3 Simple Ideas To Unite The States

On By Joe DeRosaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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America’s history is filled with successful compromise.  That’s what makes our country so great.  People of different backgrounds, experiences, ideas, and  opinions coming together to debate and decide on the best path forward.  And while I’m not naive, or remotely suggesting that the big decisions we’ve made in the past have been easy, I am saying that we seem to have been able to place country first.  One of the most memorable quotes of all times that illustrates the importance of country first, came when Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 U.S. Men’s Hockey team said to his team, remember, “the name on the front (of the jersey) is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back.”  If we start with that premise, believe it, and embrace it we can begin to work toward better outcomes.

Here are 3 ideas that could help us focus on getting big things accomplished that will help the United States move forward:

  1. Re-define essential.  A quick trip back to review our Constitution suggests that there are certain things our government must provide.  Use those items as the starting point in defining what must be considered “essential” when negotiating in and with Congress.  The only truly essential guarantee referenced within the Preamble of our Constitution “provides for the common defence.”  Defence is defined as “resistance against danger, attack, or harm.  The other five elements could be viewed as “best intentions” statements.  Words like insure and promote are not guarantees.  Given the brilliance of our Founding Fathers, I believe that if they truly wanted to guarantee Tranquility or domestic welfare they would have used stronger words such as ensure versus insure.
  2. Term limits.  Politics was never meant to be a career.  I’d suggest that prior to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), most people who entered political life held the view that they would serve for a period of time and move on.  In fact, at our country’s founding, many of our first leaders gave up significant riches to serve in America’s political arena.  Prior to John F. Kennedy’s presidency, U.S. Presidents paid for parties thrown at the White House out of their own pocket.  I’d propose setting an 8 year term limit across the board.  For those in Congress, it would provide 8 years should they have presidential aspirations to accomplish big things…it would create a sense of urgency to really showcase leadership and negotiation skills… required elements of our government leaders.
  3. Adjust corporate tax rates.  The United States has the highest corporate tax rate of any developed nation in the world topping out at 39.1%.  This level of tax rate results in U.S. based companies expanding elsewhere, foreign companies avoiding U.S. shores, and domestic companies parking huge sums of cash offshore.  Just look at Apple’s balance sheet as an example.  Currently Apple parks more than $100 billion dollars in offshore accounts.  To bring these dollars back to the states would result in huge tax assessments to the company that would have a negative effect on all of Apple’s stakeholders from employees, to customers, to stockholders.  This capital is sitting idle when it could be placed to work or deployed in ways that create new jobs, drive new innovations, and grow our economy.

None of these 3 ideas are completely new concepts to consider.  However, I’ve often found that during times of uncertainty when line of sight is obstructed, the simpler the idea is, the quicker the road to improvement.

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.

The 7 Question Marketing Effectiveness Quiz

On By Joe DeRosaIn MarketingLeave a comment

Marketing

Whether a start-up or mature, large or small, restaurant or manufacturer, Marketing plays a vital role in the success of every business.  And while specific tactics may look different depending on your product or service, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the return on your marketing investment.  Setting up a Marketing dashboard is critical to providing you with this insight.  To get started you will need to have a thorough understanding of your business, your customers, competition, overall marketplace economics and trends.  Getting started requires time, focus, commitment and most importantly a complete acceptance of reality.   Take the 7 Question Marketing Effectiveness Quiz below to see how informed and prepared you are to lead your team to victory.

