Improving Sales
The topic of improving sales should be near and dear to the heart of any CEO. Is your revenue flat or declining? Has the market shifted such that your sales model is showing signs of obsolescence? Are you tired of hearing the same old excuses from your line managers and staff professionals? A challenge that every CEO and entrepreneur is faced with, is the pressure to create consistent…
Intellectual Property
While the security aspects of intellectual property ("IP") are often sacrificed for speed to market considerations in today's world of mash-ups and knock-offs, I believe when it comes to IP it is possible to have your cake and eat it too. The protection of all forms of intellectual property ("IP") should constitute common sense and require no real explanation, however, the courts are littered…
Customers vs. Clients
Is your business built around customers or clients? Are you simply a purveyor of products and services to your customers or do you enlighten, add value, inform, advise, counsel, and advocate on behalf of your clients? There is not only a definitional difference between the terms customers and clients, but there are also tremendous strategic, operational, and philosophical differences between…
How to Create a Powerful Tagline
Are Unique Selling Propositions (USP) different than Taglines? The correct technical answer is absolutely yes, but you'd be surprised at the number of people (even marketing types) that don't know the difference. However the truly sad part is not just in the lack of understanding, but in the missed applicational leverage and lost opportunity costs associated with the lack of understanding. In…
Thriving During a Recession
Recession are we, or aren't we? While the economists and pundits are arguing about whether or not the US is in a recession, my opinion is that we are. The classic definition of a recession is a decline in GDP for two consecutive quarters. However, it is important to keep in mind that economic data and statistics are reported on a historical basis, and by the time the economic data is released to…
The Value of Free
The old adage "you get what you pay for" makes for a good sound bite, but it is simply a myopic perspective based upon a misinterpretation of the value of "Free". The ultimate marketing hook has always been, continues to be, and will remain the "Free" trial or give-away. Free does not diminish value, nor is it beneath a premium provider or brand...Rather "Free" is simply a very intelligent way to…
Why Brand Name Clients Matter
If your company doesn't have a recognized brand, I will guarantee that your selling cycle is longer than necessary as your sales process grinds to a halt while you endeavor to establish credibility. Even after enduring the good fight, when all is said and done, you likely end up making frequent price concessions to win business. You are most probably sick and tired of dealing with repeated…
Internet Vision and Strategy
Here is a message that you might not want to hear. I am willing to bet that your company is not even remotely beginning to harness the full power of the Internet. Moreover I'm also willing to bet that you probably already know this. In a recent survey conducted by WebTrends in which more than 250 Chief Marketing Officers were polled, only 4% of respondents rated themselves and their staffs as…
Positioning Your Business for Sale
While the M&A space is very frothy with transactional volumes at record levels and premium valuations abounding, the risk associated with getting deals done might just also be at an all-time high. Ideally selling a business should really be about taking what the CEO believes is the best deal, however lately it has become more about doing the deal that the CEO perceives as the most defensible…
Is Business Formulaic?
You can either engineer your business by design or let it evolve by default. While the choice is clearly up to you I would strongly suggest the former over the latter. Creating a formulaic approach to business is not only logical, but it is without question the right approach to implement when desiring to create a thriving, sustainable enterprise. Some would argue that business is very fluid and…
View from the Top
How many times have you watched a CEO give a favorable assessment of expected company performance to the board of directors, the bank, shareholders, analysts, employees, or the media only to be proven woefully incorrect? I'm always amazed at the number of CEOs who are out of touch with the operating realities of their company. In today's post I'll share why the view isn't always better from the…
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