Do You Want to Be a Ninja Innovator? Here’s How…
Every company wants to be successful in this worldwide downturn. But to achieve lofty goals, certainly innovation is the key in our new economy.
To become an innovative leader and to participate in turbo-charging the economy, it’s vital to continually evaluating your organization and strategizing for success. It takes involvement by members of your entire operation, and in most cases cultivating a new culture.
That means identifying your company’s assets, processes, resources and skills.
In a nutshell, here are the main points to consider in your analysis:
Human Resources – Completely review your capabilities in human resources with a focus on your competencies and weaknesses. Determine your abilities to achieve a competitive advantage.
Consider your recruitment process, training and development, and compensation systems.
Assess the strengths and weaknesses of your organizational culture, especially your leadership capabilities.
Products and services – Evaluate your offerings in terms of breadth and mix, quality and reliability.
Marketing – Take a hard look at your image, research, development, distribution channels, brand equity, sales personnel, customer-service quotient and market share.
Query your customers. What are their viewpoints? Evaluate your customer base to see if they meet your goals for growth.
Examine your potential marketplace with a focus on socio-culture – demographic trends and tastes, economic trends from interest rates to inflation.
Operations – Evaluate your productivity, quality controls, facilities, supply chain, technology, information systems, and management strengths and weaknesses.
Financial performance – Keep an eye on profitability. Forecast your revenue growth. Assess your asset utilization, debt-leverage position, liquidity and equity position.
Competition – Compare the missions, strategies, and competitive advantages of the competitors?
Following your analysis, there are six steps to take.
Here’s a checklist:
- Using your analysis, develop a big-picture strategic action plan.
- Make sure you have a comprehensive human resources program that encourages collaboration among teams. That means maximum delegation, empowerment, training and succession planning.
- Encourage blue sky planning sessions.
- Continually evolve. Leverage the insights of your devil advocates with an eye on your company’s potential. Ask the right open-ended questions for optimal creativity.
- Practice the “Principle of Contrary Action” to keep an open mind. Dare to be bold. Consider all alternatives.
- Keep chipping away.
From the Coach’s Corner, here are related resource links:
Developing Trends, and Solutions for Manufacturing Success
Study: Why Lean Manufacturing Principles Often Don’t Work
Link between Financial Performance and Succession Planning
Management Strategies for a Successful Turnaround
“When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people.”
-Chinese proverb
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Terry Corbell is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
6 Steps to Implement a Cultural Change for Profits
If your company is lacking in teamwork, morale is poor and profits are weak, chances are you need to change your organization’s culture. Be forewarned, changing a culture is a monumental chore because it will take strategic planning and super powers of persuasion.
Usually, it necessitates an outside participant to assess your culture and to facilitate the changes. Candidly, as a business-performance consultant, I don’t have to look at the financials to see the problems. It’s possible to “read the room” by watching how employees interact with each other, and with customers and vendors.
In essence, the solutions:
Most cultures require change when there isn’t engagement – not enough listening. Get a snapshot of your situation. Develop a listening plan of action for all stakeholders – employees, customers and vendors.
Determine a mission and the likely solutions, such as more employee ownership of the work, better processes or more accountability. Include models of the desired outcomes, and then communicate what you desire in a new culture.
Your employees will have to learn why culture change is imperative. They will have to be motivated to make needed changes. Along the way, you’ll have to solve the customary political turf battles.
So you approach it like any marketing challenge – create centers of influence within your company – get key employees to buy into it. Find ways to illustrate the problems facing the company. Show them firsthand.
Analyze your staff – whom is being left out? Understand that your managers are part of the problem – commonly, they probably ignore most of the workforce because they play favorites. Analyze your bench strength – An Often-Overlooked Trait for Sustainable Competitiveness.
After all, you should Strategize for a Competitive Edge.
Good employees want to be involved. They want to feel trusted. Show more empathy to employees by allowing them as much career/personal life balance as possible. You should focus on Powering Your Brand with Employee Empowerment.
Create a new physical environment. Reorganize work station locations. Engage your employees twice a day – walk the floor asking open-ended questions. Show them you’re approachable.
Key HR training steps
Keep in mind the above ideas, and implement a human resources- communications training program for a cultural change.
Remember your centers of influence? Supervisors are trained first, then the non-exempt staff.
Experiential training modules for employees should include:
- Transparency of the organization’s current financial picture and a forecast
- A SWOT analysis – the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the marketplace
- Assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization in dealing with all stakeholders – employees, customers and vendors
- Share solutions with all employees
- Show employees how to conduct their own confidential personal assessments, and how their roles affect the company
- Motivate them to be fully engaged
Because each situation is different, the priorities of the modules can vary slightly. This works in the public and private sectors.
As a result, a company culture improves for a happier, more congenial environment. Individually, employees increase their self-esteem by double-digit percentage increases. This leads to more profits.
