Friday, September 20, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
Challenging the Organisation's Role in Sales
The Challenger Sale is not a “read once and succeed tomorrow” model. The deeper, organisational level stuff is really where The Challenger Sale can add value. Without going into detail about what the model is and what it means to be a Challenger Rep, I thought I’d outline a few of my favourite high level concepts from the book.
I have just finished reading “The Challenger Sale” by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson. There is a fair amount of hype around this book and while there is a heap of excellent content and food for thought within, the cynical part of me surmises that it’s possibly primarily designed to sell CEB's Sales & Service consultative offerings. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; that’s clever marketing!
I’m not a huge fan of prescriptive sales methodology. “Open up with this statement; lead the client to the punch line; show this slide now and that slide then and hey-presto, you’ll double your closure rate, guaranteed!” For me, sales should be more intuitive than that, customers just aren’t that easily manipulated. For this reason I approach most sales teachings with a healthy scepticism.
While there was a little of that in the book, it didn’t prescribe to the notion that simply improving a sales rep’s script and sending them out with a new set of presentation slides would somehow turn them into a selling superstar. If you’re hoping for that sort of a quick fix, this book isn’t for you.
I won’t go into what “The Challenger Model” is as far as trying to describe the nature of the model and the stats behind the research. The book does a pretty good job of outlining that in detail, including case studies demonstrating how companies have introduced the model and are making it work for them.
Instead I’ll try and frame some of the messages in the book, because the real gold nuggets for me were not so much about “The Model” itself, but in some of the more high level concepts that the book contained.
The Challenger Sale advocates examining the sales process through a company-wide angle lens. It encourages companies to dig into their collective knowledge and collate insights that can add value to their customers, over and above the price tag and a feature/benefit analysis of their product.
It stresses the need for sales and marketing teams to work together. Rather than seeing their roles as disparate, sales and marketing should be intertwined and focused on the mining and delivery of insight to their customer base.
During those meetings that are aimed at closing a deal, there is immense power in a sales rep’s ability to deliver information – something that challenges a customer’s pre-conceived ideas about their business or their industry – but the weight of the insight should be driven at an organisational level, not simply left up to the rep to discover and disseminate.
The book outlines a set of behaviours that CEB’s research shows to be necessary for effective sales. It highlights the fact that without constructive, ongoing and personalised coaching, sales reps are often left to their own devices and results can be unpredictable, or worse, completely predictable.
Over and above training for skills and knowledge, coaching for the right behaviours is an essential ingredient. (It could be said that coaching for the right behaviours should extend far deeper into a company than simply at the sales-training level).
The other essential ingredient is innovation; looking at a sale with a view to doing things in new ways and taking the time to really prepare, research and understand the sale and the prospect, so that empirical innovation can occur.
The authors challenge companies to have a close look at their messaging. Is their marketing material full of buzzwords that focus on their company, their history, their solution, how unique they are? Does it talk about how customer focused they are, how innovative they are?
This book invites all marketing executives to revisit the material they are producing and ask two questions.
“Ironically, the more we try to play up our differences, the more things sound the same. The utter sameness of language…we simply end up sounding like everyone else.”
I don’t agree with a one size fits all, prescriptive model for sales success, nor do I think this book is advocating it, although the hype around the book in some ways makes out that's what this is.
To me, it's moreover promoting the concept of an organisational push to better understand core competencies and competitive advantage and then arming everyone with the tools necessary to deliver that message to the customer.
I have just finished reading “The Challenger Sale” by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson. There is a fair amount of hype around this book and while there is a heap of excellent content and food for thought within, the cynical part of me surmises that it’s possibly primarily designed to sell CEB's Sales & Service consultative offerings. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; that’s clever marketing!
I’m not a huge fan of prescriptive sales methodology. “Open up with this statement; lead the client to the punch line; show this slide now and that slide then and hey-presto, you’ll double your closure rate, guaranteed!” For me, sales should be more intuitive than that, customers just aren’t that easily manipulated. For this reason I approach most sales teachings with a healthy scepticism.
