Can You Be Too Independent As A Business Owner?

Author: Valerie Dennis

My mom is very independent. She left home at sixteen to pursue a dance career which spanned twelve years in Latin America. Back in the day, not all parents would have supported that. My Dad was born in China, his parents were missionary doctors and his family legacy of service dates back several generations. Adventure and independence are two attributes that exist in our family tree and I also think these are key traits for most business owners. You want the opportunity to craft your own vision and see it unfold. It takes courage to go out on your own. But the one thing that I find is also necessary is knowing when to reign that in and rely on a support network. It’s a conflicting notion but an important one. We may be good at many things, but not a master of all things.

Like a lot of people, I find that I can get a bit myopic about things without an outside perspective. I may have some good ideas, great ones even, but I have friends and colleagues who may have better ideas or together we come up with the best solution. It helps to have an outside perspective, formally and informally.

If you don’t have an advisory board, build one. Vet those members first—it’s good to know how they work, what skills they bring to the table, how they think and what makes them successful. A common tendency is to add people to a board because we like them. More importantly, liking someone who also thinks like you is a key reason not to be on your board. After a while, those people may become less likable—because they aren’t adding value for your business! Advocacy for you and your business doesn’t mean agreement. It’s healthy to find people with fresh ideas, resources, and necessary skills that can assist in shaping, validating and growing your business.

Augment your skills with the right hires—temporary or permanent. Surround yourself with good and great people who can fill in the knowledge or skill gaps and help grow the business. As we work with clients, our role is to bring a skill set to the business that is needed at that time. The work is collaborative with established phases and project priorities ensuring that the end result aligns to business objectives. In that way, our client is assured we are moving towards his/her objectives.

Make the time. The old saying that time equals money applies here. When it comes to survival or growth, can you afford to not make the time for a trusted, outside opinion?

Find a way to attract inquiry, new ideas, skills and feedback to your business. If all the great ideas came from one person in the world, the rest of us would have nothing to do.  

Sales & Marketing Strategies: GPS For Your Business

Author: Valerie Dennis

Business owners have a lot to accomplish in a day, week, month or year. On most days, you may feel like you have all the symptoms of ADD because competing priorities don’t work on a schedule. So when the subject of sales and marketing comes up, it almost becomes a philosophical debate. How do justify the time and money for something that seems a bit intangible? Websites are great and sometimes really cool, but…will they make a sale? Sales and marketing efforts are not just about your website–that is a subset , a tactical element. You can have a really great product or service, but it is the strategies that will get it to market and build a sustainable sales pipeline. In other words, the best products and services don’t sell themselves—at least not for long. If they did, we wouldn’t have sales and marketing people—how dull would that be?

In a conversation recently with a prospective client, we were talking about how they invest in their client for the long-term—adding ongoing value and aiming for the sale after the sale. It is a good way to look at marketing and sales strategies, consider them critical investments. They are the roadmap for how you are going to grow—and keep growing. That’s worth time and money, right?

When might you need such help? Examples include: Before you enter a new market or start a company, if you want to validate a business concept, customer needs are evolving, introduce a new product or service, you need accelerated growth or greater differentiation, you want to find the next big thing, there’s an increase in competition and a loss in market share, or sales have stalled or declined.

What is interesting is that when we are the purchaser, we tend to weed out the “Me too” category. When we buy a car, running shoes, groceries, look for a doctor or day care, etc. we do our homework because there are a lot of options to choose from and places to buy. As the seller, we sometimes think our benefits are obvious. They might be—but there are lots of options to choose from and places to buy…and your prospective customer will do his homework. It starts with the basic premise if you aren’t easy to find or you didn’t find them, you’ve lost the prospective sale.

Naturally, we want the sales to keep rolling in and we want our customers to recognize our value. Some might say that their businesses are growing by referral. Perhaps for a lucky few that happens. But I would tell you that time and again businesses eventually need to rebuild the pipeline because referral business was only good for a while.