Historically, about 10 percent of employees resist such training. Usually, they need alcohol or drug treatment. Of the two, drug addicts have been the most hardcore and are the most ethically challenged. So I advise the client such people aren’t trainable.
Employees should be referred to your employee assistance program, and be given a chance to improve via a progressive disciplinary process. Use the Golden Rule. Treat the employees as you would like to be treated – as a human capital asset.
Accomplish these principles, and you’ll enjoy more profits.
From the Coach’s Corner, here other HR resource links:
Human Resources: The Future of Performance Reviews
15 HR Strategies to Improve Your Business Performance
20 Tell-Tale Signs – If You’re Under-Performing as a Manager
“Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have – and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up.”
— James Belasco and Ralph Stayer
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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
8 Simple Strategies to Give You Pricing Power
If you’re struggling with pricing strategies, you’re not alone. Many big companies struggle, too.
By way of explanation, according to a 2011 study, almost 90 percent of executives in a global survey forecast their continued growth. However, they anticipate implementing just minimal price increases as they continue to slash costs, or at least closely monitor expenses, for positive cash flow.
A global consulting firm, Accenture, reports that’s the salient conclusion following responses from 1000 chief financial officers (CFOs) and chief marketing officers (CMOs), who were surveyed across eight industries in 12 countries.
The study’s objective: To learn how CFOs and CMOs maximize profits in controlling costs, managing money, and in pricing.
Ironically, nearly 50 percent of them expect revenue increases until about 2013. Unlike shorter downturns, the seemingly permanent volatility in this global economy continues to be a catalyst for more due diligence.
Seventy-one percent of the CMOs say pricing strategy ranks among their three most-salient objectives.
So, pricing strategies are universal dilemmas.
Often, companies mistakenly price products and services solely from their own perspectives as sellers. Businesses should focus on the perspective of the customer about value – not solely on offering the lowest price in the marketplace.
Psychology for setting prices
A minority of customers focus solely on price – people who can’t afford not to save money, and people who want to save money.
My research continues to show at least 80 percent will base a buying decision on five psychological perceptions of value. Not all buying decisions are based on what you might automatically think is logical rationale.
Therefore, in the following order, you must know the answers to these questions: What does the customer think of you and your employees, your company’s image, product or service utility, price, and the convenience of doing business with you?
For more expensive items, perceptions about price often include the cost of payments in financing. That’s especially true when the purchaser pays and uses the product on a regular basis.
Specific numbers play a psychological role. That’s why you will often correctly see value-pricing for fast food end in the number, nine, such as $3.99. For more luxury items, a psychology of quality is what counts. So quality pricing will often end in the number, zero.
My definition of marketing: The understanding of your customer for the cost-effective process of selling the right product or service at the right time and at the right price.
Therefore, it’s important to closely monitor your cost structure to generate profits, as well as your customers’ motivating perceptions and the approach of your competitors.
Eight Basic Pricing steps
- Conduct a full-scale SWOT analysis of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
- Analyze your marketing strategy, which includes an assessment of your marketplace, targeting and branding.
- Determine your marketing mix by defining your channels of distribution and campaign maneuvers.
- Forecast your demand curve by anticipating how your product quantity will fluctuate with the price. Not to oversimplify, consider whether an increase in price decreases your revenue or a decrease in price will increase your revenue.
- Gauge all your costs – be sure to determine both your fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs, such as office rent payments that remain at the same amount. Variable costs, such as fuel for your vehicles, can change because of gas-station prices or if your vehicle mileage go up or down.
- Anticipate your marketplace dynamics or environmental factors – whether they are competition or legal considerations, such as government regulations, or impacts from short-term or long-term strategies.
- Slate your pricing goals. That can include maximizing your profits or stabilizing your prices.
- Establish your prices, including your methods and structure. Determine the limits of what you’ll offer in discounts.
In addition to the psychology of pricing, you have other choices such as bundling to sell more products; penetration pricing, offering free or loss leaders to launch a new product; variation pricing, like the airlines that sell a flight’s first batch of tickets at the lowest fare; or geographical pricing where the location determines the price.
From the Coach’s Corner, here are related resource links:
Daily Deal Sites and Pricing Principles – What’s Sustainable and What Isn’t
Hottest Tactics to Beat Your Competitors
Think 1930s for Business Success. Consumer Attitudes are Changing.
Case Study: Mistakes Companies Make When Losing Profits
Secrets to Success in Recessions: Expand Marketing
“Incentives are not strategy, they are tactics. Defensive measures.”
-Carlos Ghosn
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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
16 Desired Mental Approaches For New Entrepreneurs
Humor me, as I recall a great sports metaphor for business.
