Strategy

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Strategy Tagged Articles

8 Signs of a Positive Leader
How do we know when we're following a true leader instead of a sensationalist?

Leaders and Signs
Success and/or failure in organisations doesn't "just happen". Invariably there are indicators of which leaders should be aware. In this article Doug Long suggests a process for incorporating early warning signs into the planning process of any organisation.

The Four Magic Business Bullets – Strategy, Intellectual Capital, Innovation, Implementation
When a serious attempt is made to transform any organization, the return on investment in the building and linking of strategies to accomplish the mission and vision of the organization will be substantial. Strategic thinking and planning will allow the organization to both sustain itself and grow. Strategy is where the rubber meets the road. Great strategies begin with solid leadership!

Whatâ€™s Your Marketing Number?
If you run your own company, you know how easy it is to get overwhelmed by all the day-to-day tasks to keep your business on target. But what about the employees in your company? How do they know what to focus on?

Developing a Strategic Plan
Developing a specific Strategic Plan is fundamental to organizational progress. Once an organization has a concrete set of values, a vision, a mission, and a set of behaviors, it is time to document the strategic plan with tactics. This article gives a brief outline of the process.

Resolve to Follow the 5 Stages of Planning for a Prosperous 2010

With the challenges and uncertainties facing small business owners in 2010, a well-crafted plan is more important than ever. Many companies with 2009 plans that were “in my head” or “sketched on a napkin” aren’t making plans for 2010; they’re no longer in business. Unless your 2010 plans include becoming a statistic, you must resolve to commit the resources necessary to develop a high quality plan for 2010. Developing an actionable plan that increases your odds of success is as technically demanding as any of the products or services you offer to customers.

Simple Strategy Plan
What would improvement look like in your organization or area of responsibility? (What would make your area or organization better?) List those items as specifically as possible.

Planning and Implementation
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail

What To Do At Your Next Networking Event
Here is a brief guide to help you make your next networking event your best networking event.

Recipes for Success
Those B School recipes for success need an update.

Managing smart or fire-fighting?
So many managers at all levels are principally fire-fighting and simply not planning, strategic and thinking deeply enough to provide the best solutions for their own productivity and for the sustainability of their organizations.

Strategic Thinking and Quick Reaction to New Information is the Key to Organizational Survival.

The future is unknowable, unpredictable and undetermined. However, many leaders and their organizations remain mesmerized by the Newtonian promise of control and certainty. This continued belief has taught us to do very little until the organization is absolutely certain they know what will happen in detail. When action is finally taken, the actions are taken as if the organizations truly can see the outcomes. This type of thinking needs to change if your organization is to survive.

What Do People See In Your Marketing?
The great unspoken truth about Marketing is that while marketers create names, taglines, websites, social media campaigns, etc. – they are unlikely to know WHY people reacted positively to their work. They may think they understand, but odds are they’ve simply been lucky.

Top 5 Ways To Annoy Your Prospective Customers
Do you know if your marketing efforts are backfiring on you? Look through the list to ensure that your well meaning work is actually causing you professional harm.

Is Life Fair?
Life surely seemed fair when we were on a roll.

We Are Responsible
We make the choice for fairness - or not.

Life in the Stream
Our audience is speaking to us, but are we listening? Twitter is.

Extreme Measures
Companies practice CYA because not doing so opens them up to frivolous litigation. What about our personal responsibility?

Increase sales by optimizing your sales funnel
Businesses sell but are rarely as intentional as they should be about it. While a business might do a lot of things to market and sell their products, they might be doing too much! Even more success with less effort is possible by taking a closer look at the sales funnel. Use these strategies to optimize your sales funnel and get more people buying from you faster.

Features VS. Benefits-the Key to Jolting Your Sales NOW
Focusing on the benefits of your product and/or service is key to successful marketing. Learn how to increase your sales with these simple marketing strategy adjustments.

Avoiding Risk: The Opposite of Being an Entrepreneur?
Learn how to incorporate and implement bold new ideas into your business plan with this six step process.

The Way We've Always Done It
The way we've always done it' is usually the reason we're in a mess.

Business Plans: Uses and Abuses

“Some men see things as they are and say "Why?". I dream of things that never were and say "Why not?" (George Bernard Shaw) Do you ever dream about business success and wonder how to make it happen? We all have aspirational dreams and goals but how many of us know how to turn them into reality. Many of you will have thought about writing business plans to make your dreams come true and been put off, thinking them either too hard to write, not necessary, or feeling that they are not really needed as the plans are already in your head. In fact it is important that you create plans, as they provide focus and a pathway for you to follow to achieve your business goals. In principle plans are not that difficult to write, providing some fundamentals are clearly identified and followed before you start the process.

Business Plans: Summary Format

Do you dream about business success and wonder how to make it happen? We all have aspirational dreams and goals but how many of us know how to turn them into reality. Many will have thought about writing business plans to make goals become a reality but been put off, thinking them either too hard to write or not necessary. In fact it is important that you create plans, as they provide focus and a pathway for you to follow to achieve your business goals. In principle plans are not that difficult to write, providing some fundamentals are clearly identified and followed before you start the process. The following main areas should be summarised:

Take Control and Increase Growth - Article 1 of 4
The purpose of this article is to help business owners understand the key daily decisions that influence dependence on external funding and either limit or expand the growth potential of a business. There are essentially 4 decisions: 1. cash; 2. people; 3. strategy; and 4. execution. Article 1 of 4 will focus on cash.

Asymmetry
When we market to someone, weâ€™re looking for a reaction (ideally, a purchase). Just like when we talk to someone, we want them to listen. When we donâ€™t get the immediate reaction, we feel like weâ€™ve failed.

Marketing Happiness
The marketing equation is simple: convince someone that theyâ€™ll be happier if they buy your product or service and youâ€™ll make a sale. Do it often enough, and youâ€™ll be rich. But does buying your offering really equal happiness, or are you selling a pipe dream?

Four Common Errors on Social Media Strategy and How To Prevent Them
Social media marketing has attracted a lot of public attention in the past two years, largely made up of success stories from major brands, niche companies, and successful internet celebrities who have used it to their advantage. However, despite the success for some, there has been a great deal of major commercial failures in social media.

