According to a study by Leadership IQ, 46% of new hires will fail within the first 18 months. Their companies will then spend the equivalent of six to nine months of the position’s salary finding and training replacements. The costs of a bad fit are staggering, and they prevent businesses from building better products, growing sales, and increasing profits. What’s…
All businesses want to grow sales, but very few have figured out how do this efficiently and consistently over time. Cintell, a cloud-based customer intelligence platform, recently published a study entitled “Understanding B2B Buyers”. This may uncover a secret weapon. 71% of companies that exceed revenue and lead goals have documented buyer personas. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation…
The B2B sale has always relied heavily on the relationship between buyer and seller. Today, though, many businesses are finding that those relationships aren’t delivering the same results they once did. The key to assessing the flaws in your process may start with understanding the impact that Millennials have on B2B buying processes. Because they grew up with team sports…
Visa, a global payment powerhouse, has used the “It’s everywhere you want to be” tagline for years to help potential customers understand the sheer number of worldwide businesses that accept the card. With the integration of marketing automation platforms and social media sites, today’s marketers can quite literally find you “everywhere you are” —at least in the digital world. The…
No one would argue that prospects seem more focused on price today than twenty or even ten years ago. The question—and perhaps the secret to your sales success—is why? The answer could lie in the amount of look-alike products and services that exist in today’s market. If multiple companies can meet your needs fairly well, price can easily become the…
According to the Customers 2020 Report, the customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator by the year 2020. No matter what you sell, your customers will be making purchasing decisions based on the strength of their end-to-end journey with your company. Naturally, most companies are focused on revamping customer service processes and empowering employees to…
Dysfunctional organizations don’t just materialize. According to American Entrepreneur and Marketer Seth Godin, they develop as a result of many compromises made over time. A new hire doesn’t seem to be catching on, but the time it will take to replace her trumps the need for initiative and productivity. A skilled tradesman refuses to train a co-worker because he’s afraid…
Jack knew “The Fine Art of Service”. He lived and breathed it. He provided it for over 30 years as a typographical consultant to art directors, designers, and production managers. When he founded Today’s Graphics Inc. in 1977, Jack was obsessed with instilling this philosophy in every employee. Jack is no longer with us, but his spirit and philosophy live…
Pre-school children ask about 100 questions a day, but most kids have all but stopped asking questions by middle school. Many researchers believe that this decline in questioning is the result of a school system that rewards knowing the answers rather than asking good questions. Things don’t get any better in the business world. Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Business School…
Collin Street Bakery produces and ships cookies, cakes, and pies to over 200 countries. Despite a strong re-order rate, the company still hungered for new customers. How do you convince people who’ve never tasted your desserts to give your signature fruitcake a try? Direct mail and creative naming, that’s how! Direct Mail Consultant Greg Hennerberg started by renaming the fruitcake…