The greatest switch-hitting slugger in baseball history – Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle – was at his best in clutch World Series action. He set several World Series records – 18 home runs, 40 RBIs, 42 walks, 26 extra-base hits and 123 total bases. Before the term “walk-0ff home run” was used, he had 13 game-winning homers.
With all due respect to Willie Mays and his fans, the Yankee great was baseball’s most-feared player. From 1955 t0 1964, he was the fastest and most-powerful perfomer of his time. There were no steroids.
Yet he admitted to having fear, which he often used as a great motivator.
His hero was his father who taught him the game, but died at the age of 39, just after the Mick made it to the major leagues. He always feared dying at an early age, too. So he played hard on and off the field.
No pitcher could repeatedly dominate him. When he connected, he hit the ball so hard, you could see the red laces spin. I did. In game four of the 1963 World Series, my brother and I were in the left-field stands at Dodger Stadium. In the 7th inning, I could see the red laces spin just before we were almost struck by his screaming line-drive off another favorite of mine – the legendary Sandy Koufax.
No. 7 had his share of strikeouts, but my recollection was that he was rarely caught looking at a called strike three. If he did, it was simply a case of the umpire forgetting to wear glasses. He was not afraid to swing at the first pitch. He didn’t cheat himself. He swung hard. When he spotted a strategic opportunity by not swinging for the fences, he took it – he also a terrific drag-bunter, even in his later years.
By the 1964 World Series, pitting the St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees, The Mick’s legendary skills had faded. He shouldn’t have been playing. With a bad shoulder, he no longer had the ability to make laser-like throws from center field. The kid from a rural town in Oklahoma, “the Commerce comet,” was no longer baseball’s fastest runner to first.
Down, but not done
In 1966, he still commanded ultimate respect – published reports indicate other major leaguers still stopped to marvel in reverence at his swings in batting practice – he could still muster the strength to hit his patented monster shots. His mere presence was awe-inspiring. I felt it at the ballpark. Months in advance, I once elected to forgo a Junior-Senior Prom in high school in favor of driving with a buddy 125 miles to attend an Angel-Yankee game. It was a risk as No. 7 as injured. I watched his every move in the dugout and prayed to see him play that day. Without him in the lineup, the legendary Yankee teams weren’t nearly as good.
My favorite of his seasons is still 1964 — his last terrific year, which most of today’s players would have envied. Relying on his experience and courage with a bad knee and right shoulder, he led the American League in on-base percentage with 35 home runs and 111 RBIs. He had batted .241 left-handed, and a stellar .421 right-handed.
In that season’s fall classic in game three at Yankee Stadium with more than 67,000 fans on hand, he had been switched to right field, and Roger Maris took his place in center. The Mick was slow and hurting. In the 5th inning, the Cardinals tied the game at 1-1 when the ball skipped through No. 7’s legs. Oh, no! It was an embarrassing tragedy for the proud baseball player. As a young, passionate Mantle fan watching on television, my heart was broken.
But his chance for redemption came in the bottom of the 9th. For a strategic edge, the Cardinals brought in a veteran right-hand reliever, knuckle-baller Barney Schultz, who had a 1.65 ERA that year. As the leadoff hitter, a shell of his former self, The Mick was forced to bat from his weakest, left-hitting side.
The first pitch was low and outside. The Mick swung – an explosive, towering shot to the third deck in right field, and the sellout crowd went crazy. My eyes filled with tears. You can still see the raw power of a weakened Mantle when he hit that homer — he never gives up and he limps around third base in this video.
Fear as a motivator
The next day, the Los Angeles Times headline: “Mantle: I was scared to death.”
Years later, I learned the Mick had used fear as a motivator. He describes how he actually predicted his game-winner in this interview. The Yankees’ starting pitcher, Jim Bouton, confirmed the story – he overheard the Mick pump himself up: “I’m gonna hit one outta here.”
That was a method of imaging self-success. I never forgot the lesson from the slugger’s self-motivation process for high performance.
Like many baseball players, in today’s marketplace, most entrepreneurs already have the basic attributes in knowledge and talent. But it’s possible to enhance performance.
Underdogs become successful entrepreneurs by creating a competitive edge. Success in entrepreneurship results from strong mental approaches.
Here’s a checklist:
- Practice imagery. Envision success. Overcome fear. Don’t let it intimidate you. Don’t procrastinate.
- Think as a maverick – with independence. Strong entrepreneurs listen to others, but they don’t obsess about what others think, especially if there’s disagreement.
- Passion. You must love the game.
- Trustworthy leadership. Others are confident in your consistent performance.
- Values. Do not compromise on principles.
- Flexibility. Have a game plan, but be prepared to alter it.
- Timeliness. Sometimes what you do is as important as picking the right time to do it.
- Stewardship. Be a good steward of your health and business. Work hard but know how to be resilient and nourish your mind and body. Continually evaluate and work for improvements.
- Be frugal. Don’t waste money, but invest it to create opportunities for growth.
