A New Start……

Wikipedia explains the New Year an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations. New Year is the world's most popularly celebrated festival across countries & region. The History or Origin of New Year dates back to the era of emperors.

The Roman emperor Julius Caesar officially declared January 1 to be a New Year in 46 B.C. Romans worshiped God Janus who had two faces, one looking forward and the other looking backward. The month of January was named after this Roman God and it gave an idea to the emperor to establish January as a gate to the New Year. It is said Caesar celebrated January 1 - New Year by ordering the revolutionary Jewish forces to route back.

Beside the Historical Knowledge, a New Year brings an end of a year when all across people celebrates while welcoming the coming of a new year. This is the time of the year when most part of the planet earth is celebrating, wishing & thinking about the future. The “New” Future.

One inspirational aspect of the New Year is that it is a “festival” that is celebrated across regions, religion or cultures. We all wish “A Happy New Year” to all without any reservations. So I can safely say that it’s a true “Global Festival”. We all celebrate the end of an era while welcoming the start of a new one. A “new” start……a new year, a new era, a new relationships, a new finding, a new love, a new apology, a new look, a new……well……“A New Start”.

So let me take this opportunity of a New Start  by wishing all the current and new reader of this blog…….A VERY HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR ~ 2009. Let us make or do something “New”.

Nice to meet you…Mr. Santa…

On the eve of Christmas I would request you to excuse me from my usual writing about Marketing or Technology.

On this Christmas, when I am missing someone very special, I am wondering what if we “Be a Santa”.

On the eve of this Christmas I am thinking about the concept of Santa or rather let me be direct  - “What is a form of Santa”?  Does he comes in form of mother who quietly keeps a gift under your bed in the night, does he comes in a form of a smile from a new born, does he comes in a form of a first kiss from someone you love, does in comes in a form of friend when you are down, does he comes as a warmth of a blanket for a needy person on a road, does he comes in form of words that says I LOVE YOU to someone special, does he comes in form of sleep when you are tired or does he comes in a form of a hot meal for someone needy on the cold winter nights.  I guess, and I think that all these are forms of a Santa. 

This Christmas “I” feel that is he a form of hope? I love Christmas, but this Christmas I am missing someone who means Christmas to me. So for me this Christmas my Santa is in a form of HOPE. Hope of the day when I will enjoy my Christmas with my Christmas.

Not going much emotional I would like to request all….that we all can be Santa’s; at least for a day. Lets be a hope for someone. Let us without worrying about “donation”, gift a present to someone who might be in a need of that. I know we all love our things .... but I am sure we all can manage to find something to part with. This parting can transform into a gift for someone this Christmas. If nothing else we can gift a smile & wish to someone on the road a “Merry Christmas”.

Don’t you feel that Santa has “authorized” us to work on his behalf, and I am sure I can manage to convince him to use his “authorized seal”  through which he bring the message of happiness and hope all across.

A Santa’s “authorized seal” could be in a form a shirt you don’t wear, pants that does not fit right, shoes that are out of fashion, cap that has lost its shine, toys that are not interesting anymore or anything that you may thing is useless. So let us make you less of your useless to make it a use for someone else.

Please……let bring the Santa hidden somewhere deep in us to spread the message of happiness and hope; at least for a single day of Christmas…….. but preferably for the lifetime.  Please be the hope for a small kid or an old granny to fight cold this winter on the road.

On this day of Christmas don’t be rational or think……….. just do it. I am sure I am excited to meet the “Santa” in you.

Nice to Meet YOU !!! and MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!

Note:- I am taking some time out and may not post any new message(s). However you can follow my small (Twitter) post @shirazdatta

Tesla on Twitter - Twitter on Tesla

Sharing a wonderful articulation by Steve Kayser about the Power and Potential of Social Media sites like Twitter. Steve is an exceptional PR guy, with an impeccable knowledge and experience in the field. I derive a lot of my PR knowledge from him and hence would recommend others to leverage his style of efficient yet truly effective use the new age marketing tools for promotion. His work:-

Several weeks ago I published an article called “An Inconvenient Genius: The Timeless Legacy of an Untimely Man,” about Nikola Tesla. It featured an interview with Marc Seifer, Ph.D., the author of “Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla.” Marc is an internationally recognized expert on Nikola Tesla, and his book has been highly praised by such diverse sources as the New York Times, M.I.T Technology Review and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science.

