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Use Word-of-Mouth Marketing to Generate Buzz About Your Business

Ever wish you could attract new customers without spending a penny on advertising? You can, provided you leverage word-of-mouth marketing. Specifically, by maintaining an active and useful blog, you can generate goodwill among existing customers and land new ones."

IndustryWeek : Just In Time -- Manufacturers are From Mars, Politicians are From Venus

"Just In Time -- Manufacturers are From Mars, Politicians are From Venus
Elected officials speak a much different language than manufacturers when it comes to basic concepts and ideas"

BNET Intercom » How to Capitalize on Microtrends on BNET

"We are moving swiftly from the Ford economy, where the idea was to mass merchandise on a low-cost, standardized basis, to the Starbucks economy, where the organizing principal is to improve personal satisfaction based on the niching of America."

The Art of Knowing When and Where to Lean

"Is Lean for the benefit of the customer or producer? One of the primary tenets of lean manufacturing is that it is all about the customer, i.e., the customer is considered to be the primary constituency of the producer and so the producer is expected to enhance the wellbeing of the customer above other stakeholders. Lean proponents suggest that the interests of the producer and its owners are secondary. Let's examine their argument which is really about the chicken and egg phenomenon where the customer is the egg and begins the process. Granted, the egg may have been the genesis, i.e., a basic need of the marketplace may have been determined and met but what happens if we have an unhappy and/or underfed chicken? The cycle would immediately cease."

Solutions For Sales Management | SellingPower.com

"Not so long ago, sales professionals rarely advanced beyond the executive rank of the sales function. VP of sales was considered the top of the line. Those days are gone. Today’s C-suites are literally bursting with sales professionals who sold their way to the top. Find out how they did it."

Wisconsin manufacturing jobs down 1.5 percent | The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

"For the first time since 2003, Wisconsin's manufacturing employment declined compared with the previous year, with the decrease driven by large numbers of small businesses closing shop, according to the latest edition of an industrial guide. Manufacturing employment in the state dropped 1.5 percent over the past 12 months, according to the 2008 Wisconsin Manufacturers Register, an industrial guide published annually by Manufacturers' News Inc., of Evanston, Ill. The publication reports Wisconsin lost 9,885 manufacturing jobs and 303 manufacturers since June 2006, marking the first year the state lost jobs since 2003."

A CEO's Six Steps to Effective Feedback | Harvard Business Online

"Delivering feedback is among a manager's most important tasks, yet many managers struggle to do it fairly and consistently, and--above all --in a way that drives improved performance. In the chapter on people development in his recently published book, Lessons on Leadership: The 7 Fundamental Management Skills for Leaders at All Levels (Kaplan, 2007), Jack Stahl, CEO of Revlon and former president of Coca-Cola, proposes a six-step model to make the feedback process easier and more effective."

The Sales Performance Company Sales Secrets | Miller Heiman Sales Training and Consulting

"A recent sampling of enterprise sales organizations revealed that the cost per lead is up 21 percent while lead conversion rates are down 33 percent. Are you getting an ROI on your lead generation investment? How do you know?

The ability to judge which leads are most productive takes some analytical skill and a penchant for numbers – just the sort of skills found in a good sales operations person."

Click the title to read more...

Ending the War Between Sales and Marketing | Harvard Business Review

In too many companies, Sales and Marketing feud like Capulets and Montagues. Salespeople accuse marketers of being out of touch with what customers really want or setting prices too high. Marketers insist that salespeople focus too myopically on individual customers and short-term sales at the expense of longer-term profits.

Result? Poor coordination between the two teams—which only raises market-entry costs, lengthens sales cycles, and increases cost of sales.

Inserted from <http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbo/articles/article.jsp?articleID=1014&amp;ml_action=get-article&pageNumber=1&referral=1441&cm_mmc=npv-_-listserv-_-July_2007-_-salesmktg>

Pricing and the Psychology of Consumption | Harvard Business Review

Why should you care if your customers actually use your products? Isn't it enough that they buy them? Not if you want repeat business.

Consider this counterintuitive impact of price on customer loyalty: When your customers are aware of your product's cost, they'll likely use the product—to feel they've gotten their money's worth. And the more they use it, the more likely they'll buy it again.

