The Wealthy Business - by EnergizeGrowth

Eloqua: Creating A Holiday for Modern B2B Marketers

Eloqua's sixth annual "holiday celebration" for growth-oriented B2B marketers just concluded in Orlando, Florida. I was pleased to observe a few dozen companies garner awards for their marketing and sales prowess.

CEO Joe Payne plays the consummate emcee, sharing off-the-cuff remarks and surprise giveaways for the top tweets from the ceremonies. Eloqua generates several weeks worth of buzz and online conversation from this well-orchestrated awards party. Here are the 2012 winners.

What kind of holidays are you creating and sharing with your customers?

copyright 2012, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Client Success: Corent Wins Market Share and Mind Share

June 11 was a busy week for Corent Technology CEO Feyzi Fatehi.

It all started on June 13 at the TechAmerica American Technology Awards in Washington, DC. Feyzi, one of my longstanding clients of 9 years, attended to accept the nomination. He also invited me as his guest to meet some of this country's top innovators. Corent was nominated for the "Best Cloud/SaaS Product" award. Surrounded by hundreds of technology industry luminaries, Corent ceded to Virtela Technology Services.

In Memory of Crazy People (Like Steve Jobs)

A good friend of mine just forwarded an Apple commercial that was never aired in 1997. I find it a propos for our times. (listen to the actual Virgin ad by clicking here). In fact, I think it is an excellent way to channel Steve Jobs. Goodness knows we all miss him--and his borderline crazy ideas--dearly:

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Scrapping Billable Hours For A More Client-Friendly B2B Service

Don't walk into Clearspire's D.C. headquarters and expect to be impressed. Spartan furnishings and a simple glass sign adorn the waiting room. You may not believe you are in the right place--the offices lack the posh trappings of an emerging law practice competing against the top 200 firms.

Yet they represent the new face of the legal profession. And they are winning global Fortune 500 clients by focusing not on the quality of their office trappings, but on the way in which they deliver and manage client engagements. Other B2B companies would be wise to learn how Clearspire is changing the client rules of engagement in a traditionally secretive, high touch, low-tech field.

True Transparency: Zappos, Tribal Leadership, and Charity Water - May 5 Live Event

Are you proud enough of your company to broadcast your annual meetings? Are you willing to enroll strangers--not just business partners--in the future success of your business?

Zappos certainly is.

 

In the true spirit of transparency, my friend Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, will be live streaming the company kickoff meeeting on Thursday, May 5 from 4pm- 8 pm ET.

Zappos has been a fan of my book since 2009, and it's suggested reading in their business library. One of the areas that Tony and I can agree on is that more companies need to be completely open about what is working in their company, and what is not. For Zappos, core values drive the culture, not the ups and downs of parent company Amazon's stock price. Zappos uses their kickoff meetings to showcase those key points, not just to motivate and inspire teams.

Special guests Scott Harrison, founder of Charity Water www.charitywater.org and Dave Logan, co-author of Tribal Leadership www.triballeadership.net will be speaking at the Zappos Family All Hands Meeting.

You're invited to view this meeting online and take a peek into Zappos' culture. The event will be webcasting Thursday May 5, 2011 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time. If you can't view it live, they will make the recording available.

Click the link below to RSVP.

https://zapposinsights.infusionsoft.com/link/133e8e6ce0/1ecdbe0

How can you incorporate some of their ideas into YOUR organization and drive a more successful growth plan? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

copyright 2011, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Three Lessons from the "Dark Side" of Growth

Today, more than a week since Seventh Generation CEO Jeffrey Hollender was "let go" (read: fired) from the company he founded, this announcement arrived in my inbox:

http://tinyurl.com/7genblog

 
photo courtesy of Tom Starkweather/Bloomberg

Read this carefully crafted message. Here's the gist: "Our co-founder Jeffrey Hollender's employment relationship with the company has ended."

How much does this feel like it's coming from a corporate legal team versus an entrepreneurial, trail-blazing, transparent company? And what message does this send to the hundreds of thousands of Seventh Generation devotees? These announcements teach us important lessons about the often painful transition from startup to growth mode.

Join the world’s top business minds—October 25-29

I’m inviting you to the Enlightened Business Summit from Oct. 25-29th. When my friend Chip Conley asked me to join the faculty, I was honored!

 

The event features a fantastic lineup of top-tier CEOs, bestselling authors, and visionaries, all sharing their most important insights for free:

http://enlightenedbusinesssummit.com/feature/Lisa-Nirell  

Names you might recognize include NY Times bestselling authors such as Tim Ferriss, Stephen M. Covey, and Tony Schwartz, plus CEOs like John Mackey of Whole Foods, Tony Hsieh of Zappos, and George Zimmer of Men's Wearhouse.

The event is hosted on the phone and you can participate in as many sessions as you like. You will hear the best insights from these leaders, so I hope you can join me.

P.S. Feel free to forward this invite to your community using this link: http://enlightenedbusinesssummit.com/feature/Lisa-Nirell

How B2B Stars Innovate – and Why Airlines Have Hit a Black Hole

A recent article in U.S. News & World Report disclosed that in 2010, airlines have generated $2.1B in additional passenger revenues through clever, and often egregious pricing strategies. If they had asked their customers for ways to make travel memorable again, would they have selected this strategy to grow revenues?

The "pay to breathe, walk or eat" pricing approach is rapidly eclipsing customer service in the airline industry, and customers like me are furious. Their nickel and dime strategy are earning them billions: Extra baggage fees comprised $600M in additional revenues and flight changes comprised another $900M.

StarCite, a B2B technology company serving the travel industry, has charted a different course to fuel growth. I recently met with Greg Dukat, their CEO. He outlined a customer-centric growth strategy that challenges the airlines' approach, and will surely outlive it.

How to Leave Your Customers Alone - The Steve Jobs Way

From our "You Cannot Make this Stuff Up" department, Apple's Steve Jobs leads the i-pack.

You see, Steve likes to respond to random customer email inquiries. When college senior Chelsea Isaacs tried reaching his media relations department five times, they never responded. Isaacs proceeded to contact Jobs directly for help.

His method for handling the email inquiry? "Please leave us alone." This response bites.

 
photo courtesy of andrewchenblog.com

Perhaps it's time for Apple to hire someone to help Steve respond to emails in a different way. With 300 million customers, they can probably afford it. Listen to the 2 minute story here.

Where in your company are your client service strategies undermining your growth strategy and your brand? The answer may just surprise you.  "iPromise."

Seven Wealth Builders That Most B2B Companies Ignore

Your business is a living organism – something that has potential to grow and thrive long after you’ve played your role in it. Yet many firms are still smarting from a very tough recession, and feel like they are on life support. The “new normal” has accelerated industry consolidation, longer sales cycles, fee pressures, and tight credit. If you are a seriously growth-oriented B2B company, what can you do to ensure that you swiftly return to wealth creation mode?