The Wealthy Business - by EnergizeGrowth

Don't Occupy Seattle! Harvest More Value from Your Customer Base

Nancy Porte of Vovici (now a Verint company) recently read my book, and asked me to spend time discussing some highlights. In this Listening Post interview, you will learn:

• Why it's important to balance online and offline customer feedback approaches
• The one factor most companies ignore when profiling their ideal customer
• How to gather valuable, live customer feedback

Customer-Centric Strategies to Escape the Commodity Trap

One of my close friends provides image consulting and communications training to corporations and professionals in career transition. She regularly receives calls from low level corporate gatekeepers in Human Resources, Finance, Training, and other non-revenue producing areas. They ask for proposals for training programs, and never expect to get into any conversation about their business with my friends. All they want is that proposal to prove they did their due diligence.

These gatekeepers are doing what they do best: saving their company money and treating vendors like commodities.

If you are lucky or just a downright innovative genius, you will never fall into this commodity trap. If, however, you have been dragged into the land of commoditization, your job is to escape as quickly as you can. It is a dubious place to live with marginal value or spark.Things will not improve--unless you are willing to experiment with customer-centric ideas to uncover category-killing innovations. With some determination, planning, and a bit of luck, you may just position yourself to become the next Apple in your industry.

Let me illustrate why this is the ideal time to consider customer-centric marketing. Most of your competitors are still hoarding cash and focusing inward. Worse yet, they may be buying into the media naysayers, who are claiming that the U.S. is ostensibly in the midst of a "lost decade." (You can't make this stuff up--I heard it on the BBC this week. I guess the BBC reporter forgot that Facebook, Google, Apple, and Zappos are defining a new decade. But I digress).

I recently interviewed two executives who live and breathe customer centric marketing strategies: Chris Golec, CEO of DemandBase and Jim Bampos, VP of Customer Quality at EMC Corporation. This roundtable recording will provide details.

Here are our collective recommendations to help you engage your customers in your commodity "escape plan":

1. Accept the fact that sometimes, your products and services cannot escape the commodity trap. The only remaining area where you can outpace competition are your relationships with customers, vendors, your employees, and your community. Zappos, now an amazon subsidiary, does this very well.Their culture is obsessed with delivering fun, weird, memorable customer experiences. Golec reported that DemandBase's unique customer relationships and customer success program have enabled them to discover an unmet need, which resulted in a new product idea that now comprises nearly 90% of their total revenues.

2. Track how often you put your customer first while making strategic and marketing decisions. Customer-centric cultures share one thing in common: the entire company is oriented and incented around customer success, and a single customer metric shapes behavior.

3. Be mindful of end of quarter pressures to close business at any cost. They will undermine your customer-centric efforts and core competencies. Whether you are a startup or a publicly traded company, this can become a huge obstacle to long term success. Avoid succumbing to unique customization requests. Jim Bampos indicated that EMC mitigates this risk. "We take a holistic view of what is most important to the customer, then we tie it back to each business unit. The proof points are if the business units are using our customer metrics to drive business decisions." 

4.  While enrolling customers in key decisions, and gathering valuable feedback, monitor how your stakeholders going to take action on the data. Your customers want to know that their input is valued beyond the interview or advisory board discussion. EMC distributes mirror surveys to the entire organization to assess employee's perception of how well EMC is managing the customer experience.

5. Get creative on metrics. If you are truly committed to building a customer centric culture and marketing plan, look beyond customer renewal rates. Golec indicates that time to value is a priceless measure: "We track the time from when we close the sale how long it takes before they have a measurable benefit from our technology. The minute that happens, we improve our relationship with that account." Find a way to temper sales' innate desire to drive a bigger sale and boil the ocean.

6. Focus your customer centric efforts on ideal customers. Any program will fail if you administer programs across all customer segments and try to serve anyone with a pulse and a budget.

7. Let customers know you are building a customer-centric company. They may just have a new idea on how you can further strengthen the program. Don't keep it a secret!

8. Build social media incentive programs for your initiative. EMC is launching several new online forums where they will announce the agreed upon action steps generated from from their Voice of the Customer programs.

