Category: Business

Know When to Hold ’em and Know When to Fold ’em

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

cards

Work not going well? You’ve been there a while but lately you seem to be spinning your wheels. You have several important projects or initiatives you’re responsible for but you still feel a bit…unfulfilled…numb. Is it time to look for a new job? Would a change in your environment really make a difference? What if you make a change and things don’t get better? Or the all-time favorite justification for staying put – “there’s no perfect job”.

While I don’t suggest job-hopping, I do believe that life’s simply too short to be unhappy, unchallenged, unfulfilled…or numb. Taking charge and owning your happiness and completeness is up to you and you alone. No one is going to do it for you. No boss will ever come to you offering to do all they can to make you happy. Remember you’re employed by them for a reason – to accomplish their goals as they are disseminated from on high.

So how do you know if the sand in the hourglass is gone and it’s time to move on? Answer the following questions to give you an indication if it’s time.

1. How excited are you to get up and go into work each day? No excitement? Boring? Drab? Dreadful? Or are you emotionally charged, eager, and ready to tear it up each day?
2. Where is your energy level at 10 am each day? Does your energy drain early in the day? Do you feel ready go get out of there before the lunch bell rings?
3. How friendly is your relationship with your boss? Do you interact on an as-needed basis or do you spend time informally simply chatting about stuff in general?
4. What words do you use to describe your co-workers? Do you consider them friends, partners, confidants? Or do you view them as snipers hiding in bushes, adversaries with sinister intentions?
5. Is the quality of your work outstanding? Do you feel like you’re delivering a masterpiece everyday or are you going through the motions? Are you still growing and learning new things that help improve your craft or are you stale, stalled, or going backward?
6. How much time do you spend thinking about or admiring other companies? Do you look at other companies with a wanting eye? Do you rush to the news stand to purchase Fortune’s, 100 Best Places to Work, issue  when it comes out?
7. Do your dinner conversations every night turn to work? Are you constantly talking about how bad things are at the office? How under-appreciated you are? How much your boss takes you for granted?

Life isn’t perfect and neither is work. For me it simply boils down to 3 things: Am I being challenged every day? I am learning? Do I like and trust the people I work with? Am I connected to my boss on a personal level? These may not be your 4 metrics and if they’re not I strongly suggest you identify what yours are. Without knowing what will make you happy, you will never find happiness. It all starts with you!

The Ivory Tower Vs. The Customer

On By Joe DeRosaIn Business, SalesLeave a comment

ivory tower

Throughout my career I have observed a significant disconnect between C-Suite executives and the customer. I have often wondered why the people with the most power to influence change seem to go to extremes to avoid direct contact with their customers. Meetings are held, strategies are developed, and plans are made all in the name of doing the right thing for the customer – responding to their needs. But how do these executives know what their customers want? They haven’t talked to their customers, met with them, or corresponded with them. They gather input from their key lieutenants, assuming they know. But have they met directly with their customers? No. I have found this phenomenon quite intriguing and have developed some insights as to why this happens.

Television shows like Undercover Boss highlight the disconnect between the Ivory Tower and the customer. The CEOs, COOs, or Presidents go “undercover” to see how things are really working in the field…which is a technical term for real life. My only hope is that most of what is seen on television programs like this one are fiction, to at least some extent. If not, we’re all in big trouble if our executives are that disconnected from the real world.

I believe there are 3 reasons many executives avoid meeting or interacting directly with their customers preferring to take refuge in their Ivory Tower. These reasons tend to be driven more by the executives emotions that tangible difficulties of scheduling time to be in the field. My observations of why these senior executives avoid direct customer interaction include:

1. Already paid dues
2. Fear of not being able to solve the customer’s problem
3. Fear of embarrassment in front of sales or service representatives

Some executives feel they’ve paid their dues and spent enough time in the field as they built their careers creating an imbalance between these aspirations and being truly customer-centric. I’m not saying that focusing on building a career is wrong. What I am saying is that as long as you maintain a genuine focus on the customer career progression usually follows. Once the focus on the customer is lost, in favor of  bigger and better executive perks, an attitude of entitlement develops.