Weeks after the article was posted, a fascinating thing happened. An influential and highly respected leader in the technology media industry “Tweeted” (highlighted with a short text message and link) the article on Twitter.com.

Questions

Within minutes of this Tweet, I began noticing a marked increase in blog traffic. I also started receiving emails regarding the article, the book, and the man himself, as well as some questions and pointed accusations.

Answers

Marc Seifer responds to those questions in this article (I deftly handle the accusations). He and his creative partner, Tim Eaton, have also shared some historical footage and short videos for a feature film project on Tesla they’re working on to help illuminate the answers. The video below includes a rare  tribute to Tesla by the legendary New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia; the audio was recorded within days of Tesla’s death.

Read More

Size Doesn't Matter ... Skills Do

“In the Web 2.0 World of Communications, Big Guns Often Fire Blanks”

During many interviews with corporations, organizations, and PR agencies—in addition to the media—in preparation to write my new book, "The Media Savvy Leader," I found that not many corporate leaders are exchanging high fives over the performance of even the largest global public relations agencies.

While agencies today, whether advertising or PR, charge hefty fees, many have not kept up-to-date on the skills needed to effectively communicate in the Internet era.

They might be huge, employ a lot of people, have multiple offices (which is usually accomplished through the purchase of existing agencies), and make tons of money, but they still operate in silos, and the level of expertise among offices is inconsistent. It's a sadly dismal yet accurate picture.

On the other hand, such an environment presents tremendous opportunities for the C-level executive who wants to learn how to capture the media spotlight and establish a reputation as a compelling and charismatic leader.

A Non-Traditional Checklist

Here's a non-traditional checklist of tips that I compiled working with a well-known head of corporate communications at a leading global corporation—to help you find a public relations agency that can deliver top-quality results for your organization. Incidentally, having been president of a major PR agency, he recommends that organizations beef up talent internally to stay ahead of the game:

Size Does Not Matter

The size of a PR or Marketing agency today is meaningless and not relevant to the quality of work. In fact, there is some belief that today's super-sized global agencies have been grown that large only in order to charge super-sized fees. That may work for large clients with significant budgets that get an ego-thrill by dropping the name of their agency, but it does not always equate to meaningful results. What's far more important is solid expertise to specifically deliver solutions that will help you become more successful.

Reputation

Ask your colleagues, customers and even competitors what PR agency they believe delivers the best results. Be sure the agency really understands the business you are in. So many client-agency relationships fail because the agency does not fully understand a client's business, or the client has not honestly expressed personal expectations that are more important than stated objectives.

Big Guns Often Fire Blanks.

Determine who has the experience, who will do your work, and who will be accountable. PR agencies, especially the big ones, have a business model of presenting the "big guns" during new business presentations and then hand the work off to junior staff once they win your business. On the other hand, a senior-level communications sole practitioner with deep credentials, vast contacts, savvy approaches, and a network of similar professionals with complementary skills might be far more beneficial to create the results you need than a so-called full-service global agency.

Chemistry

Chemistry with the communications team is important; it will lead to results. I suppose it is not unlike dating. While I researched the factors in finding the right agency match, Barbara Robinson at Dun and Bradstreet said it best: "Chemistry between the agency and the internal team ... will the agency be fun to work with? PR is hard work so why not make the hard work fun?"

Gut Sense

Rely on your intuition to judge what people say and how they conduct themselves.

Top-Quality Communications Strategists

Partner with people who know competitive trends, take pride in accomplishing terrific results for their clients, and are authentic professionals in their fields. Invest in the talent of such professionals, and you will enjoy outstanding results. After all, you are entrusting them to successfully enhance the image, reputation, and brand of your organization.

Strategic Communications Consultants are not Simply Vendors

The people who supply your office with computers, IT services, and coffee machines are vendors. Invest in smart communications pros with clever ideas to competitively position your organization and to become even more successful.

Consider a Bold New Direction

Take charge, and beef up your own communications team with world-class expertise. Go out and hire some dynamic and creative strategic communications pros, former journalists, and tech wizards who can enhance your organization's reputation, image, and bottom line. I guarantee you will benefit from better and more meaningful results.

