commoditized

Defeat The Flawed Proposal Excuse

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Andrew had just received feedback on his proposal from a new prospect when I arrived. He had followed their instructions when submitting his proposal via their Excel spreadsheet, including the requirement to offer one specific price proposal. So he was surprised to learn that his proposal was considered to be too narrow and inflexible. Andrew’s prospect uses an Excel spreadsheet proposal process to make it faster and easier for them to compare the submitted proposals. …

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Do Your Customers Prefer You?

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Defeating Commoditization Tom was concerned that his business was becoming increasingly commoditized. More and more often, his customers were specifying what they wanted, as if they were reading from a product bulletin. Tom’s sales team was generating quotes in response to these requests. There was little dialogue with the customer beyond responding with price and delivery, or reacting to some competitor’s quote. I asked Tom: “What makes your business unique…what offering do you own?  Why …

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Collaboration Is A Skill

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Strengthen Collaboration Or Be Commoditized Collaboration is a skill, a muscle to be developed and strengthened. When my client Brian asked me how he could improve his collaborative ability, I asked him how his business makes money.  He responded with a nicely scripted line that I remembered as being on his company’s website. I suggested that he go deeper.  “What are your company’s core competencies?  What is your company’s unique value and how does it …

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Who Is Minding Your Future?

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Make Time To Pursue Growth During the past couple of years, it’s been tough to find time to consider the future of your business. Instead, the focus has been on surviving. But now, the need to improve performance is driving a renewed attention to achieving sustainable growth. As a key leader, perhaps the primary leader, for your business, focusing on the future is your responsibility.  If you don’t carve out some time to consider it, who …

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