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Are You Building a Business That's Ready to Scale - or Just a Business That Has Had Great Growth?
There is a version of business success that feels like momentum but isn't quite there yet.
Learn from the Lost Bid, and Win the Next One
Mon, Oct 6, 2014 — Winning is wonderful; losing is lousy and finding out why you have won or lost is serious business. It is also insightful and critical input to your marketing and sales execution effort. The main goal for most organizations selling services or products is to win more business faster and more cost efficiently. And this often involves a bidding process. We can all relate to the stifling anxiety that comes from waiting for a response—and when unsuccessful at garnering the bid—those moments of depression. It can be an expensive and time-consuming effort to prepare a bid for a major opportunity. With that said, companies often move on to the next prospect without considering the data that may be indispensable for future pursuits. Why a company won or lost a client’s business is just as important as the business itself, since it predicts future business.
Special Challenges for the Family Business: Scale, Skills and Succession
Wed, Oct 1, 2014 — Second in a Two-Part Blog Series If you are an ardent reader of business news, it was hard to escape the sordid tales this past year of the epic battle over family-owned Massachusetts-based grocer Market Basket. It was cousin against cousin as Arthur S. Demoulas, who gained control of the board of the $1.6 billion company, ousted popular CEO Arthur T. Demoulas – causing an outcry that alienated consumers, rallied employees and nearly destroyed the business. Only through a highly-leveraged buyout – and the restoration of “Arthur T.” to the C-suite – did Market Basket ensure its survival – at least, for now.
Unique Advantages of the Family Business: Taking the Long View
Tue, Sep 30, 2014 — Oftentimes, the family is but a supporting player on the entrepreneurial journey. But in many cases, generations of family members have been integral in the past and ongoing operation. This can add an extra dimension to business growth that can, if managed appropriately, give your business unique staying power and a strong foundation for a lasting enterprise to be enjoyed by future generations.
The Brave New World of New Markets - Five Steps to Conquering New Business Frontiers
Wed, Sep 24, 2014 — If there’s one thing that has been constant in the history of America, it’s the spirit of exploration. From Lewis and Clark to Dora the Explorer, our tales of wanderlust have been well-chronicled and have led to great advancements in science, medicine – and business. If you think that’s a heady legacy to live up to, you’re right. However, as responsible business stewards, the need to grow and expand is what fuels our passion to seek new markets for our business. As you consider whether the time is right to expand your company into new markets – either geographically or by customer type – ponder this. According to a study by KPMG, 90 percent of U.S. business executives involved with business development and corporate strategy have seen revenues increase from high growth and emerging markets. This is a sure sign that a broader expansion will open our business up to a world of new possibilities – and financial rewards.
CEOs: Want More Energy? Manage These 5 Buckets
Mon, Sep 22, 2014 — The annual “fill-up” for my leadership bucket comes every August when I attend the Global Leadership Summit – an event that reaches 180,000 leaders around the world. With presentations from amazing leaders – this year including Geoffrey Immelt, Carly Fiorina, Tyler Perry, Patrick Lencioni, plus a number of faith-based CEOs and even pastors – the event covers the gamut for honing leadership skills. Bill Hybels, the man behind this 20-year happening and whose messages are always a highlight, released his new book “Simplify” coincident with the Summit. The premise of the book is this: Leaders who focus on 5 simple areas of their lives will find more clarity and activate more energy to accomplish their God-given purpose on earth. Wow.
Marketing Budget: 7 Benchmarking Questions To Ask
Wed, Sep 3, 2014 — How much do you allocate for a marketing budget? One of the first questions many clients ask is how much to appropriate for a marketing budget. The quick answer for marketing budget allocation is a target of between 3 -8% of a company’s overall sales – with 5% often cited as the norm based upon a review of a range of benchmarking and peer group studies.
Are You Committing Marketing Malpractice? 4 Ways That CEOs Miss the Marketing Mark
Wed, Aug 27, 2014 — A prospective client recently reached out to me, having found me by searching for fractional chief marketing officers on the Internet. This C-suite executive, who shall remain nameless, dispensed with formalities and said, “I am interviewing 15 marketing firms, and I’d like a list of things that we could do for $20,000.” After I took a beat to absorb his “unique” approach, I responded as any ethical Chief Marketing Officer should – calmly explaining that there are many, many steps required before we could even begin to develop a budget to spend those $20,000 hard-earned marketing dollars – things like identifying goals, objectives, priorities and the like.
CEOs: Learn How to Stop Micromanaging
Wed, Jun 11, 2014 — We've probably all had some experience or another with a micromanager, maybe even a micromanaging CEO. But as a CEO, how do you know if you're a micromanager and do you know how to stop? A marketing consultant I know posted on his Facebook page the other day: “Always wonder why some CEOs would rather diddle with things on a web page or other marketing minutia than deal with really important business strategy issues or building a company team.” While I know this was more of an expression of his current frustration with a client than a real question, it got me thinking, and I suspect the answer may be relatively simple: Entrepreneurs stay in startup mode too long.
The One Strategic Marketing Question to Ask
Wed, Jun 4, 2014 — When consulting with businesses, one of the fundamentals I look at is whether their business strategy and marketing efforts are in alignment. Just like a well-aligned vehicle will always move confidently in the right direction, so, too, will a business relationship – provided there’s the right connection between what your customers value, and what you provide. Many times, I will hear companies boast of offering great quality, cost and delivery; how they are innovators; and how they have the best technical support teams. The reality is that it’s quite rare for a firm to be the best at everything – and often, pursuing such a superlative-laden strategy can often be a suboptimal marketing strategy to pursue.