Customer relationship quality? What does this really mean?

Cut-through in everything you do….especially in the quality of customer relationship management
You can make a real difference by adding value to your customer relationships when reinvigorating your marketing and operational processes.
This will build capability and value in customers’ eyes. 
It’s not  just about whether you get on well with your customers…although that’s important.                                                  
It is about whether [...]

get your customers to pick you

Here’s a link to an article I’ve written  that appears this month in Business Connect magazine….one of Australia’s top 20 business journals….
“get your customers to pick you”   click on the link below
http://www.nswbusinesschamber.com.au/?content=/channels/Building_and_sustaining_business/Sales_and_marketing/Marketing/getcustomerstopickyou.xml
Would appreciate it also if you could forward or mention our blog address to your  colleagues, [...]

5000 plus views and growing

I’m just delighted to report that we have hit our first milestone with more than 5000  leaders around the world having read this blog.
It’s taken about 20 months…and has vindicated our research and beliefs that we’re adding value…so thank you very much…and please keep reading and emailing.
We’re not a big player…but we’re in the very [...]

What happens next at the top of your game?

You’re  at the top of your business game. Market shares are significant across the prime segments  and defence mechanisms are working well.
EBIT is growing nicely ( thanks to  rising prices and tight cost control ). Competitors don’t seem to be developing value propositions as fast as you are. Staff capability is good and your loyalty [...]

Competitors and stakeholders can change your life

A former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser once said “life wasn’t meant to be easy”. And it’s true in our changing business world that nothing is gained without hard applied smart effort.
Cash ( particularly free cashflow ) is king. And competitors will take it away from you if your value proposition is [...]

You won’t know…unless you ask

I’m constantly inundated by sales representatives flogging their wares…but at least they ring.
Anybody who sends me unsolicited blurb suffers the permanent penalty…in the trashcan!
It’s tragic that they hustle me…without asking me what I do…and what I need.
Simple questions huh! And very powerful.
I always reckon that it’s best to ring a contact that’s potentially warm…cold calls [...]

Refresher days…they are worth it

This week I went to a strategic selling workshop to refresh my sales development practices and thinking around the issues of customer identification and conversion.
My thanks to DSRD and presenter Sue Henry for a worthwhile morning.
It reinforced my view that refresher days are worth their weight in gold. We do all get too [...]

Who should drive new product development?

In my view, the CEO should have a key driving role in new product development processes.
If customers are a business’s lifeline, then new product development is the store of lifejackets.
New product development is too important to be left to the marketers to enact. They can do the analyses…but the process management needs to be monitored [...]

In-field execution is critical

When does all your brand development pay off?
Brand positioning and all your promotional work is initially just a promise of the benefits to customers.
But if you or your distributors/wholesalers/franchisees or retailers don’t empathise with new customers when they touch your business or products and services… and meet consumers information and experience needs, the outcome will [...]