core customers

Why Strategies Succeed

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“Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night, with no lights, while looking out the back window. The best way to predict the future is to create it.“ ~Peter Drucker  Most companies rely on strategic planning to help create their future.  Seeking the best strategy to achieve their goals, one that leverages their strengths and competitive advantage, they compile market information, gather intelligence on their competitors and clarify customer needs. They identify …

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Relationships Matter

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Bob Schultek Author of  The Gauntlet You’ve heard business people say, “It’s not personal, it’s business.” But nothing could be further from the truth. Because you care about your business, everything about it is personal. The relationships you build, inside and outside your business, are your most important asset. Relationships matter. Business is a team sport. As a leader, you are dependent on others for your success. You create a direction and context for action; …

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What Defines Success For Your Customers

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Defining Success    “Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value.” Peter Drucker – Management Expert“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar – Business Performance Expert “The customer defines what product or service is fit for use.” J.M. Juran – Quality Expert “Understand what’s important to customers.” Andy Fromm – President, Service Management Group   “Delivering a …

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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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What Do You Value?

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Customers Evaluate Your Behavior In the book, “Built to Last,” authors Collins and Porras explore how successful visionary growth companies have built businesses by consistently operating in accordance with their core values and beliefs. They conclude that everything else about a business can change over time – its technology, financial resources, structure or timing – but sustained growth is achieved when the people in the company robustly believe in its basic principles and consistently demonstrate …

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Are Missed Opportunities Costing You?

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Prompt, Strategic Opportunity Response Drives Growth You probably recall a time when you failed to act quickly enough to take advantage of an opportunity. We tend to realize missed opportunities after the fact. Everyone is so consumed with the tasks at hand that we don’t always recognize the full potential of a new opportunity when it appears. In today’s commoditized economy, urgently evaluating and responding to new opportunities with a value-based solution is a key …

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Producing Promised Value

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Winning When Your Customer Does Early in my career, one customer abruptly ended a meeting when I spent more time talking than I did listening.  He said, “We’ve been meeting for more than 15 minutes and you have not yet asked a question about my business, my goals or my problems.  I don’t need your products – I need solutions.  Come back when you can add value to our discussion.” This was a tough but …

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“Build Your People and They Will Build Your Company”

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Empowering Your People To Create Value In today’s economy, we are evermore dependent on technology to accelerate responsiveness, increase productivity and enhance service.  Yet as our dependence on technology grows, so does our thirst for human connection.  This phenomenon is called the “High Tech-High Touch” trend, first described in the early 1980s by John Naisbitt in his book MegaTrends.  Just recall a time when you had a crisis or critical question, but could not connect …

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