Connectual Blog

Are Relationships with Connectual Exclusive?

FAQ #7

Sunday, May 3, 2009 | Posted by Aaron Goldman

No. Marketers are free (and encouraged) to work with other consultants, agencies, etc. And providers are free (and encouraged) to work with other rep firms, PR firms, as well as deploy their internal sales teams, etc. The hope is that Connectual will add enough value to the process of connecting buyers and sellers that both sides will work through Connectual because they want to, not because they have to.

On the flip side, there are some situations that require Connectual to grant category-exclusivity to a provider. As discussed in FAQ #3, there are 3 ways Connectual engages with agencies, …

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Why Would Providers Allow Connectual to Represent Them?

FAQ #6

Saturday, May 2, 2009 | Posted by Aaron Goldman

Allow me to answer that question with a question... Who doesn't need the incremental revenue right now?

Sales and marketing teams within agencies, media companies, and technology providers are being tasked with growing, or at least, maintaining topline revenue without adding significant staffing or marketing costs. 5 years ago, these firms wouldn't have considered using an "outside rep" -- they wanted to control how they went to market through their in-house sales and marketing teams and had the budget to deploy the required resources to meet their goals.

In today's economy, these companies are operating lean and mean and it …

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Does Working through Connectual Mean Higher Rates for Buyers?

FAQ #5

Friday, May 1, 2009 | Posted by Aaron Goldman

Since they have to pay Connectual, providers would just mark up their rates to maintain margins, right?

Not necessarily. Agencies, media companies and technology providers already factor sales/marketing overhead and commissions into their rates so, if they're paying Connectual, it means they don't have to pay one of their salespeople to prospect and close the deal.
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This post is part of a series addressing frequently-asked questions about Connectual. For more context and the full list of FAQs, read Why Connectual?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's question -- "Why Would Providers Allow Connectual to Represent Them?"

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How can Connectual Stay Objective if it’s Compensated by Sellers?

FAQ #4

Thursday, April 30, 2009 | Posted by Aaron Goldman

Quite simply, performance in digital marketing is inherently measurable and if the solutions I bring to the table don't work, clients won't talk to me again and certainly won't provide referrals -- not to mention, they'll terminate their relationships with the providers which means I'll lose commission fees. It's the ultimate self-policing model.

The concept of buyer fees being covered by sellers or otherwise incorporated into the service is commonplace in other professions - eg, real estate brokers, certified financial planners, even concierges.  The difference with Connectual, of course, is that I very clearly and transparently disclose the …

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Posted In: FAQs