In the simplest analogy, sales and marketing strategies are like GPS—it will get you to the right place, unless you have a bad address and an ill-equipped vehicle. Here is what you want to know:

• you need an accurate address to get you to the right place, at the right time. (I.e. lead generation, sales prospecting, market research)
• your “hosts” need to know who you are and why they should talk to you—rather than your competition (I.e. brand, key messaging, differentiation, competitive analysis, product marketing)
• you need to know how many others are just like your current “host”, who might also buy from you (I.e. prospecting, channel development, sales pipeline)
• you need to know when to visit, what to say, how to say it and how to keep them talking to you (I.e. qualifying a prospect, sales strategy and process, marketing and communications)
• you want a reliable vehicle—does your car break down on the side of the road or is it shiny and new, with a navigation system? (I.e. brand, channel development, marketing strategy, sales)
• you need a map to give you turn by turn instruction–not directions like “take a left at the red barn, go past the cows–the spotted ones, not the brown ones…” (I.e. strategy, sales tools, marketing, messaging, customer relationship management)
• you need a guidebook to make your “trip” productive (I.e. sales methods and tools, marketing and messaging, customer relationship management)
• you want people to invite you back—or at least welcome your next visit–and they’ll only do that if you answer “what’s in it for me?” (I.e. sales pipeline, growth strategies, positioning, ROI)

Sales and marketing strategies help you get the right address (prospects), a working vehicle (message), the most effective route (channel)…and the sale. Sales is not a passive process. It requires discipline, strategy, planning and execution. If you put time and money into the quality of your products and services, why wouldn’t you put time and money into generating revenue?

From a lot of folks I hear “I don’t have time and I don’t like to sell” and when you drill down on that statement, they will also tell you they don’t know how to sell. That’s okay. Let’s face it, sales people are a distinct breed. But in this case it’s important find someone to help you overcome these challenges. The same goes for marketing.

I realize that it is difficult to invite someone into your business to help shape your strategies. It is a matter of trust, among other things. But business is dynamic, not static. Marketing and sales plans aren’t built once and kept for a lifetime. Market indices will affect your business, your competitors will reshape your customer’s preferences or needs, or product/service obsolescence will force the change. Stuff happens. But what I have found is that with the right people in the room (ideally people with practical experience who lived through the execution of their own ideas), who genuinely want the best for your business, you will find the answers you need and perhaps even some you didn’t think about. Sales and marketing is an investment, a critical one.

Technorati Tags: consultants,sales strategy,marketing strategy,sales,marketing,growth strategy,growth,consulting,brand,channel marketing,business development

Not All Customers Are Alike

Author: Valerie Dennis

Not all customers are alike. And there may be some that you just don’t like. But for the purpose of today’s discussion, we’ll stick to the first statement. Given the fact that your customers are diverse, your sales structure and segmentation need to be anything but homogenous.

Customers can be profitable, unprofitable, growing, declining, high maintenance, low maintenance, strategic in value, high revenue, low revenue, etc. They can use up all your resources and give you very little to show for it. Your sales efforts will vary by customer type—with some being easy to sell, attain and retain. So why would you treat them all the same?

Sales structure is critical to sales success and it is often overlooked. Many companies don’t think twice about restructuring but don’t think about the new challenges it creates. For example, if you change a sales model from account management to a combination of business development and account management, you will not have a better performing model if you don’t evaluate the people and make the necessary changes.

Account managers don’t always make great business development reps and vice versa. Most account managers prefer to build long-term relationships, be the expert in the customer’s business and grow the business over time. Business development reps like the hunt, but not the long-term service and sales support of a customer. It is unlikely that you’ll be lucky enough to have each member of your sales team with those combined talents—although there are some who are great at both and like to do both.

Other misconceptions are that all selling is alike and the cost of the sale is the same. Customer segmentation is key here. The cost of the sale, the complexity of the sale and the customer value should be considered. Your A and B customers are your high revenue, high growth, strategic and/or high profit accounts. You will also have C and D customers—low revenue, profit and maintenance accounts—customers that might be better suited to inside sales support.  The key here is to match up the skills and cost of your sales force to the revenue and cost of the customer.

