Today the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chooses the city that will host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo are all vying for the games. What does this have to do with B2B you ask? Let’s see…planning ahead, investing substantially in your brand and making a 45-minute presentation that will globally impact millions…ah, now it sounds familiar. (Okay, maybe the worldwide remark was a little much.) Ultimately, it’s all about marketing and sales working together to seal the deal.

The direct marketing programs Canyon helps our clients develop and implement are designed to support and drive sales efforts, so they can uncover the golden ticket. However, no matter how compelling the offer and how on-target the messaging is, it’s all about the quality of your distribution list.

Whether you’re building and maintaining your own database, or outsourcing your lead generation and nurturing, it’s important to ensure your records are organized, up-to-date and accurate. Otherwise you’re wasting valuable marketing dollars on dead-end data.

Unearth leads that are as good as gold, by allocating the proper resources to build or enhance your database.

Had any luck discovering a gold-nugget opportunity within your database? What host city do you think the IOC will select?

Networking through social events, social media sites and business associations is key to developing and maintaining business relationships.

Last week, the Arizona Technology Council and Business Marketing Association (BMA) joined forces to put on the Marketing Technology Summit in Phoenix. We participated in this event with our strategic partner, Loop Demand Gen.

This regional, summit-style event allowed Loop to network with marketing professionals in the tech industry, and learn more about their pain points. In comparison to a larger, all-out national tradeshow, the Marketing Technology Summit provided an inexpensive alternative and enabled us to showcase Loop’s services to a very targeted niche audience. Plus, we learned a thing or two by talking face-to-face with the attendees. There’s certainly demand for qualifying, nurturing, scoring and developing high-quality business leads.

Be sure to look out for the 2010 Marketing Technology Summit next year and remember, you can never network enough and you certainly never stop learning.

What trends have you noticed when attending networking events?

With all the e-mail, gmail and hotmail flooding our inboxes these days, I find it refreshing and somewhat exciting to get snail mail. For the record, I’m not suggesting pre-approved credit card offers thrill me. I’m talking about the relevant stuff you enjoy getting like cards, special promos, magazines, etc.

Recently, I received a birthday card in the mail, not from my parents or a friend, but from Southwest Airlines! They remember me every year and the card acts as a friendly reminder of why I choose the airline when traveling for work or pleasure.

Even though it was a generic card, this sort of personal touch with your customers is important, especially in the B2B world. Whether it’s via mail, phone or e-mail, staying in touch with both clients and prospects alike will let them know you are there and you care. Nurturing relationships ultimately helps to earn new and repeat business. Remember at the end of the day, we’re all people working with people to make our businesses profitable.

What are you doing to make your customers feel special? Want to send me some snail mail?