Bob describes the 4 areas or things that a business owner/manager must identify and articulate in order to market effectively.They are:
Who? Who is your Core Customer?
What?What is your business’ uncommon offering“
How? How will you create a persuasive strategy that will convince your core customer to buy your uncommonoffering over any other competitive offering?
Own it! How will you own your brand?This is a series of imaginative acts that will celebrate your uncommon offering and ensure that your product is well known to your core customer.
**The overarching goal here is to create an economic value for your product, out of something that is not commonly offered within the marketplace**
Bob discusses the 4 areas more specifically in this episode of Business Intelligence and the next:
1. Who? Who—Identifying your Core Customer.Bob believes that the word “customer” is the most important word in business. All business owners/people should work hard to create a mental image of their most important customer.The most important customer could be defined as your largest or most enduring customer. Business people should create a visual image of that person in their head and try to understand them as a human being not just a statistic or combination of demographics characteristics.
No one should forget that all advertisements and marketing are directed towards a human being not a statistic
If you have a core customer, your goal in business should be to get more people who are similar to your core customer.Begin with the core and work your way out in concentric circles.
It is important to think of selling as more than transactional, you should be striving to build a relationship.
Familiarizing yourself with your core customer is more than just knowing them based on demography and statistics. You must know your customer in very human terms.How do they relate to or feel about your product or offering?
Building a strong relationship with an emotional component requires a thorough understanding of the customer (you must understand what it’s like to live in their shoes).
This process will evolve your business from providing strictly a PRODUCT to performing a SERVICE. This is even possible in businesses that sell ‘commodity’.
2. What? Your Uncommon Offering:Identifying your uncommon offering is more than what is unique about your product.Technology and global competition have made unique and common products vulnerable to becoming obsolete and exposed to competitive forces that can easily undercut your price.Therefore, you don’t want to be “common” or “unique”.
An uncommon offering might be something that other people can do, but that you do significantly better.
Your uncommon offering is much more than what you make or sell it is how you satisfy and create a bond with your customer.
Bob uses the example of L’ORÉAL who he has worked with in the past.L’ORÉAL would not identify their company as a “cosmetics and hair care manufacturer.”
L’ORÉAL would say that “we help women look and feel beautiful.”
Mr. Bloom notes that your company’s uncommon offering is most likely hidden within your organization.Finding your companies inside advantage is what will help your company grow.
There is always something within your business that is uncommon regardless of what you produce. To be successful you must leverage it and own it, discover it and exploit your uncommon offering.
**We must stop defining things as commodities, a focus more on service. **Visit us next week for the rest of Robert Bloom’s strategy on finding your businesses “Inside Advantage”.
Employees acknowledged in 2007 that they wasted an average of about an hour a day at work, but they said that their co-workers wasted more time, reported the Gallup Organization. Gallup polled 1,019 employees in August 2007 and noted that 29% admitted to being unproductive for an hour a day. One in four workers said they wasted less than an hour a day, while 18% said they wasted two hours or more. Twenty-six percent of respondents said they didn’t waste any time at work. When asked about their co-workers, 25% of employees polled said that their colleagues were unproductive for an hour a day, while 32% said co-workers wasted two hours or more. Thirteen percent of respondents said their colleagues were unproductive for less than an hour a day; 18% said co-workers didn’t waste any time at work. (”U.S. Workers” [Carroll], September 6, 2007) (as reported by i4cp)
John Eckmire of Canadian Management Centre and Bill Johnston of Johnston Consulting discuss the current state of corporate leadership. Bill begins by discussing some startling statistics.According to a recent survey conducted by the Corporate Leadership Council:
75% of organizationsworldwide are not confident in their ability to establish leadership positions over the next 5 years
Fewer than 20% of line executives are effective talent managers
Only 10-15 % of business leaders feel that talent and business strategies are well aligned
The demographic crunch:Retirement of the baby boom generation means that many senior leaders within organizations will no longer be working.
Competition when attracting talent:Competition is tough for high potential candidates, with the candidate pool shrinking; attracting people with “the right stuff” is more difficult.
Day to day stress of the business: Is causing organizations tofocus on short term objectives rather than the long term goal of developing talent.
As a result many companies choose to seek leaders from outside of their organization instead of growing leaders from within.This practice of ‘going outside’ for leadership needshas high costs associated with it.The Corporate Leadership Council suggests 3 ways of dealing with the leadership shortage.
Integrating business unit and talent strategies
Identifying and modeling best practice talent management behaviours
Focus on risk management
Workplace Productivity HR departments are increasingly becoming metrics oriented.It is necessary that HR departments speak to executives using business language.Speaking in terms of ROI and cost / benefit analysis will help HR departments make a case for time, attention and budget in an organization with many competing demands.
Talent management is not just the concern of HR department as executives need to be involved in the functional, cultural and behavioural aspects of talent management.
HR departments do play a large where talent management is concerned by:
Setting the stage
Putting processes in place
Providing encouragement and guidance
The long term success of an organization depends upon leadership and talent management.