- Have faith. Be confident in your abilities.
- Don’t be defensive. If you make a mistake, flaunt it. But prepare for opportunities to redeem yourself. You’ll get a 9th inning like No. 7.
- Keep an open mind. Just because something is outside your comfort zone, consider taking educated risks.
- Find a good mentor. Seek someone successful in ways you want to become. Pass it on later when you get the chance.
- Keep it light when possible. Have fun. Enjoy business and life with a sense of humor.
- Be charitable. There’s always a worthy cause or people who deserve your consideration.
- Celebrate your victories with style. Mickey Mantle always lowered his head after a home run. He never taunted the pitcher. He acted like he’d accomplished the feat before.
From the Coach’s Corner, here’ s another fan’s tribute to the power and speed of Mickey Mantle.
“I hated to bat against (Don) Drysdale. After he hit you he’d come around, look at the bruise on your arm and say, ‘Do you want me to sign it?’”
– Mickey Mantle
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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
Think 1930s for Business Success. Consumer Attitudes are Changing.
Hyper-consumerism is history. Traditional values with a purpose are in vogue.
Traditional values – old-fashioned, if you prefer – describe the new mindset of consumers and what they expect from business. That’s according to a white paper, “The Power of the Post-Recession Consumer,” republished by strategy+business in June, 2011.
Authors John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio explained a shift in consumers who are now adamant about affordability, connection and quality. It’s similar to the attitudes of any person who survived the Great Depression. The shift has implications for every ambitious company, manager and employee – from human resources and marketing to finance. Many business cultures must change for survival.
“People are returning to old-fashioned values to build new lives of purpose and connection,” the authors wrote. “They also realize that how they spend their money is a form of power, and are moving from mindless consumption to mindful consumption, increasingly taking care topurchase goods and services from sellers that meet their standards and reflect their values.”
Messrs Gerzema and D’Antonio maintain this consumer shift about business started before the Great Recession. It accelerated during the downturn. It’s a worldwide philosophy, not just in the United States. It’s related to disenchantment with the behavior and policies of political leaders. It’s a shift to a new attitude of values and environmentalism.
They call it a “spend shift movement.”
“It will create opportunities for businesses that heed its message, and penalize those that do not,” assert the authors.
As a launching pad for their research, they started with Young & Rubicam’s BrandAsset Valuator (BAV), which is comprised of 20 years in the research of consumer habits, and in more than 40,000 companies in 50+ nations. It’s complemented by the opinions of more than 1 million respondents worldwide, including 16,000 Americans.
Some 70 brand measurements are also included.
“As a factor in decision making, sheer desire or the goods themselves has been declining sharply for the past decade,” the uthors wrote. “More recently, the BAV surveys show sharp increases in the number of consumers who want positive relationships with marketplace vendors and who focus more on corporate behavior.”
The authors report consumers now resist buying brands/products associated with these adjectives:
- “Exclusive” (down 60 percent)
- “Arrogant” (down 41 percent)
- “Sensuous” (down 30 percent)
- “Daring” (down 20 percent)
Consumers now prefer these brand images:
- “Kindness and empathy” (up 391 percent)
- “Friendly” (up 148 percent)
- “High quality” (up 124 percent)
- “Socially responsible” (up 63 percent)
The authors state these attitudes represent the biggest change in the two decades of BAV’s research, and they cite personal-savings data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
“Even as unemployment surged past 10 percent, U.S. consumers socked away more money every month,” the authors explained. “By the middle of 2009, people were saving about 7 percent of their disposable income — a figure that hadn’t been seen since 1995.”
To illustrate the spend shift movement, the authors divided their findings into four tenets:
- “United by Change” – the shift includes 55 percent of Americans, 53 percent of the French, and 45 percent of the Germans and Italians.
- “The New Thrift – more than 66 percent of Americans are down-sizing. Among the millennials, 77 percent are cutting back. Companies that deliver according to the expectations of these consumers have a 249 percent better
word-of-mouth opportunity. - “Transparency breeds trust” – The digital age has prompted a new awareness. Consumer trust has dropped by almost 50 percent in companies and governments that fail to adhere to the new expectations. “In today’s marketplace, successful companies will practice complete transparency, letting customers see their supply chains, management strategies, and values,” the authors assert.
- Companies that Care” – empathy should be a top priority. “The ability of a company to identify with its customers is now a prerequisite for any brand in the post-crisis age,” the authors added. “Today, openness, humility, and understanding are critical. Generosity binds a company to its community and its stakeholders.”
As the authors suggest, think “helpful, reliable, educational and durable.”
For new and existing entrepreneurs, the authors provide this advice: “If you have an idea for helping people learn new skills and connect with others, your business has a good chance of success.”
Amen. The change is welcome.
Click here to read the white paper.
