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Go-To-Market Cultural Alignment: The Invisible Variable in U.S. Expansion
Many companies that find success outside the United States have one thing in common: the need to succeed in the U.S. market.
That is not complicated or surprising. The United States is the largest economy in the world and, in many categories, the single biggest available market. World Bank data clearly shows the scale of the U.S. economy relative to most global markets. For companies in high-tech, scientific, medical, industrial, and systems integration sectors, the U.S. is not just attractive. It is strategic.
Company leaders want to grow. The U.S. is where they look. They are not wrong.
5 Ways Customer Experience can Influence Sales Growth [Infographic]
Fri, Feb 23, 2018 — According to Accenture, the business costs of poor customer experiences can be as much as $1.6 Trillion from U.S. consumers who switch their service to a different brand or service provider. However, CEOs and companies who demonstrate a continuous pursuit of excellence in customer experience reap not only long-term customer loyalty, but also positively impact revenue growth. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, enjoys sharing the story in his bestselling book [Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose] about a client of his who wanted pizza late at night even though hotel room service was closed. Hsieh challenged his client to call Zappos customer service for his order even though it’s a fashion retailer – and, thanks to his customer service staff, pizza was delivered at 2AM.
Random Acts of Sales and Marketing: Questions for Unity
Thu, Feb 22, 2018 — A random act of kindness is defined as a non-premeditated, inconsistent action designed to offer kindness towards the outside world. Things like buying the stranger in line behind you a cup of coffee, or shoveling snow off of someone’s driveway. While these types of random acts of kindness are a wonderful way to give back, it doesn’t work quite so well in the realm of sales and marketing. In fact, they can ruin a company’s reputation and ability to grow. You would think CEOs would all shy away from letting this happen. But it’s happening all the time in businesses of all types and sizes.
CEO’s Guide to Improving the Customer Experience
Wed, Feb 21, 2018 — Part 1 of a 3-Part Series "The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer." - Peter Drucker With that simple, concise statement management consulting legend, Peter Drucker, captured the essence of business. He also made it clear it all starts with the customer. That’s never more true than today. The era of the empowered consumer, driven largely by technology, has resulted in customers demanding more of companies and wanting the experience to be delivered on their terms.
“Less is More”: Four Steps to Aligning Your Project Queue and Goals Today
Fri, Feb 16, 2018 — There was a time in our lives when “busywork” might have been a good idea. Back in school, it was the way many of us created that semblance of subterfuge when we had expeditiously completed the assigned work, and were now just interested in writing a note to the girl two seats over.
Only the Paranoid Survive: Three Steps to Being a Disruptive Innovator
Thu, Jan 11, 2018 — There is a much-ballyhooed Harvard Business School case study which examines the competition between athletic shoe companies Nike and Reebok -- before Nike became the behemoth it is today, and when Reebok was a tiny company making its first attempts at scaling up. Nike, at the time, was a “runner’s runner” shoe, aimed at the hardcore, “rise-at-5 a.m.-and-run-like-the-wind” customer. Nike’s signature advertising visual at the time was very compelling: The perspective, down the length of a deserted Manhattan avenue in the early morning hours. A glimmer of the sunrise peeked around one building; no traffic or people were around – with the exception of a lone runner, a tiny figure against the cityscape. It characterized what Nike stood for – hardcore training -- and that famous ad resonated hugely with Nike users. It was about the discipline and fulfillment of running. Shoe comfort at the time, while adequate, clearly was secondary.
Supercharging Your SWOT, Step One: Consolidating Your SWOT
Wed, Jan 10, 2018 — Conducting your SWOT analysis was fun, wasn’t it? It allowed you to take a break from working in your business, and allowed you to work on your business — a valuable step back during which you were able to take a breather from the day-to-day grind, and view the big picture of your business with clarity. No matter how long your SWOT process lasted, undoubtedly, once you got rolling, the information flowed — resulting in a growing cavalcade of lists that characterized your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Get in “Gear”: How a Market Focus Can Propel Your Company Forward in 2018
Fri, Jan 5, 2018 — For CEOs reading this blog, you are undoubtedly working to emerge from a bit of holiday malaise in your enterprise. Though you would love to enjoy peace on earth and spreading good will to all mankind, you still have a business to run – and 2018’s benchmarks, objectives and targets will be here before you know it.
Do I Need a Chief Growth Officer? Five Questions to Ask Your Top Marketer in 2018
Wed, Jan 3, 2018 — Back when my hair was long, and my taste in music was more eclectic, I was a huge fan of the musician Neil Young. Among the great albums he issued was one called “Rust Never Sleeps” – introduced at a time when newer artists threatened his relevance.
The Marketing Health Check: 5 Questions to Ask Right Now to Prep for 2018
Wed, Dec 13, 2017 — Another calendar year is just about in the books – and the atmosphere around most businesses is decidedly festive. Your staff, no doubt, is thinking about spreading cheer, forgetting about old acquaintances, and making plans for that dead zone between Christmas and New Year’s when the most mission critical strategic consideration is whether to drive or fly to grandma’s house for the holidays.