Archive for the 'Business Consulting' Category
Once Upon A Time…
These four simple words conjure up the anticipation of a tale of wonder and fascination. One might think this is something for a campfire, classroom or bedside. But that would be very wrong.
The definition of story in this case is an account of incidents or events, a statement regarding the facts pertinent to a situation in question – - not a work of fiction.
All of us have been in a business management or sales meeting where the speaker clicks through a PowerPoint presentation showing charts and numbers. Few people, if any, take anything away from those meetings. But put the same information in the context of a story and the point is made. When you tell a story, people understand what the mission is and they understand how they can make it happen. If you just talk at a high level of mission and vision the reaction is, “What am I supposed to do with that!?”
On Becoming A Top Performer
We were asked to contribute to an article that appeared in the Minneapolis StarTribune on ‘Tips For Becoming A Top Performer.’ I thought you might find the information we provided — gained from working with our clients – interesting:
The difference between top producers and average performers is often less than what most people think
I am sure that you have you heard this many times as it relates to professional athletes and others. But the truth is, the ability to perform daily at a consistently high level is what separates the high achievers from the “ordinary” category. And the key to that is having the personal commitment and discipline backed by process and tools that allow you to do a number of little things just a little better than your competition each and every day.
Marketing Must Be Reinvented!
A recent article of ours dealt with the importance of Elmer Wheeler’s famous advice: “Don’t sell the steak – sell the sizzle.” What Wheeler meant by “sizzle,” of course, was identifying the benefit that has primary appeal to your prospect. In other words, that aspect of your product or service that grabs your prospects’ imagination and gets them excited. It represents the benefit that is most closely linked to the prospect’s interests or motivations, and leads to the “best selling arguments” we can come up with — factors that have a real gut-level appeal to the buyer.
But Wheeler also went on to say that while the sizzle has sold more steaks than the cow ever has, the cow is mighty important. This time we’ll talk about the cow.
Innovation As A Tactic, Not A Strategy
Innovation has been looked at as an admired business strategy over the past decade. We’ve even written about it. But the other side of the story is that most companies that require a constant flow of new, innovative products will someday find themselves in deep trouble. Proof of that claim is that Sharper Image, home of innovative products such as the Razor scooter, the robotic dog, the Ionic Breeze, the StressEraser and the R2-D2 interactive droid, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as did a whole list of others.
As timeless author Al Reis points out, “Every successful company needs a branding strategy, which may or may not include innovation. Yet many marketing gurus have elevated innovation to a point where it is widely perceived as the single most important function of a corporation.”
Filtering Out The Fluff!
Most of us struggle with trying to avoid marketing fluff. It’s not easy. But the benefits are worth the effort.
I recently read a brochure about a new upscale housing development. The piece was beautifully designed, had nice graphics, and it visually flowed well. So what was the problem? What it said. Or rather, what it didn’t say. Everything they wrote about their project consisted of dull, worn-out clichés – -”leading edge,” “state of the art,” “innovative,” even that bloated loser “synergistic.” The copy gave no compelling reason whatsoever as to why I might be interested. And based on the visuals, it looked to me like there were several.
Read the rest of this entry »
Nine Top Trends In Marketing
The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) has published its list of what it considers to be the nine top trends affecting marketing, with the consumer’s increased desire for control being the overriding theme throughout all of the highlighted trends.
According to NMI, consumers today want more control in all aspects of life, whether it’s their health, their lifestyle, their finances or other critical areas, while at the same time they want new and innovative products and more information. And they are also demonstrating increasingly fragmented, and possibly less predictable, behavior.