If it Looks like a Duck....
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck - let it be a duck.

All I Ask...
7 things to remember about how to treat a customer.

Don't expect an invitation to the recovery

When recovery begins, you aren't going to get an invitation, and it's not going to happen overnight. It's a slow process, like watching water boil on a campfire made of sticks and limbs. It won't change while you're watching. But when it does, will you be ready? You can't turn your best efforts at the snap of a finger, you have to be prepared. When new customers start coming and old customers start returning, you're going to have ONE chance, so you better be prepared.

Execute Your Strategic Framework Part I
Business schools tend to teach strategy development, but executing strategies is the critical factor. The problem with poor performance is rarely bad planning. Leading and executing strategies is a difficult and formidable task. Mather explores why strategies often fail to produce results and what to do about it.

Business Tip 3 Getting Profitable Action
Few executives successfully connect others to the organization’s desired outcomes. Often what’s missing in their conversation is contrast.

Executing Your Strategic Framework Part II
Business schools tend to teach strategy development, but executing strategies is the critical factor. The problem with poor performance is rarely bad planning. Leading and executing strategies is a difficult and formidable task. In part two of this series, Mather explores a non-traditional way to produce results by implementing a strategig framework.

Business Tip 2: Follow The Money
When asked, virtually all executives we interview complain that their margins are shrinking. This is a concern since our market is a global, hyper competitive commodity and price driven, margin battering place. How you made money last year may not make you money this year.

Future Shock

Adam Toffler wrote a book by this title about change in 1970. Many of the principles he explained then still apply today. But... this article isn't about change. This article is about compassion, leadership, integrity and "Mentors". Do you remember who your mentors were? Do you currently have a mentor? Is there someone in your organization that you really respect, someone you look up to, someone who's actions and words have a real impact on how you live your life, perform your job and think about your future? If you do, whether you or they know it or not, they are mentoring you. Or, you may be mentoring them. Of course it is much more effective if it is done in the conscious state and both of you acknowledge your independent obligations to the process.

Its Time to Revisit Strategy

This year has been a tough year. Even the most respected economists can’t say for sure when we will see the real recovery. The good news is that there are positive signs. Even better news is the fact that you made through one of the roughest recessions in our history. That means you have cleaned out your closets, weeded your garden, upgraded your work force and created a team of employees that are the best of the best.

Don't Let Strategy Puzzle You

We sometimes have a tendency to try putting our strategic plan together without having a real picture of where we want to go, and what we really want the business to become. It's like driving in the dark or putting that puzzle together with no reference at all. Often times action plans are even written, segment and product initiatives are developed and the management team attends a retreat where they come up with fifty four grand ideas, drink the same Kool Aid and sing the same motivational song. Six months later they have accomplished very little, and they can't figure out why they aren't achieving great success.

Possibilities and Potential
As we close the books on another year, it becomes clear what we achieved and where we hit the target, and also what didn’t get done and where our efforts went way off target. So looking forward, it’s important to look at both the possibilities of all we can do to refine our craft and increase profits, and at the same time not burn out.

I'll Do It Tomorrow
“Procrastination is opportunity's natural assassin.” ~Victor Kiam

Is Yesterday's News Preventing Your Success?
Never underestimate the power of focus to create success.

Signs
How often do we see a sign in business and simply ignore it?

6 Disciplines Necessary to Succeed In Business
If you currently own a business and you've been struggling to find ways to build your revenue and profits then it's time to get serious. Focus on those things you need to do to really make a difference this year.There are six aspects of your business that you can concentrate on that will allow you, in a period of 12 months, to double your turnover and profits. Here they are...

A, B, C's of Execution

The anchor of any execution plan is your organization's strategy; it informs and drives every tactic and activity that people are engaged in. I see too many organizations executing a number of tactics with no strategic plan or context to give them meaning. So, before describing what 'good' execution looks like, make sure you have a strategy to lean on. If not, go back to square one and create one. In addition, when creating your strategy, spend significant time on thinking through implementation. Avoid the trap of spending 80% of your time on the essence of your strategy and 20% on execution. Reverse your focus and spend 80% of your time on executional planning.

BE DiFFERENT Absolutes of Change
Don't change for the sake of change. Consider these drivers to build your business...

Beware of Mangers of Irrelevance
When strategic progress is lethargic, look for managers hanging on to old stuff…

BE DiFFERENT = Evolve AND Distinguish
Its not good enough to evolve and adapt to a changing world, you must distinguish youself in the sea of competition...

Top Value Brands (Part 2 of 2)
The communication of value is where the real trick lies. After all, Target didn't get to be known for designer quality on a budget by getting lucky or stumbling upon something that worked. Effective communication of value is a product of three things: positioning, implicit communication and audience touch points.

The Best Marketing Parable You Ever Heard
In This timeless parable adapted by marketing expert Issamar Ginzberg, A deep understanding of marketing and how to satisfy your clients and customers is taught. See why even clowns on tricycles couldn't cheer him up... but a homeless man could.

Strategy vs. Tactics: Which Drives Your Organization?
You don't have unlimited time or resources to do a hundred things. If your organization is 'raining down' with tactics you could be chasing stuff as opposed to being guided by the stragegic direction you have set.

Easy Networking For Your Job Search
The analogy between the layers of an onion and networking – “the layers system”

Why Your Job Search May Be Taking Forever
Important strategies to implement to improve your job search results

Strategic Alignment – The Missing Link In Most Organizations
Achieving strategic alignment is a major undertaking for any organization, but it is worth the effort. When there is unity and alignment, the energy of the entire organization is focused on those priorities that result in the realization of the vision and the successful execution of the business strategy.

Sustainable Business is Good Business
Sustainability is a worldwide movement that is changing the way we do business. Sustainability is a megatrend that reflects a general shift in thinking or approach affecting entire countries, industries, and organizations. Sustainability is the next transformational business megatrend comparable to mass production, manufacturing quality movement, IT revolution, and globalization.

5S Applied to the CEO Role
We’ve taken the 5S concept and philosophy that is traditionally applied to workplaces, shop floors and operations and applied it to the role of the CEO and to the performance improvement of the enterprise.

Conducive Environments for Leveraging Economic Opportunity in Africa
There is no lack of opportunity in Africa. But the road to converting those opportunities to business success is often paved with obstacles. The question becomes not what opportunities exist in Africa, but how to make them work.

