Posted by The Chief Outsider on Sun, Feb 05, 2012 @ 10:15 PM
What can a mid-market executive leader take away from this year's (awesome!) Superbowl game and marketing fest?:
Innovation
Bud Light didn't simply run some ads. They introduced a product no one else has. "Platinum" and I want some. It's not premium. It's a whole new thing. A great reminder for companies who get stuck in products, services and features that don't change. Change some things. Make it different. And make sure people hear about it.
People
Hyundai made a huge splash tonight with a series of ads. But they anchored the series about horsepower and performance on the initial ad that showed they had American workers in American factories making a difference. People cared. Makes me care about what they're building. Very important ingredient for Hyundai's success in America. Well done.
Execution
VW makes a huge statement about being fit and nimble. And recycles their success from last year's number one ad with Darth Vader at the last moment. They demonstrated precision in execution and will attract those seeking consistency and excellence.
Visualize the Future
Seinfeld and gang did a nice job of reminding us how powerful passions for a new future can be. The new Acura NSX is not available, but we now all want one. Can we create such demand with our own employees? Can we cast a vision and create a hunger to achieve it?
Belief is Powerful
Mario Manningham catches the pass of the night. And the game rolls onto the finish with a win for the Giants. He said he believed that if they had the ball at that stage of the game, they would win.
Faith in Each Other
Eli Manning said they won because they have faith in each other. A faith built on coach Coughlin's proclamation of love - sighting coach Wooden's revised hierarchy of achievement...where love replaces competitive greatness. I guess he's right.
It's no wonder the Super Bowl is so attractive to us. Not simply as consumers. But as business leaders, we see greatness. We see the result of hard work, perseverance, commitment, faith...and maybe even love for our team mates. Amazing.
- Pete Hayes, Principal & CMO 512-923-6512 pete@chiefoutsiders.com
Posted by The Chief Outsider on Mon, Jan 30, 2012 @ 09:10 AM
Say your company is introducing a new product for use in the surgical correction of scoliosis in teens. Your mission is to present this product to doctors who have their own time-tested methods and persuade them to start using it in the surgeries they perform on people's children. This is a brutally tough sell, as you can imagine, but it can be done. I know, because I did it.
Obviously you must have both seriously effective technology and a profoundly compelling sales message. The transition from an established technology to a new one is a massive paradigm shift, not only for the doctors involved but for the medical community as a whole. This includes the licensing boards who ask would-be specialists how they would choose to treat a particular medical challenge. If your technology isn't recognized as an acceptable option to these peer groups, no doctor will go near it. You also have to convince the FDA, the insurance companies, the Medicare people (CMS) and other concerned authorities. To do this, you must collect a large, verifiable pile of evidence in the form of scientific proof and medical evidence that this new technology really works. You need peer review and recognition. You need key opinion leaders to help drive the acceptance.
Equally critical to your success is your marketing campaign to the prospective patients themselves. You don't just want doctors recommending your technology -- you also want patients to ask for it. The Internet has made the generation of consumer demand much cheaper and easier than it was just a few years ago. Today you have the option of leveraging highly efficient modern media channels such as social media to create demand among scoliosis sufferers who seek solutions online. So weather you are helping a company with a new scoliosis implants or devices to help correct hammertoe sufferers, modern media patient education initiatives should be a key element of the go-to market strategy.
Once you've got both doctors and patients requesting your product, you've got a two-front push toward eventual success. But don’t overlook the critical third party reimbursement challenges. It worked for me, and it can work for you too.
- by Marshall Perez, CMO, BDO mperez@chiefoutsiders.com 570.689.7451
Posted by The Chief Outsider on Thu, Dec 15, 2011 @ 04:32 PM
As business strategists, we are constantly looking for opportunities to get closer to our customers. Digital marketing, and the focus it brings, allows us to be more targeted and more efficient in our marketing programs. One of the faster growing techniques of digital marketing is the QR code. This tool affords businesses with the chance to communicate with customers, and prospects, one-on-one.
The first time I came across what was being called at the time a snowflake, I was doing work with an international shipping company. UPS was using them to track documents and packages. This way they could find out the shipping status of the letter you sent to Hong Kong or Barcelona. Very efficient way to do it. Faster than standard bar coding.