  1. Do you have a written definition of what a lead is?  Many companies have no clear definition of a lead.  In many cases a name alone represents a lead.  Marketing may generate a name and provide it to the Sales organization to contact leading to a false sense of demand creation.  A name is NOT a lead.  However, YOU need to decide what a lead is for your company and obtain the agreement to that definition from others on the executive team most importantly the leader of the Sales team.
  2. How many channels are you working to generate leads?  Is it just a sales team?  Do you use your website?  What about strategic partnerships?  A multi-channel marketing strategy provides greater possibilities to expanding your company’s reach and distribution.  Additionally you will find that certain channels present higher close ratios or stronger average sales prices.  While managing multiple channels requires resources, and subject matter expertise, you will find this approach yields better results as opposed to a single channel approach.
  3. What is your ROL by channel?  Do you know what your return-on-leads are by channel?  For example, you have a direct sales force, a website, and a strong accountant referral channel.  Each day, week, month, you generate leads through all 3 of these channels.  What are the close ratios per channel?  What is the average selling price of your product by channel?  What channel coverts the highest rate of leads to presentations, and how many of those presentations result in a sale?  Having insight into your ROL will help you focus on making the improvements necessary to grow your business.
  4. Does your website have lead-conversion capabilities?  Is your website static or dynamic?  Is it set up using responsive web design (RWD)? Do you have a mechanism in place to track the incoming visitors to your site and follow-up with the appropriate messaging and content?
  5. How much content do you have on your site and how fresh is it?  Do you have a content management strategy?  Do you provide free content to those that visit your site?  How do you decide what content to produce?  Who writes it?  How often is it refreshed?  What do you do with the feedback you get from prospects or customers that download your content?
  6. Do you have a blog?  Many businesses feel they don’t need to blog because their product or service is in a class of its own and doesn’t require blogging.  That’s simply not true.  Every company can and should blog.  There are always topics relevant to your potential buyers for you to be blogging about.  Whether you sell party supplies, automotive repair, or chimney cleaning, your target market is looking for content.  Blogs are a great way to increase your internet search results and get you found faster.
  7. Who is responsible for Marketing?  If you can’t answer this questions with a name, find one quickly…even if it’s you.  Think of it this way…if you pay the bills for your business and keep your own books, you may not have the title of CFO but you know who’s responsible for the finances of your business.  Likewise, if you’re the one doing the marketing, you’re the one responsible for the growth of your business too.  Someone has to be accountable for Marketing otherwise it simply will not get done.

Your answers to these questions provide the insight necessary to begin to develop your marketing dashboard.  Let me know if this was helpful.

5 Steps to Reducing Sales Turnover

On By Joe DeRosaIn SalesLeave a comment

turnover

Employee turnover is a normal part of every business.  People leave companies for a variety of reasons that are either voluntary or involuntary –  a better opportunity elsewhere, a bad boss, poor performance, or compensation issues.  In the Sales profession there are other elements that impact turnover including disagreement on goals or quotas, not enough leads, poor quality of leads, no brand awareness or credibility, and few if any sales tools and resources.  High turnover within Sales can typically be linked to why a company failed.  Recent data suggest that an average sales force experiences somewhere between 20 – 40% turnover each year.  But of course that begs the question…what is average?  And should you care what average is?  Are you really striving for average?  If you are the Sales Leader, will the law of averages protect you and your team from involuntary turnover issues?  In most companies the answer is, average doesn’t matter.

To improve turnover you must first understand what’s driving it in the first place.  This requires thick skin, an open mind, and a willingness to recognize and confront reality.  Diving into a turnover study for most people is scary.  What will I find?  Will I be able to change it?  What if I am the reason for the turnover?  Too often these questions prevent sales leaders from digging in, and taking action, to understand why their sales force is leaving on a all too frequent basis.  However, if you want your company to grow, you need to take a deep breath and begin to assess.  Here are 5 steps to help identify and reduce your sales turnover:

  1. Get in the field.  Every sales leader, up to and including the head of the Sales team, should be in the field…or on the phone if it is an Inside Sales team.  Being in the field allows the leader to see first-hand what the prospect is experiencing.  It also provides critical insights into the sales representatives behaviors.  How well prepared was the rep before making the call?  Did they know their product inside and out?  Do they have the level of business acumen that is required to establish trust and build rapport?  How was their energy level?  Did you feel their passion or were they running through the motions?  Spending time in the field is the perhaps the most important first step you can take to get a handle on your turnover.
  2. Know your numbers.  I’m often amazed at how many sales leaders don’t know their numbers off the top of their head.  Knowing your numbers should be as important as knowing how much gas is in your car.  If you get in your car without checking your fuel gauge you risk running out of gas.  Likewise if you’re not constantly checking your sales numbers you will likely experience a dry pipeline and poor performance results.  Determine what numbers are important to your specific selling process.  Establish definitions for a lead, prospect, or suspect.  Develop sales stages that identify how close a prospect is to committing to a purchase.  Track and record the number of calls made, presentations made, and sales.  Create ratios:  Call-to-Presentation, Presentation-to-Sale, etc.  Ratios are a great way to provide visibility into the effectiveness of your team.
  3. Ask for help.  This is perhaps the most difficult step for a sales leader to take.  There is risk associated with this step depending upon the type of culture that exists in your workplace.  Asking for help can be perceived in one of two ways:  a strength or a weakness.  Having built and led several large sales organizations I find strength in sales leaders that have come to me to ask for help.  Understand there is a difference in engaging someone for their thoughts and ideas as opposed to expecting them to solve your problem.  While I am very willing to offer insights, perspectives and ideas, the sales leader reporting to me still owns fixing the problem.  Think of it as a fitness trainer.  The trainer provides the workout and diet but you still own lifting the weights, running the miles, and eating the right food.  It’s your problem but you have the assistance and guidance of the trainer to make the improvements needed.  If you find yourself in a workplace where asking for help is equivalent to signing your death sentence then you need to decide if that’s the right place for you to be.  One person does not hold all the answers.  That’s why there are executive teams, and board members, because most companies realize and understand that the power of success and growth is dependent upon the combined intelligence and drive of the team…not just one person.
  4. Evaluate your compensation plan.  This can be a time-consuming and emotionally draining effort.  Much has been written about the correlation between sales results and the compensation plan in place for the sales team.  Is it filled with too many carrots?  Is it too much stick?  Is it balanced in a way that provides a win for all stakeholders?  Determining whether or not you have the correct compensation plan in place depends on your company, your product, your margins and a variety of other variable inputs.  However, at its core, a sales compensation plan should provide the sales representative with stronger earning potential the more he or she sells.  If you feel you’re not in a position to complete a thorough assessment of your compensation plan you may want to consider bringing in an outside compensation consultant who specializes in variable compensation plans.
  5. Improve your training.  The age-old debate is what to train first…product or sales.  My belief is that product training must come first.  Without an intimate knowledge of the product or service being sold it is nearly impossible to teach someone how to sell it.  I have seen many companies spend large amounts of money on sales training in the absence of product training resulting in poor sales results and, extreme disappointment.  A well-trained sales professional exudes confidence.  That confidence will ultimately translate into stronger sales results as they will have a better handle on their offering and the value it provides to the buyer.  So before you spend a dollar on pure sales training, look at what exists for product training first.  If nothing, start there and begin to develop product briefs for the sales team.

