Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

'Pabulum leadership words really bug me – but not as bad as they may bug you if they’re uttered by your leader. Leaders are known by their words, deeds, actions, values, principles, and by the people they attract both on their team and in the world, but… It’s their words that set the tone for the environment. It’s their words that start the internal chatter.

Leadership 74

Leadership Diversity Customer Loyalty Competitive Advantage 74

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 9, 2013

'Startup CEOs need to know how to act once they realize that a new revenue stream is growing faster than the original business concept. You’re faced with a choice: transforming the business you created or launching a new, separate venture. I call it the choice between going “tribal” (creating a new tribe – a distinct group that acts independently from your core business) or “transformational” (transforming the current team and business).

Business Model 73

Business Model Advertising How To Entrepreneur 73

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 26, 2013

'Silent Killer #6: Modern Indentured Servitude. Today’s world is one of sharp contrasts. As a society, we have more choices, opportunities, wealth, and prosperity than at any other point in human history. Yet, we are also more depressed, dissatisfied, and despondent than ever before. In fact, more than 21 million Americans are depressed, according to Mental Health America , costing U.S. companies more than $31 billion each year in lost productive time.

Productivity 71

Productivity Products Six Sigma Chief Executive Officer 71

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 16, 2013

'After nearly 60 years of a wavering belief in Santa Claus, I have come to a major AHA! Santa Claus is actually Google. Think about it: Google knows when you’re sleeping. Google knows when you’re awake. Google knows if you’re bad. Google knows when your good. Google has lists, and she checks them twice. Google knows who’s naughty.

Reputation 71

Reputation B2C B2B Customer Loyalty 71

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 8, 2013

'Top 10 Social Media Truths For 2014. by Prestige Marketing Inc. 10 social media rules that stay true through any trend in online marketing. For those of us in digital marketing and advertising, we stay on top of social media trends to keep our brand current, but what are the fundamental truths that guide our social media approach? This white paper explores the truths that stay constant through passing and lasting trends.

Media 70

Media Resources White Paper Trends 70

Strategy Driven

MAY 29, 2013

'How much of your presentation is ‘standard?’ Whether you sell a product or service, whether it’s simple or sophisticated, how much (what percentage) of your presentation is the way you usually present it? Void of personalization? Void of customization? Void of interaction? And all about you. What kind of presentation do you think your prospect wants?

Customer Loyalty 70

Customer Loyalty Seminar Media Marketing 70

Strategy Driven

MAY 16, 2013

'The 4 Disciplines of Execution : Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals. by Jerry Weissman. About the Book. The 4 Disciplines of Execution provides the steps needed to repeatably translate one’s business strategy into the day-to-day activities instrumental to realizing organizational goals. These disciplines include: Focus on the Wildly Important – Give your best effort to those few goals that really matter instead of giving mediocre effort to dozens of goals.

Resources 70

Resources Execution Wilde Covey 70

Strategy Driven

JULY 11, 2013

'StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website. Episode 45 – Marketing & Sales: Closing the Value Gap examines the evolution of the business-to-business selling process and the gap between what customers want and what their service prov

Marketing 70

Marketing Customer Loyalty Competitive Advantage Resistance 70

Strategy Driven

JUNE 24, 2013

'I am on it. I am into it. It’s attracting customers. It’s making sales. It’s free! What is it? It’s almost social media. It’s BUSINESS social media. It’s your ticket to customer and prospect awareness – who you are, how you think, how you serve, what you believe, what your value messages are, and what others think of you.

Media 70

Media Seminar Follow-up Customer Loyalty 70

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 27, 2013

'Good bedside manner can reassure and comfort a patient even when facing a difficult diagnosis, while poor bedside manner can leave a patient feeling dissatisfied or anxious, from a visit as innocuous as a routine checkup. Big difference. But how does bedside manner apply to business in general? Two words: customer service. No, a doctor-patient relationship isn’t the same as a vendor-customer relationship, but when it comes to building an effective relationship, many of the same principles apply

CRM 69

CRM Competitive Advantage Content Resources 69

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

'74% of salespeople complain about losing a sale because their price was too high. And 74% of them are wrong. How did you lose the sale? Why did you lose the sale? Was it really price? Or was it you? Losing the sale manifests itself in ‘blaming complaints’ about: price, unreturned phone calls, bidding, loyalty to others, and other blame-based excuses about why a sale does not take place, and the relationship isn’t being built.

Price 69

Price Open-book Self-aware Loyalty 69

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 11, 2013

'Your company’s hiring managers are working tirelessly to write accurate job descriptions. You’ve made interview checklists and performed background checks, but somehow several new team members are just not working out. And, it’s costing your company big. So, what went wrong? What can you do? First, let’s examine what exactly these bad hires can do.

Quality 68

Quality Pre-Employment Screening Talent Management Reference 68

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 2, 2013

'11. Utilize networks. Asian societies make great use of networks. In China the basis is the family system which operates not only in the People’s Republic, but also overseas in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Europe and North America. In Japan networking takes place also among families but more so among classmates and university colleagues.

