The Horizons Tracker

OCTOBER 23, 2021

In this article, I’ll share those lessons and hopefully give helpful insight on how to keep your company off the operating table. The very first step is to diagnose why your company isn’t growing, and critically, to do this objectively! One of our portfolio companies was targeting large enterprise clients who were generally B2C.

Price 82

Price B2C Objective B2B 82

Strategy Driven

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Every business needs to have an IT department of some sort, whether on-site or remotely, in order to keep their company afloat. Your company is bound to shape up and adopt the “out with the old, in with the new” rhetoric. Streamlined Operations Will Save You Money. Read on to find out more! Ready to get started?

Budgeting 67

Budgeting B2C B2B Software 67

First Friday Book Synopsis

MAY 25, 2011

Lisa Hershman is a seasoned business professional and author, who brings a wealth of real-world experience and an innovative style to her position at Hammer and Company. Prior to joining Hammer and Company, she served as Corporate Senior Vice President of Operational Excellence at Avnet, Inc.,

Hammer 80

Hammer B2B Operations Innovation 80

Strategy Driven

DECEMBER 18, 2020

It doesn’t matter if you have a food business, a construction company, or even a photography studio. Your customers won’t consider the magnitude of your operations when going through your website. This is one reason why 64% of the B2B marketers outsource their demanding copy needs. Write a stellar copy.

Engineering 132

Engineering Advertising B2B Outsourcing 132

Strategy Driven

JUNE 30, 2021

You may decide that you have a strategy and you’re planning to use B2B lead generation as part of your campaign. The thing is, your business is a long-term operation – not something that will stop next week. In other words, you need to have clearly defined goals so you don’t lose focus and you can measure your results easily.

Marketing 72

Marketing ROI Long-term Audience 72

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

In reality, though, if you choose a company idea for the wrong reasons, it will show. Besides, there is no greater reward than knowing than building a company that fills you with pride. #2. A strong team of employees won’t only lead the company to increased productivity. You Can’t Go It Alone. Not Everyone Will Be Interested.

Brand 120

Brand Audience USP B2C 120

Leading Blog

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

airline companies have pointed fingers at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the biggest cause of outages, even as the FAA has fired back at airlines. And just to make things interesting, do it in a decentralized organizational construct where laws, standards, and procedures aren’t as tightly controllable as within a single company.

Industry 271

Industry Stage-Gate Organization Company 271

Harvard Business Review

MAY 10, 2018

While there’s less buzz around business-to-business markets, these innovations are changing the game in B2B as well, even in old-line industries selling what might be considered commodity products. For a deep dive into the elements, see our related HBR article “ The B2B Elements of Value ”).

B2B 8

B2B Chemicals Venture Funding Engineering 8

Tanveer Naseer

AUGUST 7, 2012

A customer focused business, whether B2C or B2B (we all have customers), is more profitable and has greater longevity. Reanalyze and possibly redefine your company values, your mission, and your approach. Is your company dynamic? Only they have the bird’s eye view of the operations. Does it have an appetite for change?

Strategy 267

Strategy CRM Development Document 267

Tanveer Naseer

AUGUST 7, 2012

A customer focused business, whether B2C or B2B (we all have customers), is more profitable and has greater longevity. Reanalyze and possibly redefine your company values, your mission, and your approach. Is your company dynamic? Only they have the bird’s eye view of the operations. Does it have an appetite for change?

Strategy 267

Strategy CRM Development Document 267

Strategy Driven

JULY 30, 2018

However, as your business begins to really gain in profitability, and you decide to invest that back into your operation each year, it’s not hard to see how purchasing your own business assets might become a great long-term cost-saving scenario. Is it time that you did this? Merchandising.

Merchandising 52

Merchandising Long-term B2B Construction 52

Strategy Driven

JUNE 5, 2014

Most of the companies use only one waterfall funnel to represent company-wide inbound/outbound demand-based campaigns. Note: I fully recognize CPG companies do not fit this business model, but there are trillions of dollars represented in many other categories that do). One marketing waterfall view has become a catchall.