Another reason executives keep out of the field is their fear of not being able to solve the customers problems. Your product isn’t working as advertised, it costs too much, your service is terrible. These are all real life comments I have heard when in the field. They are not easy to deal with especially if the complaint is focused on an area of the business outside of your control. If the Sales executive receives a complaint about service they may feel helpless in providing a satisfactory resolution. But why? One way to eliminate this fear is to build strong relationships with your peers across the business. A simple call to the head of Operations – providing there is a strong and trusting relationship – can quickly provide the resolution necessary to save a client. Many times however these relationships are overlooked or get sidelined in favor of other activities. Life and business are all about relationships. No matter what your level, take the time to foster good relationships at work. You never know when you’ll need them.

Finally I’ve seen first hand how many executives seem to “freeze” when they are in the field with a sales or service representative. Because of the disconnect that exists between the executive and real life, they lose touch with the customer and their ability to empathize is impaired. This impairment becomes visible to the customer and the sales or service representative creating an awkwardness during these encounters. The key to a successful executive field visit lies with the executive’s ability to blend humility with a genuine focus on learning about the customers wants and needs. Showing the sales or service person respect in their arena creates an environment that fosters trust and allows for learning to take place.

How often are your executives in the field? When was the last time your CEO, President, or head of Sales went on a customer visit with you? What do you think the right frequency is for executive field visits? Let me know.

4 Ways to Produce Great Results Working from Home

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

house

Over the past several years many companies have adopted work from home policies. They call these employees telecommuters, remote workers, or plain old “work-from-home- employees”. Regardless of the titles placed on employees who perform their jobs from their homesites it’s clear that this is no passing fad but an evolution of the workplace environment.

With the development of new technologies, now more than ever, employees working from home are able to be hyper-focused and extremely productive. But working from home isn’t easy, nor is it for everyone. It takes a special type of person to be effective working from their homes. Many employers are still leery of this arrangement given past experiences where an employee perhaps took advantage of being home. This is where trust is an absolute requirement for these remote arrangements to work.

If you’ve never worked from home before, or you’ve been working from home but just looking for new ways to improve your job performance working remotely then read on. I’ve identified 5 elements necessary to become highly effective working from home.

1. Stake out your space. If you live alone this is a bit easier than if you live with a roommate or have a family. You must have an area of your home that is designated specifically as your office, your space, your workspace. Without a clearly defined area you may find yourself on the move throughout the day having to constantly move from one area to the next to accommodate your living companions. If you have kids make sure they know what the boundaries are as they relate to your office. Where your space is, your hours of operation, rules on noise, etc. Being clear up front improves your ability to perform while minimizing home disputes.
2. Get organized. Make sure your space has everything you need to operate. Having to go to the kitchen to get a stapler or into the playroom to get tape is not a recipe for efficiency. Limit the number of times you need to leave your “area” and it will greatly minimize any potential distractions. Distractions are the #1 killer of work-from-home arrangements. The temptation to cut the lawn early, take a dip in the pool, or get caught up in a conversation as you walk into the kitchen to grab something to drink all become distractions that risk your productive work time.
3. Take breaks. Sure there are certain jobs that require employees to be on the phone all day but in many positions if you were to be in an office you’d be in and out of your office throughout the day. Going from one meeting to the next, using the restroom, or going out to lunch provides built-in breaks throughout an “in-office” day. Earlier in my career when I landed my first remote position I found it all too easy to work nonstop. I would go into my “office” at 7 am, and in many cases earlier than that, and not leave it until 6 pm or later, barely taking time to use the restroom or eat. Breaks during the day allow you to clear your mind, take a breather and recharge a bit. Breaks are important to your creative effectiveness.
4. Shut it down. Perhaps the biggest risk to working from home is the temptation to work all the time. It’s so easy to sneak a peek on your email, or research an idea quickly on the internet. When the day ends, so should you. You’re really not doing your employer any favors working until 7, 8, 9, or 10 pm. Your ability to think clearly, produce creative ideas, and act with a fresh perspective are all impaired when you never shut down. Don’t leave your computer or laptop on. Shut it down. And under no circumstances should you take your laptop with you outside of your work area.

The bottom line is that you must look at your home office like a work office. When you leave it, leave it. For those who work remote what are your best practices for working from home?

How To Improve Boardroom Decisions

On By Joe DeRosaIn Business, Leadership, MarketingLeave a comment

Council

Daylong meetings starting at 7:30 am behind closed doors. Continental breakfast with all the coffee you can drink. Lunch around noon…sandwiches or pizza…followed by early afternoon cookies, more coffee, and an occasional bottle of water. The day ends around 5:30 pm with a 30 minute break to “freshen up” before going out for a team dinner. Sound familiar? It does if you’ve ever experienced an executive, or Board-level meeting.

