Oct 23, 2009 | Demand chains, Management, Operations, Sales, Small business
Demand chains are a representation of the drivers of “flow” through a supply chain, a concept familiar to those engaged in “lean” initiatives, when the motivator to the flow is demand rather than an ability to produce for inventory or against a forecast of sales.
Category management is a process of welding the drivers of demand, the consumer preferences and behavior to the supply of their preferred products, whilst maximizing the returns to the retailer, and others in the chain, as well as delighting the customer.
Few who claim to engage in category management would see the explicit link, as they are typically engrossed in the numbers, but it is there nevertheless, and the successful exponents recognise the link, and leverage the numbers for the sake of the outcome of the entire chain, not just for one link who happens to hold the power.
Oct 21, 2009 | Management, Sales, Small business
It is pretty obvious, although not always acted on that you should define the problem before you spend time trying to sell a solution.
There are many techniques to getting to the point where the sale can be made, libraries have been written, but in my experience, 3 simple questions will get you there. They are not easy to answer, but once you have, a sale is the easy bit.
- How can you help your prospect build sales?
- How can you help your prospect to decrease costs?
- How can you help your prospect to increase productivity?
Answer these, and you have the problem your product can solve defined, and the sell is easy, after all, who can say no to any of these being delivered. One of the rules I use, never go into a sales situation (as distinct from an information gathering situation) without at least 2 of these answered in some form.
Oct 20, 2009 | Leadership, Management, OE, Operations, Small business
Yesterday, I wrote about the process jig-saw that supports an implemented ERP system as it works to drive efficiency, but deliberately left out the hardest bit.
The most challenging changes necessary to make an ERP implementation deliver the value promised are the behavioural ones.
You can buy all the software in the world, but junk-in still generates junk-out.
Most ERP systems I have seen, if you take a wide view of what constitutes “ERP” is done on Excel. I have developed simple routines for SME clients using Excel, that whilst not fancy, automate parts of the operations planning processes, and generate substantial benefits.
Most sophisticated systems from the well known SAP to less fancied packages all have large chunks of data delivered by to them by a range of means, mostly spreadsheets, and the temptation for the individual is to leave well enough alone, and resist the dropping of their routines in favor of the expensive ERP package. Allowing this parallel system to survive beyond a short validation phase is always a mistake, as people revert to what they know as soon as there is an issue. When you jump in, you need to go all the way.
Oct 11, 2009 | Innovation, Management, Marketing, Small business
It is easy to see opportunities outside the “home base” often easier than seeing them close to home. However, success comes with exploiting potential in existing markets before you “export” resources to chasing new ones. Chase market penetration, cost reduction, value and innovation in your home and adjacent markets before you bet the farm on a new one.
These closer to home opportunities are rarely as sexy as building a business in a new area, but often they come with less risk, and investment, and usually a greater payoff.
Innovation is front and centre in this process of leveraging the existing base, but it is the grunt work of implementation, continuous innovation in small ways, and focus that will win.
My definition of marketing, not found in any textbook I have read is:
“Marketing is the identification, development, protection and leveraging of competitive advantage”
I have found if you apply this definition to all the activities of an enterprise, looking at each for its contribution to at least one of these parameters, your marketing focus will be crystal clear, and the process of sorting out strategy, and the supporting allocation of resources will be considerably eased.
Oct 8, 2009 | Management, Small business, Strategy
As we appear to be coming out of the worst of the downturn, as highlighted by the .25% increase in the prime rate day before yesterday, it would be a mistake to think that the good times are back without trying to learn from the pain of the last 18 months.
Across my little group of clients, a number of things are clear:
- Cash is king, and will remain so for some time. If you have it, great opportunities will arise, if you do not have it, life is very difficult indeed.
- Customers buy on price unless there is a compelling, relevant, and engaging value story attached to your product. Where that story exists, price is not an issue. The middle ground appears to have been significantly eroded, never was branding so important, and at the other end of the spectrum, without a brand, you need to be the lowest cost supplier to survive, and there is always someone who is about to supplant you as the lowest cost supplier.
- It is uncertain how the government stimulus package will impact over the coming months. Confidence appears to be pretty fragile, and looming are the political difficulties inherent in pulling back on announced initiatives, alongside the difficulties of a ballooning deficit. Do not rely on the public stimulus as anything more than a transient, one-off cash generator.
- Information moves at the speed of the mouse, and is totally insensitive to your situation. Spin is easily recognised for what it is, and attracts the cynical response we all think it deserves, and good news or bad, your opportunity to manage it is greatly reduced, so you better be under-promising & over-delivering, or you will find yourself left on the shelf.
- Creativity and innovation were never more important, being like everyone else is a recipe for a slow commercial suffocation.
- Focus on fewer things, and make sure they are strategically the key items. Focus makes everything you need to do easier to execute, but it is very hard to stop being attracted by the siren song of expediency. Resist the temptation, remembering the old adage that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