Financial services firm Deloitte & Touche USA LLP has changed its approach to career development in order to better accommodate the changing work/life priorities of its employees, reported an October 2007 Chicago Tribune article. Calling Deloitte’s changes among “the most comprehensive efforts so far to reconcile the demands of a global economy with the needs of a diverse, multigenerational workforce,” the Tribune describes the company’s new view of the corporate ladder as a “lattice, on which people can step up or move laterally or down as their circumstances change.” Deloitte has phased in the flexible program that enables workers to design their own career progression, factoring flexibility into such aspects of their jobs as travel, work hours, responsibility and productivity. According to Deloitte, employees are enthusiastic about the program, which the company rolled out in 2004 and expects to take organization wide by late 2008. The firm has noted that making culture changes to support the new approach has been challenging, requiring redefinition of career success and dedication so that time in the office is not the main component of either concept. (Tampa Tribune [Rose – Chicago Tribune], October 15, 2007, Business section, p. 4) (as reported by i4cp)
Poor morale can adversely affect the workforce by reducing productivity and lessening the competitive edge with other businesses, but employers can take steps to improve the situation, HR experts say. Strategies to improve morale include improving the “work-life balance” to reduce job stress and enable employees to better cope with work pressures. Another suggestion is to make sure managers listen to their employees and value their comments, according to Charles Fay, a professor at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations. “When you look for the best companies to work for, aside from pay and benefits, it’s that employees have a real voice in what’s done and how it’s done,” Fay said. “And they are considered partners. It doesn’t mean they make all the decisions, but their views are taken into account.” A third idea is to practice good manners, such as saying “good morning,” not interrupting and thanking employees for finishing a job. Basic manners can help workers feel valued and help prevent them from shutting down. (The Clarion-Ledger [Diamond], January 14, 2007) (as reported by i4cp)
Today is part 2 of John Eckmire’s discussion with Karl Albrecht the esteemed author. Karl most recently published two books on the topics of social and practical intelligence. He sat down with John to define and discuss practical intelligence, which is the ability to use ones mind to function effectively in daily life whether in the office or at home. The ability to function well in different environments is essential within today’s society. Although Karl believes that practical intelligence is under threat from today’s modern world and culture.The “dumbing down” of all media communications has resulted in lower quality discourse and a larger separation has developed between the “know and the know-not’s” within society.
Mr. Albrecht believes that the culture of ideas is moving to the internet.Where the development of ideas and sophisticated thought is encouraged.
Idea people have shifted to a new venue for sharing ideas
The mass media (television, radio, newspapers) is “dumbing down” society and controlling thoughts through the use of what Karl describes as “HOT” information.
“HOT” information is often emotional, personal, and self-centred often with a hedonistic appeal.
“Cold” information is information such as stock market prices, oil prices, data and facts or figures (mostly educational).
Entertainment sites on the internet such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube are acclimatizing people to “HOT” information and drawing huge followings.
As a result people within media whom are hoping to attract attention are “warming up” information to attract more people to what they have to say.
Media has started to present information in smaller bites, in more compelling form with personal overtones in order to increase the excitement of watchers, listeners and readers.
This has also impacted on the business world, particularly in the way that we communicate with our clients. There is a need to add energy to messages by using metaphors and breaking things down into smaller pieces.
Being clever about how we deliver and distribute information will help us to be heard through all of the noise.
Of note to Karl is that there has been a tremendous shift towards advertising on the internet as a portion of the attention that was once paid to television is now being diverted to the internet.
Many companies are having difficulty understanding how to get people to listen to them long enough to deliver a message.
Cognitive fatigue does play a role in the “dumbing down” of society. On a daily basis if you look at all of the different things that you have to read (e-mails, project reports, correspondence, technical and trade literature) before recreational reading, people do get tired.
All people should choose wisely what information to accept and what to reject.
Those people who craft information in a palatable way will get your business.
On the topic of education Karl and John discuss the “terminal assumption”
The “terminal assumption” is the pervasive belief that by the time people are finished high school they stop learning.
They believe that some people are genetically smarter (as far as IQ levels) than others and thus some people will be more successful then others.
Albrecht believe that the notion of IQ is a destructive concept. As what is really important in business and in life is whether or not you can think conceptually, whether you can compare and explain ideas, can you think logically?And can you think intuitively or creatively? All of these skills are de-correlated to IQ.
There is a huge missed opportunity in business to help people to develop practical thinking skills.
Karl believes that cutting back on television will help people to educate themselves in constructive ways.People need to begin to think of their minds as their largest capital asset and rejuvenate the sense of excitement that should come from actively engaging our minds.
Albrecht believes that television has caused people to be in danger of loosing their natural instincts.All of this negatively impacts productivity in the workplace.Business is more demanding and the schools are not turning people out who can think, reason, make decisions, plan, design or handle information.
This does not mean that we are all doomed.