While there was a little of that in the book, it didn’t prescribe to the notion that simply improving a sales rep’s script and sending them out with a new set of presentation slides would somehow turn them into a selling superstar. If you’re hoping for that sort of a quick fix, this book isn’t for you.
I won’t go into what “The Challenger Model” is as far as trying to describe the nature of the model and the stats behind the research. The book does a pretty good job of outlining that in detail, including case studies demonstrating how companies have introduced the model and are making it work for them.
Instead I’ll try and frame some of the messages in the book, because the real gold nuggets for me were not so much about “The Model” itself, but in some of the more high level concepts that the book contained.
The Challenger Sale advocates examining the sales process through a company-wide angle lens. It encourages companies to dig into their collective knowledge and collate insights that can add value to their customers, over and above the price tag and a feature/benefit analysis of their product.
It stresses the need for sales and marketing teams to work together. Rather than seeing their roles as disparate, sales and marketing should be intertwined and focused on the mining and delivery of insight to their customer base.
During those meetings that are aimed at closing a deal, there is immense power in a sales rep’s ability to deliver information – something that challenges a customer’s pre-conceived ideas about their business or their industry – but the weight of the insight should be driven at an organisational level, not simply left up to the rep to discover and disseminate.
The book outlines a set of behaviours that CEB’s research shows to be necessary for effective sales. It highlights the fact that without constructive, ongoing and personalised coaching, sales reps are often left to their own devices and results can be unpredictable, or worse, completely predictable.
Over and above training for skills and knowledge, coaching for the right behaviours is an essential ingredient. (It could be said that coaching for the right behaviours should extend far deeper into a company than simply at the sales-training level).
The other essential ingredient is innovation; looking at a sale with a view to doing things in new ways and taking the time to really prepare, research and understand the sale and the prospect, so that empirical innovation can occur.
The authors challenge companies to have a close look at their messaging. Is their marketing material full of buzzwords that focus on their company, their history, their solution, how unique they are? Does it talk about how customer focused they are, how innovative they are?
This book invites all marketing executives to revisit the material they are producing and ask two questions.
- Why should customers buy from us over our competition?
- What truly makes us different from everyone else?
“Ironically, the more we try to play up our differences, the more things sound the same. The utter sameness of language…we simply end up sounding like everyone else.”
I don’t agree with a one size fits all, prescriptive model for sales success, nor do I think this book is advocating it, although the hype around the book in some ways makes out that's what this is.
To me, it's moreover promoting the concept of an organisational push to better understand core competencies and competitive advantage and then arming everyone with the tools necessary to deliver that message to the customer.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Friday, September 6, 2013
Twitter; my personal account of “then vs now”
Firstly, let me frame this with a disclaimer; I’m aware that I’m not uncovering anything earth shattering or new here. Seasoned Tweeters will yawn and scoff at my naivety. “You’re only just working this out now? And you say you’re in marketing?? Huh!”
Despite the danger of appearing ignorant, I’ll press on…
This little feathered beast called Twitter is quite compelling when you have a handle on getting the most out of it. Twitter’s charm revolves around being able to follow – and un-follow – whomever you like. You have the power to heavily tailor the type of information you see.
“Way to go Sherlock!” I hear you say.
I first tried Twitter back in 2008. The experience left me less than enthused; I could not see what the fuss was about. It felt predominately filled with 140 character batches of crud. Obviously I wasn’t following the right people. Perhaps I’d inadvertently wandered into the Twitter crèche. I understand the folly was probably mine; whatever the case, I dismissed it as more of a children’s toy than a valid social media platform.
My second attempt, having just set up a new account recently, has me far more committed to the experience.
I think the difference is due largely to the explosion of “content marketing” – there is now just so much information available online. People are putting enormous time and financial energy into generating “good content”.
Everyone is clamouring to make their voices heard and to be seen as a useful fountain of insightful information. Twitter first time around for me was uninspiring. Now it’s a go-to source of collated knowledge and viewpoint.
The other major difference is of course the devices available to interact with Twitter. 2008 for me was pre-Smartphone and pre-Tablet. Twitter lacks the all-important instant gratification component when you have to log onto a PC to get to your news feed.
