BIZBUZZ: R. Whiteley, The Customer Driven Company

This is episode 7 of BIZBUZZ.

I stimulate conversations that challenge business owners to consider new possibilities and to Act Boldly.  The following video highlights some of the content from Richard Whiteley’s book The Customer Driven Company that made sense to me.

Hi, I’m Gary Brown a FocalPoint business coach.

Welcome to BIZ BUZZ.

I’ve chosen to comment on The Customer Driven Company, by Richard Whiteley.  Not surprisingly, this book deals with the relationship that we have with our customers.

I’d like to highlight four observations from the book that interest me.

The first deals with vision.  I know that this is a repeat from my most recent BIZBUZZ episode, but I believe it bears repeating.  Whiteley defines vision as a source of inspiration and a guide to decision making.  How often do we use our vision statement as a litmus test for decision making?

My next observation expands on vision statements.  Whiteley encourages the reader to communicate the vision constantly.  He stresses the need to establish challenging goals that are driven by the vision and to embody it in our everyday behaviour.  How many of us act on this advice?

Comment number three is specific to our customers.  The suggestion is that we should make it easy for our customers to complain to us about our products and services.  That might sound trite but do we even have a method for customer complaints?

Finally, I’d just like to mention that Whiteley identifies what he calls the seven essentials that are the game plan of winners.  Here they are:

1. Create a customer keeping vision

2. Saturate your company with the voice of the customer

3. Go to school on the winners

4. Liberate your customer champions

5. Smash the barriers to customer-winning performance

6. Measure, measure, measure

7. Walk the talk

That’s it for The Customer Driven Company.

Your comments are always welcome.

Stay tuned for more BIZ BUZZ.

BIZBUZZ – PHIL KOTLER; MARKETING INSIGHTS FROM A TO Z

This is episode 5 of BIZBUZZ.

I stimulate conversations that challenge business owners to consider new possibilities and to Act Boldly.  The following video highlights the comments from Phil Kotler that made the greatest impact on me in his book Marketing Insights from A to Z.

Hi, I’m Gary Brown a FocalPoint business coach.

Welcome to BIZBUZZ.

I’ve chosen to comment on Marketing Insights from A to Z, a book written by Phil Kotler, a well-known marketing expert.  Not surprisingly, the book deals with marketing material and it contains a number of amusing anecdotes.

I’ve got three insights that interest me.

The first is don’t limit your search for opportunities by starting with a consideration of your existing assets and resources.  Look outside your company for opportunities and then see if you have or can attract the needed resources and competencies to pursue the identified opportunities.

My next take-away is a quote from Phil Kotler.  He says the following: “don’t just talk about opportunities.  Success happens when preparation meets opportunity”.  Anyone who relies on good luck to be successful runs the risk of missing the boat.  Some time spent thinking about how to prepare would be time well spent.

My final comment deals with Kotler’s assertion that relationship marketing will determine the future value of the firm.  Relationship marketing has four characteristics, which are:

–    focus on customers and partners rather than products

–    put more emphasis on customer retention and growth rather than customer acquisition

–    use cross-functional teams rather than department level teams

–    rely more on listening and learning rather than talking

It seems that relationship marketing would likely increase the exposure to the opportunities that Kotler is encouraging us to seek.

That’s it for Marketing Insights from A to Z.

Thanks for watching.

Your comments are always welcome.

Stay tuned for more BIZBUZZ.

What Will You Do Differently Next Year?

For those whose fiscal year follows the calendar, a new year beckons.

Will you be entering the new business cycle with a “steady as she goes” attitude or do you recognize that more of the same might, in fact, be a risky approach?  It could well be that you are coming to the close of a strong year and your focus might easily be “how do we maintain our momentum?”  But, how strong has your year really been?  You can certainly compare your current results against the prior year and state unequivocally that the numbers are up (if in fact they are).  But a more relevant comparison would be how you are doing against your competitors.  Is it possible that your competitors are enjoying an even better year than you are and consequently, you are actually slipping behind?  Of course it’s possible, but how would you know if that has been happening?

When you get fully absorbed in running your business, it is very easy to remain in technician mode. You just keep “working in your business”.  If you are not careful, you can lose sight of what is going on around you.  You might think that all is well with your customer base, but how do you actually know that is the case? Could it be that your presumptions are based upon the old adage that “no news is good news”?

In the absence of certainty, why don’t you build a scenario in which you assume that the competition is out flanking you.  Rather that adopting an attitude of laissez faire, why don’t you assume that your current strategy could stand some revisiting?  Perhaps you might challenge yourself by making your strategy more “ruggedized”.

