business side:

Marketers need a whole new mind

Today we’re finishing up our series on Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind. In our first post we introduced Dan’s premise that we’re in a new Conceptual Age where companies will succeed or fail thanks to right-brained, "R-Directed" thinking.

Last week Nancy introduced his six critical right-brained skills: design, storytelling, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. Many B2B marketing programs are dry and dull, so she ended with six ways to apply those concepts to your next campaign.

Today I’m going back to old-school left-brain thinking. Frankly, most marketing teams aren’t doing enough of it. What most B2B companies need is the “Genius of the And” – more right brain AND more left brain.

B2B marketers often face a credibility gap in their own companies. After all, most C-level executives didn’t come from the marketing function. Many of them think of marketing as a purely creative function (think “advertising”) that produces questionable results. And if it can’t be measured, then it’s logical that the marketing budget is the first to go when revenue is down.

To overcome this problem, marketers need to beef up their “L-Directed Thinking” as well. It’s about analysis, numbers and processes: ROI, conversion rates, defined stages, revenue projections, gross sales, net profits, asset values. These terms resonate with C-level executives and VPs of Sales. These figures provide the credibility and strategic value that most B2B companies need.

Marketing Champions (by the MarketingProfs founders) goes into rich detail on this subject. The key is to show a method behind your madness. Every business function except marketing typically has a systematic process, metrics and a purpose that’s aligned with the C-level vision. By instilling these same concepts in your marketing function, you’ll improve your performance and stature within the company.

So how can you apply more process, purpose and metrics to your marketing efforts?

Develop your marketing plans to support and drive your CEO’s business strategies
Set tangible goals that you can measure
Tie marketing campaigns to specific sales goals
Measure and continually refine to improve your results
Communicate outcomes in financial terms

If you’re a right-brained marketing director wondering where to start, try this: Take one of your finance or accounting people to lunch and pick their brains about measurement and analysis. Ask them to help you set up specific metrics so that you can communicate your results in the financial and process-oriented terms that C-levels crave:

What was the ROI of this campaign?
How much of the sales process do I own?
What’s our most valuable market segment?
How much does my budget contribute to the company’s bottom line?

By building out your team’s left-brained focus, you’ll be in a far stronger position to bring your company’s business strategies to life. It can help you save your budget from the relentless red pen, close the credibility gap and give you a well-deserved seat at the executive table.

Yet remember that function, process and metrics aren’t enough to differentiate companies in the Conceptual Age. We need to focus more on design, symphony, empathy and storytelling. But alone, either set of skills is only a half a brain. What we need is a whole new mind.

Links for more reading:

Our first and second post in this series
A Whole New Mind - Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future and Dan Pink's blog
Darren Rowse from ProBlogger did a great series about creativity this past week
Marketing Champions: Practical Strategies for Improving Marketing's Power, Influence, and Business Impact by Roy Young, Allen Weiss and David Stewart
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras

And our Technorati tags: business | marketing | Dan Pink | Whole New Mind | B2B

Your brand lives in your sales team

Have you ever considered firing your star salesperson??

I thought not.

Yet that’s just what the CEO of Anthropologie did. It’s one of the great stories in “Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win” by William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre.

We’ve talked about hiring sales reps that live & breathe your brand. They connect with your market every day. And when they don't personally convey your brand personality, they negate your entire brand strategy and competitive positioning strategy.

Great companies are original and different, say the authors. They have a strong purpose and cause that they live and breathe every day.

CEO Glen Senk has helped grow Anthropologie (a women's apparel and accessories retailer) from one location and $2 MM in annual revenue in 1994 to 77 stores and $500 MM in 2005. He’s achieved this success in part by focusing on their passion and sticking to their cause.

Here’s how Senk describes their brand:

“Our customers are our friends, and what we do is never, ever, ever about selling to them. It’s about helping people put together a wardrobe or create an eclectic home. It’s about helping someone look great and feel good about themselves. It’s never about the quick sale.”

Back to the star salesperson. She consistently sold $6,000-$7,000 of merchandise daily. Her store had an incredible day whenever she was on the floor.

But Senk watched her in action and made a discovery: she didn’t really care what she was selling. She just wanted to make the sale.

“She let people walk out of the dressing room with things that simply didn’t look good,” Senk explained.

He fired her immediately. She wasn’t treating customers as her friends.

Anthropologie has a clear brand personality and believes their employees must radiate that brand. No exceptions. And it’s hard to argue with their success.

In many B2B companies, people are the brand and the ONLY differentiator. Sales reps, account managers, customer service and support teams all shape the customer experience. And that makes it even MORE important to hire team members that live & breathe your brand promise!

Have you experienced this in your business? Any recommendations or thoughts for our readers? Please share your thoughts in the comments lbelow.

For more great ideas, here’s the book on Amazon. You can also download a free manifesto at the Mavericks at Work website.