Fast forward to 2013 and hello Flipboard! The moment I integrated my Twitter feed into Flipboard I “got it”. It turns a feed of 140 character posts garbled with #hashtags and TinyURLs into a glossy, pictorial adventure.
The caveat in all of this is the need to follow sources of material that matter most to you. Twitter is noisy. If you follow people who post a hundred retweets a day of information you find pointless the novelty of the experience will quickly wear thin. When you’re feeding on the good stuff though – following sources of relevant content – it can be very entertaining.
For anyone like me, who wrote Twitter off the first time they tried the platform, it’s perhaps worth giving it another go. Just be mindful to stay right out of the Twitter crèche…
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Strategic Themes
Strategic themes are building blocks that provide structure, boundaries, context, objectives and metrics to leaders and team members. They take direction from and rise to challenges sparked by mission goals, while feeding results and value through differentiation and enablement.
They span across all aspects of the business – financial, customer, internal process and organisational capacity. They are the elements that if excelled in, drive the success of the company.
Common strategic themes include concepts such as Growth, Excellence, Innovation, Sustainability; these high level concepts are most effective if they are further defined and distinguished to best serve the vision of the individual organisation.
They span across all aspects of the business – financial, customer, internal process and organisational capacity. They are the elements that if excelled in, drive the success of the company.
Common strategic themes include concepts such as Growth, Excellence, Innovation, Sustainability; these high level concepts are most effective if they are further defined and distinguished to best serve the vision of the individual organisation.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Mind Mapping
Mind Maps are an excellent way of brainstorming, or note-taking when studying or reading something analytically. Because of their visual nature, they make it much easier to digest and recall information. They are also fantastic for enabling subjects to be viewed in different ways, from different angles and for new and insightful connections to be made.
Anyone with a creative streak will love mind maps, as they encourage the use of colour, pictures and the free-form flow of ideas. Free mind mapping apps are powerful tools to have on the iPad. Visio also has “brainstorming” templates that can be used to record ideas in this fashion.
For example, this very basic mind map was created using “SimpleMind+”. Far more engaging to record study notes using this method than creating simple lists of data!
Anyone with a creative streak will love mind maps, as they encourage the use of colour, pictures and the free-form flow of ideas. Free mind mapping apps are powerful tools to have on the iPad. Visio also has “brainstorming” templates that can be used to record ideas in this fashion.
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| Click to view larger image |
For example, this very basic mind map was created using “SimpleMind+”. Far more engaging to record study notes using this method than creating simple lists of data!
Tips for Mind Mapping
- One central theme per map
- Branches equal singular idea threads
- Use words with impact; aim for short, strong phrases
- Use colour
- Add imagery if possible
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Keeping KPIs relevant
“You can only manage what you can measure”, but if it doesn’t matter, why spend too much time and energy measuring it? KPIs that don’t relate to the goals of the business are like ingredients that don’t belong in the pot and muddle the taste of the dish.
Clearly outlining and understanding departmental goals is the first step in developing solid, meaningful KPIs. Knowing what is truly a measure of success means linking each metric to an organisational goal. Just like the theory that having too many goals makes it hard to focus, having too many KPIs also dilutes focus.
Tether KPIs very strongly to the organisation goals for each primary function of the business and look to industry and competitive benchmarks for guidance; if improving a process speed is your objective, what do other company’s success metrics look like?
A matrix that plots organisation goals, KPIs and benchmarks across the functions of the business (HR, Finance, Sales, Marketing, R&D, IT, Design, Administration, Operations etc) can help clarify what’s really important.
Once the business goals and objectives have been listed, research can be done into what sort of KPIs would best measure process improvements, and input/output activity directly relating to those objectives.
Review metrics regularly as to whether they still relate to company goals. If a metric no longer matters, is there still a need to measuring it?
Friday, August 23, 2013
Intrapreneur; the creative Change Agent
Not everyone wants to start their own company. But creative, innovative change agents are everywhere, hungry and passionate about what they do, happy to wear multiple hats and dream big about their day jobs.