For example, suppose that Mary and Bill join a health club. Bill pays $600 on enrolling; Mary selects the $50-per-month plan. Who's more likely to renew their membership? Mary. Every month, she's reminded of the cost—so she works out more, to get her money's worth. And members who frequently work out tend to renew.

But to stimulate initial demand, most companies mask their prices, through advance purchases, seasonal memberships, annual subscriptions, etc. Demand-centered pricing has merit—but executives who use it exclusively risk trading long-term customer retention for short-term sales.

Inserted from <http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbo/articles/article.jsp?articleID=1814&amp;ml_action=get-article&pageNumber=1&referral=1441&cm_mmc=npv-_-listserv-_-July_2007-_-salesmktg>

CEO confidence is waning

"The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence, which had improved to 53 in the first quarter of 2007, fell to 45 in the second quarter. A reading of less than 50 points reflects more negative than positive responses.
The survey includes about 100 business leaders in a wide range of industries across the nation.

Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said, 'Several quarters of sluggish economic growth have taken a toll on CEOs' confidence, erasing two quarters of improvement. Looking ahead, CEOs do not expect a significant turnaround in conditions and profit expectations. Only a quarter expect profits to increase vs. three-quarters last year, reflecting their pessimistic outlook.'

CEOs' assessment of current economic conditions was little changed from earlier this year, with 23 percent of CEOs compared with 24 percent last quarter claiming the current economic environment is better. In assessing their own industries, however, business leaders were considerably less optimistic. Approximately 23 percent claim conditions are better, down from about 37 percent in the first quarter.

CEOs are less optimistic about the short-term outlook than last quarter. Now, just 17 percent of business leaders expect economic conditions to improve in the next six months, down from 27 percent last quarter. Expectations for their own in"

Market Alignment – The Secret of Highly Profitable, Consistently Growing Companies

Thirty thousand new products are launched each year in the U.S. and an astounding 90 percent fail—despite marketing professionals investing millions of dollars on research trying to understand what customers want. Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen argued in his article “Marketing Malpractice,” (Harvard Business Review, Dec. 1, 2005) that the traditional methods used by marketers to segment markets, build brands, and understand customers no longer worked and that new methods were needed—in short, they needed a new way to achieve market alignment.

We define market alignment as the degree to which a seller’s value offerings align with the value demands of the buyer. We’re finding that the average measure of this alignment is remarkably weak regardless of company size, sector or product. Most companies have less than a 40 percent alignment with their customers’ value demands. It is this weak alignment that’s the root cause of weak margins and inconsistent top line growth.

Christensen argues that most senior executives have lost touch with their customers’ value demands for two reasons:

1. They’re using outdated research tools
2. They’re asking the wrong questions
   

Christensen explains that it isn’t just the mechanics of trying to understand the customer that have failed, but the very premise of what we think we need to know that is no longer relevant, and perhaps, never was.

Learn more at: http://www.nuterrastrategies.com/html/whitePapers.php

Leadership: What LeBron Teaches Us | FastCompany

"LeBron James is good for the NBA and the game of basketball. With style, sizzle and a lunch-bucket work ethic, LeBron of the Cleveland Cavaliers is an upbeat spokesman for the league. He plays hard on the court, but disappears off it except when he’s serving as a celebrity pitchman. For a twenty-two year old he leads a quiet life – away from the glitterati.

That quietness is reflected in his play; he is an unselfish player who is willing to dish the ball to teammates so they can score. In game one of the Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons, he dished to an open player for the game winning shot. The player missed and LeBron took the heat. Four games later, LeBron let his play doing the talking. He score 25 consecutive points and 29 of the Cavs’ last thirty. In those two plays, you saw the two sides. In dishing, he is Magic Johnson. In scoring, he is Michael Jordan. In fact, Magic Johnson himself said as much to the New York Times. “He’s much like me when he controls the game… He’s more like Jordan when he goes into the scoring mode and takes it to the basket with all the fantastic moves… He’s more into controlling the game than he is dominating it with scoring.” Author John Feinstein perhaps put it better by Author John Feinstein perhaps put it better by saying NPR’s Morning Editionthat LeBron James is the first LeBron James. LeBron is also something else – a role model for managers. What can a kid who plays a game teach a manager who rides a desk? Plenty."

Click the title to see three lessons...

Software Training | Why It Is Necessary?