Many companies are currently knee-deep in 2014 planning sessions. Meetings like the one I’ve described above are taking place in different cities across the country…and the world. Lots of PowerPoint presentations, opinions, predictions, explanations, what-ifs, if-nots, and I-needs, fill hours upon hours of meetings. Interestingly enough one of the most important ingredients to building a successful strategy is missing from many of these discussions…the customer.

A fair number of companies execute their planning season with an inside-out view. They go into these sessions with closed minds, hindered by their narrow focus of what is, rather than what could be. This is not necessarily a purposeful or conscious approach, but it just seems to happen that way. We look at last year’s results, add 10% or whatever number we “think” sounds reasonable and build a plan around it. Again, sound familiar?

But companies that drive significant growth through innovation do it differently…they involve the customer.  Here’s some proof.

One of the best shows on television today is The C-Suite.  The show, and its host Jeffrey Hayzlett, focuses on getting behind the typically-closed-doors of some of the country’s biggest brands.  They dig around the executives thinking, ideas, philosophies and plans.  Hayzlett asks tough questions, the questions viewers would love to ask if they could – and he gets answers.

In a recent episode of The C-Suite on BloombergTV, host Jeffrey Hayzlett profiled the Seattle Sounders professional soccer team. He met with the owner and the executive leadership to understand how the Sounders have accomplished sell-outs (60,000+ seats) at every home game. In a previous episode he met with the executive team of Dunkin Donuts to have a similar conversation about what’s driving their growth. What was quite surprising and impressive is that while both these companies are in completely different industries their response was nearly identical…they both involve the customer.

Joe Roth, the majority owner of the Sounders, and Nigel Travis the CEO of Dunkin Brands, have both established customer advisory councils. The Sounders’ council consists of season ticket holders and Dunkin’s is made up of a group of their franchisees. Both councils provide ideas, thoughts, and reactions to their respective company’s strategy and plans. The Sounders go as far as involving their council members in discussions from ticket prices to player selection. They have given the brand to their customers and are reaping the benefits in a big way.  In fact their leap of faith has paid of five-fold.

It takes guts to listen to your customers.  Executive teams must also have the courage to act on what their customers tell them. Oddly enough the companies that have allowed their customers to “hijack” their brand have been extremely successful as profiled in the book Brand Hijack. Given their success it’s interesting to me that more companies don’t follow this approach. At the same time I find it unbelievable that many companies still don’t listen to their customers yet expect, or hope they continue to spend their money on their brands.

It’s great to see some companies really nailing the customer experience.  Asking, engaging, listening and acting upon what the customer says is so powerful.  Providing a forum for that exchange to take place is a best practice all companies should follow.  For many things in life there is no silver bullet.  But in business, knowing your customer is the best silver bullet you’ve got.  You simply need to do three things:  Ask, listen, and act.

Does your company do this?

How Great Is Your Company? Answer These 4 Questions.

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

happyworkGreatness is determined on many levels.  Seldom is it one thing that defines a great company.  This year’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work for include: Google, SAS, CHG Healthcare Services, Boston Consulting Group, and Wegmans Food Markets rounding out the top five.  What makes these select few stand out among the millions of companies doing business every day?  Is it the free lunch that Google offers or the casual dress code at SAS, or the leadership development programs offered at Boston Consulting Group that make the difference?  More than likely it’s those things plus other less tangible things that have elevated these companies to becoming employers many people aspire to work for.  If you’re considering a move, or simply trying to decide if you should stay or go, look at the following 4 areas and answer the questions I’ve posed.  This may provide you with the insight you’re looking for to make your decision.