More Photos from West Wythenshawe Weightlifting Comp
I posted on Monday about the mini olympic weightlifting competition at West Wythenshawe. Here are some more photo’s of the lifters from Crossfit Manchester, courtesy of my 7 year old daughter, the photographer: West Wythenshawe - Olympic Weightlifting from Crossfit - Larraine Bev Jane (with no Y of course) Jo O Sharron with an emo hairdo And last but by no [...]

I posted on Monday about the mini olympic weightlifting competition at West Wythenshawe. Here are some more photo’s of the lifters from Crossfit Manchester, courtesy of my 7 year old daughter, the photographer:

: West Wythenshawe - Olympic Weightlifting from Crossfit - Larraine

: Bev

: Jane (with no Y of course)

: Jo O

: Sharron with an emo hairdo

And last but by no means least, the indomitable Mark Beck:

: Mark Beck doing a massive 105kg Clean and Jerk

Just to put Mark’s lift into perspective, he weighs in at about 65kg, so that’s an impressive 1.6x his body weight!

What is disaster recovery plan? - a definition from Whatis.com - see (Turn Around)
Increase your Director & Officer Liability coverage if your business is a company or Llc. (...)

Increase your Director & Officer Liability coverage if your business is a company or Llc. Anyhow, if this isn't enough, you must lightly reprimand the offender in a public setting such as a senior executive team meeting or monthly worker meeting. Consequently, don't change your accounting software right before marketing your business as a takeover candidate. For example, don't take an high-priced trip to Europe for a minor enterprise purpose (an unreasonable cost), but instead buy more advertising (an acceptable cost). company bankruptcy and personal property.

Regularly people think of Chapter eleven as an insolvency filing for larger businesses, but numerous smaller firms successfully use Small business bankrutpcy as a means to an end of strengthening the business while removing liability. If it has gone 60 days past due with no settlement, then you must have concerns about your buyer's ability and willingness to pay. As the owner and counselor for Turn around Central, I've the experience and knowledge to help you create those resolutions and stick to them. Go through each cost line item and decide if that spending is necessary in the future based on your new turn around roadmap. They all have extensive professional contacts and can aid you locate a top-notch permanent sales executive to drive your sales organization forward. The astute owner is aware that times and circumstances bring about changes in the marketplace that can affect enterprise either positively or negatively. Some examples of operational changes that I've seen include methods to reduce scrap, improve inventory turns, boost on-time deliveries or quicken balances due collections. The technique by which a corporate reorganization of debt begins with the enterprise providing a plan to the legal forums. These are going to commonly expense you less (financially and emotionally) than chapter thirteen bankruptcy. This can assist you cut payments and strengthen your cash flow.
Definition from WhatIs.com — A disaster recovery plan (DRP) - sometimes referred to as a business continuity plan (BCP) or business process contingency plan (BPCP) - describes how More

On the other hand, the court-of-law can force (Chapter 11 Bankruptcy)
On the other hand, the court-of-law can force liquidation if a corporation is an old public enterprise.In a third case, the court will be able to require it if a company has not carried out any company transactions within a year of its incorporation. (...)

On the other hand, the court-of-law can force liquidation if a corporation is an old public enterprise.In a third case, the court will be able to require it if a company has not carried out any company transactions within a year of its incorporation. Negotiation - Interest Rate Eliminate, Elimination Of Fees & Higher Credit Limits. Additionally, an enterprise plan will need much time to produce. Most insolvency legal counsellors additionally handle state filings. * When you do have nonexempt financial resources, these are secured or pledged to other people you owe. If your financier does have informational desires, then be sure you get this data to him or her the next day if possible. * You have more liability than the fire sale value of your financial resources. As you've likely guessed by right now, the bank credit card businesses don't like Corporation bankruptcy. Obviously, you do not have the cash right now. The judge's bench now oversees the business restructuring and all future business choices. This frequently is one of the easiest budgets to produce since regularly it is just average unit cost times the number of units. Here are a few examples of some measures and targets for a turnaround plan.

Be sure that you have a bankruptcy attorney-at-law check your calculation before you request. The courts will evaluate a corporation during the Chapter eleven proceedings to see what their plan for turning around the ailing enterprise will be. This foundmoney could be a real help if your failing company is struggling to create payroll. If you locate unpaid judgments, get your attorney involved or use a judgment recovery service (much like a collection agency) to get the cash you won in law court.

Flex your right brain

Our last post talked about Dan Pink’s groundbreaking book “A Whole New Mind.” His premise is that we’ve moved into a new era -- the Conceptual Age -- where people and companies will succeed or fail thanks to right-brained skills like inventiveness, empathy, joyfulness and big-picture thinking.

Dan isn’t suggesting that left-brained analytical skills aren’t important any more. It’s just that “L-Directed Thinking” isn't enough to create compelling products and services. For example, the iPod dominates its category because of its design and how it makes us feel – right-brained attributes.