Courtesy  - David Henderson, Expert Access

The Importance of the Customer Experience in a Down Economy

It was a pleasure to receive the attention of John Todor on my recent article Marketing & the “R'” World. Additionally, it was great to have his recommendation to go through his recent work, accentuating the importance of customer experience, and specially in the current economic situation.

John and William, in their recent work advocates about the focus on the customer experience, and argues that it is the major source of competitive differentiation. Executed effectively it can take the focus off of price and enhances the value customers perceive in the relationship. In short, it is a business strategy that is essential to sustainable profits and growth. 

They further adds that as financial markets are in turmoil, consumer prices rise, and there is fear of a declining market place, business executives are scrambling to devise a timely strategy. Some will gravitate towards a cost-cutting and retrenchment process to ride out the storm. Others will look to protect their core customer base. For many executives, leading in a down economy will be a new experience and they will be seeking perspective, insights and guidance—thought leadership.

This exceptional work reveals five seminal themes that will help business leaders succeed in these difficult times:

• What customers are experiencing, why it matters and what to do about it
• Leadership and strategy in troubled times
• Economics that justify a customer-focused strategy
• Delivering more with less
• Employees: stressed but so essential

I am sure you would find the work as interesting and essential as I did. This First Edition (December 2008), International Thought Leader Report is freely downloadable here.

Needless to say it is a recommended read and truly justifies it applicability in any economy, sector and industry, worldwide.

Have A Good Weekend.

Looking at Social Trends for Recession Indicators

First let me apologize for muttering the R-word but it goes without saying, it’s currently an influencing social and economic trend. The recession indicators I’m going to talk about aren’t your typical indicators as seen through the eyes of economists like the stock price of Starbucks or lipstick sales. What I’m going to point out and touch on is obviously surmised from the current economic state of things but has yet to be specifically defined in terms of social trends right now. If we wander over to Google Zeitgeist (trends, trends for websites, insights, hot trends), Twitter Search, Addict-o-matic popular and others, we can pick up on signals that speak to how our world is functioning and reacting to a recession mentality. Through these indicators we can make decisions and predictions on how to act or even how to prepare ourselves.

Let’s take a look at some of these findings. Click here

Please help him……..Me, & Ourselves!

Through this post I would like to urge for HELP.

Firstly, help for my not so near friend President Zardari to get him “The Evidence”. Of course the World knows where 26/11 terrorists came from, Rice said "There is evidence of involvement somehow on Pakistani soil" in Mumbai attacks and later confirming Pakistan role in Mumbai attacks along with Powell  who said that Pakistan will have to eliminate LeT, but still my friend is not able to find the “evidence’. While articulating this post saw on CNN that Police is plain cloths are posted in Kesab’s (Caught Terrorist) village to keep the reporter or journalist away.

The Three days of terror that claimed 195 lives was an act of share cowardness. The Mumbai terrorists used an array of commercial technologies -- from Blackberries to GPS navigators to anonymous e-mail accounts -- to pull off their heinous attacks. Statesman says U.S., Indian officials cite evidence, including phone calls, pointing to group in Pakistan , France24.com articulated Gunmen had 'commando' training at Pakistan camp, India even had proof of involvement by ISI and even the Pakistani father of surviving gunman speaks about his son.

The gunman captured during the attacks on Mumbai said he had undergone months of commando-style training in an Islamist militant camp in Pakistan. The training was organized by the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, and conducted by a former member of the Pakistani army. The arrested terrorist says gang hoped to get away and even had the GPS coordinates that charted a return course to Karachi, but now pleads for legal help from Pakistan . Each move of was carefully orchestrated while Terrorists were receiving instructions from Pak.

But unfortunately with so much written or evidence provided still president Zardari says 'Pakistan in no way responsible' for mumbai attacks and now despite UN sanctions, Pakistan has even released four detained workers of Jamaat-ud-Dawa. So much in the name of cooperation. 

While researching for this post I came across few aftermaths of the terror attack in Mumbai.  I feel wretched when a section of community is targeted or when we indulge in communal polarisation . Yes it is “we” who does not take a minute before passing a judgement, forming a belief or even acting or reacting. "I consider myself neither Hindu nor Muslim, but Indian. Yet, it's my name that is causing problems”;  said Dr Sharifa Bijliwala, who is trying to rent a house in Pune. So how we are different from people who is caused this attacks. Aren’t we doing the same to section of community what these terrorist did to us – “target the innocent or victimize them”.  This is one question that “I and you” need to answer.