Operational Innovation

There is an opportunity for almost every company to gain advantage through operational innovation. Operational innovation simply means identify key business processes and innovating in them to achieve faster throughput, or to provide some new convenience or wow factor customers, or to bring cost of offerings down in a dramatic fashion.This article explains operational innovation with help of an example.

Business after recession
This article describes the strategies to be adapted by the business manager/owner to tackle the recession in an effective manner.

Sustainability Driven Innovation

Sustainable innovations are creating new business models, opening up new markets and providing competitive advantages. Sustainable innovation is also improving profitability. Companies around the world are demonstrating how innovative sustainable practices are bettering their bottom line. A focus on sustainability is enabling organisations to innovate, differentiate themselves and succeed. Although sustainable practices were once dismissed for being too costly, increasing numbers of companies are coming to the realization that sustainable innovations are a gateway to growth. Visionary business leaders who anticipate the winds of change and creatively develop sustainable products and processes will thrive in the rapidly changing economic landscape.

Can you describe the strategy for your business growth in 6 words?
Most strategies fail to get executed because the folk charged with execution don't understand the strategy or it has not been personalised sufficiently for them to take appropriate action. Being able to describe our strategy succinctly increases the likelihood of buy-in and personalisation.

IT'S GOOD TO BE PARANOID
n the past, paranoia was viewed negatively; however, today paranoia reflects the reality of business today.

Case Study – Create A Great Strategic Alliance
Search for the standout projects/challenges that can showcase how good you are. It’s worth a phone call to ask permission to showcase the client/vendor in your materials. In addition, invite them to publish the same case study in their marketing materials – which will extend your reach too.

Do you have the sales force your strategy needs?
The other week I ran a webinar on ‘How to clearly manage and measure your sales team’. During the webinar I was asked many questions, one of which came from a senior sales leader, “With some time to reflect over the Christmas break, what is the one thing I should focus on getting right for my business?”

Simple tips for marketing your business
Marketing your business is one of the most important things you can do to ensure its success. This may sound obvious to you, but many entrepreneurs who are specialists in their own fields find themselves stumped when it comes to marketing.

Some Call It Non-Strategic. I Call It CRAP
CRAP is the enemy of progress in an organization...

SHOUTS For The ONE and ONLY
Here's a list of some organizations that have chosen my ONLY Statement to declare their distinctiveness...

Begin with the End in Mind
Implementing the principle of Begin with the End in Mind actually helps streamline choices and decisions to align with your long-term vision for your business. Writing the business plan simply documents it.

Your Strategic Plan in 7 Days?
Is it possible to create a corporate strategic plan in a week? The answer depends from where you are starting. Are you starting from the most current plan? What results are wanted out of the process this time around? What are the definitions you want to attach to “strategic plan”, and to “done”?

(Another) Six Competencies to Covet
Hope the first six-pack was useful. Here are six more traits to acquire in your Competency Coveting journey....

The Three Things A Job Seeker Must Know to Use Social Networking as a Job Search Tool
Social Networking is the rage right now. Using them in a job search can be amazingly helpful or an incredible waste of time. This article gives some ideas of how to use these networks successfully.

10 Mistakes Job Searchers Make
You've started a job search. You are excited about the prospects of finding the perfect job. Of course you have a concern about how long the job search will take but you want to make sure your job search is effective. Here are some mistakes you'll want to avoid.

PUNK YOUR BRAND

Malcolm McLaren, one of the major forces behind the Punk movement died a few months ago. He was an "unreasonable" man and we can all learn alot from how unreasonable people push the boundaries. McLaren was the marketing genius that propelled the punk movement into the spotlight and amplified its effect on our society and consciousness. He did such a good job that even now we all still hold a visceral understanding of the feelings and motivations behind the punk movement. Learn how to PUNK YOUR BRAND!

Business Opportunity in the Internet Jungle

Business opportunity online can sometimes feel like a jungle. Jungles entice the adventuresome to experience an awe-inspiring mixture of fantastic creatures and vegetation that teases and tickles our mental imagery of gliding through the air on a vine. In reality, the jungle is fraught with danger for the uninitiated who venture into its depths alone. Embarking on a safari into the jungle without a pathfinder or a guide would simply not be a smart decision. A guide will ensure that your journey through the jungle will be a safe and enjoyable experience.

Comfortable with the Uncomfortable
Human beings have an amazing capacity to adapt. But adapting too easily in the face of discomfort can leave us stuck in a no-way-out situation.

Is There a Solopreneur Business Model?
When you set up your own business, a common question you get from friends, family, peers, vendors and clients is, “What’s your business model?

Overcoming “Game Day Conditions” in Business

In your game plan for business success, there is no doubt that from time to time adverse conditions will appear. How do you respond? We are experiencing times of change, fear, and uncertainty; the likes of which many have never seen before. Discomfort is inevitable, how you respond to it is controllable. Do you “call off the game and head back to the locker room” or do you stick to the game plan and find a way to win the day?

Build Your Own Strategic Plan
Creating a strategic plan for your life can literally change your whole experience in whatever you want to do. Wouldn't you like to be in better control of your destiny from year to year? You can, just read and follow the advice in this article.

What’s the difference between a member, a client and a customer?

What’s in a name? Well, there seems to be some confusion in the market place around the terminology used to describe those people who pay us money for goods, services, experiences, donations, etc. Different industries can have different terms for the consumers of their products and/or services. We see terms such as customer, client, patient, guest, patron, member, subscriber, donor, etc. used to describe a person who buys our products or services and intends to use them directly. In short, these terms are referring to the same person – the ‘end user’. However, not everyone ‘consumes’ our products or services or is the intended ‘end user’. Some people or businesses buy our products or services to ‘on sell’ them to another party, often the final end user, but not always.

Through the looking glass

Many sales people are tired of being told that they need to sell like someone else to be successful. Many are unsure of what they should be modelling. Too often they are told to ‘just be like’ someone else but with no reference to what that actually looks like they are left poking around in the dark mimicking the ‘star’ performer and left feeling unauthentic. And ‘big sticks’, bribes or fear don’t help either. Most people, and especially sales people, want to be the best they can be but without having to be someone else. Clearly defining what good performance looks like is key. Here is a model we use where we focus on three key areas...

