January 2012
The 10-point checklist to boost your sales performance
Successful sales organizations are both effective and efficient. Being ´effective´ means ´doing the right thing´: E.g. when a sales rep spends a lot of time acquiring low-potential customers, he is doing something fundamentally wrong. Being ´efficient´ means ´doing the thing right´: E.g. once the right customers (those offering a high potential) have been identified, they have to be dealt with in an efficient way. That means there should be an optimal ratio between the input made by the organization and the results achieved.
Archive
10 / 2011
Optimizing cross-functional cooperation, releasing growth potential
In many companies, the different departments don´t really cooperate – rather, they work alongside each other and, sometimes, even against each other. This leads to delayed decision-making and slower processes, frustration, unnecessary discussions and conflicting signals sent to the market and customers. To sum up, problems involving cross-functional cooperation weaken a company´s competitive position and strangle its growth.
08 / 2011
What other companies can learn from HP
HP (Hewlett Packard), the world market leader in the PC business, sells its PC business. That sounds incredible – almost as if VW sold its car business!
However, a closer look shows that there is a rationale behind this bold step – HP is facing two major threats in the PC business which have a devastating effect on margins and make the future look gloom:
07 / 2011
Why do your customers buy from you?
Do you know why your customers buy from you? If you ask managers and co-workers in your company´s different departments, you will most probably get widely differing answers. Often, quality (what do you understand by this?), long-term market presence, excellent service or strong brands are mentioned.
In many cases, it is not clear at all why customers buy from a company – people don´t know where their competitive advantage lies.
06 / 2011
How to develop a great business plan
Business plans are often associated with start-up companies which need money from a bank and therefore have to present a comprehensive concept. A business plan describes the strategy with which an entrepreneur or intrapreneur demonstrates how he wants to develop his business and reach ambitious growth goals.
05 / 2011
Who is your competitor?
At first sight, the answer to the question ´Who is your competitor? seems easy: All companies which produce or market similar or comparable products and services. However, this is a limited view, because, in general, competition is not limited to direct rivals, but goes far beyond. And management practice shows that it is the indirect or new competitors which are the most dangerous as they are either unknown or not considered rivals in the first place.
04 / 2011
Sell profit, not products!
Your customer is not interested in your products and services at all! He buys from you, because he wants to solve his problems and reach his targets. That may sound provoking, however, the customer is always focused on his own benefit. To him, your products and services are the vehicles which provide this benefit.
03 / 2011
Strategic renewal as a success factor
After 4 generations of family ownership, automotive supplier Keiper-Recaro has sold its core business, the production of parts for seats and backrests for the car industry, to Johnson Controls. (FAZ, 30. 12. 2010). The reasons given are that customers increasingly ask for complete seats and that a global player is better able to meet this need than a medium-sized company. In the future, Keiper Recaro will focus on seats for aircraft and children and on upholstery.
02 / 2011
Get out of the commodity trap!
Many companies are facing the challenge of product ´commoditization´ over time. Commodities are offerings with no unique differentiators, sold primarily via low prices. Example: 10 years ago, the mobile phone was something special and the privilege of important decision makers who had to be accessible at any time. Today, mobile phones offering the basic ´telephoning´ function have become a commodity (throw-away product), and competition has shifted from hardware (the mobile phone) to software and internet connectivity.
01 / 2011
The 5 pillars of an excellent business strategy
Excellent business strategies rest on 5 pillars. They can be used as a benchmark to review existing strategies or to develop a new strategic direction.
12 / 2010
Corporate culture as a profit driver
Companies which want to increase their profits usually think of cost reductions first. The resulting savings have a more or less immediate impact and can be quantified. Another possibility is price optimization. Clearing the ´rebate jungle´ is an effective approach here: Rebates are often granted unsystematically and, once established, they are usually kept although the customer-specific conditions they were originally based on (e.g. certain purchase quantities) don´t exist anymore. Clearing the rebate jungle leads to an overall increase in average price without a decrease in quantity. This results in a significant boost in profits.
11 / 2010
Building new competetive advantage with product-enhancing services
Many producers of industrial products are facing increased price pressure. Competition is mainly coming from Asian low-price companies which aggressively enter European markets. To avoid a cutthroat price battle, an increasing number of companies offer services in addition to their physical products. This allows them to create added value for their customers and to differentiate themselves from low-price rivals. In addition, product-enhancing services help to build customer loyalty and to generate additional income.
10 / 2010
Introducing Key Account Management successfully
Given limited sales resources, (even the biggest company has "limited" resources), ambitious growth and profit targets can only be achieved by strictly focusing on attractive customers. This, of course, does not mean that the other customers should no longer be served. The question is, however, how much time and attention is allocated and through which channels (distributor or internet instead of peronal sales) they are served.
09 / 2010
5 Measures for immediate Growth
What can a company do to quickly realize new growth potentials without heavy investment? Here are 5 measures with an immediate impact on business success.
08 / 2010
Strategy makes the difference
The Spanish team not only won the football world championship 2010, because it had the better players – it had, above all, the better strategy! Some of its strategic principles can be directly applied to business strategy.
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