Marketing 51

Marketing B2B Due Diligence Benchmarking 51

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016

Decision making at big B2B companies is often skewed by anecdote and myth: A worried report from the most vocal salesperson about a competitor’s latest move; a customer complaint that happened to be fielded by a senior executive. Smart companies turn this traditional approach on its head. Vincent Tsui for HBR.

B2B 8

B2B Automotive Engineering Report 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 17, 2015

“Death of a B2B Salesman,” a new report from Forrester Research , lends urgency to the need for companies to rethink and radically transform their sales models by incorporating digital media into their processes. Here’s how B2B sellers should do that. Rather, his or her role needs to be redefined.

B2B 8

B2B Forrester Telemarketing Media 8

Strategy Driven

APRIL 10, 2019

Private labeling allow companies to sell branded products manufactured by someone else. Experienced manufacturers spend a lot of money on research and development, an investment that is beyond the reach of smaller retailers and companies. Selling only big-brand products makes it hard for a company to stand out in the crowd.

Productivity 50

Productivity Products Brand B2C 50

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 2, 2015

B2B marketers, on the other hand, have shied away from the idea, instead approaching selling as a rational, numbers-driven process where the best value proposition wins. But that’s changing as suppliers have come to appreciate that companies don’t buy things, people do.

B2B 8

B2B Consensus B2C Customer Loyalty 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 3, 2016

A new set of relationships is being formed within companies around how people working in data, analytics, IT, and operations teams work together. Data and analytics represent a blurring of the traditional lines of demarcation between the scope of IT and the responsibilities of operating divisions.

Operations 8

Operations Agility Chemicals Supply Chain 8

N2Growth Blog

OCTOBER 25, 2010

Kmax Blog Links Evan Carmichael – www.evancarmichael.com B2B Yellow Pages Directory B2BYellowpages.com is a leading Internet directory of resources useful to small businesses. For Your Success For businesses on the cutting edge: companies proactive in seeking a competitive advantage; progressive firms open to adopt new innovations.

Directory 167

Directory Magazine Blog Brand 167

Harvard Business Review

MAY 22, 2018

M&A is central to many companies’ growth strategies. Companies with more organic growth generate higher shareholder returns than those relying on acquisitions alone. Companies dedicate vast amounts of time, money, and effort to organic growth. How to make your company more nimble and responsive. Insight Center.

Organization 9

Organization Company Venture Capitalist B2B 9

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 24, 2012

Companies in all varieties of B2B markets have moved beyond selling products and services to offering complete "solutions" to their customers. Alstom keeps trains ready to run each morning for railroad operators rather than just selling the rolling stock to them. Hilti provides and maintains power tools for builders.

B2B 14

B2B Business Objectives Focus Group Marketing 14

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 23, 2018

Recessions catch many companies by surprise, with predictable results. But these periods also present opportunities for well-prepared companies to take advantage of the turmoil and gain share. But these periods also present opportunities for well-prepared companies to take advantage of the turmoil and gain share.

Team 9

Team Price B2B Tools 9

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 14, 2018

Companies increasingly use digital technologies to circumvent distributors and enter into direct relationships with their end-users. But they also risk alienating the longstanding partners that companies count on for their core business. As a result, many B2B companies remain stuck in a stalemate.

Strategy 9

Strategy B2B Insurance Business Model 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 18, 2018

Changing consumer needs, combined with shifting workforce expectations, are altering the competitive landscape and dictating transformation of existing company operating models for consumer industries. But it is not just the nuts and bolts of a company that need to change. How B2B Companies Can Grow with Ecosystem Orchestration.

Strategy 8

Strategy Content Business Model Retail 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 26, 2011

And while these companies were the first to acknowledge the business benefits of delivering a great customer experience, business-to-business (B2B) organizations are increasingly getting in on the game. Much of the conversation about customer-centricity focuses on business-to-consumer (B2C) firms.