"In a world where we associate technology with progress, we automatically assume that having a technological masterpiece in place is automatically going to produce dividends. This is not the case. Tiger Woods is not a great golfer because he uses the most expensive graphite golf clubs. In the hands of a novice, those same golf clubs will not produce the same results. Similarly, the software implemented into a company cannot be expected to just work without having a thorough understanding of how the software operates. It is still incredible to see companies today, who have spent fortunes on software and then have not trained their staff in using it. In no other competitive environment would you expect to give top of the range equipment to untrained performers and then walk away expecting results."

Chrysler on Verge of Sale to a Private Firm

"DaimlerChrysler appears close to selling the struggling Chrysler Group to a private equity firm that specializes in restructuring troubled companies, unwinding a 1998 merger that was meant to create a trans-Atlantic automotive powerhouse, people with direct knowledge of the discussions said on Sunday.

An announcement could come as soon as Monday, though last minute details could delay a final agreement between the investment firm, Cerberus Capital Management, "

Less Risk Seen in Purchasing Clothes Online

"Maybe Americans don’t need dressing rooms after all.

For the first time since online retailing was born a decade ago, the sales of clothing have overtaken those of computer hardware and software, suggesting that consumers have reached a new level of comfort buying merchandise on the Web.

In 2006, revenue from skirts, suits and shoes reached $18.3 billion, surpassing that from PCs, printers and word-processing programs, which totaled $17.2 billion, according to a report to be released today by a major trade group."

Growth Tops List of CEO Concerns

"In a recent survey, U.S. CEOs of companies with less than $100 million in revenues identified their top five concerns for 2006 as the following:

1. Sustained and steady top-line growth
2. Consistent execution of strategy by top management
3. Customer loyalty and retention
4. Profit growth
5. Product innovation

In the study, called the Conference Board's CEO Challenge 2006 Survey, more than 650 CEOs from 40 countries around the world ranked 91 challenges representing their primary business concerns for 2006."

Who Stole Your Sales Mojo?

"Whatever the reason, whatever the story, every salesperson, manager, and business owner has their own opinion on what it means to close a sale and why they can or cannot do so successfully."

The Most Unproductive Question You Can Ask

"On most days, I wake up extra early in the morning to get stuff done. It doesn’t always work, but it’s part of the productivity rhythm I’ve developed over the last year. This time is critical for me; no one else in the house is awake, the phone isn’t ringing and there are very few people online to chat with (no offense to people I chat with!) It means I can focus on a few important things to gear up for the day. Waking up early sets the entire tone for being productive.

But getting up early to get things done is completely useless if I have to ask myself: What am I supposed to be doing today?"

Sales as an Honorable Profession

"According to my friend Howard Stevens of The Chally Group, there are more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States and fewer than three dozen of them teach sales. Yet, of college graduates without a professional certification, fifty percent of them will find themselves in sales as a first job! The market in the U.S. needs an additional 1.5 million new sales candidates per year.

These 30-plus universities are the start to a sales profession.

At recent Sales Leadership conferences put on by Selling Power magazine, when Gerhard Gschwandtner asked an audience of 200 sales executives sitting at 25 tables to discuss and put forth a 'table' definition of 'selling', there was nothing close to consensus. The most common theme put forth does not bode well for sales as an honorable profession—the theme of convincing; persuading; getting the customer to do what you want when you want; handling objections; closing early; closing often; and taking at least five 'no's' before giving up."

APICS - March 2007 Table of Contents

The Future of Supply Chain Management
The importance of supply chain management continues to grow as managers increasingly understand how well-run supply chains enhance the ability to compete effectively in the marketplace. Just managing a firm well and using lean processes and lowcost components is no longer a guarantee of success. Find out what professionals need to know to manage supply chains in 2010 and beyond."

The sales ‘hunter’ becomes the ‘hunted’

"Sales representative is the hardest-to-fill job for U.S. employers, according to a new survey unveiled this week by Glendale-based Manpower Inc.

Coincidentally, Small Business Times had instinctively been conducting research on that very premise for the past two weeks. The result is a cover report headlined, “Dearth of a Salesman,” in the new issue of SBT, which hits the newsstands today."

A Winning Attitude

"It's a question as old as time itself: Are winners born under a special star or do they create their own success? Although I'd love to be able to tell you here and now that I have the definitive scientific answer, I won't lie: I really don't know for sure.

