A lighter look at the best ideas.... for 2007

Wintry Hearth Rejuvenates the Importance of Being True
December 2007

6. The CEO/MD must be the Brand Cheerleader.
5. The Brand creates a common purpose that bonds the company’s      stakeholders.
4. Interbrand’s 10 most valuable brands include Microsoft, Intel, IBM, and      GE, all generate more B2B revenues than sales to end users.
3. Sales acts as a container, binding together relationships to facilitate a     decision.
2. The Sales is a Container metaphor bespeaks of two challenges:      Containers can be invisible, and they can break.
1.The CEO/MD must be the Sales Cheerleader.

The Beauty of Autumn Colors Rises from the Death of Chlorophyll November 2007

6. Kill erratic brands. - Global brand builders position the brand in the     same position worldwide.
5. Branding ingredients isn’t a ubiquitous godsend, it requires the     ingredient to be differentiated and key to the final product, and works best     when the final product brand position is currently weak or in flux.
4. Versioning strategies provide additional features and benefits as the     customer moves monotonically up from lower to higher value versions.
3. Add-on strategies allow customers to enhance the base product with     additional products, modules, or features to maximize their individual     utility.
2. Choosing a versioning over an add-on strategy requires aggregating     demands and developing segmentation fences along a single     multivariate dimension – it is a Segmentation issue.
1. Brand-building is not only advertising. Brand-forward business leaders     expand the brand experience throughout the value chain.

For good mushrooms, take a walk in the woods October 2007

6. Mark Leslie, a former entrepreneur who founded and was CEO of Veritas     Software, suggest management go through the Sales Learning Curve     and involve all aspects of the firm during this stage.
5. In going up Sales Learning Curve, close the gap between what an     entrepreneur think salespeople should be selling, and what they actually     are.
4. When overstocked and confronted with dramatic decrease in demand,     homebuilder executives profited by discounting rather than suffer the cost     burden of carrying inventory.
3. Segment customers on how they value the offering, not just size and     location.
2. Identify how customers value your products, and encourage salespeople     to communicate these sources of value.
1. Show customers the value differential.

Every Southern Swamp Has Its Water Moccasins September 2007

6. Fluidity naturally exists in perceptions of value and price. A pricing artist     shapes the surface so that the fluid flows to the desired point.
5. Watch out for snake oil salesman. Its good to jump in early and learn     before the competitors, but every southern swamp has its water     moccasins.
4. Price discipline shouldn't lead to draconian simplicity in enforcing an      idea. As the GM case demonstrates, it's a kaizen force that pulls flexibly      and responsibly toward a positive direction.
3. Hypercompetition remains a reality in high-tech industries. Microsoft,      Sony, and Nintendo are still enjoying a fast dance.
2. Fewer decisions than people ones must be made with poorer      information and greater impact. Manage with care.
1. The people you hire and the manner in which they are managed enable      your fortune or bring your destruction.

Communicate, Align, Capture August 2007

6. Leegin decision should have a larger effect on prices of consumer     products characterized as high-value branded goods, complex product,     or difficult to experience products.
5. Leegin decision could act as a deterrent to the long term trend of     reducing service and costs in distribution, thus shifting the competitive     relationships between distributors towards adding value.
4. Product marketing is a cross-functional and inter-firm strategic role,     involve all key stakeholders in aligning goals with actions.
3. Good competitors can control the urge to compete on prices even during     a declining market.
2. Email marketing, like other marcom efforts, needs quantifiable goals,     monitoring, evaluation, and improvement planning.
1. When new information arises, incorporate it in your pricing strategy.

Value First, Cost Second July 2007

6. Price is not the competitive equalizer. Value is. Consider how to      communicate your value proposition properly.
5. Communicating the value isn’t a once-off thing. Repeat your message     and leverage multiple communication vehicles.
4. Internet surveys are inexpensive and quick, but that doesn’t make them     all-purpose solutions.
3. Match the market research tool to the accuracy requirements and     decision making information requirements.
2. Before matching a competitor’s lower price, calculate the cost and     evaluate the gain.
1. While branding may drive consumer markets, enterprise markets are     driven more on value. Understand your value and communicate it.

