The Competitive Advantage

June 20, 2017

Why I left this webinar after just 10 minutes!

The two most common ways presenters butcher a webinar…

I sat in on a webinar last week… sort of. It was a presentation on Customer Journey Mapping and I was genuinely excited by the topic.

But after less than 10 minutes, I left! While the topic was certainly of interest to me, the delivery of it was so horrible that I just couldn’t sit through it.

March 21, 2017

Why is ‘thank you’ so often ignored?

I was in Memphis this past weekend. My son-in-law, Wade (that’s him with the cheeky sign), is wrapping up medical school… and it was “Match Day.” During Match Day, graduating med students from all across the country “open their envelope” at exactly the same time to find out where they will be doing their residency.

Wade ‘matched’ in orthopedics at the Medical College of Georgia… he and my daughter are very excited. And it’s at this point that the story gets interesting.

January 25, 2017

Question: What percentage of your clients don’t return?

Answer: It’s a lot higher than you think!

Creating a “client for life.”

True story. I’ve been working with a large firm in our industry for the past several weeks… and one of the data-gathering projects we did early on was to look at Revenue by Client, for each of the past several years.

Of all of the insights that this exercise can provide, the most interesting – in this case – was that 40% of their clients only did one project with them… and then never returned!

We’ve done this “one-timer” analysis for many firms and the resulting information is ALWAYS a surprise… because the percentage of one-and-dones is ALWAYS higher than the client expected!

December 20, 2016

Stupid Business Rules

True story… I received a notification from the State of Tennessee recently that it was time to renew my ‘dba.’ Fine… so I filled out the form, wrote the check and sent it in. A few days later, I received an envelope back from the department I had responded to. On top of my form and my check – which they were returning – was a letter from the head of the department and, across the top, stamped in big letters: REJECTED.

Crap! What did I do… wrong amount on the check, improperly filled out form, what? Nope. I had sent in my form and my money too early! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So, let me get this straight… one of your customers (me) pays TOO promptly… and your response is to send the money back?

You can’t make this stuff up!

December 6, 2016

4 Easy Tips for a Website Update by the End of the Year

Planning for revenue growth in 2017: Part 5 of 6

If you’ve been reading along with this series for the past several weeks, you know that we’ve covered several fundamental, but critical, ways to enhance your marketing & sales as you move into 2017, including:

• Understanding the perception of your firm in the marketplace
• Sprucing up your LinkedIn profile
• Starting to blogging
• Picking up the phone

Today, we explore what should be at the hub of your marketing efforts – your website… and how to do a website update.

Without suggesting you embark on a complete re-do of your website – especially before the end of 2016 – here are 4 easy tips to help get your website ready for 2017:

November 29, 2016

What do your clients really think about you? Their perception matters!

Planning for revenue growth in 2017: Part 4 of 6

This series began with a discussion about effective use of the telephone… then we moved onto blogging… and last week, LinkedIn. Today, we tackle understanding the perception of your firm.

If I were to ask you what each of your clients think about you, you would probably say something about them generally liking you… after all, they’re sending you their business. And you’d probably be right.

But what if you’re not?

October 18, 2016

Your Key Accounts Need More Love!

Here are 6 ways to make that happen.

In the 4+ years we’ve been open, I don’t think I’ve spoken with a single research firm that doesn’t have 40-50-60% (or more) of its revenue tied up with just 3, 4 or 5 clients. Losing a small client is bad enough, but losing one of these ‘Key Accounts’ can be devastating. So, what can you do to ensure this doesn’t happen to you?

September 27, 2016

Innovation for Innovation’s Sake?

Early last year, I wrote a post about a blue-tooth frying pan that notifies you when it’s time to flip your pancakes. Silly!

Well… the “innovators” are at it again! In the October 2016 issue of Fast Company, there’s a small article on Nike’s new self-tying shoes! Whuut?!

Now, if these were being developed to help frail seniors or those with physical disabilities… I kind of get it. But they weren’t. They seem to have a somewhat less noble purpose, according to a Nike engineer, “You can feel it tighten, hear the motor run, and see the laces [move]. It’s a shoe that ignites the senses.” Seriously?!