Online Briefing

Rebalancing Push and Pull:
Best Practices in Demand Generation

July 20, 2004
8:00 am Pacific – 11:00 am Eastern – 16:00 London
(Free for ITSMA members)

Registration Closed

Briefing slides available; free for ITSMA Europe members (password-protected)

The upturn in IT spending has not made it much easier to generate new demand for services and solutions. Indeed, buyers in today's market continue to have a don't-call-us-we'll-call-you approach even as they open their wallets to invest in new systems and solutions. And declining customer loyalty means that even selling to existing customers is tougher than ever.

The reality is that attracting buyers requires a rethinking and rebalancing of traditional push and pull marketing techniques. Most important, the decreasing effectiveness of many direct marketing and sales initiatives puts a greater burden on marketers develop more innovative, targeted, and integrated campaigns.

Presenter

Robert Leavitt
Senior Director, Marketing and Member Community

As head of marketing and member advocacy, Rob is responsible for managing the ITSMA brand, packaging and promoting ITSMA services, and communicating the value of ITSMA. Rob serves as the voice of ITSMA's membership within the company, and leads all efforts to insure that members receive the maximum possible value from ITSMA's varied offerings. Rob is also ITSMA's "cause" champion, leading the company's participation and support of local, national, and global causes.

Since joining ITSMA in 1999, Rob has authored numerous research studies and reports on such issues as marketing strategy, brand management, field marketing, alliances, corporate social responsibility, and corporate communications. Rob edits the monthly ITSMA E-ZINE newsletter, and frequently writes commentaries on services marketing news and trends.

Prior to joining ITSMA, Rob owned his own consulting firm, specializing in research services, business and project development, and public relations for corporate and nonprofit clients. He has also managed research and professional training programs at New York University, Harvard University, and other organizations, and has designed and led media projects in more than a dozen countries. Rob also serves on the board of directors of the Public Education Center, a media organization in Washington, DC.

Rob holds a Bachelor's degree in U.S. History from the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated Magna cum Laude, and a Master's in Political Science from MIT.

General Information

ITSMA's Online Briefings offer recent research findings or survey results from thought leaders on a variety of services marketing topics. The Online Briefings can be viewed individually, or in groups composed of people within the same company. The briefings are available anywhere in the world that has telephone service and access to the Internet. A typical program runs 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers. The person making the online presentation speaks into a telephone and advances the visual portion of the presentation via their computer connected to the Internet. At the end of the presentation. and at the presenter's discretion, the listeners are invited to ask questions. Each listener with a question identifies him or herself and is listed in a queue and taken one at a time by the presentation monitor. The monitor also manages the question and answer session by giving each questioner access to the phone line to communicate with the presenter.

Technical Requirements

This briefing will be administered by Connex International. All participants are required to test their browsers on Connex International's Website 24-48 hours prior to ensure they are ‘Java-enabled’. This test can be done at www.connexpresents.com, by clicking on the "Equipment Check" icon.
You will receive a pass code and dial in number 24-48 hours prior to the briefing.

The technical requirements for this ITSMA online briefing are:

• Direct or dial-up Internet connection of 28.8 kb/s or higher.
• Netscape Navigator 3.04 or higher, Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.02 or higher, or any JAVA-enabled browser.
• A separate telephone line to access the audio teleconference.
• If participating from your company, ask about your company’s Internet Firewall 48 hours prior to the event. This will enable your technician or a Connex technician to reconfigure connections to ensure access to the Internet portion of the briefing.
• No plug-ins or software downloads are required.
• Compatible with a wide variety of browsers including Netscape 3.0+, IE 3.02+, or any Java-enabled browser. (Compatible with NT, Win95, Unix, Win3.1, Mac.)
• Works through 99% of all firewalls and proxy servers.

Fees and Registration

Aside from the telephone call, the fee for the presentation is complimentary for active ITSMA members, and $95 per location for non-members.

Note: Registration is on a first-come/first-served basis. You must register by 5:00 pm ET, Monday, July 19, 2004.

About ITSMA
ITSMA specializes in helping companies market and sell services and solutions. As a membership organization, we work with the world's leading technology, communications, and professional services firms to generate new business, strengthen customer loyalty, and increase brand differentiation. Through research, consulting, training, and community we provide the insight companies need to improve marketing impact, sales performance, and business results. ITSMA is based in Lexington, Massachusetts, and has offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Learn more at www.itsma.com.