During a conversation I had recently about mentorship programs the term “Intrapreneur” was discussed. It’s not a new word, apparently the term Intrapreneur was first coined in 1982. But I do love it, such an aspirational notion!
Meet the Intrapreneur...those self-educating, self-motivators who are willing to take risks, set goals and challenge their peers and superiors to think and act differently, for the good of a company that is not their own.
Those inventors and departmental protagonists who think about solving problems or creating new revenue streams in the car on the way home, over dinner, in the shower.
During the course of their careers, these characters are from time to time asked “Why don’t you start something up on your own?”
Mitigating risk and maintaining stability are both valid reasons why most don’t go it alone. And that’s okay, the world needs Intrapreneurs!
It’s worth investing some time into finding out more about this character profile, to either better understand yourself (if you are one) or better understand how to manage, grow and inspire them (if you have one working for you).
Are you an Intrapreneur? If you’re the business owner, do you have one working for you?
During a conversation I had recently about mentorship programs the term “Intrapreneur” was discussed. It’s not a new word, apparently the term Intrapreneur was first coined in 1982. But I do love it, such an aspirational notion!
Meet the Intrapreneur...those self-educating, self-motivators who are willing to take risks, set goals and challenge their peers and superiors to think and act differently, for the good of a company that is not their own.
Those inventors and departmental protagonists who think about solving problems or creating new revenue streams in the car on the way home, over dinner, in the shower.
During the course of their careers, these characters are from time to time asked “Why don’t you start something up on your own?”
Mitigating risk and maintaining stability are both valid reasons why most don’t go it alone. And that’s okay, the world needs Intrapreneurs!
It’s worth investing some time into finding out more about this character profile, to either better understand yourself (if you are one) or better understand how to manage, grow and inspire them (if you have one working for you).
Are you an Intrapreneur? If you’re the business owner, do you have one working for you?
Thursday, August 22, 2013
The Entourage
Today I read an article in StartupSmart about The Entourage; according to their website, Australia’s largest group of entrepreneurs and executives under 40.
“With an obsolete education system that was designed when the world was flat, we believe that people are better off learning from people with “been there, done that” experience in their chosen field.”
The Entourage are focused on providing opportunities for entrepreneurs and executives to network. They also appear to have a vision and mission that revolves around creating a better future.
“We believe that creative solutions to pressing problems will come from entrepreneurial endeavors. When you combine commerce with charity, you can begin to offer a hand up rather than a hand out. This is what is required if we are to overcome the challenges we face.”
If you’re a young entrepreneur you might want to check out their “Young Entrepreneurs’ Unconvention”. Sounds like it would be an eye-opener!
“With an obsolete education system that was designed when the world was flat, we believe that people are better off learning from people with “been there, done that” experience in their chosen field.”
The Entourage are focused on providing opportunities for entrepreneurs and executives to network. They also appear to have a vision and mission that revolves around creating a better future.
“We believe that creative solutions to pressing problems will come from entrepreneurial endeavors. When you combine commerce with charity, you can begin to offer a hand up rather than a hand out. This is what is required if we are to overcome the challenges we face.”
If you’re a young entrepreneur you might want to check out their “Young Entrepreneurs’ Unconvention”. Sounds like it would be an eye-opener!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
The Third Wave; a book review
Every now and then you read a book that stays with you for while after you finish it.
"...It is ironic that we spend so much energy as a nation debating how to deal with refugees arriving illegally in leaky boats…migration laws cannot protect our jobs from keen workers who remain in their own countries..."
The Third Wave: Micro-globalism and the coming employment crisis in Australia is a compilation of Scott Linden Jones’ theories on the future of employment in a global community.
Currently in Australia, with some of the highest living standards and wages in the global economy, big and small businesses alike are exploring ways to reduce labour costs. We have seen our manufacturing industry pummelled as business shifts operations to countries that allow them to reduce costs and maximise profits. Our leaders are well aware of this and are talking up policy around these issues.
Thanks to technology, the increasing ease of access to a large body of skilled and inexpensive offshore labour is an enticing proposition for any capitalist. The trend towards offshore labour is one far less heralded in the political debate as we head towards our election. Government and educational institutions need to start paying more attention.