Today, these codes have taken on a brand new use as a marketing tool. QR, short for Quick Response, can be easily read by smart phones. A customer reading them can get information about your business directly (your location, contact information), or can be taken to a web destination where they can get a coupon, or be directed to a retail location, or even watch a movie trailer. They are much better than the standard bar code, created in the 1970’s, because they can store much more data. Where barcodes typically represent a short alphanumeric record number, a QR code can store a webpage URL (most typical marketing use) but can also include a contact record, GPS coordinates, an SMS text message or other content up to 2,000 characters This ability to connect to multimedia digital content is very useful in both b2b and b2c applications, and will provide companies with important information.
As a business, you want to use them in your print ads, collateral material, TV spots, etc. to provide offers, product descriptions,or a link to a video.You can also put them on your package as a way to distribute recipes, have consumers enter sweepstakes, or you can provide detailed nutritional information on your products.
There is so much flexibility that you actually have the ability to change offers by simply linking the QR codes to different landing pages. If you are a retailer, a quick serve restaurant, or a travel related business, you can change your discount by time of day, day of week, etc.
Though print ads and other printed materials are the most common usages, businesses can also put them on the sides of their trucks, on menus, on ticket stubs, even on convention name tags. Companies can also use them to gather customer feedback by taking the user to a survey form.
In addition to providing offers or more product information, they can also be used to link to product installation information. Wouldn’t that be great for those of us that are mechanically challenged?
QR codes will gain wider distribution because one of the things they do is allow us to stop having to type on our phones, a customer “want” that has to be heard. Japanese consumers have been using QR codes for over a decade with great acceptance. Our country will get there shortly.
- Steve Yanovsky, CMO syanovsky@chiefoutsiders.com Call me 914 533-6722
Posted by The Chief Outsider on Sat, Nov 26, 2011 @ 08:37 AM
Recently, I spent a week working on a project about 90 minutes away and decided to make my commuting time "profitable" be listening to an audio book. Since I was driving, I chose "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" by Daniel Pink. It was an inspired choice. It is especially relevant to those of us who work with today’s “Millennial” generation and since, in addition to my work as a Chief Outsider, I also teach an undergraduate course at Rutgers University, its message really resonated with me. 
Pink shares lessons from four decades of scientific research on human motivation. He explores what science knows about the subject and compares it with what business does-and does not do. He examines the three elements of true motivation--autonomy, mastery, and purpose--and offers simple ideas for putting these concepts into action.
Since much of my background as a CMO was in planning and meeting sales targets, I was especially interested in what he had to say about sales campaigns and how they should be designed. So many times, Sales and Marketing leaders develop a campaign and have no underlying knowledge of its impact. Oftentimes, Pink shows that sales campaigns can reduce, rather than increase motivation to produce results. His examples on the impact of bonuses should be required reading for all of us who want to increase revenue through higher productivity. In a nutshell, he says bonuses, especially bigger bonuses, can negatively impact performance by increasing pressure and tension to produce results. And he again shares real life examples of how this happens and what to do to change your campaigns to produce the results we want.
Several of his examples involve the millenials and how to successfully engage them. All of us, but especially these younger professionals, want autonomy. We are more engaged when we have control over when, how and where we work. We thrive on mastering skills. The more skillful we are at performing the required task, the better we do. Finally, we want purpose. We all want to know that we-and the work we do-matters. It has significance.
(I discussed Millenial management recently on THE WEALTH CHANNEL - 1:11 into segment)
If you are a CEO whose business needs to improve-and whose business doesn’t-I urge you to pick up a copy of this book!
- Barbara M Fowler, Partner & CMO
Posted by Victoria Winburne on Sat, Nov 19, 2011 @ 11:38 AM
We engaged in a healthy dialogue yesterday morning at the November Chief Outsider’s CEO roundtable. Our goal is to offer a forum to discuss challenging issues. We take great care to avoid selling or promoting services. Yesterday both CEOs and CFOs engaged in a healthy dialogue. You may find their insights interesting. As we approach the finish line for 2011, we are hearing CEOs and CFOs express these concerns:
- Slowing or non-existent growth
- Need for more premium prospects in a dramatically changed domestic and global marketplace
- People management issues: internal (exes, board, employees) and external (clients/prospects)
- Need for realistic game changing strategies going forward
The following reflects the areas raised at the roundtable regarding 2012. Please let me know if you have an interest in attending a breakfast roundtable in the future.
CEO Vision:
- Strategic planning is not easy to do as most mid-market companies are very much operating environments. Key challenge is for CEOs to work on the business, not in the business.
- Strategic planning needs to happen away from the office, the day-to-day environment.
- If you are the CEO , it is always your job to drive the plan and do so constantly. Set a tickler to remind yourself every 90 days to address the plan.
- The strategic plans among competitors are probably very similar. What differs is in the actual execution.