Change Leadership: The Keys to Success

Responding to and initiating change in today’s organization is a prerequisite to maintaining or gaining competitive advantage. Yet many organizations fail in bringing about worthwhile change. If you are tasked with leading a change initiative in your organization, then this article is essential reading. Leslie Allan provides a starkly honest and compelling overview of what it takes to be a change champion in today’s business environment.

High and Low Sales and Marketing
Succeed in sales and marketing by alternating between high level strategy and low level detail. Learn tips to maximize your effectiveness at each stage of the purchasing cycle.

Persistence, Purpose and Passion

Think about the business owners you admire or the mentors you listen to. They’ve told you story after story of what they did to be successful. Those stories were a great way to make a point so that you would remember it. Think about all those stories for a minute. There are some common threads you’ll find among all those admirable leaders. Those common threads are key lessons you must apply to your solo business to assure your success and prosperity too.

Recession-Proof Your Business

In a recession you face one of two decisions. Do you stay the course "as is" or do you make a big change? Can you reinvent your business and focus squarely on ideas on how to drive revenue? Victor Cheng, author of The Recession-Proof Business, analyzed the last 12 recessions going back 136 years in US economic history. He was looking for examples of companies that had begun as small businesses during a recession, depression or economic panic and generated significant sales in a down economy. He discovered dozens of such cases, and Cheng developed four crucial guidelines to reinvent and recession-proof your business.

How Good is 99 Percent?

How many times have you heard the expression: "good enough for government work?" Too often I am sure. Sometimes it may even apply to your business or other activities. Of course, that is not your standard of excellence. Most of the time you strive for better than 90 percent perfection, don't you? What if we strived for 99 percent? Sounds good, doesn't it? No more than one error in a hundred. But how good is that really?

Hyperfocus - Control Cash - Write! - Pulse Faster

Fast growth companies continue to hire even as our economy struggles to recover. What makes these companies tick? How do they continue to prosper and grow in these economic times? Here are our ‘Final Four” timeless strategies for doing just that. And successful executive teams gather once a week vs. annually to get some talk time around the strategies I've outlined for growing your business. It's about having a bias for action …

Six Foolproof Ways to Make Sure Your Company Thrives

Fast growth companies continue to hire even as our economy struggles to recover. What makes these companies tick? How do they continue to prosper and grow in these economic times? Here are six timeless strategies for doing just that, courtesy of Verne Harnish, creator of MIT's Birthing of Giants program, and founder of Gazelles, Inc. Whether you run a small or midsize business or manage a department in a larger company, these strategies will work for you ...

Refresh Your Competitive Advantage
"Evolution requires us to continually refresh our competitive advantage ... always with some part of our business portfolio at risk and in play. To innovate forever ... it is not a strategy; it is requirement." (Geoffrey Moore). Whoever learns faster-and-acts- wins! Don't fall behind -- Out-Read, Out-Learn Your Competition and Customers ...

Do You Own a Phrase?

Fast growth companies continue to hire even as our economy struggles to recover. What makes these companies tick? How do they continue to prosper and grow in these economic times? Here are six timeless strategies for doing just that, courtesy of Verne Harnish, creator of MIT's Birthing of Giants program, and founder of Gazelles, Inc. This week's focus is on a strategy to highlight and communicate your brand. Do you own a phrase?

Andre Agassi Had the Wrong Big Goal
Critics are calling Andre Agassi's autobiography, entitled Open: An Autobiography, the best sports biography ever written given Agassi's candor. He has always hated tennis, lied about his drug use, wore a wig when he had long hair, etc. A major turning point in his career was when he realized he was pursuing the wrong long-term goal (BHAG) for himself …

The Power of Full Engagement
We live in digital time. Our pace is rushed, rapid fire, and relentless. We cram as much as possible into every day. Time management is no longer a viable solution. Managing energy, not time, is the key to enduring high performance, as well as to health, happiness and life balance.

7 Ways to Test Your Strategic Planning Approach
Evaluate your corporate strategic planning approach using these 7 tests to determine if yours is as good as it should be.

Merger Miseries 8 Scrambled Cultures
Blending organizational cultures after a merger or acquisition is often the most difficult part of the process. Many organizations fail because they did not anticipate the challenge of this step and institute processes that would have helped the integration. This article describes 12 ways to help make the process work better.

Startups...Be Practical and Tactical, Part 1
Starting an online business can be a daunting, overwhelming, and frustrating experience. To take some of the ‘daunting, overwhelming, and frustrating’ elements away, Lohenry offers some food for thought.

Startups...Be Practical and Tactical, Part 2
As discussed in part one of this series, Google Reader is the linchpin to efficiently manage incoming information for your work flow. What follows here expands your ‘tool belt’ without expanding the demands on your time. As an online entrepreneur, time management is critical to maintaining a sane, practical, effective, work flow.

Stay True to What Works!
Stick to your core and see your profits rise

When should we appoint a Sales Manager?

For many start ups and small businesses having a full time sales manager in place is not a viable option. Firstly, there is usually no one to lead and manage in the sales function however, the function of sales management should be on your â€˜To Do Listâ€™ as a business owner/manager even if you are sales managing yourself. Paying attention to your sales activities and results, developing your sales strategy and plan, knowing who to target, etc. all form part of a sales manager's role.

Are you ready for Sustainable Selling?
With the green agenda comes Sustainable Selling. More and more questions are being asked by many about how we can best manage this relationship now and for future generations? I recently attended and spoke at the 6th CIPS Australasia Annual Conference (peak industry body for the Procurement Profession) where Sustainability was well and truly on the agenda.

Renewal

Every New Year's Eve, I go through a kind of renewal ritual. It is my gift to myself for having done my best for the past year, and it allows me to look forward to an even better year to come. I have recommended some form of this for all people who take my leadership classes. It does not need to be done on the New Year; some people like to do this on their birthday or some other specific day of the year. The point is to designate one day to reflect on what you have done, where you are, and what you intend to do in the coming year and beyond.

SMEs - government strategies
An overview of government strategies for SMMEs

10 Ways to Differentiate Your Customer Service & Make Your Clients Actually Feel Valued
Provide high-quality customer service to ensure loyalty of your current customers and also capture the attention of your future customers.

