A Dayton Daily News article recently described a robotics company making a pioneering move to become a manufacturer of hubless wind turbines to supplement power for businesses, institutions and property owners. http://bit.ly/9ct79q. This article combines two of our favorite TriComB2B themes – emerging market opportunities and companies in transition.

A client recently asked us to take a deep dive on one of their solution sets. Something wasn’t right. If one took a sample from their sales forces’ presentation slide decks, the language used and stated value propositions were complex and inconsistent.

The other day I was working on an online survey script for a customer. Midway through the project, I found myself overcome by the temptation to sneak in a few bonus questions in the hopes of picking up some extra intelligence. I added a couple of harmless questions and went home. After a good night’s sleep, I read through the survey again and came to my senses (thankfully). I was getting ready to break one of the golden rules of survey writing – KEEP TO ONE OBJECTIVE – all for an intelligence-gathering quickie. Before anyone else succumbs to the same temptations, I felt a quick recap of the dos and don’ts of online survey execution might be helpful.

Across industries, product development entails all types of activities, from market research to testing and launch to market. Research tells us that with the product developed and ready for sale, many companies simply pass it along to sales and hope for the best. A recent study published by AcuPoll indicates that as many as 80 to 95 percent of B2B product launches fail, typically after being evaluated against metrics such as revenue achievement and profitability goals.

The Dayton Daily News recently reported that regional utilities are closely watching large-scale test facilities for clean coal and carbon sequestration technologies (specifically noting AEP’s and the government’s investments in exploring these technologies). I find it surprising that many environmentalist organizations oppose government investment in technologies related to burning coal for energy. Perhaps my view is too simplistic, but here’s why…

Dayton Power & Light announced plans for its first utility-scale, photovoltaic solar power array with a target go-live date of March 2010. At face value, this is a nice shot in the arm for a region suffering from the Midwest manufacturing blues. Taking part in the new green economy is at a minimum good for local morale. While it’s easy to get overly excited, the promise of solar power comes with all sorts of cautionary notes.

After a lunch seminar we hosted on lead generation last week, I was fortunate enough to take part in a few informal discussions with some of our attendees about the current state of B2B marketing. A few observations from a really smart group of B2B marketing gurus from the Southwest Ohio region…

Abstract

This white paper introduces important considerations for marketing efforts designed to reach B2B technical buyers. It presents the pressures and difficulties that technical buyers encounter in their business environments. It also discusses some basic truths about this decision-making group and offers recommendations about how new suppliers can reach this audience.

In this white paper, you will learn:

• why the technical buyer is important
• the nuances of being a technical buyer
• three recommendations for reaching the technical buyer

I attended the Energy Roundtable and Exhibition, sponsored by the Dayton Development Coalition, on June 26th. I was impressed by the credentials of the featured speakers and panelists and the well-intended efforts of the DDC to educate regional businesses looking to capitalize on the renewable energy and energy efficiency movement in our country. Thank you, Chris Meyer. Good program.

I attended EMTEC's conference about transitioning Ohio manufacturers to medical device manfacturing. If attendance is an indication of interest, then we can assume the Ohio manufacturing base is ready to re-tool for medical. The problem is, according to many presenters, so is every other state with a signficant manufacturing base. Consider the state of Michigan which employs the heady medical industry consultant, Christophe J-P Sevrain, to guide and implement its strategy. He's very impressive. Hopefully, Ohio-based organizations such as BioOhio and The Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center will achieve their visions of Ohio job growth in important medical industry sectors.