Competitive Advantage 68

Competitive Advantage Content Marketing Newsletter 68

Strategy Driven

AUGUST 5, 2013

'Everyone has their own time machine. The only question is: how are you using it? The time machine I’m referring to is music. The music you grew up with and the music you listen to every day. I refer to it as the ‘music transportation department’ because the right song can transport you back to an exact place and time in an instant – and create a great feeling.

Transportation 68

Transportation Open-book Customer Loyalty Competitive Advantage 68

Strategy Driven

AUGUST 19, 2013

'If you can remember that far back in Facebook history (2007), it started as a ‘fan’ page. Then one day (way back in 2010), out of the blue, Facebook decided to change it to a ‘like’ page. Why did they change it? Here’s their reason: “To improve your experience and promote consistency across the site, we’ve changed the language for Pages from ‘Fan’ to ‘Like.’ We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way t

Customer Loyalty 68

Customer Loyalty Competitive Advantage Media Seminar 68

Strategy Driven

JANUARY 10, 2013

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to LinkedIn. by Susan Gunelius. About the Book. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to LinkedIn by Susan Gunelius provides step-by-step instructions for using the full array of interactive tools provided by the professionals’ social media website, LinkedIn. Some of the topics covered include: Creating a personal profile that is more than an online resume.

Resources 67

Resources Newsletter Tools Article 67

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

'FixnZip. A CTF Enterprise. www.fixnzip.com. About the Product. FixnZip is an easy-to-use replacement zipper slider that fits a range of zipper sizes and works with teeth and coil zippers that are either metal or plastic. The FixnZip slider comes in three sizes: small, medium and large and two colors: nickle (silver) and graphite (dark grey). It has a patented spring plate design consisting of two slider plates, a thumbscrew, and spring; all manufactured in the United States.

Resources 67

Resources Review Productivity Products 67

Strategy Driven

FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Look at More : A Proven Approach to Innovation, Growth, and Change. by Andy Stefanovich. About the Book. Look at More by Andy Stefanovich details a framework for unleashing an organization’s creativity to develop new products, build brands and audiences, and grow market share. Andy’s framework specifically targets the liberation of the ’5Ms’ of innovation: Mood : attitudes, feelings, and emotions creating the context for creativity and innovation.

Resources 67

Resources Competitive Advantage Creativity Innovation 67

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 21, 2013

'Silent Killer #2: Not Listening. To truly listen does not mean merely hearing or paying attention. Listening is a specific type of active interpretation that shapes our realities. This largely unknown and certainly unrecognized skill is critical in the new business world. By blindly creating and/or tolerating working conditions in which people do not and often cannot effectively listen to one another, we kill productivity and profitability.

Six Sigma 66

Six Sigma Productivity Products Chief Executive Officer 66

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 1, 2013

'Every organization is challenged by risks manifest through its many different day-to-day operations. To help monitor and manage these risks, most organizations employ groups providing performance and compliance risk assurance so that significantly adverse consequences are avoided. These groups typically carry out their function through the conduct of periodic, in-depth assessments of those areas representing the highest risk to the company.

Risk Management 66

Risk Management Management Compliance Benchmarking 66

Strategy Driven

JULY 29, 2013

'Last week I talked about the power of sales success and gave you the first ten personal powers you need to possess in order to have all of the sales success you desire. As a professional salesperson, you want more selling power and this two-part article reveals the sources. Let me share with you the remaining powers you do possess and how you might be able to use them and take advantage of them to build sales, build relationships, build referrals, earn testimonials, and achieve the sales succes

Power 66

Power Succession Loyalty Learning-by-Doing 66

Strategy Driven

JULY 9, 2013

'Major projects typically add significant operational, financial, reputational, and regulatory risk to an organization’s overall risk profile. This project risk may by itself exceed the normal level of organizational risk leaders are accustomed to dealing with. Consequently, these strategic projects demand the implementation of risk identification, monitoring, mitigation, and control activities.

Risk Management 66

Risk Management Resources Management Benchmarking 66

Strategy Driven

JULY 3, 2013

'All organizations face a host of risks incurred during the conduct of day-to-day business operations and stakeholder interactions. These risks challenge executives and managers in so far as they can have consequentially negative impacts on the organization’s ongoing sustainability from an operational, financial, reputational, and regulatory perspective.

Risk Management 66

Risk Management Management Competitive Advantage Insurance 66

Strategy Driven

APRIL 9, 2013

'Data, data everywhere…. Almost everything done in the modern business world involves some sort of data transaction and/or creation. Transactions performed in one computer application often contribute to or initiate the generation of additional data in another system. It is from these interrelated data sets that performance metrics are derived. Consequently, the actions taken by an individual using one system can knowingly and unknowingly drive the behaviors of numerous others and influence perf

KPI 66

KPI Metrics System Newsletter 66

Strategy Driven

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Most leaders monitor the performance of their various divisions, departments, and work groups using a system of organizational performance measures. These measures monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of that organization’s functions – a reflection of the responsible manager’s performance. What is the difference then between organizational performance measures and the personal goals of the responsible supervisors, managers, and executives?

Talent Management 65

Talent Management Goal Management Newsletter 65

Strategy Driven

APRIL 16, 2013

'A performance metrics system is, in part, a communications mechanism conveying the organization’s performance against stated goals and in doing so reinforces leadership’s commitment to stated behaviors and results. To effectively reinforce these objectives, performance measurement system communications must reach their intended audience. Too often, the organization’s metrics remain largely unobserved; residing on desktop computer dashboards or in binders tucked away in filing cabinets.

KPI 65

KPI Metrics System Document 65

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 20, 2013

'Recruitment has always been a tricky business. So many times a candidate can sound like the perfect match on paper, only to prove a disappointment at interview. Then there are the even worse scenarios, where a candidate comes across both in real life and on paper as perfect, only to then not meet the criteria when actually in the job. There must be a way for recruiters to ensure that they hire only the best and most promising candidates, those who are almost guaranteed to perform and stay in a

Succession 64

Succession Talent Management Software Human Resources 64

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 13, 2013

'From networking events to social networking sites, opportunities to ‘meet’ new connections abound. Exactly how do you make the most of every introduction? Let’s start with what not to do. Whether you associate the ‘seven deadly sins’ with medieval religious teachings or modern-day entertainment, they can be applied here. Build your reputation and your business by avoiding these seven deadly sins of relationship management: Pride.

Management 64

Management Reputation CRM Competitive Advantage 64

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 12, 2013

'Silent Killer #4: Worship of Information. In our rush to ‘modernize’ everything and make our enterprises more efficient, we have mistakenly come to believe that information is our most valuable commodity. But data and information are useless without human beings to interpret them. These days, computers can do just about anything – except think for themselves.

Productivity 64

Productivity Products Six Sigma Competitive Advantage 64

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

'Question : How can I build relationships with key stakeholders? StrategyDriven Response : (by Roxi Hewertson, StrategyDriven Principal Contributor). Competition for our time has never, in the history of human kind, been so intense. Yet, if we fail to make time to connect in authentic and meaningful ways with other people, we cannot lead well and our business results will suffer dramatically.

Covey 64

Covey Competitive Advantage Learning-by-Doing Strategic Planning 64

Strategy Driven

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

'Making effective improvements to execution of your operations team requires not only understanding of the technical requirements to manufacture, maintain, or modernize your operations line for engineered efficiency improvements, but also understanding what portions of your operations are considered to be non-value added (see StrategyDriven article, Tactical Execution Best Practice – Target Non-Value Adding Work to Improve Efficiency ).

Tactics 64

Tactics Execution Six Sigma Operations 64

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 29, 2013

'Effective evaluation and control programs rely on a set of underlying behaviors promoting continuous performance improvement. While positionally dependent, these behaviors foster the continuous identification and resolution of performance improvement opportunities and shortfalls. Individual performance improvement behaviors vary across a spectrum based on organizational position.

Organizational Behavior 64

Organizational Behavior Newsletter Article Resistance 64

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 21, 2013

'Think about the most memorable service you have ever received. Ever tell anyone about it? Now think about the service you provide to your customers. How many people are talking about you? ANSWER: Not enough. Every time a customer calls it’s an opportunity. The only question is: how are you taking advantage of it? Don’t answer with a “thank you for the call,” telling me how important my call is while you put me on hold for the next available agent.

Customer Loyalty 64

Customer Loyalty Reputation Loyalty Competitive Advantage 64

Strategy Driven

OCTOBER 16, 2013

'You would think that an Ivy League institution like Cornell University would be a model of the best practices of leadership throughout its organization since Cornell and most universities believe they are growing the next generation of leaders for our country and our world. Well….not necessarily and not always. While Cornell executive leadership can be exemplary, there were and still are times when units within this very large institution needed significant improvement.

Leadership 64

Leadership Training Peer Review Budgeting 64

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

'Many companies talk about the need to establish strong ‘relationships’ with their customers. Some compile complex Customer Relationship Management algorithms to develop and maintain these relationships. And, these companies rightly recognize that the transactional interactions of the past are ineffective in creating loyal customers. The concept of customer relationships makes sense in the context of meeting personal needs.

Aaker 64

Aaker Short-term Marketing Benchmarking 64

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

'Question from a fan: Hi Jeffrey, I just purchased your new book on the 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling. As usual, it’s full of amazing content. But as I read it, it generated three compelling questions I hope you can answer. Thanks, Brandon. 1. What is the biggest difference between selling today and 10 years ago? Three things have changed selling (and buying) forever – THE INTERNET, SMARTPHONES, and SOCIAL MEDIA.

Media 64

Media Advice Customer Loyalty Competitive Advantage 64

Strategy Driven

AUGUST 26, 2013

'QUESTION: Why did Facebook pay one billion dollars for Instagram? ANSWER: So that instead of worrying about how many people joined Instagram (and abandoned Facebook), they could brag about it. Are you on Instagram? I am. All of my family is. ALL of my family is. Daughters, granddaughters, in-laws, outlaws. All of them. All of my close friends are too.

Media 64

Media Follow-up Customer Loyalty Competitive Advantage 64