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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.
8 Words to Help the CEO Create the Vision
Mon, Nov 5, 2012 — What would DaVinci’s vision be for three pieces of alabaster? Your most important activity as a CEO is to create the vision for success. I once worked for a CEO who was brought in to a struggling company and he only lasted 12 months. The team he was brought into manage correlated his vision to "arranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic." Was his vision flawed? If not, then what went wrong? Did he gain trust, agreement, readiness and shared consensus? Was there something wrong with his vision? How does your team rate you? Let’s think of some great visionaries and what they had in common. DaVinci, Edison, Einstein, Jefferson, Bell, Zuckerberg, Gates are considered great visionaries. They all focused on the result that their vision would achieve. They all created the vision. They all communicated the vision and they all kept trying. Once they created the vision they were single-minded in the mission and strategies to achieve their vision. Did their vision make them trusted leaders? Michael Gelb, NY Times best-seller list author and executive coach, writes in his Vision Crafting article (Executive Excellence Magazine, Jan 1996) on leadership techniques to create a winning vision. Gelb lists 8 key words to remember when crafting the vision. 1. “Juicy - inspiring, energizing, alive“ 2. “Original - a unique expression of you, your company or team” 3. “Succinct - every word packed with meaning” 4. “Inclusive - reflecting the concerns of all stakeholders” 5. “Positive-active - focused, and affirming” 6. “Memorable - everyone knows it by heart” 7. “Aligned - with universal principles and basic goodness” 8. “Integrated - into everyday behavior” Gelb goes on to recommend that the CEO use “Mind Mapping” techniques to craft visions, missions, strategies, and value statements, because the CEO must develop the ability to understand patterns of change and see the web of connections that underlie complex systems. Gelb goes on to state: “Outlining is a reflection of a hierarchical mind-set. Although valuable as a tool for presenting ideas in a formal, orderly fashion, it is useful only after the real thinking has been done.”
The Accidental CEO and 5 Steps to Avoid Being the Reluctant CEO
Sun, Oct 28, 2012 — The Age Old Story You were content in life, working to contribute in operations, sales or product/technology development. You were a master, an expert in your field and were comfortable in your skin. Then the business was rocked when the leading family member became seriously ill; or your key partner suddenly seemed to go nuts — focusing on personal enrichment at the expense of the business; or simply sudden CEO succession was needed. It is an age-old story, a company needs a competent new leader — and through no fault or desire of your own, you find yourself playing the central role of the accidental or reluctant CEO. Over the years, I have met countless CEOs who never aspired to the position of business leader. Some took on the three letter title at startup but never really expected to be the leader of a significant, complex and demanding business. Others were suddenly thrust into the role to save the company or replace a previous CEO. Regardless of how it transpired, these CEOs did not aspire, position or groom themselves to lead a business, but they did step up when required.
Business Analytics: Where Do We Go From Here?
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 — Bloomberg Research Services has recently published a report entitled "The Current State of Business Analytics: Where Do We Go From Here?” In this publication several key findings from a survey of 930 global businesses in various industries were highlighted. I found these insights to be particularly useful: Business analytics is still in the “emerging stage.” While business analytics has gone mainstream, most organizations still rely on traditional technology. Spreadsheets are the number-one tool used for business analytics. Organizations are proceeding cautiously in their adoption of analytics. Use of business analytics within companies has grown over the past year, but at a moderate rate. Analytics also tend to be used narrowly within departments or business units, not integrated across the organization. Intuition based on business experience is still the driving factor in decision-making. Analytics is used as part of the decision process at varying levels, depending on the organization. Companies are looking to analytics to solve big issues, with the primary focus on money: reducing costs, improving the bottom line, and managing risks. Data is the number-one challenge in the adoption or use of business analytics. Companies continue to struggle with data accuracy, consistency, and even access. Many organizations lack the proper analytical talent. Businesses that struggle with making good use of analytics often don’t know how to apply the results. Culture plays a critical role in the effective use of business analytics. Companies that have built an “analytics culture” are reaping the benefits of their analytics investments.
5 Steps to Making the Right CRM Decision for Your Business
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 — Today's Guest Blog is by Barret Blank, President and CEO of BB2e
5 “Wake Up” Marketing Insights from the CMO Breakfast Forum
Tue, Oct 23, 2012 — Marketing Executives from Comcast, BuzzManager and the Brownstein Group shared valuable “learnings” on how they deal with the challenges of building and protecting their brands at our recent CMO Breakfast held in Philadelphia. All of the panelist agreed with discussion moderator, Daniel Korschun Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Marketing at Drexel University, when asked if they thought the findings of a recent CMO survey conducted by Duke University were accurate. The Duke survey found that in the current marketing landscape there is: More intense rivalry for customers More competitor innovation Increase in number of domestic competitors More competitor price cutting
6 Reasons for Marketing Involvement In Supply Chain Management
Mon, Oct 22, 2012 — Customer Relationship Management The idea that a company can increase their competitiveness by focusing on how a company interacts with its customers is not new but little has been accomplished to this end across corporate America. In 1992 the Harvard Business Review published a ground-breaking paper called Staple Yourself to an Order. I came across this paper several years after it was written, while I was in an operations and logistics role and it captured my imagination. In essence what the paper was saying is that companies did not have an end-to-end process around customer relationship management. There were no processes in place to manage the customer at every interaction point in a consistent manner. There is a great chart in this document on page 6 entitled "Why Orders Fall through the Cracks" (see below) that really captures the issue and illustrates a typical organizational structure and what happens to a customer going through the entire process of placing an order.
Positioning and Differentiation from the Ground Up
Sun, Oct 21, 2012 — I have heard many CEOs say, “I do not know how to explain what we do." Positioning your company in the marketplace and differentiating it from its competition are absolutely critical to survival. But what steps do you take to turn a murky corporate image into a firm message that communicates quickly and opens wallets?
The Power of Yelp: You Can't Ignore It
Thu, Oct 4, 2012 — What do you do when you want to try a new restaurant? Well maybe not you in particular, but many people turn to Yelp. Yelp is a social site where members post reviews of local businesses where they eat, shop and go to for services. And many people read those reviews. In fact, Yahoo News reported that a 1/2 star change in reviews can increase customers in the restaurant by almost 20%.
The Importance of Authentic Service and Hospitality in Business
Tue, Oct 2, 2012 — What Makes Exceptional Service in Your Business? Recently I have been looking more closely at service — which factors contribute to great service in business and which elevate the quality of service to exceptional levels. I have considered both the objective, measurable components of service as well as the subjective — less tangible factors that focus on the specific relationship between those served and those serving. It's fairly simple for us to evaluate the concrete aspects of service. We, as marketers, preach and follow mantras of "what gets measured, gets done," and "if we can't measure it, we can't manage it." We rate and measure service quality with customer satisfaction research and Net Promoter scores. Measurement is, and will continue to be, a critical component of our understanding and responding to day-to-day performance in our businesses. In today's increasingly competitive market though, is evaluating only the easily measured variables sufficient? Is doing this alone enough to raise our customer service from great to exceptional? Does it ensure that our business performance is consistent with our vision, values and strategy?