  1. Employee morale.  Some companies conduct regular surveys of their employees to measure morale and job satisfaction.  Poor morale can lead to many negative side-effects for a company and its employees.  Here are some signs you may have a morale problem:  increase in sick time, customer service levels dropping, longer than scheduled employee breaks, increase in personal phone calls, visible avoidance of senior management.  Typically low employee morale is the result of uncontrolled stress or strain in the workplace.  However, in companies with strong employee morale you see higher engagement, lower usage of sick-time, and perhaps most importantly a culture of innovation that leads to strong customer satisfaction levels.  Engaged employees offer new ideas, suggestions, and solutions for how to improve things across the business.  The key driver to making this happen?…managements ability and desire to listen and act in collaboration with their employees.  How is your company’s morale?
  2.  Creativity.  Positive energy generates positive thoughts.  Positive thoughts produce creative ideas and solutions.  When a company’s culture is negative or numb, it loses its ability to create new ideas, concepts, products, or services.  Creativity is a required ingredient for innovation and invention.  Without it, you will successfully secure your spot in the purgatory of status quo.  Companies that thrive in a highly creative and innovative world have mastered the power of creative thinking.  They have accomplished this by instituting a level of controlled, creative tension.  Management expects employees to generate new ideas and employees expect to be heard.  This dynamic of a two-way-street creates a steady stream of creative traffic that produces ongoing positive results for both the company and its employees.  Is your company a culture of creativity, what example can you give?
  3. Turnover.  Life is all about relationships and the workplace is no different.  According to a recent Dale Carnegie Training study, the #1 reason people leave their job is because “their boss sucks”.  People don’t leave companies…they leave to get away from other people.  Companies with high turnover, which I would define as more than 10% annually should take a deep look into what is driving their turnover.  Often times exit interviews and surveys are the relied upon methods for gathering feedback from a departing employee.  However, these tactics come after the fact…when nothing can be done to salvage a high-value employee who has decided to leave.  High turnover can also suggest a disconnect between the management team, the company vision, and employee goals or quotas.  What’s the turnover rate at your company?
  4. Transparency.  It’s either there or it isn’t.  You know as an employee how your work impacts the top and bottom line…or you don’t.  Management communicates a clear vision that includes the company’s goals, the timeframe for achieving them, and regular updates on the health and progress of the business relative to these goals.  Creating a culture of transparency requires time, commitment and most importantly trust.  Management must trust the employees with information, and employees must trust their management to provide this information with accuracy and honesty and hold it in confidence.  A breakdown on either side of this relationship ultimately leads to the elimination of transparency further leading to many of the above symptoms taking hold:  poor morale, turnover, and lost productivity/creativity.  How much do you know about your company’s goals and objectives?

What’s At Risk When The Government Shuts Down?

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

Caution

Let me first say that growing up I learned an important lesson from my father…“don’t be part of the problem, be part of the solution”.  I’ve carried that philosophy with me throughout life and it has served me well.  That said, my blog today provides context on the problem as I see it with our Country’s current state of affairs.  Later this week I will post a blog that provides a solution, or at least a strong direction, that may be viewed as a starting point to making things better.

The U.S. government has now officially been shut-down for a week.  On Tuesday, October 1, 2013, after being unable to reach any agreement between the President, Republicans, and Democrats, the government was forced to shut down…at least partially.  From services required to fund small business loans, to passport processing services, and the suspension of Amber-Alerts,  many of the “Congress deemed non-essential services” have been stopped.  Unfortunately the one service that should have also been stopped wasn’t…paying Congress!  Instead, it is estimated that nearly 800,000 of the 3.3 million federal employees will be furloughed – the remaining employees being viewed as “essential”.

How did we end up in this situation again?  It seems we have reached this same impasse a handful of times over the past 5 years.  Gridlock and deadlock have plagued this 113th Congress and it shows in their “disapproval” rating which is currently hovering at 80+%.  Think about that…8 in 10 American’s do not approve of how Congress is acting…or not acting depending on your viewpoint.  Relative to the President, his approval rating is just a bit better at 50%…half approving and half disapproving.  No matter how you slice it, or which polling company’s data you prefer, it’s clear we have our work cut out for us as a country.

There are two issues looming on the horizon that will most certainly present additional challenges for the U.S.  The first being our debt ceiling, and the second being the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, more specifically the health exchanges.

Our debt ceiling is set to expire on October 17, 2013.  If no action is taken, what we risk, is the general default by the U.S Government to its bondholders.  And while the U.S. Treasury Department has some wiggle room as to prioritizing what and who to pay first, the reality is that because the numbers are so huge something or someone is likely to come out on the short end of the stick.  If forced to make a trade-off, the Treasury is likely to pay the bondholders before paying Social Security recipients.  Unfortunately there is no easy solution.  Some say just raise the debt ceiling…print more money, while others suggest slashing budgets and eliminating many of the current public or entitlement programs. It’s hard to believe that 536 (535 + 1) people can’t find some common ground that offers up a solution to benefit the country and its citizens.  This current win-lose philosophy if allowed to continue will only hurt us in the short and long-term.