Jones writes of his predictions and the impact that the brave new world of “micro-globalism” is having on the Australian economy. It is a world of both huge threat and equally huge opportunity, but as a country we need to start being hyper-aware of the situation that is unfolding; switch gears and start preparing our young people for potentially a very different employment landscape in the not too distant future.
It is not all doom and gloom, although halfway through the book you’re beginning to wonder if Jones sees any light at the end of the tunnel. He makes some very insightful and humbling observations about our deservedness with respect to the current crop of political leaders, our expectations and feelings of entitlement as a nation and our comparative work ethic.
He also explores ethics themselves and the place they will have in an increasingly competitive business landscape. What power will ethics hold over simple and effective capitalism?
A must read for Australians seeking to understand the new global landscape of economics and anyone with a position of influence over the future of our young people.
"...It is ironic that we spend so much energy as a nation debating how to deal with refugees arriving illegally in leaky boats…migration laws cannot protect our jobs from keen workers who remain in their own countries..."
The Third Wave: Micro-globalism and the coming employment crisis in Australia is a compilation of Scott Linden Jones’ theories on the future of employment in a global community.
Currently in Australia, with some of the highest living standards and wages in the global economy, big and small businesses alike are exploring ways to reduce labour costs. We have seen our manufacturing industry pummelled as business shifts operations to countries that allow them to reduce costs and maximise profits. Our leaders are well aware of this and are talking up policy around these issues.
Thanks to technology, the increasing ease of access to a large body of skilled and inexpensive offshore labour is an enticing proposition for any capitalist. The trend towards offshore labour is one far less heralded in the political debate as we head towards our election. Government and educational institutions need to start paying more attention.
Jones writes of his predictions and the impact that the brave new world of “micro-globalism” is having on the Australian economy. It is a world of both huge threat and equally huge opportunity, but as a country we need to start being hyper-aware of the situation that is unfolding; switch gears and start preparing our young people for potentially a very different employment landscape in the not too distant future.
It is not all doom and gloom, although halfway through the book you’re beginning to wonder if Jones sees any light at the end of the tunnel. He makes some very insightful and humbling observations about our deservedness with respect to the current crop of political leaders, our expectations and feelings of entitlement as a nation and our comparative work ethic.
He also explores ethics themselves and the place they will have in an increasingly competitive business landscape. What power will ethics hold over simple and effective capitalism?
A must read for Australians seeking to understand the new global landscape of economics and anyone with a position of influence over the future of our young people.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Synergistic Business Modelling
The analysis and architecture of a business should drive a synergistic relationship between the three core pillars of the Business Model.
A basic Business Model is made up of three core pillars.
A cohesive business is one where the various units, functions and capabilities in each of these pillars are aligned with the overarching vision and strategy of the company.
A Business Architect will look at how they can engineer, or re-engineer the business to create better alignment. A Business Analyst will elicit from the business the reasons why such engineering may need to take place and what goals the business has; fundamental business problems and the future state a company aspires to.
Both disciplines – architecture and analysis – require an understanding of how each of the core pillars (Market Model, Products and Services Model and Operations Model) interact with one another. Both disciplines drive the strategy for and the realisation of better business processes and capability development.
A basic Business Model is made up of three core pillars.
- Market model studies the market and strategies that outline success
- Products and services model centres on developing the company’s offering
- Operations model is concerned with delivering the offering
A cohesive business is one where the various units, functions and capabilities in each of these pillars are aligned with the overarching vision and strategy of the company.
A Business Architect will look at how they can engineer, or re-engineer the business to create better alignment. A Business Analyst will elicit from the business the reasons why such engineering may need to take place and what goals the business has; fundamental business problems and the future state a company aspires to.
Both disciplines – architecture and analysis – require an understanding of how each of the core pillars (Market Model, Products and Services Model and Operations Model) interact with one another. Both disciplines drive the strategy for and the realisation of better business processes and capability development.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Customer Experience meets the Buyer’s Cycle
Maximising the potential relationship with a customer – for both parties – involves aligning the company’s operation and procedures with their client’s buying cycle. If this alignment is focused on the customer’s needs it can create avid and loyal fans as well as successful and fulfilling sales cycles.