B2B 15

B2B Airlines Travel Stage-Gate 15

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 5, 2018

Practically every organization today has a set of core values that ideally function as the “operating instructions” of the company. The goal of articulating the essential and enduring principles of your organization is to inform, inspire, and instruct the day-to-day behaviors of everyone who works at your company.

B2C 13

B2C Ethics Teamwork B2B 13

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 27, 2015

When Gilbane, a family-owned construction company, hired a design firm for a rebranding, the designers surveyed Gilbane’s clients and came back with an important finding: Do not discount the fact that the firm is a “family-owned” business. The companies surveyed had average sales of $3.48

B2B 8

B2B Press Release Construction Brand 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 18, 2011

The customer's voice has a new champion sitting at the highest levels of power in companies. The role exists in B2B and B2C firms as diverse as Allstate, Dunkin' Brands, USAA, Philips Electronics, FedEx, the Cleveland Clinic, and SAP. Who are these new customer experience executives — and why do companies appoint them?

B2C 15

B2C B2B Forrester Budgeting 15

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 29, 2016

” will be difficult for many companies to achieve — not for lack of technological expertise but because they’ll fail to recognize the value of design in connected product development. applications pushed technology to address B2B market requirements. This evolution to “Internet of Things (IoT) 2.0”

Technology 8

Technology B2B B2C Mass Marketing 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

In our surveys, more than 66% of CEOs said they expect their companies to change their business model in the next three years, with 62% reporting they have management initiatives or transformation programs underway to make their business more digital. But in some companies, strategists are bolder.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Content CIO Business Model 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Most companies, including the ones mentioned above, approach India as one market when they should be thinking of the different states as individual markets. However, companies in Himachal Pradesh report that it takes 28 days for them, while those in Chhattisgarh take 213 days. Step 2: Measure operating environment.

Strategy 8

Strategy Operations Policies Environment 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 31, 2012

While B2C companies have become adept at mining the petabytes of transactional and other purchasing data that consumers generate as they interact online, B2B sales organizations have only recently begun to use big data to inform overall strategy and tailor sales pitches for specific customers in real time. Yet the payoff is huge.

B2B 14

B2B Chemicals Analysis B2C 14

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

Led by its Steve Jobs-inspired CEO Lei Jun, the company has experienced breakneck speed since its first smartphone launch in October 2011. Barra has his work cut out for him: Chinese companies have had mixed success so far in competing with top Western brands on several fronts at once. What Job Are You Doing?

Marketing 8

Marketing B2B Levitt Disruptive Innovation 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 23, 2015

But to Sweden-based SKF Group — the leading company in the $76 billion global market for ball bearing systems — these objects are heroic, destined to become the “brains of rotating machinery” by transmitting data to boost performance, reduce downtime, and prevent accidents. That lag poses dangers. Insight Center.

Industry 8

Industry System Business Model B2C 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

OCTOBER 21, 2013

The company already had a demo center outside London and a slick tradeshow setup to showcase how these work together in an effective system. A food company, for example, outfits vehicles with entire kitchens to demonstrate the most effective and creative ways to use its specialty food ingredients in food service operations.

B2B 8

B2B B2C Education Travel 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 30, 2013

Across our portfolio and in my own entrepreneurial experience, I have seen three main sales models work successfully in scaling B2B sales: 1) Enterprise; 2) Telephone; 3) Developer-driven. 80-90% software products vs. 40-50% advertising products) and company maturity (e.g., I''ll discuss each one below. 1) Enterprise Sales.

Marketing 8

Marketing Productivity Products Learning Curve 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 10, 2016

Angel investors (including friends and family members) help about half of these companies with their initial development. Figuring out a go-to-market approach is no trivial exercise — it separates the companies that will be successful and sustainable from those that won’t.

Marketing 8

Marketing Software B2B Technology 8