Restructure your customers first—A through D and align the sales force accordingly. In other words, put the right sales people with the right customer opportunities. Someone better suited for inside sales or small accounts will flounder in a national or key account. Sometimes, high growth customers are ignored, simply because they are growing on their own. I know, that’s counter intuitive but it happens. If the customer is selling themselves, so to speak, some reps will spend time where they can be more impactful. Not realizing that there is greater growth potential or that retention is also their responsibility.

Another thing to think about…“that one customer” who is HIGH maintenance. Uggh!! We’ve all had them–think about your high maintenance customer(s). With all due respect to the client, they are probably that way because the organization allowed it. As such, the cost to serve a customer is another consideration. Low revenue accounts (caveat: with no growth potential) should not get the same resources and support as your top accounts.

At the end of the day, when you look at your customer segmentation and sales structure, a compelling goal is to provide the right experience and value to your customers. These changes will help you optimize your selling, manage your sales costs and create the right customer experience.

 

Technorati Tags: customer segmentation,sales,sales structure,account management,business,selling

Social Media Madness

Author: DeVerges Jones

The emergence of social media networks has caused the world of marketing to shift much of its attention to these vehicles as keys to success in developing brands. I don’t necessarily agree and believe that we need to take step back. Good marketing is first and foremost developed by having well defined and specific objectives and a strategic platform that is well thought out. With the advent of the Internet many marketers said “We can change our strategy and or web site everyday if we choose.” This is a classic example of mis-guided thinking! This short-term nano reactionary thinking does not circumvent the need for a strategic and thoughtful approach to reaching consumers and customers.

Keep in mind that Twitter, Facebook, My Space are all tactical media vehicles that can be used to develop a program to communicate to consumers. They are not strategies – they are tactical programs just like the Internet, radio, print or network TV.

Many companies don’t have a strong and intimate understanding of their users but they will gravitate to the hype associated with digital media. Any advertising effort that is not well grounded in a fundamental understanding of consumer wants is not going to drive sales and profits over the long-term.

Social media will like other mediums evolve overtime and take its place as a formidable tool for marketers. It is not the end all – more over it is a part of a vast array of tools that marketers have at their disposal.

Let’s get back to doing more strategic thinking and stop employing knee jerk reactions to the next social media product that hits the market. Let’s evaluate the true role within the overall marketing mix that social media can play and how it can cohesively react with other forms of communication.

 

Technorati Tags: social media,twitter,facebook,myspace,marketing,marketing strategy,strategic marketing,business

Seasonality of the Toy Industry

Author: Carrie Hood

The key selling periods for toy companies are: December, Easter then Back-To-School. One way to advertise the toy products is with “roto ads.” When you read the Sunday newspaper, such as the Los Angeles Times, you will find a plethora of ads from various retailers, such as Target, Kohl’s, Kmart and Macy’s. These ads are called “roto ads”.

During the holiday season, you will see more roto ads from Wal*Mart, Target, Toys-R-Us and Kohl’s featuring their toys on sales. The 4^th quarter (October, November and December) is a key selling period for toy companies because of the holidays in December (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.). Toy companies are able to sell their higher-priced items during the holiday season because this is more of a gift-giving time of year.

Most of these retailers end their fiscal year in January. They sell-through their holiday inventory in December and January and start the new fiscal year in February. Retailers do not like to mark down their inventory because it lowers their gross margin and overall profit.

Another key selling period for toy companies is Easter. Easter usually occurs in March or April. Some of the toy companies run the same type of promotion during the same week as the previous year. This way, you are able to compare the sales from the previous year vs. current year. Easter is a good time to take advantage of the in-store foot traffic of people shopping for Easter baskets, Easter candy and outfits for Easter Sunday. Toys sold during the spring season (February, March, April) tend to be less expensive than toys sold during the fall season (holiday season) because people do not want to spend a lot of money on toys.