Next up, the exchanges.  We saw this past week websites crashing, call centers overloaded, and millions of questions left unanswered.  To be fair, all new things have their bugs whether it’s Windows 8 or the new iOS7 platform.  We have grown accustomed to anticipating problems.  However, as forgiving as we typically are, there are some things that drive us to shop elsewhere.  As an example, many people I know are considering switching to a DROID-based phone after Apple’s recent iOS7 release that seemed riddled with problems.  Likewise, many folks still haven’t upgraded to Windows 8 as they are not pleased with Microsoft’s new platform.  But where will people go when not happy with the exchanges?  Perhaps a different exchange?  Maybe through their broker?  The fact is, it’s yet to be seen what choice we will really have if completely dissatisfied with the new way we need to secure our health coverage.

The next few weeks will test our patience, as well as, our prior held beliefs.  Those in favor of healthcare reform may have a change of heart and to be fair those opposed to its passing may find they actually like it.  Regardless, our government has some significant challenges it is facing over the coming weeks and given its recent history of being unable to work together toward a common outcome, the likelihood that we will actually get a solution to these big problems is slim to none.  Instead we’ll kick the can further down the road, place a temporary band-aid on our debt problem and more likely be forced to delay another aspect of the ACA implementation.

Perhaps the biggest risk of a government shut-down is psychological.  A loss of confidence, stature, and respect.  A shut down pushes us further away from our once-held position as the leader in the world, a country with great ideas, the best talent, and an unquenchable thirst for perfection and progress.  Shutting things down signifies giving up, and that’s simply Un-American.

General Motors Big Comeback

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

GM_masterart_fullcolor

They most certainly have had their ups and downs, but 2013 looks to be the comeback year for General Motors.  With their stock trading near a 52-week high, their bond rating just increased to investment grade by Moody’s, and 4 of their brands rated by J.D. Power as “The Most Dependable”, GM seems to be on the mend.

Tracing its roots to 1908, General Motors started as a holding company for Buick.  In less than two years, GM merged or acquired 8 brands including Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland, Reliance Motor Truck Company, and Rapid Motor Vehicle (predecessor to GMC Trucks).   The company ran into its first experience with leverage in 1910 when then founder, and majority owner, William Durant lost control of the company to a bankers’ trust due to the overly aggressive, rapid expansion and acquisition spree.  Durant would later take control again of GM in 1916, this time for good.  GM would experience stratospheric growth until the early 1980s when new cracks in its armor would begin to appear.

For years GM had operated with hubris…an extreme arrogance coupled with the Company’s inability to realistically understand its own competence.  Build it and they will come was the motto.  This led to poor quality, cheap and unreliable components, and total disregard for consumer preferences.  GM actually pioneered many of today’s most popular in-vehicle features but was unable to follow through.  The 1955 Chevy was the first documented car that offered cup holders, but it took nearly 30 years for a different car company to make them standard and popular.  That car company was Chrysler and the vehicle was the Chrysler minivan.  GM was the first to manufacture a mass-produced electric vehicle in 1990, the EV1, and also is recognized as the inventor of air bag safety systems in our vehicles today.

Watching GM from the mid 1980s through the early 2000s was like watching a company in suspended animation.  They produced vehicles that were average at best, offered mediocre quality, and still had not paid much attention to the interior features of its cars.  The Japanese and German automakers fine-tuned their cars offering better sound proofing to eliminate road noise, higher-end textures inside the cabins to make the vehicles more comfortable, and new exterior designs offering new looks every few years versus the seven years it took for General Motors to make exterior changes.

GM’s disregard for what the buyer wanted finally caught up to them in their 2009 bankruptcy filing at the height of the Great Recession.  Public opinion ran in extremes during this time.  The topic of a GM bailout was viewed as black or white.  You were either in favor or not…no in between.  Ultimately the U.S. government propped up General Motors with $50 billion dollars, of which half has been repaid.  The remaining balance – about 200 million shares will be sold off in traunches by the U.S. government.  To break even the stock will need to trade north of $70 per share as of today.  As so sticks the name “Government Motors”.