Playing Foosball and Running Your Business ~ Five Anolgies
Who knew there's valuable lessons to be learned from playing foosball and how it relates to your game of business.

Use Creativity when Generating a SWOT
A part of the Strategic Process is a SWOT analysis ( It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). Many groups do a perfunctory job of this analysis, and this is a big mistake. This article shines a light on some best practices in doing a SWOT.

Stop Assuming And Start Asking
The mistake that is most common throughout the sales industry is that, sale consultants think they know what their clients want rather than ask. By asking the right questions you will not only uncover your clients buying strategy but most importantly find out if you can deliver on what they are looking for.

How do I find a niche?
A niche is a distinct segment of a market. Defining your niche will position you as an expert in your chosen field amongst your chosen target market and enable you to set higher fees. Success is always easier when you have single minded clarity around your business. This article will help you to get that clarity about what it is that your business offers.

Hire On Attitude Not Skill
It seems as though every year that passes by; the process of hiring quality sales people is becoming more and more expensive. Recruitment fees are increasing by the year, and the resources required to train new recruits can sometimes cost thousands of dollars. This is why hiring the right sales person is absolutely critical to the success of any business.

How To Discover What Truly Drives Salespeople
Finding and keeping quality salespeople is not the easiest task for any company. Before you hire any new staff you need to first discover what motivates sales people to succeed within your organisation so that you can ensure their intentions are aligned to your company.

Getting your story straight - not so Innocent!

Innocent was launched in 1999, and ten years on, has over two thirds of the UK smoothie market, selling two million smoothies a week. Their smoothies are delicious and 100 percent natural, but that doesn’t explain their success. The three founders came from advertising and marketing backgrounds, not food. They didn’t know more than anyone else about ingredients or health. But they understood messaging. As Maurice Pinto, their first angel investor, said: “They wanted to start a company with the idea of creating a brand. Smoothies were simply the vehicle.”

Focus on the critical few.... rather than the trivial many!

Too many growth companies are overwhelmed by lengthy plans and the distraction of the trivial many. Their CEOs find themselves drowning in detail, solving the crise du jour but unable to focus on those few things that would make growth happen. Cast as heroes, they play brilliantly, but dismally fail the audition from actor to director. Great CEOs identify and pursue the ‘critical few’. They make hard choices, adopt an unreasonable stubbornness and ensure each team member is clear and accountable. They leave no fudge room.

The Sales Phobia That Kills Bottom Line
When it comes to closing a sale the most important ingredient is being comfortable in taking the order. Too many sales people get nervous or are fearful that the customer will say no. What’s the point of being in sales if you’re not comfortable in taking the order?

The Single Most Important Trait Within Salespeople
It’s surprising that there are so many sales people these days selling products without first building rapport. They are missing the first and most important step required when selling a product or service which is costing organisations heavily, with the loss of revenue and decrease in repeat business.

Do You Suffer from Expert Failure?
Malcolm Gladwell was talking about a concept he calls "Expert Failure." He was suggesting that once you feel you have mastered your area of expertise, you stop seeing the warning signs of what might be breaking down or what might possibly go wrong.

My secret spy online
What is the ROI for Social Media?

DON'T BE AFRAID

The world is full of naysayers and people who choose to listen to and believe the media induced mass economic hysteria. Is it really as bad as all the "experts" say? In many ways that's up to the individual and one things is for sure....if you want to be a successful businessperson in to days marketplace, you can't believe a word of it. You have to step out in courage and take some chances and if you do, you might, just might get so far ahead of the competition that when things do get better (and they will) you'll be the dominant leader in your field! So, Don't Be Afraid!

Strategy Spin Cycle
When it comes to business, sooner or later we all fall into the trap of searching for the formula that will fix our latest crisis fast. On the other hand, there can be the problem of so many solutions swirling around in your head that you find it hard to nail one down. Anytime you search for a strategy that can potentially impact your business in a profound way, it can be a recipe for disaster.

Why You Need to Be in The Business of Collecting Data
How to automate your website so it because your primary sales force.

Creating Your Marketing Routine
Think about the last time you made a big change in the way you run your business or perhaps even in your personal life. It’s hard to adjust your day to day habits. Sometimes we are even at a loss where to start. The same tends to happen with our marketing.

Ready Set Huddle

Before the start of a game and during a game its team members get together to huddle, to discuss strategy make a plan and determine execution. Business is not different. A successful business has the proper team assembled to carry out a business plan. Even a sole proprietor has a team, only that team is comprised of consultants that are hired to carry out specific tasks. In a way the sole proprietor has the right idea. Hire the person who is best suited to do the work that is required. In essence, the sole proprietor has delegated work to the members of a team who are working together to ensure the proprietor's success.

Hitting the Sweet Spot
Anyone who’s ever played golf knows about the ‘sweet spot’. It’s that favoured spot on the clubface – hit the sweet spot and it feels good, you’re in control of the ball and that birdie is yours for the taking. If you don’t hit that spot, it doesn’t feel right, you spend your time hacking in the rough and before you know it you’re in a bad patch.

Don't Drive in the Dark

We recently utilized our airpower against Libya arguably by numerous people from both side of the aisle without an End Game. To me, that is like driving in the dark. At that point we have no idea of the outcome. Without lights, euphuism for an End Game, the odds are not in our favor. You don’t get up in the morning and get in your car without knowing exactly what your destination is. That is what an End Game is all about; what exactly is your destination. You can’t run a company effectively, maximizing all opportunity without creating a long term plan. And, there is no such thing as a long term plan that will work without a defined End Game. The Libya situation reminds me of what I often see in companies every day. It’s either a lack of serious long term planning or the lack of a defined End Game.

What is a Prospect Looking for Online
Understand your prospects buying pattern and give them what they need at every stage and you will ALWAYS attract and convert more sales.

The Most Useful and Most Under-Used Sales Tool, Ever! The Amazing Power of Testimonials
For any sales professional interested in selling more to more people in less time, testimonials are an absolutely vital part of the formula for success. If you're not using them in your business right now, you are missing out on one of the most useful and under-used sales tools...ever!