Revenue Capturing June 2007

6. People like stories. They are believable and engender trust. Open you     coat a little and capture their trust.
5. Poorly imitable promotions need a time window of exclusivity.
4. promotions don’t just tout price, they build or leverage the brand position.
3. Know your points of differential advantage and leverage them in your     promotions.
2. Sometimes, counterintuitive pricing models are better than industry gold     standards.
1. When you’ve won a round, shift to thinking beyond the immediate     question and position yourself for future wins.

Succeeding as an Entrepreneur April 2007   

6. Just get on with it
5. Hope, Vision, Action, Perseverance, and Luck, are, in that order, the route      to long-term success in sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship..
4. Entrepreneurship often requires touching the boundaries, but that isn’t     the same as crossing them. Entrepreneurs are often forced to address     questionable issues..
3. If you think that your job is too good to give up for an entrepreneurial     pursuit, then you probably lack the attitude for risk taking required to     succeed.
2. If you think that your poor employment history indicates that you can’t     succeed as an entrepreneur, you probably lack the optimism required to     succeed.
1. Want to create the next new big market? Find and serve an ill-served          job-to-be-done segment.

Sales Performance, IP, and Volume Chasing  April 2007   

6. Don’t let inertia or apathy allow poor performance to persist.  Make
    decisions and take action.
5. Specific promotional events that are part of the industry wide annual
    promotional plan do not necessarily imply bad pricing practices.  As the
    GM case points out, tactical moves should not be confused with strategic
    directions.
4. Patent are not a one-size-fits-all intellectual property solution. Consider
    the options of Utility Patents, Design Patents, Trade Secrets,
    Trademarks, and Copyrights. Use them in combination, as standalone,
    or as part of a long-term sequential strategy.
    human voice and participate in their conversations.
3. Marketing variables other than price are often more efficient at driving
    volume.
2. Most companies, but not all, do not face an elasticity of demand sufficient
    to warrant a price decrease to "grow volume".
1. Low Performing Salespeople cost far more than their salary, they carry
    the opportunity cost of lost business.

Blocking of Marketing, Investing in your Blog. March 2007

6. The blocking and tackling of Marketing remains to Focus on the
    Customer, Manage Internal and External Partners, and Manage the
    Budget towards a high ROI on Marketing.
5 . Wikinomics suggests that your illusions of control are being replaced
    with the potential to reap the benefits of using the wisdom of masses.
4 . A blog is your opportunity to interact with customers in an authentic
    human voice and participate in their conversations.
3 . Like any marketing effort, give your Blog a Purpose.
2. What if someone posts a negative comment on your blog? Forgetaboutit.
    They would have done the same behind your back. Your blog is your
    chance to participate in the conversation.
1 . Differentiate on dimensions that are salient to the jobs that customers
    need to get done.

While there are only 6 Top 6 points, the Chief Editor feels obliged to remind readers of the damage done to innocent individuals by mobs chronicled during the industrial revolution between the 1700’s and 1900’s. Somewhere, between the mob and the institution, a new social order will emerge though it is beyond the scope of this journal to describe it.

Keep the Baby, Discard the Bathwater, then Shift Dimensions

6. Price Leadership and Followership are not ideas stuck in yesteryear.
    Tobacco, shipping, and many others are able to execute and profit.
5. Branding, whether “house of brands” or “branded house”, remains a
    driver of results even in age of PR and Web 2.0.
4. In trademark litigation, the only clear victors are the lawyers. Learn to
    negotiate without resorting to Gladiators.
3. Money is not the only dimension to negotiate. Learn how to drive
    agreement by exploring other issues related to the decision.
2. Win by competing on non-price dimensions, ones which leverage your
    competitive advantage.
1. Price wars are like any other negative-sum game. A majority of the time,
    they leave dead soldiers and no victors.

Trust, Online, Trust, Selling, Trust … January 2007

6. Trust directs purchase decisions in Risk Management Markets.
5 . 40 percent of all online queries are intended for local results.
4 . Trust in brands is largely developed through experience.
3 . Online shopping continues to express a growth rate that outstrips bricks
     and mortar, at 24% higher over 2005 for the month of November 2006.
2 . Reliability, capability, and willingness to express these talents on the
     customers behalf are the indicators of trust that drive decisions.
1 . Selling is about emotions. Give and listen to build an emotional bond.