Karen Betancourt, former vice president of enterprise logistics with Cardinal Health, relates the themes and takeaways from the first-ever Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit, presented by SupplyChainBrain and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

“My life theory is to never expect too much of anything,” Betancourt says. “Set your expectations low, and you’re generally going to be delighted.” But Betancourt, a panelist at the Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit, was highly impressed by the event. It was needed, she says, to address the generally poor quality of supply chain marketing, which she believes has been “neglected for too long.”

The problem with business-to-business marketing of supply chain services, Betancourt says, is that is often involves generic pitches that aren’t tailored to the specific needs or profile of the targeted company, lack an understanding of the business, and are full of vague buzzwords that change every few years.

Too many B2B marketers are taking advantage of the ease by which they can send out thousands of form letters to prospects. Betancourt wants them to adopt the personalized approach of business-to-consumer marketers, which zero in on the individual tastes and preferences of consumers. “You experience that in your private life,” she says, “so why not expect a higher degree of marketing in your professional life? The tide is rising around B2B marketers, and they really need to step up their game.”

Betancourt found the Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit to be a valuable resource for learning how to break through the “noise” of messages with which supply chain professionals are inundated. And she describes how she likes to be approached by prospective service providers. “Put a little effort into it,” she says. “Make it worth my time.”