Who gave us the permission to segment people based on their name, the way they dress, and so on? If I may assume, President Zardari may have pressure from all over commanding his act, but what pressures you and me have that leads us to quickly make an opinion about an event, people, society or place?

Having opined about this frustration, I would like to emphasize that I am not against any religion or country; however I only urge that no where in the world people should witness such a kind of inhuman act – Terror or Discrimination. Killing innocent men would not lead them to any Allah, God, Bhagwan, Christ, & so on. The only way to serve god is to serve what god has created – “Mankind”.

While world helps my not so near friend President Zardari, we need to help ourselves to get rid of this hatred and attitude of quickly generalizing. Today, I see someone very close to me……..very far, and I can see what hatred and lack of communication can do. This reminds me of a phrase of one of the popular ad campaign of Airtel (India leading mobile operators) - “Barriers break when people talk”. So please, as President look for “evidence”, YOU do not look for reason to hatred. I and you have only one life, and let’s make the best of it. The act of terror is unacceptable so does the act of discrimination.

So don’t just smile, help others to smile as well.

Note :- I don't wish to make this blog a platform for political or emotional debate(s) but certain issue needs articulation.

What Gets Measured Gets Funded

In the next twelve months enabling both your own and your channel partners’ sales forces with sales and product configurator applications, pricing, warranty management or contract management apps is going to take a convincing argument.  Anchoring arguments in the potential for performance improvements based on the results achieved by others in your industry is what many vendors wills tell you to do. 

It’s an even better idea to define your own scorecard and do your own pilot.  From the work I did at AMR Research I began to realize the following facts about doing a pilot program for automating sales and product configuration, pricing, warranty management, or any other app that involved serving channel partners:

1.    Define a specific process are and measure its performance in its current state today.  Too often I’ve seen pilots get this halo effect, as if they are a panacea.  In fact the hard work of re-engineering the process is what matters most.  Smart companies benchmark their process even before it is re-designed so they can measure the impact of their re-engineering and automating of the process.

2.    Pick only three to five metrics to measure the pilot. This is heresy to many engineering-centric high-tech companies I have worked with.  The tendency is to boil the ocean when it comes to metrics.  This is a huge mistake as the pilot gets bogged down in over-analysis.  Pick three to five (max) metrics and set objectives around getting them to show progress.  This also solves the tricky problem of isolating which strategy or system is impacting which process.

3.    Run the pilot a minimum of ninety days. The table below shows a series of the metrics used in pilots and later in actual system installations.  The results were obtained for operationally-oriented metrics within 90 – 120 days.  Financial metrics take 9 months or more to see results.  

4.    Must have executives sponsor this for change management to be real.  Get our executives to sponsor the pilot and show they are behind it by changing how they do their jobs, so resistance to change will drop.

5.    Evaluate and publish the results quickly, broadly inside your company and with truth behind him. Use this last phase of any pilot and is critical for the credibility of the project.  If there are lessons learned freely share them.  Best of all this sends a message to your organization that change must continue and improvements must be continually made for your company to move forward.

Bottom line: Accomplishing channel management, sales and product configuration, pricing, or contract management implementations in 2009 is going to rely on quickly and accurately measuring results.  Use a pilot to see how a proposed strategy is going to contribute to your organization and get your executives onboard early to minimize resistance to change as well.  In the coming year what gets measured gets funded.

Courtesy – Louis Columbus, Perfect CEM

Time to Get Real - Redefine Your Value Proposition

Many value propositions have grown irrelevant with the passing of each day in the uncertainty of this economy. The assumptions, market conditions and industry conditions many unique value propositions were created to capitalize on just aren't applicable anymore. Yet you can find many examples of companies using their marketing departments to shout these unique value propositions even louder, as if raising the volume will make them more relevant. It's not time to spend more on blaring out the same old message to prospects; it's time to re-think the fundamental value any given product or solution delivers in this economy.