External stake holders:
- Integrate the input of internal stake holders, from the highest to the lowest level employees, with the input of external stakeholders, the most profitable customers.
- Profitable customers can be those who: (1) pay bills on time, (2) buy on value, not just on price, (3) stay with you over time, (4) don’t over burden the service team consistently, (5) refer you to more business.
- If a product is commoditized, differentiate by service.
- Create an entire experience around the product or service for the customer.
- Be close to customers. One CEO has locations inside his VIP customer buildings.
Internal stake holders:
- The CEO of a manufacturing company offered that his most important employee is his truck driver, the access point to his customers. He creates an environment where the truck drivers have passion and great concern for the customers. This CEO leads by inspiration, not intimidation.
- If you have a problem with an employee, blame yourself first. Did you set expectations? Did you communicate effectively? Did you get them mentored or trained? Did you listen?
- Take the CEO vision and strategy down 4, 5, 6th level employees, not just at the top. Think from the bottom up when it comes to strategy, not just the top down. When it comes to employee retention strategies, start from the lowest employee up.
- Reward and award the lowest employees as well as the top. The most profound ideas and improvements can come from the most unlikely sources. Make it safe for people to offer their input.
Happy Thanksgiving!
- Victoria Winburne, Partner & BDO
Posted by Andy Stevenson on Tue, Nov 08, 2011 @ 08:41 AM
Rare is the CEO who likes to be told what to do.
Rarer still is a consultant who doesn’t like telling others what to do.
And that’s why I don’t want to be called a consultant—but I do want to be called a member of Chief Outsiders. We’re an experienced group of business leaders with a flair for marketing and an understanding of what a good business and marketing strategy can do to propel a business forward.
I’m a few months into my Chief Outsiders experience and am glad I joined forces with the talented team there. We’re off and running, helping a variety of engaging businesses find new growth and efficiency opportunities. For example, I’m working with a provider of artists’ paints to leverage their outstanding dedication to their customers in new ways.
Admittedly, we’ve struggled a bit as an organization in succinctly defining exactly what exactly it is we do. What we don’t do is come armed with dog-eared PowerPoint presentations with a new logo on the cover page, tell our captive audience what they’re doing wrong, then flash a few models and our credentials. In other words, we are—for better or worse—fighting the stereotypical image of a consultant.
So what do we do? Well, it varies with every client. We start by listening to the company’s needs, find a Chief Outsider with relevant experience (and yes, if we don’t have one we’ll pass or make a referral), and work with the company to determine how we can be of help. Perhaps it’s taking the place of a marketing director while the company looks for a permanent hire. Or maybe it’s identifying new markets and/or products for the company. It could even be setting an e-commerce strategy and helping build an online presence. See, that’s the catch—it depends.
In the end, though, working with Chief Outsiders is working with someone who becomes a part of your business. He or she will be a part-time member of the executive team, pacing the floor with you or covering it with confetti in celebration. And when it’s time we’ll say goodbye and hopefully count you as a friend.
Check out the embedded chart developed by Pete Hayes, one of our two principals at Chief Outsiders. We’re flexible in how we can help. You could start with our sharing an outsider’s perspective during a free assessment. Or you could jump all the way in and bring aboard a part-time CMO—whatever fits your needs. Each of the circles looks to me like a wheel or gear. It’s your choice as to how much you’re looking to set in motion.
So what should you call us? I like Enablers. Trusted Advisors works for me too (and takes me back to my days at Crutchfield, where helping the customer was more important than making the sale). Heck, I don’t care what you call us.
But do give us a call to explore what we can do for your business.
- Andy Stevenson, CMO & Partner astevenson@chiefoutsiders.com 434-987-2067
Posted by The Chief Outsider on Sat, Oct 29, 2011 @ 09:28 AM
Avoiding That Birthday Suit Surprise
In the fable called "The Emperor's New Clothes" the value of an honest, objective and outspoken opinion is apparent for all to see. And that kind of perspective is what Chief Outsiders just love to provide.
Whether or not you need an Outsider's Perspective is a testable proposition. To do so, simply ask yourself the following questions.
- Is it possible in a business you manage that an insular or status quo mentality has taken root?
- Could there exist sacred cow programs that need to be scrutinized?
- Is it possible that potential new revenue streams or strategic partnerships are not being aggressively suggested or tested?
- Are new product ideas based on recent insights about consumers' wants and needs lying dormant?
- Could your team be unknowingly off-strategy or just settling for activity as a suitable replacement for productivity?
