The three drivers of an effective business improvement project
For the last 22 years since leaving corporate life, I have worked at the intersection of Revenue generation, Operations and Performance improvement of medium sized manufacturing businesses. My entry point is almost always sales and marketing....
Googles 5 foundations for a successful team.
Teamwork, collaboration, and all sorts of clichés relate to the workings of teams. Over the last 25 years they have invaded and become pervasive in our workplaces, but most often they do not deliver the hoped for outcomes. On Saturday night, those of us...
Don’t believe everything you think
Leaders who are unable to see another point of view, listen to others, and absorb and engage with diversity are destined to make mistakes. Good leaders have a point of view, but they allow others to put theirs, see when their ideas can be improved,...
The single most common question I ask myself
How do I demonstrate value? As a senior marketing bloke in a large business, being heard around the board table was always a problem, as it is hard to quantify the impact of what you do. Try as hard as possible, there are still holes in the case, as the...
Is being ‘sticky’ the key to success.
Those flogging business coaching to the owners of medium sized businesses seem to focus on one of the oldest sales techniques in the book, the ‘Before & After' pitch. Describe the current situation, and make it as down and dirty as possible, then...
Who do we sue?
I had never thought of the question 'Who do we sue' as being of strategic importance until a few weeks ago. Having coffee with a friend who has worked for a long time for a US multinational corporation that developed and commercialised a very useful...
Sell or nurture?
Every piece of research I have ever seen puts the conversion rate of an initial sales contact little higher than 2%. It does not seem to matter if it is the old style letter box stuffing or sophisticated email outreach, 2%. Does that mean 98% are not...
Every change has unwelcome side-affects
Change has side-affects, like any medicine. Usually those side-affects are not palatable, and sometimes the medicine does not work. However, not taking the medicine never works as a cure. I am 65, so have had a few friends 'pop off' from various ailments...
The value of effort compounds
For the first time in 8 years of blogging, my rhythm has been disrupted. I have not posted a blog now for almost 2 weeks. Over the 8 years, I have averaged 3 posts a week, a real effort, that has just become part of my routine. The last two weeks have been...
11 growth strategies for small businesses
The last 23 years of working with, reconstructing, and observing small businesses in all sorts of situations has resulted in a pile of insights on many areas of business. A common fact or is the desire to grow, even when in the darkest times, almost all...