Frugality Is the New Black

It's time to get real about the value delivered to customers who are now seeing the world as a fundamentally different place and will continue to for years to come. Frugality is the new black. Coupons, once seen as inconvenient, have increased in use from 67% to 83% depending on which ICOM Information and Communications study you review. The value propositions created when conspicuous consumption was the norm are quickly becoming irrelevant in this economy for the majority of consumers.

Selling to businesses is even more complex, as the status quo on which many unique value propositions were based aren't relevant anymore either. Today the majority of businesses have the top priority of retaining customers first, trimming costs and staying viable. There's been a complete re-ordering of priorities. The trouble is unique value propositions of companies selling into these companies still don't reflect what's really going on with their prospects and customers.

From Businesses, the Need for Brutally Simple Value Propositions Is Emerging

No one wants to hear about adjective-laded claims that can't be backed up either with case studies or measurable results. What they do want are solutions to the big problems of retaining customers, managing suppliers more profitably and turning overlooked areas of their companies, like aftermarket parts and services, into a bigger profit center quickly.

For the small high-tech distributor, when demand precipitously dropped off in mid 2008, all that matters today is gaining training and insight into how to bundle products and create new solutions fast to sell more. For manufacturers, it's about getting quotes out right the first time, or getting a handle on how to turn aftermarket-products sales into a profit center. For an enterprise software company, it's about selling to the five dominant roles they have found that make or break their sales cycles.

Putting the Value Back into Value Propositions Needs to Happen Now

Let's face it, entire industries are being reordered by this economic downturn. All that is really going to matter is what tangible, pragmatic value you can bring to prospects and customers to reduce uncertainty and increase their ability to compete.

It's time to quickly move toward defining new unique value propositions that address what really matters to your customers and prospects, despite how engrained your existing value propositions are in your company. Consider the following steps to get the value you deliver better aligned with what your customers really need right now:

• Get to the heart of what matters most to your customers now by tackling their biggest problems for them—even if there is no immediate revenue opportunity. Get out and take the pulse of your customers, go visit them, and if you sell to other businesses, go and get customer retention programs started immediately. If your company is going through a slow time, invest your extra time finding out where the difficult, tough-to-solve problems are for accounts and tackle them head-on. It may not lead to immediate revenue, but it does lead to two great things: trust in your company's expertise and lessons learned on how to redefine what makes your company unique today.
• Decide on the one niche or segment to dominate then accelerate product development, engineering, service and support all in this area. Nearly every company I've spoken with has gone through some level of chaos over the last six months, some less than others. The same holds true for your competitors. In that chaos, there is a lack of focus. It's time to choose the one segment, even market niche, your company wants to dominate coming out of this downturn and gain a product generation or two on competitors, strengthen support and services, and go after reference accounts now using retention programs. GE is a master of this, as their CEO Jeffrey Immelt often discusses this strategy at conferences and webinars.
• Rewriting unique value propositions is never a one-and-done exercise. This isn't only about marketing; it's about working to get your company better aligned with what your customers need now. Staying in step with their unmet needs is all that really matters.

Bottom line: The last six months have brought more change than the previous six years to many of your customers; it's time to re-think value propositions to make sure they still matter.

Courtesy – Louis Columbus, Expert Access

Marketing 2010: Sharpening the Conversation

Marketers, agencies, and media companies today face a changed environment. Consumers are now media producers, programmers, and distributors. The convergence of media and technology, combined with the fragmentation and personalization of media, is affecting the connection between marketers and consumers in unprecedented ways. The mix of media channels has shifted from a one-way broadcast model to a set of dynamic two-way media forums. Now, consumers not only talk back to marketers and interact with marketing messages, but they also reshape and distribute those messages through
global communities.

With this shift comes the potential for more direct dialogues between marketers and consumers. Marketers can take control of the relationships and create new opportunities to directly reach, connect, and influence consumers. In the past, marketers couldn’t listen to consumers in real-time, or predict what they were going to do or say. But now, they can. And, they do.

How, then, do marketer capabilities and relationships need to change as disruptive technologies transform the marketing value chain? To answer that question, the Marketing & Media Ecosystem 2010 study was recently conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton jointly with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA).

This project was the first cross-industry partnership of its kind. Over two hundred and fifty marketers, including seventy-five industry leaders—ranging from operational marketers to agency and media executives to digital strategists to Chief Revenue Officers to CMOs to CEOs—participated in surveys, interviews, or both. Together, they identified the ways in which the complex media environment is reshaping the marketing ecosystem.