From the Coach’s Corner, here’s a related resource link:
Cause-Related Marketing Can Increase Sales by Double Digits
“One of the biggest responsibilities of management is to look after the corporate DNA.”
-Andrew Rolfe
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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
11 Tips to Make Money on Facebook
Depending on your type of business, the jury might still be out over whether Facebook can you help you make money by making the cash register ring. But advertisers are increasingly investng in Facebook.
Websitemagazine.com is a must-read for any Internet entrepreneur. Its newsfeed on May 23, 2011 included Facebook’s 10 optimization tips for merchants and reasons to use Facebook’s “like” button. I have to agree.
Thanks to Website Magazine, here are the first 10 of the 11 promised optimization tips:
1. Allowing users to add comments will significantly increase the number of clicks on the Like button
2. Display Like buttons at both the top and bottom of your posted content
3. Clicks increase dramatically when Like buttons appear near videos, images, infographics and other visual content
4. Like buttons that display thumbnail images of friends will receive three to five times more clicks than versions that don’t
5. Ask questions of users on your Fan pages, such as “Would you like …?” and “Would you prefer … ?”
6. Post fun and interactive content such as games, trivia questions and polls
7. Incorporate coupons and discounts on your Wall
8. Post time-sensitive content and relate to current events
9. Post videos
10. Include links to additional content
The Website Magazine feed also mentioned Buddy Media, a Facebook advertising platform. Buddy Media has raised some serious venture capital – $40 million.
Buddy Media licenses its software to ad agencies. The average fee for its 650 ad agency customers is $3000 per month. When you consider the licensing fee is on top of the advertising budget, that’s some serious advertising coin being diverted to Facebook spending.
VatorNews is another interesting trade publication. Reporter Bambi Francisco Roizen interviewed Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazarow for some interesting insights. (Buddy Media accounts for 10% of Facebook ads?)
My 11th tip to profit from Facebook is from VatorNews: Update your Facebook wall on Tuesdays.
Websitemagazine also published Buddy Media’s list of success stories.
Webpronews.com also has some interesting insights on Facebook and traffic.
From the Coach’s Corner, before you jump entirely on the Facebook bandwagon, make sure you read this cautionary Biz Coach column: Winners and Losers in Facebook’s Invasion of Google’s Turf.
“The Internet is the trailer park for the soul.”
-Marilyn Manson
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Terry Corbell is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
Marketing Checklist to Measure Your Brand’s Personality
Here are two key questions about your marketing: 1. How much have you invested in your brand and personality? 2. How’s it working?
These are important questions. However, many companies – large, medium and small – can’t accurately answer the questions. That’s especially true regarding their return on investment. Yet, ROI is critical to measure.
New research shows how to gauge your brand’s personality appeal – if it’s suitable to yield sales.
“We developed this means of measuring brand personality appeal (BPA) so companies can figure out how favorably their brand personality is viewed by consumers – and what they can do to enhance that personality’s appeal to their market,” says Dr. David Henard, an associate professor of business management at North Carolina State, in a press release.
The paper, “Brand personality appeal: conceptualization and empirical validation,” was co-authored by Henard; Dr. Traci Freling, of the University of Texas-Arlington; and Dr. Jody Crosno, of West Virginia University. The paper was published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
“Until now, researchers have only been able to determine whether a company has a brand personality,” Henard says. “The only existing scale was Aaker’s Brand Personality Scale, which could determine whether a brand personality is rugged, sophisticated, competent, exciting or sincere.
“What we’ve done here is develop a system that digs deeper to help companies link brand personality to concrete outcomes. For example, does the brand personality actually make people want to buy their product?”
The study lists 16 questions to ask about your brand in three variables: Favorability, originality and clarity.
The press release explains: “Favorability is how positively a brand personality is viewed by consumers. Originality is how distinct the brand personality is from other brands. Clarity is how clearly the brand personality is perceived by consumers.”
The press release offers more explanation about the three variables.
“For example, a company may find that its brand personality has a moderate rating on favorability, but is viewed as highly original and clearly defined. High marks for originality and clarity make the brand personality more appealing than the moderate favorability rating might indicate. It also tells a company that it needs to focus its efforts on improving its favorability rating, rather than distinguishing itself from competitors, in order to boost the brand personality’s overall appeal.”
The 16 questions:
- This brand’s personality is unapparent…apparent
- This brand’s personality is distinct…indistinct
- This brand’s personality is satisfactory…unsatisfactory
- This brand’s personality is obvious…not obvious
- This brand’s personality is unpleasant…pleasant
- This brand’s personality is common…distinctive
- This brand’s personality is attractive…unattractive
- This brand’s personality is ordinary…novel
- This brand’s personality is positive…negative
- This brand’s personality is bad…good
- This brand’s personality is vague…well-defined
- This brand’s personality is poor…excellent
- This brand’s personality is undesirable…desirable
- This brand’s personality is predictable…surprising
- This brand’s personality is routine…fresh
- This brand’s personality is unclear…clear
The study provides interesting food for thought, right? Munch away.
