Marketing and business development professionals are busy. Full plates, multiple deadlines, and barely enough time for getting those maintenance tasks done are common in firms large and small, and from coast to coast. “If only we had more time” is a common thought or conversation starter.
Sometimes it seems that the SMPS Foundation is doing research that’s heavy or hard to dig through. So, when your schedule is already full, reading through research reports seems overwhelming. Hold on! That’s not at all what your SMPS Foundation Trustees want! (And we appreciate all your candid feedback—which is a gift, after all.)
Successful businesses must move faster with less effort. The SMPS Foundation provides relevant research that helps firms develop better strategies and tactics for short- and long-term wins.
Have you read the 2022 report, Theory Into Practice: The Neuroscience of Influence and Decision-Making? This report shows how a firm adapted core neuroscience concepts to marketing and business development, and to branding and competitive strategy.
This research helps us to better understand ways in which we can incorporate client decision-making practices into our overall pursuit approach.
Four Steps To Make the Neuroscience Research Work for You:
- Download the report. Scan the 17 pages. Turn back to Page 7.
- Schedule a lunch and learn meeting with your team (the more diverse across disciplines, positions, geographies, etc. the better!). Provide lunch or make it a BYOL discussion session. Use flip charts, whiteboard, or Teams Meeting virtual whiteboard. Prepare everyone for a creative brainstorming session. Remember to send them the report so they have the full document, in case they want more background information.
- When everyone has gathered in-person or virtually, give a brief explanation of the topic. You can say this: “Into Practice: The Neuroscience of Influence and Decision-Making is a research report by the SMPS Foundation that shows how a firm adapted core neuroscience concepts to marketing and business development, and to branding and competitive strategy. Our mission today is to walk through some of the paper’s questions to help us brainstorm ways where can incorporate client decision-making practices into our overall pursuit approach.”
- Facilitate discussion for the first two questions: “Are we striking the right balance between logic and emotion?” and “How are we framing our data (e.g. costs and benefits)?” You may want to break the teams into two groups and have each group dig into the question and the explanation. Encourage all participants to engage in the conversation. Apply thoughts to specific pursuits, clients, and situations. After about 20 minutes of brainstorming for each question, end with a “What are we going to do about this?” wrap-up.
Follow up with future meetings with the same team members or others, and address all 10 questions. If you start now, you will have applied the Foundation research to your firm by the end of 2023, and you’ll have a list of ideas to move ahead through 2023 and well into 2024.
As we all know, the key to managing huge, complex projects is to break them down into manageable pieces. SMPS Foundation research papers provide in-depth research about topics of interest and relevance to marketers and business developers.
Use SMPS Foundation research report topics to drive collaboration, solutions, and new ideas for your colleagues. Make the research observations and recommendations come alive as you apply the insights to your firm. It’s another way you’re transforming your firm through marketing leadership.
Article written by SMPS Foundation President Barbara Shuck, FSMPS, CPSM. Barbara can be reached at barbara@everestmarketingservices.com.
The Foundation’s Communications Task Force includes Andrea Goodwin, FSMPS, CPSM; Joy Woo, FSMPS, CPSM; Chuck Raymond, CPSM; and Barbara Shuck, FSMPS, CPSM.
SMPS Foundation research and reports are made possible by generous donations. Please consider donating to the foundation today.