And they spotlighted the priorities, capabilities, and partnerships that will be increasingly required across the marketer-agency-media value chain.

The Marketing & Media Ecosystem 2010 study highlights six key trends:

• Marketing as Conversation. Listen, facilitate, and create advocacy. Marketing is less about pushing messages at consumers and more about co-creating experiences with consumers.
• Media: The New “Creative.” Marketing message distribution—timing, context, and relevance—is as important as creative execution.
• Marketing + Math. Data quality, quantity, and accessibility have brought math to marketing. New digital tools, predictive models, and behavioral targeting will turn insight into foresight.
• Mind the Gap. Marketing spending in digital media is far from commensurate with consumer behavior shifts—when will the divide between traditional and nontraditional media end?
• The “Digitally Savvy” Organization. Technology without an aligned organization, the right talent, and a progressive culture is inadequate. Functional skills are rising to the level of brand strategy.
• The Network Effect. Partnerships and collaboration among agencies, media companies, and marketers
  will grow in number and depth. New players will assume important roles and continue to reshape the value chain.

Read More (PDF File)

Three Core Values Great Employees and Employers Must Have

to Get through These Tough Times…..

These are tough times for employers and employees alike. But each of us, from whatever station in life, can "do something" to help get through them.

We know that "this too will pass," but prefer it be quicker.

We'd like to jump into the future and avoid the pain—but we can't. How to get through these tough times? Where to start? How about here ...

I am only one;
but still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
but still I can do something;
I will not refuse to do something I can do.

- Edward Everett Hale

Learn from Experience

My experience since founding Cincom in 1968 has consistently taught and surfaced three traits over and over, year after year. These are:

• Character,
• Competence, and
• Commitment.

It requires character to act on our beliefs, competence to achieve goals, and commitment to see them through—in business or life.

Core Values

These core values drive productivity resulting in profitability and sustainability for the benefit of our company and our customers.

How best to describe them?

Character

• Ethical integrity and a fundamental spirituality.
• An emphasis on seeking solutions, not casting blame.
• An open environment where honest communications are encouraged and honest differences of opinion are allowed.
• A commitment to managing on the basis of sound principles.
• ... Doing the "right thing" in a professional manner is a demand we make of ourselves.

Competence

An entrepreneurial spirit that relentlessly seeks to innovate within bureaucratic structures.

• Creativity.
• Decisiveness.
• Initiative for self-growth.
• Leadership that encourages small work groups.
• A continuous seeking of the optimal balance between flexibility and control.
• ... A truly disciplined organization that continues to learn and consistently applies the best methods to achieve goals.

Commitment

• Commitment to one's group, the company and to one's fellow citizens.
• Missionary zeal in representing the company and its products.
• Responsibility and personal empowerment.
• Encouraging people to grow and empowering them to do so.
• ... Our promise to do what has been asked and our pledge to provide whatever assistance that is required to meet our shared commitment.

Yes these are tough times.

What Is Past Is Prologue

But if you stand on the shoulders of core values and act with character, competence and commitment, we'll get through them and move onto a bright future.

Courtesy – Tom Nies, Cincom

Making Channel Strategies Pay

Regardless what’s going on in the broader economy, you still have significant control over your own channel relationships.  You can still make them stronger and more capable of delivering results.

Even in the most commoditized industries including high tech distribution where resellers and channel partners are loyal to the distributor with the lowest price, there is room for improving the service your company delivers to channel partners.  Consider the fact that there are many services companies and a manufacturer expanding their distribution channels right now – in the midst of the nearly daily onslaught of bad news – and one realizes that a company’s reaction to these broader economic factors is much more important than the factors themselves. Instead of letting the daily litany of bad news paralyze your company for investing in and making your channels more aggressive, focused and passionate about getting to shared goals, consider taking the following steps:

• Take a hard look at pricing workflows in general and how you can automate special pricing requests (SPRs) specifically.  This is an area two high tech distributors were able to automate for their resellers, netting average gains of nearly 80% (AMR Research).  Typically distributors and manufacturers who offer SPRs on sales deals staff this area with only Sales Operations Managers, many of which ending up working 80 – 100 hour weeks this time of the year to keep up with all the SPRs.  Automating this not only saves these valuable employees an all-nighter or two at the end of your fiscal year, it also means you’ll be able to respond that much faster to pricing requests and win business.

