Lucretia Lyons, President, Business Valuation Resources, LLC (Portland, Ore.)
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
Lyons: By some stroke of good fortune, I landed in publishing and marketing early on in my career. My first job was as marketing coordinator for University Press of America (UPA), a small academic publisher outside of Washington, D.C. Before I even knew what direct marketing really was, I was writing one-page flyers and renting lists for monographs on pretty obscure topics written mainly by professors needing to fulfill publication requirements. I clearly remember the courier typeface, the paper jams in the copier and the wrestling matches with the folding machine when getting the campaigns out the door. Every author believed that his or her book deserved worldwide attention, and it was as I learned the art of niche marketing and targeted response that I began to feel signs of love for specialized publishing. And I certainly didn’t have any idea what that really was, either, at the time!
Has there been a defining moment in your career? Perhaps when you knew you were on the right road.
After my great year at UPA, I moved to New York, took a couple of brief career detours, and then landed at the Institute of Management & Administration (IOMA) as a marketing manager, overseeing the marketing for 15 corporate finance newsletters. This was the early ’90s in the FFT heydays and wow did I have fun. I had P&L responsibility for the line, and it was the moment I put together my first report that I knew I was in the right place. It was a thrill getting to decide what to roll out, what partnerships and list exchanges to go after again. I was hooked.
In brief, describe your business/company?
BVR publishes transaction databases, books and periodicals, research and training programs for the private company business appraisal market. We are extremely fortunate to enjoy a premier brand position, as well as meaningful friendships with the majority of thought leaders in the business valuation community.
What are two or three important concepts or rules that have helped you to succeed in business?
1. Open the books: share and summarize company financials regularly—with the entire organization. Open-book management inspires trust, ownership and a common purpose and invites an ongoing exchange of questions and ideas.
2. Get to know the people who work for you: take some time to find out that someone enjoys sailing or plays the jazz saxophone in a local band and be the one who to ask how the show or sail was. Getting to know one lets the company’s personality come through—and that’s a good thing, no matter how quirky you realize it is.
What is the single-most successful thing that your company is doing right now?
We are focusing less on new markets and turning attention back to our well-established primary market. It’s much easier to sell to customers who know and respect our brand already, and we’re identifying where we can turn one product—a book, for example—into any number of special reports. On the other end of the pricing spectrum, we have tightened up and organized our site license— “Total BVR Access”—sales approach as well as the systems designed to identify our best prospects for these lucrative accounts.
Do you see a trend or path in 2010 that you know you have to lock onto?
Expand our definition of marketing. This means embracing the “new” such as social media, etc., but also—and I would say just as importantly—reconsidering channels such as direct mail, press releases, glossy sales packages, brochures and white papers (that’s one in between new and old). We’ve been primarily dependent on email marketing and must diversify. We’re getting aggressive about segmenting our database more effectively as well; we want to transform the “blast everyone” effort into three of four more targeted messages about even one product. Our goal is to make this SOP with our 30,000 name core marketing file.
What are the key benefits of SIPA membership for you and your team?
There’s not much of a publishing community (okay, there isn’t one at all!) out here in Portland so the connection to SIPA is a lifeline. At least half of our 19 employees attend the conferences, listen to the webinars and have connected with other members to discuss specific business issues. Our marketers will often forward insights from the daily alerts and we always debrief after conferences—even if it means picking the top three ideas we think we can most feasibly implement right away. For me personally, SIPA has become a constant source of fulfillment and joy.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Scituate, Massachusetts, a beautiful town on the South Shore, right on the water.
What college did you attend? Is there a moment from that time that stands out?
I went to Mount Holyoke College for undergrad and Boston College for graduate school. I have wonderful memories of recognizing the joys of a liberal arts education and a love of learning at Mt. Holyoke. In my M.B.A. program at Boston College, I distinctly recall sitting in marketing classes—all of which centered on consumer markets—and promising myself I would never have anything to do with marketing toothpaste or laundry detergent.
Are you married? Do you have children? Pets?
My husband, Malcolm, and I will celebrate seven years this month. Our one son, Jeremiah, turned four this past March and is a delight. No pets since the death of our beloved broccoli- and mango-eating cat Buddy passed away two years ago.
What is your favorite hobby and how did it develop in your life?
I used to enjoy writing light-hearted poetry, and I’ve recently rediscovered some of that fun with Jeremiah, who has a real knack for it. We have a great new one about Raindrop Rock ‘n’ Roll.
What was the last book you read and movie you saw?
Last book was Ride the Wind, historical fiction about Cynthia Ann Parker and the last days of the Comanche Indians. I’m behind on movies but thanks to On Demand I recently enjoyed An Education.
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