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.

3 Quick Ways To Understand Your Buyer

On By Joe DeRosaIn MarketingLeave a comment

stopwatch

What’s better, simple or easy?  If you buy a product that is easy to use is it better than if it were simple to use?  Is there a difference?  Or does simple sound insulting.  We had to make it simple because we didn’t think you could figure it out on your own.  And so the dilemma arises for marketers around which word to use.  Select the right one and buyers respond, chose the wrong word and you can find yourself on a path to nowhere.

Understanding your buyer is the first step to learning what words or phrases will resonate the best.  Once you have the words down you can design and develop content, or campaigns, that speak the words that buyers find most engaging.  Here a few quick tips for identifying the best words or messages that will drive a positive (lead generating) response from your prospects:

  1. Survey.  Do a quick survey of your existing clients using e-mail, SurveyMonkey, or phone.  Ask them to provide you with words, or a description, of what comes to mind when they think of your company.  Leave it general.  The more parameters you place around the survey the more constrained their responses will be.  Allow them to think freely and simply react to your question.  Remember playing word association when you were a kid?  I say blue, you say sky.
  2. Key Word Test.  If you have a company blog, focus on testing key words in your titles and then throughout the blog piece.  You’ll find that the view and/or response rates will provide good insight into the words, topics, phrases that are most engaging to your audience.  Of course you should keep records to track responses when using certain words as this data will allow you to adjust future topics, titles, etc.
  3. Councils.  Both b-to-b and b-to-c companies use councils.  Customer Advisory Councils are mechanisms or tools you can use to gain quick and direct insight into your buyer.  Depending on the size of your company and the type of offering you are selling I would recommend no more than 11 Council members, always having an odd number.  Why?  The most effective and productive Councils I have been a part of, involve their members.  Council members are engaged under an NDA and have access and input into new ideas, strategies, and tactics the company is considering.  Often times a vote is involved, hence the odd number requirement.

Once you have deployed some or all of these ideas you must document and record your findings.  The data set you will create is your road map for developing your messaging.  If your customers refer to you as “easy”, you now know that there’s a good chance easy will resonate.  Likewise if the feedback you receive suggests “you are the simplest X,Y, Z to work with”, then your message should revolve around simple.

The fact is it’s up to you to find out what the right and wrong words, or phrases, are when marketing your product or service.  And the only one that truly knows what will work and what won’t is your customer…so ask them…involve them.    Once you do you will be on the road to creating a value proposition with supporting messaging that will engage the audience and generate lead response.