From the Coach’s Corner, here are more resource links to increase profits:
Checklist to Build Your Brand on a Budget
Study Provides Vital Lessons for Web Sites Seeking Profits
Checklist: 19 Quick Marketing Tips for New Entrepreneurs
“What”s a brand? A singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of the prospect.”
- Al Ries
Terry Corbell is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
Checklist for Success in Business Planning for the New Economy
Question: How is your year progressing? For many, the year isn’t faring well, and it’s obvious we’re undergoing fundamental economic change.
Business confidence in the U.S. economy is less than it was three years ago, according to a study by The Business Journals. In 2008, 64 percent were confident of an economic rebound to the former economic potency. But results of the study released in April, 2011 show the aggregate confidence has dropped by a third (Survey: Business owners have dimmer view).
Seventy-two percent are worried about the economy. The same percentage is leery about healthcare expenses. Fifty-three percent fear not having enough resources to retire.
To be sure, handwringing is to be expected. But productive steps need to be taken for market leadership. This lack of business enthusiasm indicates businesspeople are having trouble focusing on priorities. Many are too preoccupied in fearing failure instead of their strengths. Is this your situation?
It’s important to develop an IQ for keeping an open mind for change and improved competitiveness. Adaptability and flexibility to adopt old and new ideas are keys to success in a dynamic marketplace.
Here’s a checklist of reminders:
- Daily review your financial reporting. Cash flow is king.
- Don’t get sidetracked. Take prudent steps for financial balance. Control your expenses but devote enough time for marketing and selling – each day.
- If you have employees, implement a collaborative environment to execute strategy. Know how and when to delegate.
- Use the latest thought leadership to evaluate your workers and ensure employee loyalty. Retaining talent is important for keeping your human, intellectual capital.
- Customers love environmentally responsible companies. Consider how you can differentiate your firm from competitors.
- Decide on a social cause in cause-related marketing. Enhance your participation in causes, and in socially responsible management practices.
- Examine your customer-support practices. Understand what it takes for customer loyalty and for branding in attracting new business via traditional and emerging media.
- Take steps for price satisfaction, but don’t give away the store. History shows businesses fail when they focus too much on selling at the lowest price.
- Continually talk with your customers, and read, research and implement strategies for growth.
- As much as possible, stay current on technology to save you time and money.
- Whenever possible, keep it simple. That includes everything from your business processes to your value propositions.
- Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Younger businesspeople, in particular, tend to impulsively make unnecessary changes. It’s important to check motives. Consider whether such decisions are fact-based solutions or stem from ego.
- Explore all options to grow organically before buying other firms. Before you embark on a merger, consider all human resources and cultural factors. Most mergers aren’t successful for this very reason (see If Mergers & AcquisitionsTempt You, Consult HR Pros).
- Include strategies for multiplying your revenue stream.
- Speak and act with conviction about your mission to passionately meet the needs of your customers. Execute with authentic optimism. Smile even when you don’t feel like it. Customers, employees and other stakeholders love a jovial Joe or Jane. Make certain your attitude is contagious – that it’s worth catching.
Good luck in your business planning for the new economy.
From the Coach’s Corner, this business portal has countless tips on marketing/sales.
Here are recommendations for hiring the best talent, and how to properly evaluate
employees:
Human Resources – Slow MotionGets You There Faster
Human Resources: 12 Errors toAvoid in Evaluations
Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
11 Strategies to Keep your Small Business Floating above Water
If it’s a challenge to keep your small business from drowning in the current economy, you’re not alone. Profits are problematic everywhere — from advertsing firms to tech startups.
The good news is not all small firms have cash flow issues. You can be confident in knowing that as a small businessperson, you’re an important part of the nation’s economy.
The Small Business Administration’s Web site provides some salient data about the accomplishments of small business:
- They comprise 99.7 percent of all employers
- Employ more than 50 percent of all workers
- Account for 44 percent of the private-sector payroll
- In the last 15 years, created 64 percent of the jobs
- Hired 40 percent of all high-tech employees
- 52 percent are home-based, 2 percent are franchisees
- Responsible for more than 50 percent of the nation’s nonfarm private gross domestic product
- Constitute 97.3 percent of all exporters and 30.2 percent of the dollar value
- Generate 13 times more patents than their big-business counterparts
For successful small firms, strong cash flow doesn’t just happen. They’ve got a system. They plan and swim with precision.
Here are tips to stay afloat:
- Start by writing a gratitude list. Digest and relish what’s working in your career and life. Beleaguered business owners spend too much time worrying about what’s not working. This includes little things like consistently saying thank you to your customers, vendors and employees. Forget the hackneyed phrase, “Have a nice day.” An attitude of gratitude will help brighten each day and will make you more receptive to new ideas.