Back-To-School draws families and their children into the stores. Some people start shopping for school-related items in July and August. Toy companies will sometimes run a promotion during these months and call it a Back-To-School Special.

The next time you read the Sunday newspaper, take a look at the roto ads from the different retailers. Notice how the toy items that are advertised change in price and selection depending on the time of year.

Technorati Tags: Toy industry,marketing,retail

Are Your Pricing Practices Hurting Your Profits?

Author: Valerie Dennis

On Friday, I was with two colleagues and our conversation turned to a small business that is developing their pricing methodology, after the fact. They think they are leaving money on the table. They probably are. This isn’t a blog on how to set your price; it’s about ancillary factors that affect profit. If you ignore things such as pricing analysis, pricing practices vs. policy and guidelines, you’re probably leaving money on the table. 

Surprisingly, the cost component is sometimes oversimplified, which negatively affects your profits. Pricing models are dynamic; they should be reviewed on a regular basis to make sure they represent the current cost of doing business. When was the last time your labor costs went up, the price of gas, rentals, leases, insurance, facility and equipment costs, fleet expenses, miscellaneous expenses, etc? And when was the last time you adjusted your pricing to reflect those changes?

Take a surgical look at your contracts; this is another area where profit escapes. It’s not unusual for grandfathered contracts to freeze pricing levels—for years. Same goes for evergreen contracts, they get lost in old files, along with outdated pricing terms. Customers generally accept pricing changes when they are justifiable and anticipated. If you have multi-year contracts, specify the frequency and amount of your price increases so your customer can budget and plan for it.

Charge customers for the services or products you provide. Pretty simple, huh? Well, think about the ancillary services that you provide—the ones you don’t charge for. You may find a viable income stream here—for now, it is an expense straight off your bottom line. There’s adding value and then there’s giving your services away for free—which are you doing?

Market equity should be considered. Not all customers are alike; they don’t spend alike and it is unlikely that they cost the same to serve. The challenge is that without guidelines and analysis, you can have two customers with the same spending levels who have markedly different discounts or pricing. You can have one customer with higher spending levels, only to find that the lower revenue customer has the better deal. Try explaining that to a strategic or high-revenue account.

A comprehensive pricing analysis will help you determine pricing guidelines, and anything that doesn’t fit into the guidelines will be the exception. Just make sure you have rules around the exceptions…I have seen some great sales people justify a better discount for a client that belongs on a standard program.

In some companies, practice overtakes policy or policy is non-existent. Your systems and processes may give unintended access. Pricing changes are made over the phone by calling Customer Service or through direct computer access. Every sales person wants to close the sale and they want to do what is best for their client. But not all of them understand the impact of pricing decisions to the bottom line—or they do, and they don’t care. Too much authority without the associated accountability and visibility will lead to pricing decisions that can make a profitable customer unprofitable. Create and communicate policy to all affected departments and employees.

Rest assured, if you lack the right policies, guidelines, analyses, and accountability to support pricing initiatives, you invite risk to your profits. The risk is you’re either overpriced for your market and don’t know it, or you’re enabling every sale to close on price alone—not your value.  Your customers will love you and so will your competitors (if you’re over priced)–your shareholders or partners, not so much…

 

Technorati Tags: Pricing,Profit,Business,Sales,Contracts

Product Management Success Tips

Author:  Liz Rohleder

Have you ever wondered why there are only a few companies that are true innovators in their industry?  Companies that come to mind are Apple, Intel, and Microsoft.  What do they do differently in the product development process in the “innovation area” and how do they execute better than their competitors?  How do they consistently come up with products that solve consumer needs and are on the cutting edge?  Here are some success tips that I have come up with after studying different companies in different industries and implementing product management strategies in various organizations:

1.  Have management buy-in and empowerment for new product development initiatives.
2. Do through research and analysis on how to position new product in the marketplace and against competition.  Do not underestimate where your competition will be by product launch vs. where they are during development phase.
3. Make sure price strategy is sound and works far enough out in the future with anticipation of competitive innovations and pricing trends.
4. Communicate/Communicate/Communicate – make sure all cross-functional team members understand roles / responsibilities and deliverables and timeframes.
5. Make sure the development team is in constant communication with launch team (go-to-market team)(seamless & transparent).  Identify any potential risks to project on development side and launch side.  Repeat this process at key time intervals in development process to ensure on-time launch.
6. Execution to plan is the key to ensure a successful launch.  A disciplined approach with review of stage gates / status / metrics gives all stakeholders appreciation for where the project is at and potential risks.