Leadership Lessons From 3 Influential Men

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

lesson

Much has been written on the subject of leadership over the years. There are more than 103,000 books pertaining to “Leadership” at Amazon.com, and a huge multiple of that if you include books about specific leaders. I have read hundreds of these books over the years written by, or about, corporate leaders, world leaders, philosophical leaders, and celebrities representing all areas of fame. Great thoughts, ideas and perspectives can be gained from reading books across a broad swath of leaders. But for me, 3 individuals specifically have taught me some of the most important lessons in leadership. Here they are:

  1. Ronald Reagan. In her book, When Character Was King by Peggy Noonan, she describes Ronald Reagan as a deep thinker. Someone who wrote his own speeches, delivered his own messages and negotiated his own deals. He spent little time worrying about what others thought of him…other than Nancy his wife. Reagan became known as the Great Communicator and for good reason. He said what he meant, didn’t mince words, and had an unshakable conviction when he spoke. Being an effective communicator is important in all areas of life whether personal or professional. From President Reagan I learned the importance of having a clear, strong message of my own, that must be delivered with confidence and conviction.
  2. Bill George. The former CEO of Medtronic, has made the concept of authenticity the focus of two great books: Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value, and True North. He stresses the importance of being authentic, taking action in a way that conveys complete alignment with your values and your beliefs. When people begin to operate outside of their area of “authenticity”, those around them see and feel this disconnect, thus resulting in the creation of distrust. When your actions are not in alignment with your inner values an internal conflict begins to emerge and ultimately leads to failure personally and professionally.
  3. Joseph A. DeRosa – my dad. I understand that you don’t know my father. No books have been written about him, nor has he been profiled in any business publications or newspapers. Yet the lessons he continues to teach me as a man are consistent with those he instilled in me as a boy. From my father I learned the importance of integrity and character – knowing what the right thing is to do and doing it…no matter what. I learned that accountability is something to seek and cherish, not something to hide from. His teaching style is by example. He worked several jobs to raise his family and taught me the importance of working hard and being the best at what you do. Finally, the most important lesson I learned from my dad is to place family first, for at the end of the day, when the work is done or dissolved, your family will always be there to provide comfort, support, and love.

When I look at the leadership lessons I treasure most, I realize just how intertwined they are. Without strong character and self-awareness, it’s impossible to operate in an authentic way. And if you don’t emulate authenticity, no matter what your message is, it will not be believed or trusted. As the late Stephen Covey said, “Seek first to understand before being understood.” To place the needs and concerns of others, in front of your own, will demonstrate your desire to first understand.  Once people can FEEL your authenticity and trust develops, they will follow you even if only to catch a glimpse of where you’re going.

In the  coming weeks I will be posting a blog on Leadership Lessons from 3 Influential Women.  There is so much to be learned from all people, men and women, that I wanted to be sure I shared both sides.  Great leaders have a combination of many different traits, talents, and attributes, all of which have been developed over the years with multiple influences.

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.

A Lesson in EQ – Move To Improve

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

EQ

Most people evolve into a leadership role.  Sure, we’ve all heard people talk about a specific person as a “natural born leader”, but few are. Often times, someone rises to the position of leader as a result of their accomplishments as an individual contributor.  Think about it.  What was the reason for your first promotion?  Or your second?  Most likely you were promoted because you exceeded a specific sales number, or made an improvement that saved the company a great deal of money.  Early in your career, those are the reasons you achieve recognition and promotions.

Many companies invest heavily in leadership development.  They use tests to identify potential leaders, teach classes in leadership lessons and ideals, and even rank employees in the ever popular “Org & Talent Review”.  And while each of these components serves a very specific purpose in building the leadership ranks within a company, it’s the time and development spent in the areas of EQ that tend to be overlooked.

EQ, or emotional quotient, is the measure of a persons ability to deal with others in a sensitive and empathetic way.  People with high EQ have a great sense of self-awareness and know the importance of treating people with respect and dignity regardless of position, title, etc. A report published by Glowan Consulting Group, looked at the correlation between leaders with high EQ versus IQ, or cognitive intelligence.  The report found that those leaders with a high level of EQ generated results ranging from 10 – 24% better than those with low EQ.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods said, “For leadership positions, emotional intelligence is more important than cognitive intelligence.”  Having the ability to respond to one’s own emotions, and those of others, is the key differentiator between those that manage people versus great leaders of people.

Leaders that have a difficult time connecting with others in high stress environments should look to improve their EQ.  As the pace of change rages on, and companies are faced with changing strategies, workforces, and philosophies, it is critical that its leaders understand how to connect with people in order to affect positive change.

Daniel Goleman brought EQ to the forefront in his 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence.  I highly recommend this book for any leader looking to gain a better understanding, as well as, improvement of their own EQ level.  Your ability to connect with those around you in an authentic and genuine way will create the trust and bond required to help you – the leader – provide direction and guidance both in good and bad times.  An improvement in your EQ level will drive increases in your individual performance, as well as, producing better results across the team you lead.  The reason?  People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

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.