look like? Post recession environment Increasingly complex multi-channel environment Increasing complex technology Customer definitely in control Waves of new web competition Globalization Outsourcing

11. 1. Product & Service Innovation We are merchants first! New, unique, hard to find products differentiate your brand. Track new customer acquisition by new products purchased. Track how often new products are first line item. New products should be 15-30% of annual sales New, exclusive products should have higher margins New products should drive new customer acquisition Services/Content are “sticky” drive retention.

12. 1. Product & Service Innovation Products Start with a customer problem, need or want. What can you design and custom manufacture? What can you re-assemble into unique quantity/presentation? What can you fabricate from paper, acrylic, metal, plastic, etc? What product - service combinations can you develop? Where can you sell “knowledge”? Product guru needed. Services Credit Warranty Repair Return Training Installation Calibration Product search Customization Auto stocking

13. 2. Leverage your knowledge & content For B2B merchant “knowledge is king”. The cost of not having the product is often greater than the product cost Product application knowledge is very valuable. Customers buy benefits, results not just products. Help them buy benefits Help them measure benefits/value/results. Knowledge/content drive SEO/PPC effectiveness

14. Share your knowledge! Article distribution & blogs http://onlywire.com/ http://www.articlesbase.co m http://www.articlesbase.co m http://www.suite101.com http://www.buzzle.com http://www.squidoo.com http://hubpages.com/ http://www.selfgrowth.com http://technorati.com http://ezinemark.com/ http://www.gather.com

15. 3. Superlative, consultative selling CRM supported Inbound “Order makers” not “order takers” 15-20% improvement Track KRAs by rep, pay incentives on KRAs Outbound Data driven Sales and file/RFM objectives Assigned account Penetration of site/account 30-50% increase in revenue in year one. Custom orders possible Feedback for new product, service development

16. 4. Integrated marketing tactics Catalog + web + email + phone Reference video in print Call and confirm online orders Email announce catalog with offer Second order offer in first shipment Web – “order taker or order maker” Separate branded and non-branded organic search and PPC traffic Understand traffic sources, conversion rates, AOVs, LTVs, Sales & Web – “co-browsing” Integrated mail data, transactional data and web data

17. 5. Let the data drive! Multi-channel measurement is difficult, match back no longer an option. Use all “interaction data”: Take the “site” RFM view first, “contacts” view second Search for data inter-relationships Exploit profiles, trends, inferences Collect data unique to your business Pinnacle new INTELLIGENT database

18. 6. Online Marketing Updated content drives SEO Manage traffic “streams” from branded and non-branded key words for conversion, orders, sales, AOV and retention. Best practice site functionality Marketplaces – Amazon B2B? Social marketing – >50% of new organic customers Blog, LinkedIN, Facebook, Twitter, Industry/Group specific blogs- B2BMarketingZone.com, SocialMediaB2B.com Integrated trigger and promo email QR codes, videos, mobile/Ipad

19. Manage your online reputation Amplicate.com ComplaintsBoard.com RipOffReport.com Yelp.com BBB.org Try researching “1and1 hosting” for an example of what not to be!

20. What are six things to focus on now? 1. Product and service innovation 2. Leveraging knowledge and content 3. Superlative, consultative selling 4. Integrated marketing tactics 5. Let the data drive 6. Online marketing

21. Hierarchy of companies Exceptional >15%Growth, >25%EBITDA Very Good, >15% Growth, 15-25% EBITDA Average, 5-15% Growth, 10-15% EBITDA “Shaky” <5% growth, <10% EBITDA In Denial, declining growth, breakeven or worse.

22. Thank you! Make it a productive two days! Questions? Merit Co-op July 14 th, 2011 Terry Jukes President B2B DMI LLC www.b2bdmi.com `