That brings us to GM’s comeback.  While a $70 dollar share price is still very aggressive in the near term there are promising signs that GM may have found its swagger.  They’ve unloaded their unprofitable brands including Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saab, and Hummer.  They have poured millions into Chevy and Cadillac and so far the results have been impressive.  The new 2013 Cadillac XTS won an Edmonds “best car of the year” category while the ATS won the North American Car of the Year award.  GM’s 4 remaining brands can be found in J.D. Powers top 10 list of most dependable vehicles.  From styling and quality, to sales and service, General Motors seems to be coming back from the dead, and that’s a great thing.  Putting aside the politics of the bailout, the fact is we should all be cheering them on.  After all it’s our money.  It’s quite possible we are witnessing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of corporate America, and if that’s the case, we’re all the better for it.

P-cubed = Profit

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

Profit

For-profit companies operate with a simple goal – make a profit.  Profits are the essence of life and growth for all businesses.  Investments in talent, innovation, and new markets are all dependent upon a company’s ability to generate profits with which they can invest back into its business.  In the absence of profits, some businesses start on a path to leverage…borrowing today on a bet that tomorrow will be better.  Many times this approach leads to disaster.

There are three (3) critical factors in driving profits for any business.  And while there may be thousands of criteria that enter into a profit equation, just about all of them can be bucketed into these three categories.

  1. People.  The first ingredient required to drive profit.  People generate the ideas, relationships, and creative thinking that’s required to grow a company.  Great leaders know how to identify the right people to introduce to their specific work culture.  Many companies make the mistake of seeking only the “top performers” from their competitors.  Unfortunately this approach often leads to failure and disappointment.  Why?  Because leaders often lose sight of the fact that beyond the person, they also need two other factors to succeed…a plan and process, and herein lies the problem.  No two companies operate the same, have the same plan, or the same process/infrastructure to execute with.  Therefore what makes someone successful in one environment does not equate to success in a different environment.
  2. Plan.  As the saying goes, “failing to plan, is planning to fail”.  Successful companies have a plan including a 12 month, 3 year and 5 year plan.  They know that the further they look into the future, the more uncertainty the plan takes on – but that doesn’t stop them from the exercise of planning.  The biggest benefit of having a plan is not always the plan itself but what was learned and gained from the act of planning.  Deeper insights, critical understandings, and lessons learned, are all positive outputs from a detailed planning process.  Once the plan is made it MUST be communicated or cascaded throughout the organization.  Without clear line of sight, employees are left with an empty feeling that results in a numbing effect taking ahold of the business.  This leads to morale issues, turnover, and a general decrease in quality of products produced or service delivered.
  3. Process.  The process factor is one of the most overlooked factors in generating profits.  Existing companies feel that they know what they do, and start-ups feel like they’ll figure it out along the way.  Both are wrong.  Processes must be documented, monitored, measured and improved.  The Toyota Production System, otherwise known as TPS, pioneered the Kaizen – a philosophy that embraces continued improvement.  All processes can be improved or enhanced.  To drive improvements requires a deep understanding of your people (internal and external) and your plans.  A great book that illustrates this philosophy is The Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker.

Focus on these three factors and they will help you build a better road map to achieving stronger profits.  But remember this…it all starts with having the right people.  As Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 U.S. Men’s Hockey team said when putting his team together, “I’m not looking for the best players, I’m looking for the right players.”  This quote validates the importance of knowing your culture, how it operates, what its strengths and weaknesses are, and what type of individual would thrive within it.  It all comes down to people…and it starts with you.

Buyer Personas. The Key To Sustained Growth.

On By Joe DeRosaIn Business, Marketing, SalesLeave a comment

Who

In my prior blog, 3 Philosophies of a Great Company, I wrote about the importance of knowing your customer.  We’ve all heard this expression before but many companies still struggle with the essence and simplicity of its meaning.  Knowing your customer involves having a thirst for knowledge, the ability to confront reality, and dedicated resources including time and dollars.  Those that embrace this strategic component are those that excel and succeed.

