So Here’s Your Challenge

While corporations are trying to figure out how to use the Social Media carrot to entice their customers to buy, their customers are using a powerful Social Media stick when it comes to expressing their disappointment and dissatisfaction. In the olden days, corporate policy may have been the customer is always right. Today it is a bit different.

When was the last time you considered your craziest, wildest dreams of professional success? For many people, it was probably a very long time ago. Others do so more often, but consider these dreams ridiculous, unattainable, and beyond their station in life. In both cases, the end result is the same: no action, and no movement to achieving their ambitions.  

Many people are interested in writing a blog or starting a podcast, particularly if they have special expertise. Yet, the specific topic area usually eludes them. Choose the wrong topic area, and you’re stuck with it, and because of Google, it sticks to you… forever.  

In 1903, Elias St. Elmo Lewis coined one of the most important marketing frameworks: AIDA. It has stood the test of time, and has helped many marketers more strategically plan their campaigns. AIDA is an acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. But is AIDA intrinsically flawed, or at least no longer relevant for today’s more complex marketplace?  

Are your networking activities strategic? .... or is "learn a networking strategy" one of your new goals...?  The common theme with networks is that one must “exist” before you can use it — and therefore without one, you are at a distinct disadvantage. This woe-is-me attitude rests upon the assumption that a network is a “thing” that you have, as opposed to a process that you engage in. The purpos...

Is your perspective the best perspective? How adept are you at shifting your position to improve your problem solving... and your writing? One way to do so is to use a zoom lens. Zooming out gives you a top-down view; max zooming in gives you a bottom-up view of the problem. Of course, with a maximum zoom, you lose the overview, but this isn’t the only problem. No matter how much (or how little) y...

Is the inertia of the past stifling innovation in your organization? Many organizations face a problem: they have rules and regulations that have far outlived their useful lives. Innovation requires flexibility — yet rules and regulations breed inflexibility. In fact, under cover of terms like “policy”, many organizations are stifling not just innovation, but also customer service, employee motiva...

There is no question that professional certification in your area of specialization provides enduring value.  Becoming certified differentiates you from your competition, and signals to others that you uphold certain standards and practices. But what if you haven’t?  Is it even worth it to start?

How often do you research a product online, and then purchase it at the store?  Or, check out the product at the store, and then use the internet to make the purchase? If so, you’re not alone. These newer consumer behaviors are both the new reality for retailers — and a special challenge: Omni-channel.

Lester Thurow, one of last century’s great economists, coined the phrase (and wrote a book) called “Zero Sum Society”. In it, he described an economic system that had a finite limit, where one person’s gain would precisely be another person’s loss. Unfortunately, many of us seem to use this mindset as we progress along our careers.

Price/Expertise/Trust: Do these dimensions — by themselves —generate sustainable competitive advantage? Not necessarily. Most service-based organizations compete based on Price, Expertise and Trust. But developing competitive advantage requires taking each of these items to their logical conclusion. ✅ From Price to Value. ✅ From Expertise to Thought Leadership. ✅ From Trust to Trusted Advisor....

To rebrand or not to rebrand? Not a question to be taken lightly, but it has been asked – or considered – by just about every CEO and every marketer at one point or another. First, a quick definition of brand: it’s not the logo, or the name. The brand is the intrinsic quality of what you and the organization represent. It is how your organization interacts at each touchpoint. The question is wheth...

Creativity can help you solve some of the most difficult problems, which is why it is why it is valued so highly by clients (and your employer). Yet why are some people seemingly so creative, and others aren’t?  

Too often it is the marketers, advertisers, PR folks, and others involved in the sales process who “own” digital within an organization. This isn’t surprising, but it is unfortunate. The development of relationships is critically important in just about every organizational department, and each person’s individual success.  

In Japanese culture, there is a cultural practice to avoid causing others to lose face. In business meetings, this often means that objections are not raised, and decisions are made apparently without a thorough discussion. While this is what appears to an outsider, the reality is far different.  

Why are all consulting projects not wildly successful?  Why are some merely acceptable, and others fail? Without a doubt, consultants are often to blame: they over-promise, under-scope, or take on assignments with unrealistic deadlines.  Yet clients also control the outcome of the engagement, and often, unwittingly, sabotage their consultants.  

Consider this scenario: you get a phone call from a key client or a distraught family member: “didn’t you get my email?”  They are clearly upset that you “ignored” them: they see evidence that they are not your priority. You are not unresponsive.  You don’t care.   Or maybe, your spam filter was doing just a bit too good a job.  Welcome to the world of Type I errors.  

When was the last time you ever gave anything (or anyone) your 100% complete, undivided attention?  If you’re like most people – and you’re honest – it was probably a long, long, time ago. The question is why.  

In the olden days, external advisors would be called in whenever there is a problem to be solved.  Proposals would be reviewed, contracts negotiated, references checked, and the engagement would begin. The consulting team would show up, diagnose the source of the problem, and help the management team focus exclusively on getting rid of the bad. Then, more often than not, the real problems would be...

Most organizations invest in their external digital footprint.  They start with a strategy, then execute it, monitor it, and if they are good, they feed these results back into the strategy.  A feedback loop is critical, as it both injects market knowledge into the organization, and enables continuous improvement.  

Have you ever wondered how Starbucks, Mcdonalds, or any global retailer guarantees both consistent service and consistent food quality?  Or how KPMG, Baker & McKenzie, or any global advisory firm provides the same quality of work, no matter the jurisdiction? Behind every successful french fry, coffee, or advisory engagement is one thing:  methodology.  

If you are a service provider, how do you set your price? And if you are a buyer, how do you know whether the price that you are given is reasonable? Beyond the obvious, price itself is an indicator of a number of factors: value, credibility of the service provider, work effort on the project, and risk. While some may say that pricing is an “art”, it isn’t: it is bound by three specific factors...

The essence of just about any job – or any type of business development – is reaching out to connect with other people. Yet one obstacle typically gets in the way: making that very first call. It shouldn’t be an obstacle, but it is uncomfortable.  And we tend to avoid activities that make us feel a bit uncomfortable.  

An athlete’s training schedule holds an important lesson for those looking to develop a successful career.