We were lucky to catch up with Seth Avergon recently and have shared our conversation below.

SETH, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I was working in corporate when I came up with the idea for Avergon Marketing Group or AMG. I had consultants and agencies pitching me for business. The consultants were great at developing plans and strategies, but did not want to get into execution, while the agencies were fine with execution, but were light on developing strategy. “Wouldn’t it be nice” I thought “to have someone who did both.” Hence the beginning of AMG. Filling a need in the market for strategic development coupled with sound execution.

The need was definitely there, it was just a matter of putting it together and getting out there. Which I did. A few years later, the term fractional CMO came into vogue, and I was already doing it. Clients started coming in from a variety of industries, all with the same issue. They knew they needed to invest in marketing to grow, but they didn’t know what to do. That is where I came in. Doing the initial assessment, coming up with a strategy that made sense for the business and their target audience, and putting together the team to execute the plan.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My career was not a complete accident, but there was no grand plan. I have a BA in Psychology and when I started graduate school, I was looking to continue my studies with a focus on social psychology and group dynamics. Things happened and I ended up pursuing a master’s degree in international studies with specializations in international business and international law. The marketing classes were particularly interesting to me as they were a great application of applied social psychology and used a lot of the skills I had developed in undergrad. After school, I started working with international companies in product marketing. I got a chance to work with companies in the flatware/tableware industry, aerospace, automotive components, irrigation products, cabinetry, and computer hardware. With great mentors and this amazing diversity of industries I got to see what worked and what didn’t work in a variety of verticals. When I finally formed AMG in 2009, I was completely comfortable working with clients in different spaces. Not only that, but I was able to bring my experience from these industries to my clients. That often meant unique strategies and out-of-the-box solutions they had never seen before.

I do two things for my clients: 1) Strategy development. That means putting together a business plan or marketing plan that is going to fit their needs as well as the needs of the market. 2) Managing tactical execution. Having a solid plan is critical. Executing correctly on that plan is equally critical. I will either manage in-house resources on the client side or bring in additional resources. In many ways, I am like a general contractor, bringing in the appropriate subs for the project. What is great about this approach is that can I pick my team based on the needs of the client. I have a deep network of resources that I am always expanding so I can ensure I have the right players available to execute properly on the work.

In addition to my focus on strategy development and tactical execution, I also help larger organizations with sales & marketing collaboration. Sales and Marketing are different sides of the same coin or, using the Donald Miller analogy, the right and left engines of an airplane that are moving your company forward. Sales and marketing coordination is not only important, it is fundamental to the success of a company – yet few organizations engage in best practices to foster and maintain a collaborative sales-marketing process and the proper tools to ensure positive growth. In essence, they are not using both of engines at maximum efficiency.

At AMG, we develop sales-marketing collaborative structures that can be implemented and maintained over the long term for positive, measurable growth.
The thing I am most proud of, over all the clients I have worked with, is the growth I have seen. I come in with the process and the discipline to keep them on task, but they do the work. They buy in and they put their hearts and souls into making these organizations successful. I can’t think of any better achievement than watching these companies grow and prosper.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The COVID pandemic put a lot of companies in very challenging positions, very quickly. My clients needed pivot plans, fast. Some had retail operations, others had disrupted supply chains. No two clients had the exact same problem, but they all needed a plan to get them through and that is where I came in. One year and three-year plans were out the window. We needed nimble, adjustable plans that could be reviewed and revised on a weekly basis as the scenario unfolded. Moreover, I was committed to finding new opportunities for my clients so they could make it through. One client, with two retail operations, had to re-task their employees to operate as an online fulfillment house. Digital marketing budgets were increased, retail space was reallocated for packing and shipping of products and former retail employees became operations staff in support of shifting retail sales to eCommerce. It was a wild ride, but they made it. In fact, eCommerce sales hit an all-time high.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

I was working with a large Japanese technology company when one day we had a run on one of our products. Suddenly, we were completely out of stock. Senior management was incredibly excited about this unprecedented increase in demand and started talking about adding a 2nd shift at the factory to produce more units. Something seemed off to both me and the head of sales. Through a series of discrete inquiries and good market intelligence gathering we were able to determine that one of our primary competitors was having a production issue on a specific product. They would not be able to rectify this issue for approximately 60 days. This created a unique opportunity for us to acquire and potentially maintain some new customers, but it was not a never-ending opportunity. We needed to be smart. We needed to identify and become familiar with these new customers in the hopes of keeping them. We needed to show customer service and support beyond what they had received previously from our competitor. We needed enough additional units to cover the increased demand in the short term. We did not need to add a second shift or completely fill the warehouse.

Through smart market intelligence, we were able to capitalize on this situation without putting the company into an excess stock position and bring on several new customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.avergonmarketing.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AvergonMarketing
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethavergon/
• Twitter: https://x.com/avergonmrktg
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@savergon

Image Credits

Tim Ricks