True innovators also have superior product (they are not a “me too” product) and are able to execute with high speed to market.  Intel has been able to continuously reduce their product development cycle to put them in leading position in their industry.  Apple fans are early adopters waiting for the next innovation to be launched.

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Inspire your Customers

Author: Tatiana Calley

We live and work in an ever increasing competitive environment. Chances are, your competitors offer products or services that are similar to yours. In my view, competition is fantastic. It means that there is business to attain and all you have to do is to inspire your customers to buy from you. All things being equal, the one thing that will constantly set you apart from your competitors is the quality of your customer relationships. Your customers want to be inspired by you and your company. Isn’t it really about what your product or service can do, that will take their business to the peak of success?

I truly believe amazing things can happen when we stop pressing for the order and start nurturing the relationship. Be thoughtful, attentive and creative about the quality and frequency of your connections. Do you regularly send out information or updates to your clients and prospects (remember to always plant the seed for future growth)? Have you ever celebrated the anniversary of your first project together? I can tell you that most of your competitors have not, be bold, and be different.

In a previous position I did strategic sales reviews with my accounts, I met with the principal contact on a quarterly basis to discuss their business and to brainstorm ideas for future growth. Are you having these valuable conversations with your customers? Right now is the perfect time to call and inspire them about the commitment you have to their business.

Leverage these “touch points” with your important customers, prospects, and partners, deepening your relationship through memorable meetings and media will create a deeper personal connection. Work inspired and be the one-of-a kind solution to help grow your relationship and your business.

Today is your day. Now is your time. Take action. Go and Inspire!

 

Building a Successful Sales Team From The Ground Up

Author:  Alisa Walser

Throughout my career, I have been very fortunate to work for organizations that have allowed me to build and develop successful sales teams. Building a successful sales team is very rewarding. Many organizations make the investment of interviewing and hiring, but fail to bring out the best in their sales representatives. Below are a few pointers that will help to create successful sales people:

• Provide top-notch product training. Some argue that setting adults in a room for training for a week straight is counter-productive. I have experienced this dazed, glassy-eyed feeling a few times while at weekly sales meetings myself. Once you have given your new team or new hires all the information during the training, allow them to have an opportunity to step in and get their feet wet, they will vet out the amount of basic information they need to get started.
• Follow up two to three weeks after they have had a chance to apply the 20% of learning that they most likely retained from the training. Send out condensed, critical highlights via email (or other sales vehicle) for the next 6-8 weeks as recurrency training. You will be amazed at the additional information they will absorb once the training daze has subsided. They will begin to absorb additional snippets of information when they control the time to read the information and find the relevancy from their field activity.
• Keep it fresh, create sales challenges no matter how hokey you think they are and stay with them until the end. Encourage each team member to participate regularly to maintain the focus. Each sales challenge should consist of a fun, interest-creating launch, periodic status reports and an end goal. Celebrate their achievements throughout the challenge.
• Set clear, concise and achievable goals. Once the goals are set, require each individual team member to choose a personal reward they want once they have exceeded the goal. This is an extra goal for them to shoot for–put a picture in their workspace so they will continue to strive for that goal. Nothing is too small – the more personal the better.
• Reward them for the behavior that you want. This is the tried and true study of developing a sales team. Variable compensation should be easily understood and should create a positive path for them.

Above all, be consistent with information delivery, be consistent with your messages to the team, and be consistently encouraging. Remember the old saying; A little each day is much in a year.