- Chances are you’re feeling disorganized. Write a to-do list of day-to-day priorities. Focus on just one thing at a time. Scratch each accomplishment off the list.
- Feeling burned out is also a common symptom. Start an affirmation list of your qualities – personal and business. Daily review it and remind yourself of your qualities. No item is too small to list.
- In cash flow, practice the two Ms – monitor and manage. Take inventory of your situation. Assess where you are by performing a break-even analysis. Predict spending and what trivial expenses can be cut. Make sure, though, you don’t cut muscle – marketing and human resources. Treat your employees as human capital. And make sales and marketing an important part of every day.
- Understand how your business should profitably function with business processes, and what is truly necessary for your survival. That, of course, includes key performance indicators (KPI), setting goals and measuring results. KPIs will range from products to customer satisfaction.
- Network. Develop strategic partners to save costs and to promote your business. Be seen as a team player. Promote your industry. By building up your profession, you will help yourself. Become the go-to person in the eyes of the community and news media. Besides, it’s true that rising tides raise all boats. Do something positive when your public officials compensate for revenue decreases by creatively increasing fees and taxes, which hurt the economic climate. With like-minded businesspeople, speak out. By brightening your small-business economic environment, cash flow will turn green for everyone, including you. Picture yourself not being uptight about money – there’s enough to go around. Just look out for your industry and company.
- When feasible, use the three Rs – recycle, reuse and reduce. Unlike a large business, you don’t have big cash reserves and customer base. Leverage all the possible money-saving tools in your business and personal life.
- Stay focused. Fine-tune as you go, but in general, stick with your roadmap. Don’t panic and steer off course. There are no magical miracles or detours. If you’ve done your strategic planning, don’t engage in worry or self-doubt. Do the planned footwork.
- Look for opportunities to multiply your sources of revenue. That includes buying out competitors, especially, if you get a favorable price, terms, and valuable talent. Check with your CPA to see if a leveraged buyout is workable. You’ll save cash flow.
- Take advantage of technology. Staying current on technology will help you save time and money while increasing revenue. The more mobile you are, the more competitive you’ll become.
- Look around to help someone less fortunate than you. It will help you keep a smile on your face. Customers, vendors and employees will love it.
Use these basics, and you, too, will stay afloat. Moreover, you’ll enjoy the swim.
From the Coach’s Corner, here’s more on how to Make Money: Four Options for Soaring Profits.
“I don’t like money actually, but it quiets the nerves.”
-Joe E. Lewis
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Terry Corbell is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
Planning – Need a Game Changer? Ford, Seahawks Are Good Case Studies
If your business is performing in a mediocre fashion, chances are your company needs an overhaul. A culture change, if you will. For positive case studies in change-management for a game changer, take your pick – either Ford or the Seattle Seahawks will suffice. Such best-practices in cultural change-management work for nonprofits, too.
Game-changing requires an assertive, strong administrator, especially because all such organizations go through humbling experiences. Strong visionaries know how to profit from ego-destroying events. Effective managers have been the catalyst for Ford and the Seahawks.
First, let’s consider one of the salient Ford headlines, such as: “Ford Makes Comeback From the Brink to Billion-Dollar Profit.
Actually, Ford’s fortunes began to improve when it looked outside the carmaker for solutions to its challenges. The automaker recruited Alan R. Mulally from Boeing.
The irony is that Mr. Mulally had his own ups and downs, of sorts. He had been bypassed twice by Boeing for the CEO’s job. But he was able to put his full talents to work at Ford.
Not to oversimplify, Mr. Mulally has notably installed a competitive, sustainable business model. He simplified production processes. Managers, in effect, were told to change their perspective on change. He inspired a positive balance sheet by taking strategic steps on Ford’s cash flow.
Unlike Chrysler and General Motors, he didn’t seek a government bailout. This meant Ford was able to focus on being proactive, for example, development of new vehicles – cars consumers would buy. Ford would not be hamstrung by bailout cash-flow constraints. Chrysler and GM became beholden to the government – bureaucrats called the shots. Ford didn’t have to resort to discounting and incentives to attract car buyers.
Ford’s brand image skyrocketed as Chrysler and GM suffered from poor images – they were only able to survive with the help of bailouts and bankruptcies.
In other words, Ford’s success was summed up by this headline: “Ford Says Culture Change Has Led to Success.”
Seahawk lessons
So why are the Seahawks a good case study? For starters, let’s consider the headlines, such as: “Seahawks stun defending champion Saints.” There were more than 2,800 such headlines on the Internet referring to the Seahawks upsetting New Orleans, 41-36, in the first round of the National Football League playoffs in the 2010 season.
