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Winning the Fraud and Cybersecurity Race: A Go-to-Market Blueprint for Competitive Edge
Fraud and cybercrime have become a systemic, trillion-dollar drag on the global economy—but the fight to turn the curve is more than a market opportunity.
Over the past few years, I have worked alongside cybersecurity and fraud-management teams in government, banking, and payments, and nothing is more satisfying than seeing a new solution stop a romance scam or prevent a pensioner from losing their life savings.
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
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.
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?
7 Leadership Insights for CEOs from a U.S. Air Force Major General
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 — “Be the boss you wish you had” is the cornerstone of leadership wisdom that was imparted by US Air Force Major General Garrett Harencak to those attending a recent networking meeting by the Commerce & Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ). Major General Garrett Harencak, a highly decorated general, captivated the audience for an hour speaking on a subject he is passionate about: leadership. According to the General, leadership is something that you have to “practice every day”. Admittedly, it is not something that he has fully mastered, although I am sure he is quite accomplished. Leadership is something CEOs, small business owners, or anyone leading a team (in business or otherwise) can always strive to improve upon (including myself).
The New CEO Mandate
Mon, Sep 17, 2012 — Guest post by Luis Gallardo, Author of Brands & Rousers: The Holistic System to foster High-Performing Businesses, Brands & Careers.
Win/Win Outcomes When You Have Family In The Business
Wed, Sep 5, 2012 — Ricci Victorio is our guest blogger this week. She is an expert in dealing with Family Businesses. If you are the CEO or owner of a family business and are preparing for a succession transition to the next generation, it is likely you are facing some very difficult decisions that will affect the lives of your family and business team. After working with family businesses through the maze of succession planning issues for nearly 20 years, I have come to believe there is no business gain worth a family loss. The only way through difficult issues is to address them in a straightforward objective manner with a commitment to finding a win/win solution, not a win/lose scenario on anyone’s behalf. Does this scenario sound familiar? Key members in a family business have been battling with each other for the last several years as to how to manage and share assets related to their family business, as well as who should assume the mantle of President. Issues have now escalated where legal action may be initiated.
Passing the Baton: Helping Family Businesses Prosper!
Thu, Aug 2, 2012 — What Makes a Family Business Work? This past week, I had lunch with Christopher Wolfslayer, a colleague fromSovereign Bank who is in charge of Business Development, and the subject of family businesses came up. Both of us have had a lot of experience working with families that work and live together and we shared some of our perspectives.
Jim Collins' Great By Choice: SMaC Develops Your "Brand"
Tue, Jul 17, 2012 — What we can learn from Jim Collins' Great By Choice I’m a huge Jim Collins fan (and look forward to seeing him at the Global Leadership Summit Aug 9/10). But I will admit that I haven’t read all of his books cover to cover. You know, you pull a few cool ideas then lose interest once the nuggets have been revealed. That was until Jim Collins' “Great By Choice." I couldn’t put this one down and I couldn’t get enough. Perhaps it’s having the perspective from his prior findings, models and perspectives to build upon. But I found “Great By Choice” to be Jim’s best and most practical piece yet. In summary, I found that this wonderful book shares simple, actionable truths applicable to businesses of all sizes. Use SMaC to Develop Your Brand - Practices Can Last Decades Like many, I use a Kindle and enjoy highlighting and making notes as I go. Then I go back and review the “greatest hits” to be sure I’m activating the concepts I had hoped to retain. Having just done that, I was again taken by the SMaC (Specific, Methodical and Consistent) model and approach with this summary: “A solid SMaC recipe is the operating code for turning strategic concepts into reality, a set of practices more enduring than mere tactics. Tactics change from situation to situation, whereas SMaC practices can last for decades and apply across a wide range of circumstances.” - Jim Collins' “Great By Choice” Chapter 6 Struck by the phrase “practices can last for decades,” because it’s perhaps an unspoken truth that the 10X (winning) companies build their reputations (their brands) by executing consistently, over time. Collins’ references to company recipes and even the U.S. Constitution Articles that don’t change from year to year, but may evolve with highly considered amendments, is a reminder of knowing what you stand for. In our firm, we find this so important we’ve made it a centerpiece of our approach with clients, specifically our Purpose-Driven Marketing. With a business’ purpose in place – a purpose that reflects their knowledge of the marketplace – one can make plans, decisions and take actions with a consistency that other companies can’t.
Embrace Social Media--You Know You Have To, But How?
Mon, Jul 16, 2012 — What About Some Lessons? Many CEOs/CMOs have been persuaded (some dragged kicking and screaming) to the value of social media and other inbound marketing techniques. However, being persuaded of the value and knowing what to do are entirely different issues. It's overwhelming. It's a bit like persuading your "unmotivated" teenager of the value of a college education and then getting them to actually study. You have successfully persuaded them of the long term value, but the short term work it is going to take is a different story.