But I'll be happy to bet on one sure thing: A person with a positive attitude will always win out over someone who dwells on the negative. "

Be a Catalyst for Creativity : Industrial Market Trends

Be a Catalyst for Creativity: "If you’re simply producing the same products day after day, year after year, it may not seem like there’s any need for creativity but rather only to ratchet up quality as much as possible, hike deliveries to as soon as possible and cut costs to near zero. To do this, you have some equipment, some time, a place, a budget and some people. Therefore, in reality, to push the envelope, you must find new ways to reach these goals to gain market share or at least survive as a business."

Six Sigma Strategy: Understanding the Customer Process

Strategy: Understanding the Customer Process: "How does a company know when it has a useful business architecture?

* The architecture can be explained in a one-page picture.
* The architecture ties departments together into processes which customers care about.
* All departments can find themselves in the picture.
* Each person can trace a line-of-sight from their work to a customer.
* The architecture reflects more of how the company wants to relate to customers to achieve its strategic goals than how things are currently being done."

Gmail - [Real Innovation] Changing a Company's Culture; Innovation Differs by Industry

Changing a Company's Culture The impetus needed to move an entire organization is monumental and all efforts must be focused to achieve these aims across an entire company. It is never enough to have single points of focused action throughout the organization - the full effort needs to be coordinated. Usually the best intentions of staff are not aligned to the needs of the whole organization and the organizations' customers.

Why hire an athlete? Because they know how to score!

"Here’s a concept: Hire an athlete. It may help you as an employer to make the right choice, or at least a better choice. And it’s a reality check if you’re an individual striving for a career win.Here’s a concept: Hire an athlete. It may help you as an employer to make the right choice, or at least a better choice. And it’s a reality check if you’re an individual striving for a career win."

Women in Business: Differences in How the Female and Male Brain Work, Literally - Career

"The study, which was conducted between September and December 2006 and will be formally released in March, surveyed 385 respondents in an attempt to find out what goes on in the minds of business professionals when they are faced with the stress of taking on a more challenging gig."

To read more, click the article title...

What Does It Take to Aim Low

Is the lower end of the consumer segment really profitable? If yes, why are so few brands pursuing it? What does it take to make this segment really work for your brand? This is a sample of emailed questions I received to my previous blog. I am not the least bit surprised, because these are exactly the kind of questions some of my American clients are trying to answer, as they go about expanding their base in India.

Value Stream Mapping for Value Stream Mapping Success

"The days of vertically integrated companies reaping the benefits of their size has all but come to an end. They proved to be too slow, too complicated and too isolated from what the outside world was up to. "

How Much Is that Discount Really Costing You?

"Boss, if I can just drop the price another 3 percent we’ll have ‘em.” Does that sound familiar? As a sales manager, you’ve probably heard all manner of pleas for the authority to lower your price to seal a deal. And in many cases, you’ve probably granted that authority. But do you know exactly how much those discounts are affecting your bottom line? The numbers might surprise you."

Be a Successful Sales Manager not a Super Seller

"How many sales teams suffer because their sales manager is not doing their job at the right 'level'? Sales figures suffer, sales people suffer and the sales managers feel pressured and possibly even stressed. I want to look at some of the reasons why this occurs and offer some initial ideas for how sales managers can carry out their roles more confidently and effectively - for everyone's benefit!"

What You Should Know About Data on the Floor : Industrial Market Trends

"February 13, 2007
What You Should Know About Data on the Floor
By David R. Butcher

Shop floor data today is being integrated into all facets of the enterprise, from equipment maintenance to quality assurance to improved decision making. And tomorrow’s productivity gains may come from driving plant/enterprise information down to the manufacturing floor, where operators can use it to make on-the-fly decisions."

Putting the Human Into Human Resources

"Leadership is personal.

When Ulrich asked his missionaries what made a good leader, they told him leadership depends on personal relationships. 'I'll be honest,' he says. 'I had not picked up on that. Here I am talking about the nice academic model of leadership. I think that was a blindingly obvious fact: Leaders manage personal relationships. They build trust.'"

PE Forecast for 2007

"Where PE once focused more on smokestack industries, now any company with high cash flows and low valuations will be in play. Sectors mentioned by multiple dealmakers include health care, pharma, financial services, and homebuilding. Giants such as Dell, Gap, Home Depot and Unilever are now routinely bandied about as potential targets.