A sustainable relationship is one where both supplier and customer benefit from the partnership, sales are made ethically and the supplier looks for ways to continuously improve their processes and procedures with the customer’s needs in mind.
In return, a customer with needs that are met is more likely to be an advocate, providing referrals and leads that assist in growing the supplier’s business.
A sustainable relationship is one where both supplier and customer benefit from the partnership, sales are made ethically and the supplier looks for ways to continuously improve their processes and procedures with the customer’s needs in mind.
In return, a customer with needs that are met is more likely to be an advocate, providing referrals and leads that assist in growing the supplier’s business.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Client Profiling
Client profiling can be a useful tool for evaluating who your clients are now and who you’d like them to be into the future. The resulting gap is essentially your target client. So how do you spot them?
Who is the perfect client? To understand that, it helps to profile your current clients.
Why are they your customer? What is their attitude towards what you have to offer; is there little awareness of what you can do for their business, or does your relationship afford them a strategic and competitive advantage?
For IT Service Providers, an interesting exercise is to try and determine their Operational Maturity Level with regards to technology. It helps to introduce your service offering in line with their needs and ideas about how technology supports their business.
Consider OML as a scale – at one end sit immature processes; minimal monitoring, constant fire-fighting, aging infrastructure and frequent user complaints about systems. At the other end, mature processes; efficient resource allocation, innovation and improvement programmes, Service Level Agreements and an optimised relationship between business needs and the IT that supports them.
Where are they located? Have you established a methodology for attracting clients in locations that would suit you best? Is it largely irrelevant or could geographical concentrations of clients greatly assist scheduling your service delivery?
Who is the key decision maker? Are the majority of your current clients’ decisions made by the Owner or Director? Does the appointed General Manager call the shots? Is a C-Suite presiding over signing your purchase orders or is it that the Financial Controller happens to be the one pulling purse strings? Which of these decision makers is the best at facilitating your relationship?
What industry are they in? Do you already play to an existing vertical that you are strong in; perhaps you’re not even aware that you do! What's the average seat size of your client base?
Profiling the existing client base helps to uncover trends and could provide insights into how to position yourself; which trade shows and networking events should you be prospecting, where do other like-minded businesses hang out? How many seats constitutes a good client for your business?
How profitable are these companies to your business? How easy is it to deal with them and extract money out of them at bill paying time? Are there any traits common across industry verticals or OML, or do you find profitability and behaviour patterns to be random?
Client profiling does a few of things. Firstly, such an analysis of your current client base forces you to zoom out and look at the bigger picture of the market you are selling to.
It also involves taking some time out to look at each client in more detail and perhaps uncover insights you hadn’t noticed about them before. It requires an examination of the existing information you have about these clients and such an examination can highlight flaws or holes in your current system. Is the information you are looking at accurate? How can you validate this?
Once you have a clear picture of your existing client base – your current state – you can start setting some goals around what you’d like the future state of your client base to look like. How do you envisage your client profile in 3 – 5 years, what are the gaps you need to fill to get there?
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Architecture Development Method
Study notes on Enterprise Architecture...
(From The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF))
TOGAF – a framework for long term strategic business planning that can be applied to the current state, future state and resulting gaps to map out what assets and capabilities an enterprise has and how they can be utilised to achieve optimised outcomes and differentiation.
The Architecture Development Method (ADM) is a set of phases that help to work through planning and architecture development at all levels of business; applying the method to the strategic or high level, abstract business plans will create a set of outputs that then create inputs for more detailed, segmented business planning. This creates unity in business planning; all departments or business segments are playing from the same song sheet.
The various phases of the Architecture Development Method include:
(From The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF))
TOGAF – a framework for long term strategic business planning that can be applied to the current state, future state and resulting gaps to map out what assets and capabilities an enterprise has and how they can be utilised to achieve optimised outcomes and differentiation.
The Architecture Development Method (ADM) is a set of phases that help to work through planning and architecture development at all levels of business; applying the method to the strategic or high level, abstract business plans will create a set of outputs that then create inputs for more detailed, segmented business planning. This creates unity in business planning; all departments or business segments are playing from the same song sheet.