The author Seth Godin suggests that playing it safe is the riskier approach to running your business.  Now, please recognize that I’m not suggesting that strengthening your strategy means a wholesale change to your current business model.  But, I am suggesting that the status quo is a dangerous place to be.

Why don’t you decide that 2014 will be the year that you determine what actions can be taken to be different in a meaningful way to your customer base?

BIZBUZZ – S. Godin, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

This is episode 1 of my version of BIZBUZZ.  I stimulate conversations that challenge business owners to consider new possibilities and to act boldly.

This video highlights some of my selections of the most significant comments made by Seth Godin in his book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable.

Hi, I’m Gary Brown a FocalPoint business coach.

Welcome to BIZBUZZ.  This is my attempt to help you generate some buzz in your business.

I’ve chosen to comment on Seth Godin’s book entitled Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

I really enjoyed reading this book and I found a number of very thought provoking ideas and suggestions.

I’d like to comment on three of them.

The first is the overall emphasis on differentiation.  Godin says this OUT LOUD when he claims that the opposite of remarkable is very good.  This bears repeating … the opposite of remarkable is very good!  If you think of a scale that has remarkable at one end and say, mediocre on the other end, how many of us would have placed our business on the wrong side of very good?

My second take-away is that it is safer to be risky than to play it safe.  In a crowded marketplace, Seth Godin suggests that playing it safe, or fitting in, frequently leads to failure.  Are we prepared to exchange safety for riskiness?

Finally, my third choice is the suggestion that your marketing message needs to be targeted towards the innovators and early adopters in the marketplace for your product or service.  Godin describes your message as an ‘ideavirus’ and your task is to find the early adopters who are most likely to ‘sneeze’ your message onwards.  Consequently, he strongly suggests that you avoid a marketing message that is aimed at the general marketplace.  It’s a waste of your resources.

That’s it for the Purple Cow and for me.

Let me know if this produces any insights for you.

BIZ BUZZ Introduction

I am a FocalPoint business coach and I’d like to welcome you to the introduction of BIZ BUZZ.

BIZ what?  Let me explain.

A long time ago, my father used to carry me on his shoulders as he took me to the local barber shop for a hair cut.  Apparently, I would pepper him with questions, as he walked (remember, I rode).  So, I’m a “question asker”.  I’m also aware that as I practice a habit of life long learning, I ask better questions.  So, as part of my coaching journey, I augment my experience with on-going learning and add to my question bank.

So, back to BIZ BUZZ.  I decided to produce a series of videos that will allow me to share the key insights that I’ve gained from the books that I’ve read or the workshops that I’ve attended.  My interest is to stimulate conversations with business owners that challenge them to consider new possibilities.  I’m calling these presentations – wait for it – BIZ BUZZ.

BIZ BUZZ is intended to pique your curiosity.  BIZ BUZZ is intended to provide you with a small jolt that might just indicate that you and your business would benefit from a change.  They might even generate some BUZZ in your workplace.

Since I’m a business coach, the subject matter of BIZ BUZZ will always relate to business.  That is not to say that other areas of your life can’t or won’t benefit.  It is just that my primary area of interest is on the business side of things.

The videos will be quick and as I get more comfortable in front of the camera, perhaps my sense of humour will occasionally appear.

Stay tuned.

Scaling Up This Summer

This isn’t a plea from your dental hygienist!

Have you encountered situations where your customer or prospect has given you the impression that new initiatives can wait until September? Do you sometimes get the sense that business owners mentally take the summer off?

Dun and Bradstreet conducted an interesting analysis of business failure. Based upon US data, firms with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years and only a 9% chance of surviving ten years.

When business owners put together their annual business plans, they might have to anticipate a seasonal softening of sales during the summer months. However, the expense side of their business will continue to function and with statistics like those in the paragraph above, business owners should continue to look for opportunities to move their business forward.

Businesses generally experience a life cycle that moves from start-up, to growth, maturity and then decline. The decline phase can often be preceded by complacency on the part of the owner on one hand or by success on the other.

Three tips that will assist you in avoiding the decline phase:
1) External focus – if customer involvement slows down, are there strategic alliance opportunities with key suppliers that can be pursued?
2) External focus – networking opportunities may increase significantly with outdoor activities. Ask for leads and referrals.
3) Internal focus – use the summer for training of employees.

By all means, take some time off so you can re-charge. But use the balance of the time to keep moving your business forward. If a business isn’t going forward, it is likely going backward.