- In a world of emerging digital media and rapidly changing media efficacy, might you have a media mix that--although it is is pretty much just like all of your competitors'--could be leaving your advertising expenditures badly sub-optimized?
Ferreting Out Waste, Generating Opportunities
If you answered yes or maybe to even one of those questions, an Outsider's Perspective could be worth a lot to you. Ferreting out marketing inefficiency and waste, generating game-changing opportunities and creating competitive advantages, are what Outsiders are perfectly suited for. The value of an Outsider's perspective is all about honing in on smarter, faster ways to go to market with a winning proposition. And that means generating new growth, revenue and profit and/or eliminating hidden waste.
A wonderful old adage you've no doubt heard before, goes something like this. "If you always do what you've always done, you'll pretty much get what you've always got." In today's hyper competitive fast-changing marketplace, that old saw needs to be modified to "If you always do what you've always done, you'll get significantly less than you used to get." Innovative thinking and being deliberatively retrospective about your marketing and sales approach is more critical today than ever. And now with Chief Outsiders offering fractional CMOs, it can be done with the highest level of expertise and yet at a cost that is highly tolerable and appropriate for mid-sized and growth companies.
- Jim McDonald, CMO
Please write to me at jmcdonald@chiefoutsiders.com or call 210-213-4114
Posted by The Chief Outsider on Wed, Oct 05, 2011 @ 12:46 PM
Putting your best foot forward in your organization
In my career as a CMO, I have had the opportunity to work with CEOs in start-ups and turn-around situations. In most situations where a new CEO has been brought in, the company has not been performing well for several years. But it has potential.
This blog post (and optional expanded article) will explore advice from CEOs about what first steps to take…and some to avoid when taking over an organization.
9 Tips to Success for New CEO:
- Prepare and deliver a meaningful first speech
- Analyze the available data
- Trust with caution. Beware of the initial euphoria
- “I will believe it when I see it”
- The “Amen Corner”
- The fact-finding mission
- Establish rituals
- Complain up, not down
- What you take away means more than what you give
1. Prepare and deliver a meaningful first CEO speech: You must convey your personal excitement with the opportunity, an understanding of the reality of the situation you face and faith in your ability to lead the organization forward.
2. Analyze the available data: Many of us in leadership positions have a tendency to trust our guts and feel we are extraordinarily intuitive. A quote from James Warbasse starts out “Science offers the disadvantage of not allowing us to believe what we want to believe."
3. Trust with Caution: There will be people who want to become your best friend and confidants. There will be others who tell you how excited they are that you have taken over and how much they think this will make a critical difference in their success. It is natural to feel good about this. But many times, people are doing this so that they can feel powerful, important, needed or to abdicate their own responsibility for poor performance.
4. “I will believe it when I see it.” Oftentimes you are taking over an organization where the prior leader has talked for years about improving, turning it all around, building a team and getting back on track. The people are no longer listening and as Confucius once said, “the teacher will appear when the student is ready”.
5. The Amen Corner: Even in the most poorly performing companies, there is someone who is performing less poorly than the others. If that someone is willing to support you without you proving yourself first, then you have an amen corner. When you ask for support, he or she gives it. More importantly, behind the scene, that person is rallying the troops, telling them to give you a chance to prove yourself.
6. The Fact-Finding Mission: Oftentimes, in a demotivated sales environment “telling” doesn’t work. Ask instead for a small group of your people to go on a fact-finding mission to an organization that is working well and bring back ideas can contribute to the change. Then the ideas are coming from them, not being imposed on them by you.
7. Establish rituals. Great teams have rituals. Things that establish their identities and set them apart from the rest. I have seen rituals from developing a company cheer, to the same tie or scarf, lapel pins etc. that have made a tremendous difference. Try to find some common rituals or customs that your organization can share.
8. Complain up, not down: Remember “Saving Private Ryan” when Tom Hanks shared the philosophy that leaders could complain up to their leaders but not down to their followers. When you say something bad about someone, the person hearing it may think, “Someday, he will say the same about me.” Always be cognizant of how fragile our sense of self-esteem is.
9. What you take away means more than what you give. I remember a new CEO who started a sales contest, organized a team outing and put together a picnic. However, later that year, he discontinued a holiday event. No one talked about what he added but when the holiday event was eliminated, there were so many complaints and criticisms. Put together a cohesive plan. Get buy-in. Make it their idea. DOWNLOAD Complete Paper
- Barbara Fowler, CMO
Posted by Pete Hayes on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 @ 11:44 AM
Every company must develop a strategic direction that best fits its capabilities and its standing in its marketplace. Most business categories fall into similar market share patterns. There are three major players who, combined, have roughly 70-90% of the market. Then you have a group of small savvy specialists that have identified an underserved audience within the market. These tend to be businesses that succeed based on lower volumes, by definition, but much higher margins. In general, they tend to have no more than 5% of the market each. And, finally, you have the remaining companies in the category that live on the crumbs that are left over.