How can we become more right-brained and create this whole new mind? Dan lists these six “R-Directed” skills that we should try to master:

1. Design sense. In the Conceptual Age, pure functionality isn’t enough to differentiate a product, service or experience. Functionality is a given. So these days it’s crucial to incorporate great design as well – that’s what brings pleasure, meaning and beauty to our lives.

2. Storytelling. We’re mired in data, arguments, points and counterpoints. To rise above the clutter, we need to focus not on pure logic but on telling stories that take people on a meaningful, memorable journey.

3. Symphony. As routine analytical work is relegated to Asia and automation, we need to build what Dan calls “symphony” -- the ability to synthesize rather than just analyze. It’s a skill that enables us to see relationships between seemingly unrelated elements so that we can combine them into compelling new ideas.

4. Empathy. When we’re saturated with information and analytical tools, logic just isn’t enough. We need to empathize: understand the feelings of others, recognize what drives and inspires them, and build relationships.

5. Play. “Too much sobriety can be bad for your career and worse for your general well-being,” says Dan. Inject your personal and professional life with laughter and fun! Plus it’s easier to create stories, build empathy and symphony with a smile on your face.

6. Meaning. Most of us are fortunate to have our day-to-day needs covered. As a result, we have the opportunity to focus on the big picture – purpose, meaning, lofty desires. We can pursue not just what we need, but what we want – and that’s to add joy and success to our lives.

Dan devotes a full chapter to each concept – there are lots of great ideas to help you flex your right brain and apply these principles to your work and personal life. For example, he suggests checking out museums to build your appreciation for design. (He also claims that an MFA is the new MBA.)

B2C brands have had to master these principles to create ad campaigns that make consumers feel certain ways about their products. B2C marketers don’t typically talk about functionality, product specifcations, or other dry details. Instead, they tell stories; they empathize; they use design and words to evoke emotions; they attempt to create meaning.

If you’ve read this far (!) you’re probably nodding your head about these ideas. So as a forward-thinking B2B marketer or executive, try applying these six principles to your next marketing program or campaign. For example:

Empathize with your prospects. Understand their human feelings and the real reasons they buy (or shy away from) your product.
Draw on your powers of “symphony” to come up with wild new creative ideas.
Develop a story that will resonate with your prospects.
Take them on a meaningful journey. Show them that you really know them, help them feel good and see how your product/service can improve their professional lives.
Incorporate humor and fun into your message. Business buyers are people too!
Use design to differentiate. Make your story look and sound unique, stimulating and beautiful.

If you can incorporate these principles into your marketing programs and campaigns, you can help your company stand out in the Conceptual Age.

But good strategic marketing isn’t just about creative campaigns. We still need plenty of L-Directed analytical thinking to build processes, crunch numbers and measure our success.

In fact, most sales & marketing teams don’t have enough left-brained thinkers to fulfill this vision of a “whole new mind.” So in our next post, we’ll talk about L-Directed skills and processes that help the marketing function truly drive the strategy of a business.

Again, here’s a link to the book.

Technorati tags: business | marketing | Dan Pink | Whole New Mind | B2B

The US trustee forms (Business Liquidators) a creditors' committee. Additionally,
The US trustee forms a creditors' committee. Additionally, you'll see others start working hard like him or her to get a day off as well. (...)

The US trustee forms a creditors' committee. Additionally, you'll see others start working hard like him or her to get a day off as well. From the type of bankruptcy filing, the law court will choose who they are going to pay and when. The objective of reorganizing debt is to pay back the people you owe what they are due and get the enterprise back into the marketplace.

Let me give you some advice from my own experience in keeping a strong marriage through numerous rebuild and company startups. Saving Your Business from Bankruptcy. The insolvency judge issues the automatic stay as part of the filing. The members of this committee are commonly those lenders who have the largest secured debts. So, if the internal revenue service or a secured lender desires to seize availiable means, an assignment doesn't stop them from doing so. Also, when you can't hold the sale at your enterprise site for some reason, numerous skilled workers will understand where to have the sale or might hold it at their own location. If you mail the memo, you must mail it certified, return receipt requested. If your business begins to be ruined, you must let go of your dream. * Do they agree to remove any preceding negative references about your account from your credit reports? By knowing the laws, the ways to approach petitioning Chapter xi, a small business owner can succeed in fixing a troubled business. If you locate unpaid judgments, get your attorney involved or use a judgment recovery service (much like a debt collector) to get the money you won in court-of-law.

10:17 PM | |

1 comments:

S said...: I got some of our companies unpaid judgments collected by using http://UncollectedJudgmentCash.com

They couldn't get it all, but I was surprised at what they could get since we had long forgotten about the judgements and thought we would never collect on a judgment.

Judgment recovery, court judgments and judgment debt collection should be done by a judgment collection agency that is expert and knows how to skip trace, find assets and do liens, bank levys and wage garnishments.; October 9, 2008 8:59 PM

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