Nov 18, 2020 | Innovation, Marketing
Almost every piece of advice about selling, including a lot on this site, contains in one way or another, the notion that in order to be successful, you have to solve a problem for the buyer.
In other words, scratch the itch and the itch will go away.
We all know that is not always true, the itch often remains, just a bit relieved, or satisfied for the moment, perhaps to return.
There is a further step you can take.
Frame the proposal as an investment, something that will deliver ongoing value, rather than just be the antidote to an itch, the solution to a problem.
Many years ago I worked for Cerebos in Australia. One of the now disappeared brands we had was Cerola muesli, back in the days when muesli was a bit unusual. The breakfast cereal market was nowhere near as fragmented and competitive as it is today. Cerola was doing OK, generating increasing sales at good margins, albeit a minnow in comparison to the major cereals on the market.
With the support of the then marketing manager, I worked up a proposal to spend a significant chunk of money to manufacture and market a ‘muesli bar,’ a snack product that would sit between the perceived goodness of breakfast cereals, and convenience and taste of a confectionary bar. A wholesome breakfast on the run, and snack. I had a lot of subjective material, trends that seemed to be converging, gaps in consumer behaviour that may accommodate such a product, an admittedly dodgy bit of limited market research done with prototypes made by hand in the lab, and a strong conviction.
My failure to convince the MD at the time was total, and quick. No way would he accept such a proposal in the absence of strong quantitative reasons, little risk, and certainty of a quick return.
Nine months after getting my arse kicked for proposing something so dumb, Uncle Toby’s came out with their version of a muesli bar, and cleaned up.
The lesson I took away from that disappointment was that framing a proposal to spend money to a profit sensitive MD is like suggesting we stick a few holes in the bottom of the boat, and hope they do not let in any water. Instead, the proposal should have been framed as an opportunity to turbo charge the motor we already had, an investment in a profitable future. Such a framing would have had a way better chance of gaining the support of the MD.
A second lesson I took, which was the outcome of youthful arrogance and stupidity, is that you never say ‘I told you so’ to someone who does not like to be told.
Nov 16, 2020 | Branding, Marketing
What is the one word, perhaps two, that best defines and communicates the promise your product delivers.
This is not an easy thing to define, but when you do, it is a powerful ‘moat’ around your brand that insulates you from competitive pressure.
However, like any moat, it needs to be maintained, renewed, modernised, or it will fill with weeds, and be less effective at repelling invaders.
The best array of examples I can think of come from the auto market.
BMW: Performance. Volvo: Safety. Toyota: Reliability. Ferrari: Design. Rolls Royce: Luxury.
There are a few more from other domains that come easily to mind. Apple: Different. Coca Cola: Refreshment, and from my own experience, Ski yogurt: Fruit. Meadow Lea: Congratulations. These two Australian examples are both now eroded to zilch, through 25 years of marketing naivety, neglect, and commercial stupidity. They are a powerful reminder of the need for constant maintenance.
Once you have isolated the word, it can be used to drive all your communication, in all its forms, in all media, down to the way in which the livery on the delivery truck is designed, the way the phone is answered, and the detail at the bottom of an email.
In relation to StrategyAudit, I would like the word to be ‘Wisdom’ but that is probably for others to determine.
Header credit: Once again, I am indebted to Hugh MacLeod at www.gapingvoid.com
Nov 4, 2020 | Communication, Management
There is a lot of useful, standard advice about how to ensure meetings are productive. Have an agenda, a time limit, ensure only those who can contribute to the discussion attend, ensure there is agreement about what next, ensure everyone has the opportunity to speak, and so on. There is one more structural item not usually noted, that I have found to work well.
1/3, 1/3, 1/3.
The agenda is structured into thirds, as is the time allocated.
The first third is addressing the past. You cannot change it, but you must understand it, and absorb any lessons. This part of most discussions is often where the time is consumed, leaving inadequate time for the more important discussions about what next.
The second third is discussion about what is immediately in front of you. Depending on the meeting, this may be a day, week, month, and so on. There are decisions to be taken that impact the immediate future, take them.
The third is a discussion on the longer term items that will impact the group in the meeting. Depending again on the level of the meeting, this can be anything from how to fill a hole in the production team when Jim takes long service leave, to discussion of the potential risks of a long term threat to the enterprise.
The format works at all levels, offering a framework within which to manage the meetings, from a 10 minute stand-up at the beginning of the shift, to board meetings, and the three day strategy session held annually.
It is the responsibility of the meeting chairperson to manage the time and agenda coverage, but the general recognition that the 1/3 structure will be used, just makes that job a bit smoother.
Once again, with thanks to Scott Adams, I have called on the wisdom of Dilbert for the header.
Oct 26, 2020 | Management, Marketing, Small business
Cash when it is working for you, is king.
However, cash sitting idle in a bank account fritters itself away, slowly, and over time.