Using a buyer persona process is a great way to get to know your customer.   Companies like Sirius Decisions and HubSpot have invested countless resources in the development of creating a buyer persona process that drives new customer growth while improving the retention rate of existing customers.  When used effectively, buyer personas can become a powerful P&L management tool.  How?  Buyer Personas help to:

  1. Improve target marketing by aligning your product or service to the right audience.  If your product is geared toward SMB (Small-Medium-Business) or enterprise-size companies, your buyer personas will provide critical insights into the buyer behaviors of these specific segments.  Having a deep confidence in knowing your customer helps to avoid wasting precious time, and money, spent marketing to the wrong prospect group.
  2. Provide granular detail around how your prospective buyer thinks and gathers information.  How do they make their buying decision?  This information helps improve your ROI on marketing investments by knowing what to say, where to say it, how often to communicate your message, etc.  Keep in mind that each business could have more than one buyer persona.  A CEO, CFO, Office Manager, General Manager, all make decisions differently.  Why?  Because each have their own perspective from which they process information.  This becomes extremely important when determining where each of these individuals go to find information.  Sirius Decisions concept of “watering holes” illustrates the importance of knowing where to place your message – where your customers and prospects spend their time.
  3. Convert your value proposition into a high-impact message.  The strength of your value proposition is dependent upon how well your message aligns to the needs of your customer or prospective buyer.  You cannot succeed if your value proposition is disconnected from the buyers needs.  Therefore, having a completed buyer persona allows you to take your value proposition and craft it into a specific message that addresses the needs or pain points of that buyer.  Being able to demonstrate to the buyer your understanding of their needs, builds their confidence and, ultimately leads to their conviction to select you as their provider of service.

Think about the companies that really seem to know what the customer wants.  Companies like Apple, Toyota, Cadillac, Samsung, Proctor & Gamble, and Victoria’s Secret are all companies that have taken a buyer persona approach to growing their market share.  They invest heavily in knowing their customer.  They understand that what worked yesterday may not work today given internal or external influences to their market.  The key is change.  Seek it, drive it, embrace it, demand it.  Change is what drives innovation and innovation, if done correctly, drives growth.

3 Philosophies of a Great Company

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

Greatness-vs.-Mediocrity

You work for a great company, right?  You know what your customers want.  Your product, your service, your company has got it.  You’re the best out there and you know it.  You’ve built things from the ground up or possibly revamped an existing infrastructure to improve your sales effectiveness and efficiency.  You installed a sales CRM tool, you’re looking at a marketing automation system, and you just bought a prospect list that will help you focus on where to fish.  You’re ready.  You’re set…and off you go!

But wait.  You’ve spent months focused only on the internal aspects of your company.  You’ve developed plans based upon a certain set of assumptions, all of which, are best guesses based upon what you know.  But herein lies the problem, it’s not what you know that presents the risk of failure…it’s what you don’t know.  And  right now you’re missing the biggest piece of your success equation – what does the customer want and how do they want it?

Most companies still operate from an inside-out viewpoint.  What do we sell?  Why are we the best?  What makes us different?  Why is our product or process better?  This is why we’re special.  This is why you’ll love our solution.  And on, and on it goes.

So what separates average companies from star performers?  While there are many things that go into creating a great company I’d offer the following three philosophies as perhaps the most critical:

  1. Outside-in view.   Placing the buyers needs first is crucial to a company’s growth and success.  This requires dedicating time and resources to studying and understanding your prospective buyer.   Sirius Decisions, an expert in the integration of sales and marketing, developed a proven process that companies can use to identify and define their various buyer personas.  These personas provide deep insight into the buyer, who they are, how they operate, where they go to gather information, and their preferred methods of absorbing information.  Without this deep understanding of your prospective buyer, your sales and marketing efforts will continue to produce disappointing results.
  2. Thirst for knowledge.  Great companies are also learning companies.  They apply different techniques to deepen their awareness and familiarity of the marketplace.  Leadership gurus like Noel Tichy have introduced various methods for gaining and using this knowledge, inside of large organizations, that can also be applied to small businesses.  Tichy’s Virtuous Teaching Cycle, introduced in his book The Leadership Cycle, provides clear steps for how to gather, assimilate, and cascade knowledge throughout an organization.  Companies that commit to this quest for knowledge are better prepared to take the lead when the opportunity arises.
  3. Commitment to talent.  It’s no wonder that the companies on the list of Fortune’s Great Places to Work have some of the strongest performance results around.  For years, we have read the studies and seen the data that prove a direct correlation between employee satisfaction and high performance.  Today, we see companies like HubSpot, Zappos, and Square2Marketing providing benefits to employees ranging from “unlimited vacation time” to “pet friendly work places”.  Companies are beginning to see the benefits of providing more control and accountability to their employees.  Brian Halligan, HubSpot’s CEO said, “we hire very smart people who focus on the growth of our company and we expect them to use common sense”, and they have done just that since this HubSpot’s unlimited vacation policy was introduced in January 2010.