CHARTING YOUR COURSE!!
Are you feeling lost these days? Were you ever a Brownie or Girl Guide? I recall that one of the badges I got was for camping - and learning your way around the woods. We learned to use a compass.

Building Ally Relationships

In today's business environment where markets are becoming flat or shrinking, competition for these key accounts has intensified. Acquisitions, mergers, right-sizing, and other realities of the 90's are created even more obstacles. The hard truth is those long-standing relationships can't be taken for granted, even your best customers. You cannot afford to lose even one key account to maintain profitability in today's business environment. At the same time, you may be dealing with fewer resources. Cost-cutting or cost-containment have led to tighter sales budgets in many organizations. The result is often fewer salespeople and sales managers, fewer sales calls and increased pressure to make every sales opportunity count.

Does Your Marketing Lack Personality?
Sometimes we get so caught up in following the rules with marketing that we forget its entertainment value. However, with marketing becoming more community based than ever (thanks to the onslaught of social media channels), you ‘gotta' inject some personality or you are going to have a much tougher time engaging your prospects.

Defining Sustainability
There are five levels of sustainability within an organization. In this article you will figure out what level your company is currently in, and then you can strategize how to get to where you should be.

Leading in Times of Change
Of the many issues with which we wrestle each day, one certain truth is: the future will not look like the present. To lead, we must be adept at balancing what must stay constant with what must change. Learn how to align all resources and strategies toward the realization of your vision and goals.

Rule #4 - Making Money In Business
There are several ways to make money in business: sell a business for a profit, buy a business that you can grow the cash flow, operate your business with the perspicacity a business needs to be profitable, and/or start a business that fulfills the needs of customers with money. It sounds easy and it can be if you follow some basic rules, many of which I learned the hard way.

A Vision for Sustainability
Sustainability is a viable and proven business strategy, which takes into account economic considerations, governmental issues, as well as demands from customers and stakeholders. Can you describe the purpose of your sustainability initiative? Can your employees? Can your customers?

Why Should I Trust You As My Leader?

It happens all the time. We “require” the employees of our organization to blindly trust in the changes we implement, although we haven’t fully explained the transformation and the reasons behind it. Quite often the change and the reasons behind it might seem quite obvious to those who have the inside information and are part of the management inner circle. To employees outside of the circle, however, the change causes impact, discomfort and anxiety. As executives of our organization, should we expect compliance and blind trust, or is the responsibility on our shoulders to communicate and lead?

Three Secrets To Becoming The Employee Companies Strive To Keep
In today’s market everyone seems to be worried. Worried about finding a job, worried about keeping a job, and worried about how to get ahead in an already overcrowded market. Unemployment rates are at an all time high, more new businesses are failing and the economic outlook changes so often that to call it uncertain seems like an understatement.

2011 Declaration of TOTAL Business Independence

Is the year half over or is July just part 2? Now is the time for strategic consideration of lessons learned in the first half of the year. What have we done well....and not so well? It's time to get serious and commit to the foundational elements of business success proven over time. So in the spirit of celebrating our Nations independence, here is my 2011 Declaration of Total Business Independence!

I WANT IT NOW!

Are you still wow'ed by some of the technology that is available to us today? Things continue to change and change fast. So estimates say that this is creating the most technology "aware" consumer than at any other time in history. But if you're a business owner, you must be aware of what these changes mean to you and the future of your business. And if you don't adjust you may not be around very long!

Leveraging the Power of Video
It's hard to ignore the impact videos and You Tube are having as a marketing tool. As a small business owner, you may want to take a close look at this amazing tool.

Why You Might Not be Ready for Publicity

Often clients come to me because they truly want to get the recognition they deserve in the form of publicity both online and in the media. They’re looking for a starting point to get the word out so they have a general understanding of press releases and strategies. This is an important step in building your brand awareness and increasing credibility. At the same time there are often key foundational pieces missing. Pieces that need to be in place before you really start creating publicity buzz. And, I’m always upfront about that.

Five Steps to Good Strategy
Possibly more organizations fail because of bad strategy than those who fail because of no strategy. Bad strategy happens all the time to every organization and if left to its own means can destroy an organization. Bad strategy can be characterized by executives failing to face real problems or simply by lack of clarity. Learn how to craft good strategy.

Attracting Clients With Little Marketing
Countless business owners get sucked into the marketing vortex. It spins your brain like a washing machine and then spits you out feeling frazzled. Trying to implement even a fraction of the marketing strategies that involve social media, doing follow up and giving away free information can suck up all of your time.

Strategy: A Process and a Journey or Just a Way of Thinking?
We discuss the anatomy of strategy.

What Inspired Michael Dell to Sell Computers Directly to End Customers?

Dell is very famous for it's Direct Selling Technique(i.e.Company sells its product directly to customers, all intermediates like distributors,retailers are eliminated) Michael Dell adopted the Direct selling technique back in 1984, a time when biggies like IBM and Apple Inc were selling PC's through Indirect channels. So what inspired Michael Dell to stick on his thinking and not to sell PC's indirectly to customers ?

Monsters Under the Bed
Do you remember laying awake at night worrying about monsters under your bed? The same paranoia can exist in organizations as well. Some groups become paralyzed by fear of the unknown. It can stifle creativity and strangle progress.

Moving from Mediocre to Magnificent
To stand out amongst the plethora of businesses that exist, you have to be strategic. It's just not ok to be good, you need to be great. This article will help you step into your greatness.

It's Nobody's Fault
It's not so much blame as responsibility. Most people are reluctant to step up. Strategy is management's responsibility.

A new view of strategy
It's critical we scrutinize the way we strategize. It's a new day!

Uniqueness Can Add Tremendous Value to You and Your Business
Adding value, from a business standpoint, is supposed to be all about giving more to your customers, putting more into your products, and increasing and/or improving your services. Done properly you would think a well-tooled business should be able to beat the competition, increase market share, and increase profits. But, that is not always the case...

Are You Stuck in the Mediocrity Trap?
We find ourselves stuck in the mediocrity trap, frustrated that our businesses aren't making the money we feel they should be for the efforts we are putting in. So how can you shift from blasé to brilliant?