Inflation, small purchases, fees, all eat away at the cash like mice in a wheat silo. A bit at a time.
Cash does not generate cash flow without being put to work. It is like going to the gym, it takes time, effort and commitment, but the result will show. Even when there are short term setbacks, interruptions, and periods of despondency acting as a brake, keeping working works.
We are in a time of unprecedented change.
This is more than just the Covid hangover starting to evolve, all that has done is greatly accelerate the changes that were emerging on the fringes.
The status quo in many areas has been thrown out the window. While that is deeply unsettling, and creates challenges most of us have not seen before, the flip side is that it also throws up opportunities not seen before.
Opportunities to fill the merging market niches, to pivot to different business models, serve new customers in different ways, or just grab assets and market share from less nimble competitors.
All of this consumes resources. The management time and inclination to make the necessary changes, and the cash to make it happen.
Successful businesses understand in detail how, and how much cash their enterprises generate. They keep borrowings to a minimum, giving them the ability to grab opportunities as they emerge, but they also keep their cash working, hard.
Header carton again courtesy of Scott Adams and his alter ego Dilbert.
Oct 21, 2020 | Branding, Communication
Almost every ‘About us’ dropdown on websites is, as expected, about the owner of the website.
Who started the company, where they went to school, how they came to be in Sydney, Seattle, or Bullamakanka, how great you are, and some soppy stuff about your story. How you pulled yourself out of adversity, and became successful, all meant to build empathy.
Well, mostly it fails badly.
Why?
People are not really interested in your story. They may listen, may even feel for you, but what they are really interested in is what you can do for them, what useful information you can provide, what problem you solve, and the impact of that solution on their lives.
Why else would they be on your website?
When they arrive for a look, you have only a few seconds to engage them, wasting those precious seconds by talking about yourself does not seem to me to be too smart!
So, make your ‘About Us’ page really about them
How you can solve the problem they have, how and why working with you and your product will deliver them success.
Go through the bio’s of employees you may have on the page and do the same thing. What is it that each person brings to the table that solves the problem the potential customer.
Focussing on yourself might create a little empathy, but that is well short of genuine interest and a willingness to give you money to solve a problem they have.
Call me assistance thinking about this stuff.
Oct 19, 2020 | Analytics, Marketing
How do you identify those who might emerge as competitors?
Might as well ask what the weather will be like next week, or next year. Just looking out the window will not help much, as things tend to change pretty quickly.
So it is with identifying potential competitors and the new value propositions they offer. However, like forecasting the weather, there are indicators, models that can be applied that will at least throw some light on the question.
It seems to me that there are three perspectives to this question, best described by the usual ‘think outside the box’ metaphor.
- Competitors from inside the current box
- Competitors from outside the current box
- Competitors from outside the postcode.
Leaving aside the great benefit of hindsight, it is generally pretty easy to see potential competitors from inside your current box. You are already rubbing up against them in some way, technically, geographically; you might have common customers for products with slightly different characteristics or value propositions. There is always the possibility for someone in an adjacent market expanding their control of the supply chain vertically, which will bring them into competition with you. Now, there are many digital tools that will assist the process from google key word searches, to explicitly looking at where similar offerings are emerging via social media. In addition, these often obvious emerging competitors are usually the ones your sales force are always on about, as they are the dog that got their homework, often by making cut price offerings of stripped down products to your customers.
Identifying potential competitors from outside the box is a bit harder. it is also increasingly important, as the barriers to entry to many industries have been blown away.
To do this well requires focussed critical thinking, and understanding of the drivers of purchase by your customers, the evolution of those purchase drivers, and the current sources of purchase friction encountered by customers. This takes some commitment to longer term strategic thinking.
Identifying those potential competitors from outside the postcode in a disciplined manner is extraordinarily hard, and beyond the resources of any SME I have ever seen. It not only requires the sort of time for deep thinking and scenario analysis available only to large organisations, it requires a very ‘absorbent’ innovation culture, one that accepts the inevitability of major disruption, and explicitly goes about discovering what those sources of disruption might be, and then disrupting themselves.
This sort of out of the postcode thinking opens up your mind to potential competitors. It also opens your mind to potential sources of future growth for yourself. As a result, having as a part of your strategic thinking and review process an explicit and disciplined ideation process should be a part of every strategic exercise and review.
These three perspectives all have in common the requirement that any enterprise, to be successful competitively over the long term, needs to ‘understand itself’ and be very sensitive to changes in their operating and competitive environment. Then, they have to be able to respond, which is often the hardest bit because it demands change. In the case of out of the postcode opportunities, radical change, and a high level of risk tolerance are required. As Sun Tzu is recorded as having said ‘know others and know thyself, and you will not be endangered by innumerable battles”.
The header illustration comes form the extensive StrategyAudit toolbox.