The various phases of the Architecture Development Method include:
- PR – the preliminary phase, sets up framework and principles
- AV – Architecture vision and documentation phase; Statement of Architecture Work outlines the Scope, stakeholder expectations and validates the context with regards to business needs.
- BA – Business Architecture; current state, future state and gaps
- ISA – Information Systems Architecture; data and systems, current state, future state and gaps
- TA – Technology Architecture; infrastructure current state, future state and gaps
- O&S – Identify Opportunities and Solutions for implementing change
- MP – Migration and Planning; road mapping, cost analysis, risk assessment
- IG – Implementation Governance; projects should conform to the architecture plans
- ACM – Architecture Change Management; optimising phase, enabling changes in the business to be supported by the architecture
- AM – Architecture Management; requirements management, continuous throughout all the phases. Change should be validated by the requirements of the business.
- Planning and Capabilities
- Development
- Transition
- Governance
Monday, July 29, 2013
PESTEL Analysis
A PESTEL Analysis examines the external or Macro Environmental factors that could potentially effect or influence the industry and the company; such as taxes, tariffs, business and consumer sentiment, demographics, changing technology landscapes, the environment and laws and regulations.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
The BCG Matrix
BCG Matrix;
a tool to analyse business units, products or brands in a company's portfolio.
- Stars shine very brightly, but require heavy investment
- Cash cows should be milked
- Question marks are often hard to know quite what to do with, be selective about these investments
- Poor dogs perhaps should be liquidated.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Powerful attributes for B2B selling
Be Determined
Know the market and the competition. Sharply define your target customer. Research prospects; understand who the decision makers are. Sharpen skills consistently through learning and training. Build a referral network.
Be Patient and Energetic
Listen more than you talk. Ask open ended questions. Be resilient and transparent; be your best enthusiastic and genuine self. Be warm and easy to spend time with. Be tenacious but not overbearing; know when to dig in and pursue and be equally mindful of when to walk away.
Be Focussed
Focus on outcomes and setting realistic expectations. Sell within scope, don't sell the client what they don't need. Be attentive to details, take good notes, and communicate efficiently with both the client and your team. Be methodical about using the CRM; understand how to tightly manage and review the sales process regularly within the CRM system, it helps to move the sale along.
These are areas commonly accepted as something sales people are not good at, I've heard a number of business owners say "Sales people are just no good at the admin stuff." Aim to defy this perception!
Challenge
Learn how to start relationships and ask for commitments. Challenge the clients thinking about their pain points; yes, this really is something they need and want to change. Be strategic; contest what you know about the client’s business and learn more. Contest what you know about your own business – and business in general – and learn more. Challenge your understanding of the products and services you sell, ask hard questions about the customers perception of quality and value. Be an agent of change if it needs improvement.
Know the market and the competition. Sharply define your target customer. Research prospects; understand who the decision makers are. Sharpen skills consistently through learning and training. Build a referral network.
Be Patient and Energetic
Listen more than you talk. Ask open ended questions. Be resilient and transparent; be your best enthusiastic and genuine self. Be warm and easy to spend time with. Be tenacious but not overbearing; know when to dig in and pursue and be equally mindful of when to walk away.
Be Focussed
Focus on outcomes and setting realistic expectations. Sell within scope, don't sell the client what they don't need. Be attentive to details, take good notes, and communicate efficiently with both the client and your team. Be methodical about using the CRM; understand how to tightly manage and review the sales process regularly within the CRM system, it helps to move the sale along.
These are areas commonly accepted as something sales people are not good at, I've heard a number of business owners say "Sales people are just no good at the admin stuff." Aim to defy this perception!
Challenge
Learn how to start relationships and ask for commitments. Challenge the clients thinking about their pain points; yes, this really is something they need and want to change. Be strategic; contest what you know about the client’s business and learn more. Contest what you know about your own business – and business in general – and learn more. Challenge your understanding of the products and services you sell, ask hard questions about the customers perception of quality and value. Be an agent of change if it needs improvement.
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