Building a winning strategy for selling to large organizations
Private coaching clients are telling us regularly how important it is for them to broaden their skills to do a better job of thinking strategically and managing large accounts. Those are areas that we are focusing on increasingly here at Engage Selling. I recognize-just as you do-that so much activity in sales today is happening at the enterprise level, so success here is vital.

Live the Question
We have a culture of impatience and a need for answers and complete certainty. If we aren't satisfied with the response we get when we ask the question, we tend to seek out other experts to provide us with an answer which is more acceptable. Why are we so uncomfortable with just staying with the question? Often, living the question has more value than rushing to answers.

5 Steps to Designing a Strategic Brand

When you think about designing – or redesigning – your business’s identity, you think about finding a designer and hiring them to design a logo, right? That’s where many small businesses go wrong. There’s a 5-step process to designing your small business’s brand image. And actually designing it is the very last step. If you want to create a profitable, pretty and powerful brand, then you’ve got to begin at the beginning. If you begin with the first 4 steps here, then you’ll be able to design a brand that’s stronger, has a more solid base and that will be an investment that gets results instead of an expensive, creative guess!

Does Brand Strategy Take The Freedom Out Of Running Your Business?
Entrepreneurs are really concerned whether this whole “brand strategy” thing will take away their freedom to run their business the way they want to, to have the life they want to have – or to react to what’s going on in the world and make changes.

Is Your Brand Effective, Or Just Pretty To Look At?

Do you want your brand to be a work of art? If so, stop right there. This is where small business owners get mixed up in the branding process. They mistake brand design for art. It’s an easy mistake – you’re paying someone to draw things for you, right? That’s art… right? Better yet, it’s commissioned art – and there’s a decent chance that this is the very first time that you’ve commissioned anyone to create art for you.

7 Rules For Designing A Strong, Substantial and Successful Brand
If you want a brand that goes beyond being “just pretty” into having some real substance and strength so that it can be successful for your business, just follow these 7 rules:

Are You Losing Your Crowd by Being Too Technical?

In our quest to make everything ‘better’ we sometimes manage to muddle up a perfectly good design or over complicate an easy to grasp concept. While it is somewhat natural to want to “show-off”, it is important to ask yourself if you are catering to your ego, or your audience. With all of the options that the advancement of knowledge and technology brings, for many business professionals it can sometimes be hard to keep accessibility and usability in perspective.

World of Turk: How Millions are Helping Billions

In the 1960’s, the Beatles’ famously sang about getting by “With A Little Help from My Friends”. Today websites like Wikipedia, Word Press, and Amazon are bringing a whole new meaning to the concept of relying on others to help you reach your goals. In the digital age friends are not so much “friends” as they are collaborators, and these collaborators are generally anonymous strangers motivated by either a small sum of money or a desire to contribute to a shared project. From a massive online encyclopedia to secretive government initiatives, people around the world are facilitating a digital phenomenon.

Is Your Business Thinking the “Right” Way?

Most companies traditionally view their bottom line as a statistical or numerical value. They typically measure success based on quantitative data like sales, while qualitative data like documents or words (while useful), are not generally what CEO’s are looking for. But what if this focus on the analytic was not only insufficient but potentially outdated? Spearheaded by the success of Xerox’s holistic approach to service documentation, a new focus on “right brain thinking” (and what it means for the future of business) is on the horizon.

Social Media: Set Your Employees Free

Every morning while I’m getting ready for work, my two little boys get to watch some TV. My wife and I have decided that a little Disney Channel in the morning is not going to rot their brains, and we limit their TV time to 30 minutes each morning and evening. Today, I asked my three year old son what his favorite show was, and I was a little surprised to find out that Phineas and Ferb had replaced his previous favorite, Mickey Mouse. However, it quickly dawned on me that this Disney snub was hardly the result of the fickleness of youth. Since his exposure to television is quite limited, my son only watches five shows in total. Of the five shows he watches, two of them had already been “favorites” leaving him with only 3 actual choices (so Mickey shouldn’t take it personally).

How Bob lost the sale and didn’t even know it.

With the multitude of social opportunities available on the world wide web these days it is sometimes easy to lose sight of your output. From your latest Twitter or LinkedIn review to your most recent Facebook update, many of us are striving to be noticed. After all, according to a new study, you only have a small amount of time to be relevant (80 minutes to be exact); so more is more, right? Not exactly. While you may only have a limited time to be relevant in the social media world, in the search engine world, you can technically be visible forever. In other words, that old company bio you had the intern write back in 2004 could still be floating around in 2011.

How to Recession Proof Your Business: 5 Steps to Freedom
With recession is in the air, the typical media flurry of doom and gloom is picking up momentum. US unemployment is nearing double digits, US debt problems remain unsolved, the Eurozone debt crisis continues, and world stock markets are falling as confidence in the global economy sinks.

Sifting Through the Marketing Chaos
I was having lunch with a peer the other day and we were talking about how incredibly different today's marketing tactics are from even 5 years ago. Quite frankly all these new shiny objects seem to be overwhelming small businesses instead of helping them grow their client base.

The 4 Inner Habits of Successful Leaders

Great leaders are powerful builders of enterprise. They have a knack for creating a clear vision, believing in its fulfillment with every cell in their body, and inspiring others through heart-centered communication to share their vision and act toward its creation. They can hold the vision in light, under all circumstances - especially during times of darkness, when it seems the world is against its fulfillment.

Think Time
How often do you take time to just sit and think? To close the door on all the noise; put on some music or sit in silence and just ponder those things that require your attention? My guess, if you're like most people, you don't really take a lot of time to think.

The 2011 Execution Round-Up: Six Organizations That Couldn’t “Get It Done” This Year
It’s that time of year when business owners and senior executives take stock of the past twelve months. What did 2011 look like for you and your company? The questions you could ask during your year-end assessment are endless. But, there’s only one that really matters: Did your company effectively execute its plans and initiatives?

Thinking Outside The Box
Do you ever find yourself lacking creativity in your marketing?

