May 28, 2009 | Management, Marketing, Strategy
Tough times generally favor making changes that would not be possible, or be very difficult in good times.
People are far more inclined to buy into the notion that “we cannot continue doing it the way we have been doing it” when they can see for themselves that the results that have been coming are not sustainable in a tougher environment.
Use the downturn as an opportunity to reallocate resources to higher return activities, review products, markets, brands, relationships, capital spending, development projects, recurrent expenditure, and yes, people.
Think about a crisis as an catalyst to “commercial triage” and use the opportunity to improve in anticipation of better times to come.
May 25, 2009 | Management, Marketing
The old chestnut Keep it Simple Stupid was never more appropriate.
As confidence and with it activity collapses around us, simplicity is becoming ever more valuable.
Simplicity is, however, anything but simple. Simplicity takes time , effort, and a sufficiently clear understanding of the matter, that its essence can be communicated clearly in a minimum of words.
As Oscar Wilde put it “I wrote you a long letter because I did not have time to write a short one”
May 24, 2009 | Management, Marketing
Marketing is not just the spending of money on some sort of media, it involves the development of the businesses “face” to customers, the development and management of the whole experience of interacting with the brand, and the organisation, or in the case of non customers, the promise of what the experience will be like.
Therefore the engineers, accountants, truck drivers, laboratory assistants, and the security guard, as well as the CEO, and sales and marketing personnel, all have a marketing job to do.
Few CEO’s would consider that marketing awareness should be a job requirement of many past the sales and marketing personnel, but success comes to organisations that are focused on their customers, in everything they do.
Marketing needs to be part of your commercial DNA
May 21, 2009 | Management, Operations
In all businesses, the canary in the hole is deterioration in the cash position, and it is particularly important for small businesses to be sensitive to changes in their cash position as they have less “fat” to fall back on when things head for the bin.
The largest variable item in most non service industry businesses is inventory. The usual accounting view of inventory is that it is a current asset, as liquid as cash, and there is little incentive to actively manage inventory to the lowest possible level, as there would be if it was seen as a “partial liability”.
How much better to see inventory as a brick tied to the legs of a swimmer, until such time as it is actually sold. A metaphor like this may encourage a lessening of the weight, rather than accommodating a buildup greater than the immediate demand, usually in the name of manufacturing efficiency, that can lead to drowning.
May 21, 2009 | Management
In difficult times, it would be a mistake to either make light of the difficulties you face, or to exaggerate them.
Generally people look for leadership, and honesty is a fundamental component, so tell it like it is, people will understand, and be grateful, even if they do not like the message.
May 20, 2009 | Management, Marketing
Following the previous blog entry, “chief cook & bottle washer” and a phone call from a user prompted by it, I have been thinking about the value of advice, compared to the time it takes to provide it.
Many SME owners are used to hiring extra labor they need on an hourly as needs basis, say $800/week, and that colors their response when a marketing advisor charges $1000 for what appears to be a couple of hours work. (For many, “work” is often related to the number of things done physically, so sitting in a comfy chair, “thinking” hardly rates)
What they miss is the 30 years of experience it took to accumulate the knowledge to be able to sift the alternatives, offer the advice.
This is particularly the case with marketing and strategic advice. People are used to paying lots to accountants, because they recognise the need, and the value, not so with marketing, which is usually more difficult, as there is rarely a clear right answer, just a range of possible courses of action.
A $1000 for 30 years experience applied to a problem seems to be a good deal.