Just as Ford’s comeback was launched when Ford hired Mr. Mulally, the Seahawk comeback started when owner Paul Allen hired Pete Carroll as head coach. Mr. Allen has a good eye for talent.
Previous, Mr. Allen astutely hired Green Bay Packers Head Coach Mike Holmgren. Among his many accomplishments, Mr. Holmgren won at Green Bay, and he’s credited with the development of quarterbacks Steve Young and Brett Favre.
The management mistake, however, was that Mr. Allen installed Mr. Holmgren as both his executive vice president/general manager and head coach. As a Biz Coach, I wrote then that Mr. Holmgren couldn’t adequately handle executive and coaching responsibilities – a classic case of the Peter Principle – people rise to their level of incompetence. Mr. Holmgren is very talented in coaching and developing quarterbacks, but being an entrepreneurial chief executive requires much-different skill sets.
It’s not just a matter of knowing football. Many businesspeople make the same mistake. They only consider hiring people from their industries without regard for all the necessary skill sets. Mr. Mulally didn’t have automotive experience, but his management and manufacturing skills were transferrable from the aircraft industry. Simplly put, solid business principles are applicable in all industries.
It wasn’t until Mr. Allen removed the executive chores from Mr. Holmgren that the Seahawks finally made it to the Super Bowl in 2005 to play the Pittsburg Steelers. Only bad officiating kept the Seahawks from being world champs.
Meantime, Mr. Holmgren appears to be making the same mistakes. He’s been president of the Cleveland Browns since late 2009. Press reports indicate Mr. Holmgren is searching for a new head coach, and may consider being the team’s coach, too.
Mr. Carroll’s initial 7-9 season was judged to be lackluster, at best. But all was forgotten when his team, a 10-point underdog, upset the New Orleans Saints in the first-round of the playoffs. Most fans consider the game to be one of the biggest playoff upsets of all time.
True, I’m located in the Seattle area, but my Biz Coach sense is that the Seahawks are the most-dangerous team in the playoffs. Why? They continue to evolve and will continue to be under-rated, even though the playoffs are, in reality, a new season.
It’s obvious Mr. Carroll, like Mr. Mulally at Ford, has adroitly installed a change in the team’s culture. With the general manager, John Schneider, Mr. Carroll has overseen 275 roster changes on the 53-man squad.
Despite his sub-.500 2010 record, Mr. Carroll is not embarrassed and motivated his team to great heights. Twice, the Seahawks trailed the Saints by 10 points but didn’t give up and stayed with a resourceful game plan. They put 41 points on the board against a superb defensive team.
Not to overlook everyone’s play, among the highlights: Matt Hasselbeck, a 12-year veteran, had his first four-touchdown playoff game. To ice the game Marshawn Lynch delivered the team’s first 100-yard game this season in breaking eight tackles in his miraculous 67-yard touchdown.
Much has been written about the cacophony of the Seahawks’ twelfth man – their raucous hometown fans at Qwest Field. But guess who motivated the fans in the week leading to the playoff game?
Mr. Carroll made good use of his Twitter account (or at least his representative did) in inspiring fans to be loud and vocal at the game. His boyish enthusiasm is fun. Mr. Carroll’s attitude is contagious and worth catching.
Such passion begins with enlightened management. That’s what I’d call Messrs. Mullaly and Carroll.
Steps to success
Here are the basic ingredients for a business game-changer:
Management – True leaders are strong, knowledgeable, and manage risks. They oversee all fundamentals but delegate – finance, marketing, operations, product management and customer service. Executives must also have a team spirit – an environment of collaboration.
Vision – Top managers possess skills in analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in strategic planning. They avoid complacency and must continually fine-tune the company when appropriate. That means habitually practicing the Principle of Contrary Action, which is a process of learning how to keep an open mind.
Focus – Managers must outline their master plan, stay focused and inspire the staff – the frontline responders to the marketplace – where the proverbial tire meets the road. Nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm and passion.
Best Practices – Senior management must inspire best practices for quality in all areas. Creating value is job one.
Mobility and flexibility –The 21st century marketplace requires quickness and mobility. This also means empowering all workers in decision-making and in being proactive.
Listening skills – Effective managers are approachable. In a proverbial sense, they walk the floor twice a day to interface with their employees. They hire managers and staff members who, too, are effective in listening skills. That’s the first step for a motivated staff and creating profits. Without even looking at financials, an astute outside participant will always be able to ascertain the success potenial of a company merely by watching the interactions between management and staff.
Communication – Good, open communication is required internally with the team members and with the customers and marketplace. In this way, you’ll take great steps in inspiring loyalty from customers.
From the Coach’s Corner, here are related topics:
Solutions to Rejuvenate Yourself and Business
Leadership, HR, Marketing Lessons from HP’s Executive Turmoil
How to Get Results from Your HR Training Investment
Business Got You Down? Tips for a Morale Boost