5 Home Business Strategies (Part One)

One of my children asked me the other day....."Mom, do you dream about having a big impressive office downtown one day?" It only took me three seconds to think and reply "Never!" I LOVE working out of my home! More times than not, I feel unproductive....but the reality is (because I kept a log for a month) I have learned how to steal time and be very effective! You already know about the unproductive guilt trips.....A trip to the kitchen...."Well I'm already in the kitchen for lunch so I might as well wash these dishes." "I think I'll take a coffee break" (only to find a very good movie on television that sucks you in for the next 2 hours). A trip to the mailbox..... "I'll just open the mail (now you're writing checks out to be paid or you're on the phone disputing a bill). A trip to the laundry room..... "I'll throw these clothes in t

A Means to an End

One of the most stressful moments for most sales people comes at the point when they have to decide whether or not to go around someone they have been dealing with to that point, be they client or prospect. There are a number of factors in determining if and when to do an end run in order to win a deal. The value of the product/solution to the client organization; how pervasive is your solution in the client’s organization; how the client goes about purchasing both in terms of deciding and executing the purchase. And most notably, how good the rep is to begin with.

Rediscover A Proven And Easy Way To Increase Sales And Productivity
There are many great sales people, just as there are some great athletes, but neither can succeed consistently without focusing on the basics. Those fundamentals that allow the great ones to soar - and when overlooked or taken for granted, cause the average to fail.

Does your company have a coherent strategy?
"Coherence" is important, Booz & Company found. A simple, but not surprising conclusion of this study finds that companies with greater "coherence" -- that is, with strategy, capabilities and product offerings in sync -- performed better overall, whatever their industry.

Focus on the Horizon
Experiences such as rally car driving can provide pointers that help us in running businesses - especially when we are experiencing difficulties or facing economic uncertainty.

6 Ways To Make 2012 an Inspiring Year
A new year, a new beginning. A time for contemplation. What did you accomplish last year? Did you evolve your business, your team, yourself? Where did you miss the mark? How can you improve this year?

3 Ways to Grow Your Future-Focus
I was mesmerized by Steve Job’s biography. I was fascinated by his focus and passion. Mr. Job’s complex personality motivated him to achieve greatness. Steve Job’s creativity and genius for creating products that invent the future is so inspiring. Oh Wow!

The Hall of Shame: Six Organizations That Couldn’t “Get It Done” in 2011

It’s that time of year when business owners and senior executives take stock of the past twelve months. What did 2011 look like for you and your company? The questions you could ask during your year-end review are endless. But, there’s only one that really matters: Did your company effectively execute its business goals? To learn from the “living laboratory” of real-world companies, here are six of this year’s headline makers and the lessons we can take away from their struggle.

How to Grow Your Future-Focus - You Can See Forever
I loved reading Steve Job’s biography and have recommended it to many of my clients and friends. I was so inspired by his focus and passion. Mr. Job’s driven and perfectionistic personality motivated him to achieve greatness. Steve Job’s creativity and genius for creating products that invent the future is so inspiring. Oh Wow!

5 Areas and 20 Questions for Improving Organisational Health

Just like individuals, there are very good reasons why every business should do regular health checks. While most medium to large businesses are aware of this and, in part, use frequent CEO briefings to do this, what happens in small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) can be a little like what happens with too many people – we know we should do it but never get around to it until a situation arises that cannot be ignored.

CFO vs. Controller: Understanding the Differences

There are two primary types of financial leadership within top organizations: the CFO and the Controller. Many growing organizations do not have a clear understanding of the two positions, often overlooking the value that a CFO could bring to their business. To determine what level of financial leadership an organization requires, a Controller and/or CFO, it is first important to decipher the differences between the two roles.

Awards – an invaluable weapon in any PR armoury

This week I was overjoyed to hear not one, but three, of my clients had learnt recent submissions they had entered into their industry-specific awards had been successfully shortlisted. As I had played a role in identifying and helping to draft these submissions it reaffirmed how important a tactic awards are in any strategic PR plan. Below I have outlined some top tips for identifying and entering awards.

Increase Profit and Save Time with this Simple Business Tool
There are so many marketing channels and sales responsibilities, how can an entrepreneur keep them all straight? Here's a tool that can help: The sales funnel. Most people think of the sales funnel as a concept, but it's really a strategic tool. Keep reading to find out how it can help you increase profit and save time.

6 Steps to Solving Problems
Many of us get stuck solving problems because we are not asking the right questions. Lean the question to ask to get to the problem and the 6 steps to solve them.

Strategic Marketing Success for Distribution Retail Service and Manufacturing Businesses
Presents the common marketing strategy errors made by various types of businesses, and how to avoid them. Business types include distributors, services businesses, manufacturers, and retailers.

Hypotheticals, Scenarios and Foresight
Strategic foresight is about creating new perspectives on key issues concerning an organization today through an integrated approach to strategy which results in discovery and articulation of a preferred direction for the organization (Marsh, et al., 2002, p 2 – 4).

The Secret to Success with Your On-Line Strategy: Experiment!
As business owners, we need a spirit of experimentation, especially when it comes to what we do online. Whether it's running webinars, creating a Facebook page, trying out Pinterest, doing something different in your blog (or even blogging at all!), or tweaking the subject of your e-mail newsletters, it's worth trying different things to see what effect they have on your results.

Do You Have A Business Angel ?
Before impending a business angel (BA) for investment, you should think about whether other forms of finance could better meet your organisation's requirements For other sources of unconventional funding.

Entrepreneurs – Do You Really Need A Marketing Strategy?
Do you have Marketing Strategy? Do you, like many other entrepreneurs think that you don’t need one? Or do you just not know how to write your own Marketing Strategy? No surprises that a Marketing Strategy is a key part of your business strategy. So how do you write your own Marketing Strategy?

The Most Powerful Marketing Strategy You will Ever Learn
Every business owner is looking for that golden marketing strategy that works like magic to grow their business. Well, I hope you’re sitting down because I am going to tell you the most powerful marketing strategy you will ever learn. The strategy is called split testing.

9th of the Top 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions
#9 - STRATEGY Strategy comes in several forms and is required in different dosages depending on the position. For example, a line level sales manager may be more concerned with call strategy while a Worldwide VP Sales may be more concerned with market strategy. At the VP level, strategy is far more important than tactics while at the sales manager level, tactics are more important than strategy.

Can We Remove Risk From Our Strategy?
If you could, wouldn’t you choose to test your organization’s strategy before gambling your business and your career on the assumption that the strategy is right? This article contains a short list of tactics to help remove some of the risk from your strategy.

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