What we know is that smart people go to the place where they will find the most total satisfaction. In order to draw in the kind of employees you want you must provide an intellectually stimulating environment.In addition to these requirements of the mind you must also train, develop, educate and treat your valued employees well.
Exercise employees minds- create an environment where their ideas are appreciated…this is how to attract and retain smart people.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) is on the leading edge when it comes to virtual teams, and it has the tools, the techniques, the management and the culture to be extremely successful. When 60% of your employees aren’t in the same location as their supervisor, managing a virtual team is a vital skill. Some of the tools HP has in place include the following:
►The HP Virtual Classroom – This is a Web-based tool that enables teams to conduct virtual meetings in real time, viewing the same files and documents.
►A Web-based resource depository – Files and notes can all be kept in one virtual location.
►Instant messaging – Once just a toy for young Internet users, instant messaging facilitates communication on a virtual team.
►Webcasts – Team leaders can show slides to their virtual team along with live video presentation.
HP’s executive vice president of HR, Marcela Perez de Alonso, says the most important technique the company uses is day-to-day contact. “I think at the end of the day it’s the frequency of interaction, regardless if you have them face-to-face or on the phone. Frequency is very critical.” Various virtual team leaders for HP emphasize things like giving recognition to members of the team, building trust and camaraderie, and refraining from multitasking while in a virtual meeting. (”Case Study: Virtuosity” [Creelman], August 2005, pp. 2-4) (as reported by i4cp)
Ron Rasmussen, enterprise RSS vendor KnowNow’s chief technology officer, told the Financial Times, “Just imagine if you could combine data from a customer relationship management application such as Salesforce.com with news headlines from FT.com and blog content from the blogosphere.” He notes, “RSS makes it much easier to stitch together your information,” making it simpler to create a dashboard that displays business application data and content from various sources. RSS also increases the utility of collaboration and publication software; for example, investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) “uses Really Simple Syndication (RSS) technology to inform employees when the contents of wikis or blogs are changed,” according to the Financial Times. (Financial Times [Nairn], April 12, 2006) (as reported by i4cp)
Welcome to episode 11 of Business Intelligence, this week John sits down with Karl Albrecht to discuss social intelligence. Karl defines Social Intelligence as the ability one has to get along with other people and to get them to cooperate with you.Social Intelligence is different from emotional intelligence in that emotional intelligence concerns the awareness and management of inner experience, rather than the use of personal skills to elicit cooperation.
Karl explains the concept of “social flatulence” to John. “Social flatulence” is defined as a blockheaded unawareness the rules for decorum around you. The socially flatulent person is one who makes inappropriate remarks, lacks manners and tact
All people through their development learn what behaviours are socially acceptable or unacceptable.
Varied interactions with others allow most people to develop an intuition about more positive ways to deal with people.
One example of a person with advanced social intelligence is former U.S President Ronald Reagan. Regan was described by many as having the ability to charm and influence people.
Karl identifies the 5 dimensions to social Intelligence: S. P. A. C. E.
Situational Awareness:This is an understanding of what the appropriate response is to a given situation.Situational Awareness is the basis for empathy.
Presence:Is the way in which one presents themselves to others, it is the way they listen attentively to others, and the type of confidence they exude.
Authenticity:An understanding of yourself in the world.Honest behaviour that is in line with your personal beliefs and values.
Clarity:Refers to the use of language in order to express one’s self.Are you able to clearly explain your ideas and thoughts to others and use figures of speech and metaphors skilfully?Are you able to speak both generally and specifically?
Empathy:Is the ability to connect with other people. Not to merely understand another’s situation but to connect with them on a human level.
Karl Albrecht has also developed a self assessment instrument for judging one’s social intellect aptly named the social intelligence profile. The social intelligence profile includes questionnaire which helps to identify behaviours and patterns within your social profile, to assist you in understanding where you stand and how to improve your level of social intelligence.
Karl has also developed a mindex instrument to help people to understand themselves better.Mindex assists individuals in understanding their cognitive patterns and is useful in team building and for self development.
For business purposes the most important of the 8-10 different intelligences we have are social intelligence, practical intelligence and emotional intelligence.
This trio are the most palatable of the intelligences and their implications for business are easily understandable.
Sick-child daycare centres answer the needs of working parents, while increasing productivity by trimming work interruptions and emergency absences, says Jacqueline Stewart, National Association for Sick Child Day Care (NASCD) president and proprietor of Hugs and Kisses, a Birmingham, AL-based contractor of sick-child care centers. “For every dollar spent” on this benefit, adds Stewart, companies see “a $2.50 return” while strengthening recruitment and retention strategies. The share of companies offering emergency or sick-child care more than doubled in 2006 to 14%, up from 6% in 2005, according to the Society for Human Resources Management 2006 benefits report. Whether operating as stand-alone facilities or “sick bays” within larger daycare operations, most such centres are largely funded by the sponsoring company, leaving parents to pay only a small fee. (HR Magazine [Gurchiek], January 2007, pp. 91-93) (as reported by i4cp)
