As an investor, I see plenty of proposals wanting a marketing budget, sometimes with no sales yet. As a consultant, I see huge marketing dollars spent, often without a high or even a clear contribution to sales. As a strategist, I loathe seeing marketing and…
Who Should Really Be In Your C-Suite?
Whether a startup or established company, founders, CEOs and boards are adding new roles into the C-suite. They include CFO, COO, CRO (revenue or risk), CTO, CIO (information or innovation), CMO (marketing or merchandizing), CDO (digital, diversity or data), CCO (customer) and CPO (people) . Who…
Five Strategies To Prepare And Secure Your Company For The Future
Stable companies typically fail because of three reasons: • Business environment shift: The Covid-19 pandemic is bankrupting companies across sectors. Automation and outsourcing have destroyed entire towns. • Reinvention of business models: Apple’s touch interface destroyed BlackBerry. • Changing customer expectations: Digital photography destroyed film photography. Disruptions caused by business or technology…
Sales Bots: Imagining Dedicated Sales Agents For Every Customer Everywhere
What if there was a dedicated sales agent, available every time, for every product, on every product page, store shelf or phone call? Good field sales agents and B2B sales teams achieve efficiency by understanding their customers’ needs, budget and urgency. Field sales are often…
Four Business-Building Tactics For Leaders Awaiting Restart
During these difficult times, your revenue and brand might be sluggish. Your supply chain, production and human resources might be making unpredictable appearances or could be actively looking elsewhere. Your finances and financing might be looking uncertain. Everyone is waiting for the economy to restart….
Growth: Why You Need A Minimum Viable Business (MVB) Before Adding New Offerings
Whether startup or established business, the most common growth strategy for entrepreneurs is to create new offerings. Most attempt to create minimum viable products (MVPs). However, no business can grow merely by creating new products or services. Even if the market clearly indicates a gap…
Actioning Individual Customer Context With Artificial Intelligence
Today’s customers interact with products or brands at various stages, from brand awareness to comparison to purchase to product support and loyalty. Most marketers are focused on awareness and maybe a little on experience during comparison and loyalty. They rarely get deeper, either because they…