Gatekeepers play an important role in managing expenses. That doesn't mean you have to live in their world.These strategies will help you avoid getting ensnared in their commodity trap.

This post originally appeared on Fastcompany.com.

copyright 2011, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Why Customer Driven Cultures will Stall Your Growth

When your biggest customer calls with an emergency request, do you dial 911? Chances are you are setting off unintended fire alarms – and causing your profits to lose altitude.

I met Shane, a dubiously anointed “star salesperson,” on a client assignment in San Diego. He piloted the biggest customers. When I worked with the General Manager of this $40M software division—his boss—I noticed how Shane could turn the entire support and customer service organization into a tailspin with one email. I cringed when I witnessed how his knee-jerk

YouTube Now Energizes Your Business Growth!

My community keeps asking me to provide videos to generate new business growth ideas, discover new go to market strategies, and accelerate revenues.

You asked, and I listened.

The YouTube EnergizeGrowth® Channel  is now live.

Every month, I will post fresh new content and CEO interviews on the EnergizeGrowth® Channel. You're invited to subscribe, and enjoy over 25 "how to" videos. Click here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/energizegrowth

Let me know what other topics you would like me to cover on the EnergizeGrowth channel.The first two people who nominate topics will receive a signed copy of my book.

Thank you!

Lisa

Skip Best Practices – Think “Next Practices”

 

The term "best practices" is SOOO yesterday.

In this guest post from Patricia Wheeler of The Levin Group, you will hear why.She proffers three strategies you can implement immediately to ensure you are defining the next big thing, and avoid falling behind the leadership curve. Without these strategies, you will find your products and services becoming commodities faster than the hottest song from Lady Gaga.

  

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?

How to Promote "Joie De Vivre" With New Investors

Chip Conley and his investors were forced to make some tough decisions.

Several months ago, Conley, the CEO of Joie de Vivre Hotels in San Francisco, California, witnessed competing hotels facing potential foreclosure. According to the Wall Street Journal, "there is about $5.6 billion in securitized mortgages tied to hotels coming due this year and next...27.8% cover properties now estimated to be worth less than their mortgage balances." (source: Trepp LLC's Foresight Analytics). Billions of dollars of mortgages are coming due in the coming years. Analysts are forecasting that the hotel industry will not regain its full strength until 2013.

Photo courtesy of Chip Conley 

Stop Focusing on Your Core?

Forbes columnist Adam Hartung just posted a provoactive article entitled "Stop Focusing on Your Core Business."

Have I grabbed your attention yet?

He implies that markets are changing faster than ever, and focusing on our core business forces us to lose our ability to innovate. He also boldly asserts that we have been sold a bill of goods from Tom Peters, Jim Collins, and other experts who have encouraged business leaders to focus on their core competencies.

Now is your chance to weigh in on this. What is your opinion?

(P.S. read the comments section on Forbes.com for my viewpoint).

copyright 2010, Lisa Nirell.  All rights reserved.

Newest Interview with Dan Schawbel, a Marketing "Force of Nature"

I had the pleasure of connecting with Dan Schawbel last week. He is the genius behind the #1 job blog by CareerBuilder in 2008-2009. FastCompany dubbed him "a personal branding force of nature."

Dan wanted to know more about my book, how leaders manage rapid growth, and some of the best ways for B2B companies to stay connected to customers and partners.

If you are in the process of hiring more professionals, or are personally seeking a new position, check out his blog. It's chock full of inspiring stories, ideas and resources:
http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/personal-branding-interview-lisa-nirell/

Photo courtesy of http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/

copyright 2010, Lisa Nirell.  All rights reserved.

Leveraging good news from the IMF

News You Can Use: The IMF projects global growth will reach 4 1/2% this year. The recovery is underway, especially in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and China. What one thing can you do differently NOW to leverage this positive trend? (P.S. "status quo" is not a viable option)

Here is the research summary: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2010/RES070710A.htm

copyright 2010, Lisa Nirell.  All rights reserved.