Archive for September 2012
Top 6 – September 2012
How do you know you have a bad (unprofitable) customer (also known as a leech)? Look for one of these known telltale signs: They make excessive demands for customer service. The have higher rates of returns and credit defaults. Most of their relevant wallet share goes to a competitor. They lack the purchasing power to…
Read MoreLaunching LeBron X Nike Plus at a $300 + Price Target: An Evolving Case in Price Communication and Public Relations
This fall, Nike is rumored to be launching the above $300 LeBron X Nike Plus basketball shoes. What was expected to be a highly promising product launch has morphed into a management and political quagmire regarding its high price, potential violence, and target market abuse. What should Nike do?
Read More10 Strategic Insights from Michael Porter
Joan Magretta has written a book on Harvard Business School’s Prof. Michael Porter entitled: Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy. What should readers expect?
Read MoreAvoiding Price Wars
The negative impact on industry profit due to price compression from firms engaging in price wars can possibly be avoided by a better understanding of strategic games. Observing competing firm’s historical behavior and current price announcements offers valuable indications of future actions. Modeling such strategies in a game theoretical scope allows for more informed pricing decisions and possible profit saving maneuvers.
Read MoreRedefining and Rediscovering Market Segments in the Wireless Telecom Industry
Theodore Levitt claimed that the primary reason for the growth of any industry to be threatened, slowed or stopped is not because the market is saturated. Rather, it happens when the industry leaders define their markets by focusing primarily on their products/services and not on their customers’ underlying needs. How does this apply to telecom?
Read MoreGroupon Rewards to the Rescue – Can the company’s loyalty program resuscitate the ailing stock?
Will Groupon Rewards result in a competitive advantage? Mathew Malone doesn’t think so. Read why.
Read MoreSales, Science and Engineering
When I think about time management (an important issue for salespeople) I often find myself thinking about Albert Einstein. When I think about Einstein, I often find myself thinking about Sir Isaac Newton too. They were both brilliant scientists, but now you may be thinking, what do either of them have to do with sales? It turns out that you can apply much of what Einstein and Newton theorized to the science and engineering of selling. Read how.
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