Anne Scarlett has authored over 50 published articles. They are organized by topic in the sidebar to the right. Often, Anne expands upon these topics, presenting to audiences in intimate training sessions as well as at highly-attended conferences. In addition, her insights are frequently quoted in A/E/C industry publications. Representative articles include:

Work habits-best practices

WARM UP TO COLD CALLS

Reassess the value of telephone prospecting.

According to the “Future of Professional Services Lead Generation” report issued earlier this year by the marketing consulting firm Wellesley Hills Group (Framingham, MA), 13% of respondents noted that cold calling/telephone prospecting was their most common lead generator. In fact, calling efforts were second only to referrals by clients and others.

Years have passed since I officially ‘cold’ called. And yes, while I often recommend a calling campaign as one component within my clients’ market-sector action plans, these efforts are limited to highly focused, pre-qualified audiences. Upon learning that cold calling is indeed considered to be a valid lead generation ...

STOP GIVING COLD CALLS THE COLD SHOULDER

Strengthen your abilities to make initial calls to prospects.

Ask a technical professional about their least favorite marketing task, and you’ll find that cold-calling often tops the list. I can relate to why many of you put telephone prospecting at the bottom of your to-do list. Even with almost 20 years of warm-/cold-calling experience, I am still not a big fan.

But let’s get something straight: you cannot use your technical background as an excuse for lackluster cold-calling abilities. I myself have an interior architecture degree, and my colleague John Ross, business development director at Affiliated Engineers, Inc., is an engineer—and we make cold calls. So, now that we’ve ...

TAKE THE “WORK” OUT OF NETWORKING

Effective and fun networking techniques

What do you call a crowded room, abuzz with banter and laughter, where relationships are created and deals are done? Is this an opportunity? Or is this an intimidating - even daunting – situation to be avoided? Let’s paint a picture of this scenario. It’s the first night of an important 3-day industry conference. You approach the door of the crowded ballroom full of strangers partaking in the opening gala reception. Here are your options. One: dash back to your hotel room, order room service, do some work on your laptop, all the ...

TIME IS TICKING; MANAGE IT WELL!

Eight steps marketing professionals can take to improve their time management skills and positively impact the department.

As an independent consultant, I create a self-imposed “structure” to organize my time. Even when I walked in your shoes, as director of business development for AEC firms, I recall that same challenge: choosing how to spend my time in order to achieve the firm’s bigger business goals. No one tracked my hours, and no one knew— or seemed to care— where I was at any given time. I either reported to the CEO or the managing director of the office/department. They trusted my judgment that time would be reflected within my results. In both scenarios— self-employed or working as ...

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