Recently I had lunch with Marty Kaszubowski, a friend who is as interested in business strategy as I am, and we discussed some of the reasons why some companies just don’t seem to be able to grow once they’ve reached a certain point. I have to credit Marty with the title of this post. It’s [...]
There are a lot of great mentors out there. I’ve had the pleasure to meet and work with several of these people who help train the next generation of leaders in their field. But I wonder how many great mentees–how many suitable protégés–there are. How many people are good at being mentored? Some people think [...]
Derek Sivers used this video of a shirtless dancing guy as an object lesson in leadership in a post on his blog and at his recent TED talk. It shows how one person transforms his own crazy dance into a movement with dozens of followers in under three minutes. The primary lessons are: 1. Shirtless [...]
What is the one thing about your product, above all else, that persuades a prospect to become a customer? If you’re thinking about the feature list, the design or the price; think again. I’d say those things are important, but I think the most important part is the promise. The promise is that magic thing [...]
When you go visit a new prospect, what is it you’re trying to get them to pay you for? Hint: it’s not whatever product or service you might think you are selling. Have you ever tried to think about this from a customer’s point of view? No? Let’s try a thought experiment. Imagine yourself going [...]
Carbon emissions measurement, management and reporting is quickly becoming a requirement–not just a PR or Marketing effort–for many companies. The Carbon Disclosure Project recently released their 2010 Supply Chain Report. The report cites that sustainability practices are being driven into the supply chain by some of these large businesses. In fact, some companies are now [...]
Edison Research published some interesting data about the use of Twitter today. You can download the whole report directly from Edison Research here. If you just want the executive summary with a few of the more interesting charts and take-aways, you can see Hubspot’s summary here. But for those of you who are super multi-taskers and just [...]
It looks like this year is shaping up to be a banner year for sourcing opportunities. This article states that there are “422 contracts worth a total of $15 billion expected to expire this year”. Most of these are old-economy deals with significant opportunity for savings this year. Read the full article at: E-Sourcing Forum » [...]
There’s an argument to be made that value is the only reason why anyone buys anything. Think about it. I WANT and iPad, but at current prices, I just don’t get enough value out of that platform to justify the purchase. I NEED food, but I don’t eat out at expensive restaurants every night because [...]
The love of money may be the root of all evil, but it is also a great mechanism to drive behavior in business. That’s why the structure of your pricing model is so important. It drives not only your behavior, but also your customers’ behavior. And since you always want your interests to be aligned [...]
