Bob Schultek Twelve months ago, my weekly Friday blogs were launched. Thank you to all who have commented on my posts. Your thoughts and suggestions have helped me learn while I strive to be a better writer…it’s a work in progress! Please continue to share your comments and ideas for blog topics. I will respond personally to each and work to continually improve the blog content. Happy Blog-day!Writing the blog is important to me. After earning 30+ years of …
Those of you who follow this blog know that I’m always preaching that your brand message should communicate your unique value. So now, you may get a kick out of knowing that my associates and I are taking a dose of our own medicine.Three years ago, our three growth businesses – GrowthPointe, DecisionPointe and PointeVierge – began collaborating under the umbrella name of TriPointe. You may have never noticed this since we did not follow …
Jerry is CEO of a manufacturing company. They have multiple facilities and he wonders how best to remain engaged with his employees at their various sites. He understands the value of keeping everyone on the team “lashed together” to produce value for customers and to achieve shared company and customer goals.They decide to initiate a new program based on quarterly roundtable meetings held with departments and at each facility. The personnel at each site choose …
Bill runs a $12 million manufacturing company. To sustain passion and engagement among his employees, he encourages them to share their new product concepts or process improvement ideas. Each quarter, he presents a small award for the idea that proves to generate its promised financial benefits for the company.Every development or process improvement proposal must include a projected quantifiable benefit for the company that either increases revenue (sales, throughput, productivity), or reduces costs or inventory …
Jerry is CEO of a manufacturing company. They have multiple facilities and he wonders how best to remain engaged with his employees at their various sites. He understands the value of keeping everyone on the team “lashed together” to produce value for customers and to achieve shared company and customer goals. They decide to initiate a new program based on quarterly roundtable meetings held with departments and at each facility. The personnel at each site …
“Take It To The Street” For Better Results Russ tells me that he would like to solicit feedback from his direct sales team regarding a new strategy, but he prefers to keep them focused on hitting their quotas. In another organization, Brad believes that the independent reps and distributors who report to him just want to sell. But even if they wanted to offer suggestions, there is no established forum available for them to do …
There are only three ways to increase sales, but one method is the most productive. You can grow by adding customers, and must do so. But adding each new customer costs about 5 times what it takes to preserve a relationship and requires a significant investment of valuable time as well.You can increase your prices, and must strategically do so to sustain profitability. But seeking growth by generically increasing unit prices is challenging in our …
Engage to Generate Ideas and Results In today’s economy, a technical advantage can evaporate quickly. The rapid evolution of technology (think mobile devices!) ensures that any “exclusivity period” for new offerings is fleeting.Remaining valuable to customers challenges us to keep renewing our business, finding new ways to produce quantifiable benefits. Entrusting the responsibility for generating new ideas to ownership or senior management alone wastes an opportunity to get “all hands on deck.” Your personnel speak …
In customer-centric organizations, the entire enterprise is synchronized to deliver promised value. Sustaining preference with your customers over time requires commitment: to remain engaged and aware of their vision, goals and strategies; and to consistently produce the strategic value you promised. You can’t generate value for customers unless you thoroughly understand their business – what differentiates them, how they make money. Since every business changes over time, it is essential that customer relationships be sustained on …
There are three decisive moments in the selling process that drive your sales success. Acting with focus and urgency during these key moments will earn you the customer’s business, and his or her enduring preference. 1. Your “First Contact” Moment: Be customer-centric. Focus on learning their story, needs and goals. Prospects become customers once they confirm how you will perform for them, will support them, and will exceed their expectations by fulfilling their needs, helping …