Where Do You Fit?
Understanding where you company falls within this structure will help you develop your most effective strategies. As a major player, you are forced to compete on all fronts in the market. You must provide products or services to all audiences, fight with your competitors on price, packaging, distribution, level of advertising spend, etc. But as a specialist, you have identified a product offering, or audience segment, or geographic area in which to conduct your business. Consciously focusing on a slice of the market, instead of the market as a whole, gives you the flexibility of maximizing your resources.
You can accomplish your sales objectives by addressing a growing demographic, or a growing region of the country, or by providing a service that the larger players don’t offer, or don’t want to offer because the upside isn’t large enough for them. A $100 million business may not be deemed large enough for companies looking to create $1 billion revenue streams, but it can be a very profitable business for the right specialty company.
Avoid Competing Head to Head with Majors
Competing head to head with a major player can be a real danger for a niche company. The inappropriate conclusion that “we can compete against the big boys”, can lead you to either joining those that eat the crumbs, or can put you out of business. Too often, management sees the success enjoyed by their specialty company and pushes itself to broaden their product offerings, or their demographic target or their geographic footprint. What follows can be an expansion of production capabilities, combined with buying your way into the market segment, and realizing substantially lower margins. You are now faced with lower volume than your larger competitors and a lower margin than you can sustain. This is a formula for extinction.
Identifying the pain points that exist for customers in the market can be sufficient to give your business the competitive edge. Tie breakers can range from better customer service and longer customer service hours to showing flexibility in delivery schedules and billing clients on a more convenient day of the month. Learning these tie breakers in the mind of the customer can win business for a specialist when all other variables appear to be equal to the purchasing department.
Uniqueness is an Advantage
Niche players also enjoy the advantage of having a minimum of substitutability for their products. By satisfying a very specific need in the market, your customers cannot go elsewhere. If your company is the only supplier, or one of a few suppliers, of a service or product, customers, and prospects, cannot take their business elsewhere. This advantage will allow you to concentrate on innovation, and not have to fight day to day with the other companies serving the same market segment. It is tough to find a substitute for Tabasco® sauce when you are cooking. All that company needed to do was to innovate and add new flavors to the original one.
Creating marketing strategies to support your specialist role will help you to continue your growth, drive innovation and keep you away from the fray with the behemoths that dominate your category. Let them continue to spend on broad based marketing tactics while you continue to focus on your segment.
- Steve Yanovsky, CMO
Posted by The Chief Outsider on Tue, Sep 20, 2011 @ 06:14 PM
Grow or die. Grow wrong and die a slow death. Every CEO is faced with the challenge of ensuring results today, this month, this quarter and this year. And everyday tradeoffs need to be made. For example, how often does the CEO get requests for discounting? And when the company responds to these short-term opportunities to secure a big order, how will it limit any negative impact on the long term pricing strategy?
Discounting can bring the big order, the big sales day and help close the quarter with a nice result. It may also elicit a response from your competition, and a demand by your customers, that discounting be the norm and not the exception. Heck, it’s the customer’s responsibility to acquire what they need at the best price they can negotiate. It’s the company’s responsibility to provide fair competitive pricing and remain viable.
“Let’s make it up on volume” has been a chant of many sale
s managers and representatives. They usually don’t think about the long term implications of pricing actions because the sales mentality is very “now” oriented. But CEOs have to ask – how do we reconcile short term pricing pressures with long term pricing strategy?
Let’s get really specific. When the sales manager calls the CEO and says:
“I may be able to get this order, but I need you to approve a 40% discount. I can’t guarantee we will get the order, but I can guarantee that we won’t even be considered if we don’t discount 40%.”
Do you ok the discount and hope to get the order? If yes, how do you make certain you don’t create price erosion? How do you get future orders from this customer and not discount at least 40%? Considering the implications is a key role of the CEO. And the implications go beyond your direct customer relationships, as competition will certainly respond if you lead with discounts. Your market share position will determine the degree of response by your competition.
So make sure you are looking at the long term implications of your short term strategies and tactics so your company will have a long term.
Go to Medsider to learn more from this author on this topic.
- Marshall Perez, Partner & CMO
