I recently ran into a friend at a funeral who was a colleague on the Media Growth Executive Peer Group with me for many years. Several years my senior, Tim Fixmer is among the leaders I most admire in the business-to-business (B2B) marketing world. He runs a successful B2B group business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, named CCI Media LLC. Incidentally, he “cut his teeth” on a magazine brand that is now part of Lessiter Media’s portfolio.
As we discussed the many changes in marketing over the last 3 decades, he reminded me of the “considered purchase” concept, and the role of the B2B magazine in impacting decision-making units (DMUs).
While a lot of things have changed in the makeup of the equipment and supplies industry (number of players, sizes of players, manufacturing systems to name a few), Fixmer maintains that it’s the process that matters nowadays. “What hasn’t changed,” he says, “is the complexity of the sales environment for machinery, software, systems, and support to these customers and prospects.”
At that funeral luncheon, he reminded me of the concept that he, and his customers firmly believe in. I wanted to share it with you too. Here it is, mostly in Fixmer's own words:
