Harvard Business Review

JULY 31, 2012

Sophisticated sales organizations now have the ability to combine, sift, and sort vast troves of data to develop highly efficient strategies for selling into micromarkets. In fact, we've found that micromarket strategy is perhaps the most potent new application of big-data analytics in B2B sales. Yet the payoff is huge.

B2B 14

B2B Chemicals Analysis B2C 14

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 10, 2016

Angel investors (including friends and family members) help about half of these companies with their initial development. The challenge becomes how to sell your product and create a sustainable revenue stream, so that you can further develop your product offerings, build your infrastructure, repay your investors, and pay yourself.

Marketing 8

Marketing Software B2B Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 11, 2016

They operate platforms that make it easy and efficient for participants to connect and exchange value. Three of the five most highly valued companies in the world — Apple, Google, and Microsoft — make much of their profits from connecting different groups, like developers and users in the case of Apple.

Participative 8

Participative Business Model IPO B2B 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 30, 2013

You dive deep into a customer development process, working closely with a few customers who feed you requirements and are willing to trial an imperfect product that is evolving quickly. To that point, a well-run telesales operation will be super metrics-driven. In every start-up, finding initial product-market fit is a magical moment.

Marketing 8

Marketing Productivity Products Learning Curve 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2016

In B2B contexts, for example, rep performance in similar territories often varies by 300% between top and bottom quintiles, and in retail stores selling productivity typically varies by a factor of three to four. There’s a lot of competition, which keeps a lid on prices and increases customer acquisition costs.

CRM 8

CRM B2B Price Budgeting 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Yet for all the shared responsibility, the marketing and sales relationship has often been a contentious and lopsided one, with sales dominating in B2B sectors while marketing leads in B2C ones. That starts with developing a deep understanding of how customers behave and make decisions. Collaborate around the customer decision journey.

Marketing 10

Marketing Guidelines B2C Analysis 10

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 28, 2016

Of course, anyone who really knows the history of platforms may recall the many that aspired to make gobs of money but never did and quickly died (think of the many B2B exchanges that never made it to the other side of dot-com bust). Commentators tend to give a lot of credit to Apple and Google for developing great mobile software platforms.

IPO 8

IPO Succession Technology Software 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 5, 2015

Technology-enabled services are the backbone of this industry, and the fastest growing sectors have demand for high-end skills, such as mobile app development and data analytics, as well as middle-level skills, such as video production, copywriting, and financial analysis. That’s significant for a country with a GDP of $270 billion.

Outsourcing 8

Outsourcing Technology B2B GDP 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 26, 2016

Compared to professions like engineering or business disciplines like Finance or Operations, the concept of a dedicated salesperson is relatively recent. Sales was traditionally seen as a form of service work, with an emphasis primarily on developing moral character. Each group has its own operating procedures.

Education 8

Education Levitt Retail Training 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 13, 2017

There are core competencies that every PM must have – many of which can start in the classroom – but most are developed with experience and good role models and mentoring. Pricing and revenue modeling. So, what should you consider if you’re thinking of pursuing a PM role? Core Competencies. Running design sprints.

Productivity 8

Productivity Products Core Competence Management 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

For a long time, there has been a clear split between business software (often called Enterprise or B2B ), and consumer software (B2C, or simply “products”). Design Product development IT' That split is increasingly irrelevant. Describe an incremental path towards success.

Software 8

Software Supply Chain B2C Education 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 6, 2013

At the time of the Geek Squad acquisition, it was considered foolish by many; a decade later, the $3 million purchase price has been repaid hundreds of times over. You must move from B2C to B2B, or vice versa. You must slash the price of your product or service by 50%. Look for unorthodox opportunities.

Disruptive Innovation 8

Disruptive Innovation Hotels B2C Price 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 5, 2015

These changes are driven by seismic shifts in consumer behavior and an explosion of both consumer- and B2B-facing technologies. When and how do we shift our businesses from legacy operating models to ones that better reflect the future? How do we maximize our creativity as an industry while integrating data-driven approaches?

Media 8

Media Advertising Audience Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

In most larger companies, you'll need to generate roughly 200+ responses per operating unit per period. Bain research shows that leading companies can achieve 60% or better response rates in B2B companies and 30% or more in most B2C situations. Unless you have achieved stability, you're in for some fun at compensation time.

Incentives 10

Incentives Sample Customer Loyalty Metrics 10

Harvard Business Review

MAY 24, 2017

Finding, developing, and retaining this talent is hard — so much so that the business press refers to a “war” for talent. For financial capital, the business world has developed concepts such as the opportunity cost of capital, which is reflected in a company’s weighted average cost of capital.

Human Capital 15

Human Capital Management Company ROCE 15

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 20, 2017

In doing research on multinational operations in the Middle East and Africa, we’ve learned that companies are well aware of how President Trump’s foreign and trade policies could affect their businesses there. more competitive prices, more localized products) and improve their risk management and operational efficiency.

Depreciation 8

Depreciation Contingency Plans Policies Marketing 8