• Use Team Selling To Tackle Sales Opportunities.  Instead of pointing fingers about whose fault it is why there aren’t enough sales in this last quarter of the year start gang-tackling sales opportunities and consider using Web-based team selling applications that give you the opportunity to collaborate between dealers, distributors and your sales management. Many customers, especially in commercial accounts, are changing their purchasing priorities.  Time to get in front of them with a sales team and figure out what really matters to them right now.    

• Face time is the best investment there is with your top 20% of distributors and dealers right now.  So much has been written about automating the sales process, including Web-based applications to serve each specific segment of your distribution channel as well.  Automating service responses to the lower 80% of the channel is a great way to save on costs, while freeing up your best direct sales reps to work with the top 20% of accounts.  Want a hedge against the broader economic factors in play right now? Get your best sales reps in front of your best distributors and work very hard at understanding their business better than ever before.  The company’s were seeing gaining sales despite this economic downturn are those that see a direct link between face time with the top 20% of their customers and their attaining the role of trusted advisor in their products’ area of expertise.

• Be more passionate about serving your channel than any competitor. Your customers want to win.  They want to get out of these broader economic times as much if not more than you and your company does.  If there is one thing any channel partner needs right now is the sense of their services and manufacturers they represent are in their corner, fighting for their success.  Want more mindshare in your top accounts?  Use Web-based collaborative tools to bring all the resources your company has to the problems your customers have is a great step in the right direction.  Use Web-based applications to free up your best salespeople to invest valuable face time with your most profitable customers – as your competitors no doubt are also targeting these accounts with a greater intensity than ever before.

Time to get passionate delivering exceptional service to your customers, including automating Special Pricing Requests and developing entirely new approaches to using Web-based collaborative and team selling applications.  Automate serve to the lower 80-% of your channels and get face time with the top 20%.

Bottom Line: It’s all about earning the chance to serve again and being a trusted advisor; using Web-based apps to accomplish this goal can be done, now. 

Coutersy – Louis Columbus, Perfect CEM

The Journey of Life

I am of to the most important journey of my life today. Not sure what will be the result or how it will impact my future. Scared……. .but have to take this journey. This journey may define a new meaning of relationships for me. I hope god has something good install for me.

Have a happy weekend !

Time to Make Value Propositions Real Again

Many value propositions have grown irrelevant with the passing of each day in the uncertainty of this economy.  The assumptions, market conditions and industry conditions many unique value propositions were created to capitalize on just aren’t applicable anymore.  Yet you can find many examples of companies using their marketing departments to shout these unique value propositions even louder, as if raising the volume will make them more relevant.  It’s not time to spend more on blaring out the same old message to prospects; it’s time to re-think the fundamental value any given product or solution delivers in this economy. 

Frugality Is The New Black

It’s time to get real about the value delivered to customers who are now seeing the world as a fundamentally different place and will continue to for years to come.  Frugality is the new black.  Coupons, once seen as inconvenient, have increased in use from 67% to 83% dependent on which ICOM Information & Communications study you review.  The value propositions created when conspicuous consumption was the norm are quickly becoming irrelevant in this economy for the majority of consumers.

Selling to businesses is even more complex, as the status quo that many unique value propositions were based aren’t relevant anymore either.  Today the majority of businesses have the top priority of retaining customers first, trimming costs and staying viable.  There’s been a complete re-ordering of priorities.  The trouble is unique value propositions of companies selling into these companies still don’t reflect what’s really going on with their prospects and customers. 

From Businesses, The Need For Brutally Simple Value Propositions Is Emerging

No one wants to hear about adjective-laded claims that can’t be backed up either with case studies or measurable results. What they do want are solutions to the big problems of retaining customers, managing suppliers more profitably and turning overlooked areas of their companies, like aftermarket parts and services, into a bigger profit center quickly.

For the small high tech distributor, when demand precipitously dropped off mid-2008, all that matters today is gaining training and insight into how to bundle products and create new solutions fast to sell more  For manufacturers it’s about getting quotes out right the first time, or getting a handle on how to turn aftermarket products sales into a profit center.  For an enterprise software company it’s about selling to the five dominant roles they have found make or break their sales cycles. 