"Price inflation is acute in middle-market transactions. That suggests there will be pressure on mid-sized PE firms. In the end, says Goldman Sachs co-head of private equity Charles Baillie, 'we're headed for a downturn--the question is when.' But the giant private equity firms are so larded with cash that even when one or two gets singed, and the inevitable credit pullback occurs, they'll still have the means to make deals. This is one bubble that may end with a whimper, not a bang."

Exerpts from "Private-Equity Forecast," by Nicholas Varchaver, FORTUNE Jan. 22, 2007

Climbing Back Up The Mountain

"Brands mired in the middle have faced similar dilemmas for years, of course -- think network TV, or Sears. But the continuing triumph of omnivorous big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target has made the challenge particularly acute for specialty retailers such as EMS, says Larry Selden, a Columbia marketing professor and author of Angel Customers & Demon Customers (Portfolio, 2003). The specialists simply have to intensify their focus to stay alive, offering products and services that mass merchants cannot. And that often means leaving some customers behind. The wrong customers can cost retailers time and resources, often for little or no revenue. Good ones -- passionate ones -- are less work, drive more profits, and help shape the image of the brand. Last year, for example, Toys 'R' Us let slip that it may leave the toy market altogether in order to focus on its more targeted Babies 'R' Us properties. And Best Buy made headlines this winter when the CEO revealed he was abandoning the company's 'devil' customers in the unprofitable middle -- the sale- and rebate-chasing crowd -- and retooling its 670 stores to cater to its high-end 'angel' clientele."

Applying Lean Manufacturing To Six Sigma - A Case Study By Niraj Goyal

There are continuing questions about the relationship between Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma techniques. This relationship has been expressed as follows:

* Stretch the process applying Lean techniques
* Solve the problems of deviation from the standards
* Ensure maintenance of the improved status using Six Sigma techniques
* However, if the system and processes are too poor, stretching it could break it. In this case Six Sigma techniques should be applied to solve some of the top line problems before stretching it."

Bob Crants Pulls Back the Private Equity Curtain

"I think that the current perceived `bubble' in private equity is unlikely to burst anytime soon."

Gitomer.com

"Most people (you included and me included) expect someone friendly, someone helpful when you need them, to be served in a timely manner, to be given fair value, to be presented with a quality product, to make the process quick and easy, and to be thanked whether you give them the business or not."

Thinking About Expanding Your Market?

"Application software companies frequently talk about expanding their markets. Often this idea represents wishful thinking rather than a well-thought out rationale and business plan. If your business is discussing expanding its market, here are 10 questions to answer before you decide."

ECONOMIC TRENDS 2007: Milwaukee companies brace for a slow climb in 2007 - Small Business Times

"Tempered by a housing market hangover, a slumping American automotive industry and the costly war in Iraq, most economists are projecting slow growth of 2 to 3 percent for the U.S. economy in 2007. As the figures suggest, growth will be attainable. However, that growth will have to be earned, and it will usually come in small increments, as companies that are prepared to make the slow climb are able to grind through or around the obstacles in their paths.

The largest obstacle of all may be the lingering housing bubble, recession or correction – depending upon which economist you are listening to. Whatever it is, it is cramping the spending of consumers, many of whom can no longer tap into their home equity lines of credit."

Gitomer.com

"Think about how you feel when someone yells at you. Not the most pleasant feeling in the world. Most people have an instant reaction to defend themselves, blame someone else, or apologize profusely. With a YES! Attitude, none of these are acceptable.

If you say, “Thank you, I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. Now that I know about it, I can fix it right away,” your words clearly state an implied apology, a desire to take action, and a ton of self-confidence. You are expressing your attitude in the form of positive action.

“I’m sorry” is a state of being. If you state it enough, you become it. If you want to make amends, just say, “I apologize.” But an apology does not indicate action. “Thank you” indicates acceptance, and the words that follow indicate you’re willing to do something about it."

Private equity firms raised record $215.4B in 2006 - San Francisco Business Times:

"U.S. private equity firms in 2006 smashed their previous fund-raising record, reaping $215.4 billion among 322 funds by the close of the year, according to a report released Thursday."

Your past and present hold the key to your future

"Where are you going?

No, I don’t mean where are you going on your next appointment. I don’t mean where are you going out to dinner. And I don’t mean where are you going when you get to the mall. I’m asking: Where are you going in life?"