Putting the Value Back Into Value Propositions Needs To Happen Now

Let’s face it, entire industries are being reordered by this economic downturn.  All that is really going to matter is what tangible, pragmatic value you can bring to prospects and customers to reduce uncertainty and increase their ability to compete.

It’s time to quickly move towards defining new unique value propositions that address what really matters to your customers and prospects, despite how engrained your existing value propositions are in your company.  Consider the following steps to get the value your deliver better aligned with what your customers really need right now:

• Get to the heart of what matters most to your customers now by tackling their biggest problems for them – even if there is no immediate revenue opportunity.  Get out and take the pulse of your customers, go visit them, and if you sell to other businesses, go and get customer retention programs started immediately.  If your company is going through a slow time, invest your extra time finding out where the difficult, tough-to-solve problems are for accounts and tackle them head-on.  It may not lead to immediate revenue, but it does lead to two great things: trust in your company’s expertise and lessons learned on how to redefine what makes your company unique today.

• Decide on the one niche or segment to dominate then accelerate product development, engineering, service and support all in this area. Nearly very company I’ve spoken with has gone through some level of chaos over the last six months, some less than others.  The same holds true for your competitors.  In that chaos there is a lack of focus.  Time to choose the one segment, even market niche, your company wants to dominate coming out of this downturn and gain a product generation or two on competitors, strengthen support and services, and go after reference accounts now using retention programs.  GE is a master of this, as their CEO Jeffrey Immelt often discusses this strategy at conferences and webinars.

• Rewriting unique value propositions is never a one-and-done exercise.  This isn’t only about marketing; it’s about working to get your company better aligned with what your customers need now. Staying in step with their unmet needs is all that really matters.

Bottom line: The last six months have brought more change than the previous six years to many of your customers; it’s time to re-think value propositions to make sure they still matter. 

Courtesy – Louis Columbus, Perfect CEM

Social Media Leads the Future of Technology

By Martha Lagace at HBS Working Knowledge

Internet connected televisions, social media, and the power of simplicity were all cited as launch pads for future innovation in technology, according to a panel of experts that convened at Harvard Business School as part of the HBS Centennial Business Summit in October.

And though advertisers love the Internet, to what extent they can capitalize on these transformations remains an open question.

HBS professor David Yoffie moderated the session on "The Technology Revolution and its Implications for the Future," with panelists James Breyer (HBS MBA '87), partner of the venture capital firm Accel Partners; Susan L. Decker (HBS MBA '86), president of Yahoo! Inc.; and Eric Kim (HBS MBA '81), senior vice president and general manager of Intel Corporation's Digital Home Group.

The first computer, the ENIAC, cleared the path for future innovation in the late 1940s, said Yoffie, who set the context for the ensuing discussion. Today, millions of Web users generate free content, and we are witnessing an "explosion" in video and cell phone use, he continued, with more than 100 million smartphones already in use. In addition, there is the phenomenon of virtual worlds, where approximately 217 million online players interact.

This is an evolving landscape, with much growth remaining, Yoffie said. Of 6.5 billion people in the world, about 1.5 billion have Internet access, more than 300 million have broadband access to the home, and 3 billion have cell phones, a growing number of which offer Internet access.

What these statistics suggest is that "the most precious currency today is information," said panelist Jim Breyer, an early investor in Facebook and a director of Wal-Mart Stores. "Each year there is more information created on the Web than in all the previous years combined. Investment initiatives are around participating in the information flow. We [at Accel] are interested in companies that help us understand how to structure information, communicate, categorize some of that self-generated information, and then act on it."

A sticking point currently for businesses is spanning the gap between the physical and the digital world, he continued.

"Right now there are significant problems understanding how to take what we are getting at point of sale in the physical world environment—very valuable info on customers—and how to integrate it with all the information that is being generated on the Web. To date, there is no company that allows one to take quickly all this information 'in the cloud' and integrate it with the vast arrays of information in the physical world."

Difficulties aside, Breyer said the promise of technology meant that innovation to solve a problem could arrive from any quarter: prominent companies, nonprofit enterprises, "two students in a dorm room, or mothers or fathers after they have done their school pickups." He continues to be impressed by businesses that start with little capital—anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000—yet get to scale quickly and build new applications on the Web.

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