StrategiesThatWork.com

We hope you find the following information to be both useful and interesting.  At the bottom of this page you will find brief summaries of other articles that may also be useful to you....

Use our contact forms to let us know what you think, other topics we should include, and so forth...

We Got It Right

Sometimes, if you work at something long enough, you get it right. Not just good enough, not even real good, but really right. This "Quit Your Company" exercise is right. It is the single most effective tool we have ever seen for putting companies on the right track, getting them to "think outside of the box", seeing their market from a totally fresh perspective, and, most importantly, taking action. 

There are a lot of games people play at company retreats, exercises conducted by consultants, and processes you can go through, but most of them share a common flaw - they don't change how the company is run. As you read this outline you will see why this breaks the mold, how it forces the company leaders to ask the hard questions, make tough decisions, and translate action plans into action.

Safe, Easy, Weight Loss

If you stay up late enough, often enough, and you keep the television on, you will have the opportunity to hear healthy looking people endorse some totally safe tablets that are guaranteed to make you lose weight while you sleep. Lucky you! Unfortunately after you have spent your money and swallowed your tablets, you still look the same. In spite of the persuasive infomercials, if you want a strong and healthy body you will have to eat a healthy well balanced diet and get regular exercise.

Simple, but not easy. The same principles apply to your company.

"Scam Of The Month"

Ten minute managers can read about all the habits of successful people, but when they swim with the sharks, they are going to be fish food!

Smooth talking consultants, books full of clichés, and the rest of the "scam of the month club" offerings will not give you a strong and healthy company - that will require committed management willing to quit looking for miracle solutions and start doing what it takes.

So, What's It Take? Probably the biggest myth floating around management circles these days is the idea that there is a "right" management style, a "right" way to advertise, a "right" market to pursue. You have unique relationships with your employees, customers, and suppliers, so "canned" answers won't fit your company any better than a "one size fits all " suit would fit you. In order to maximize your opportunities you need to extract every possible advantage from your unique situation.

Science Of Your Company

In other words, you need to develop a "science of your company". That is a two step process:

Step One: Identify your advantages

Step Two: Implement changes to take advantage of opportunities

Of course that's basic, but no one reading this is doing it! That's why we suggest that your company might be better off if the management team simply quit (at least for the weekend).

It's Time To Kick "But"

You already know things that your company could do to better serve your market, to gain a marketing advantage. You could increase efficiency, making it possible to reduce prices while simultaneously increasing margins, but….

You would like to get out of that dead end low margin market and get into that promising new market, but….. 

Johnson's department has never been productive, but….

There always seems to be a "but" in the way, and if you are going to "do what it takes" you will have to find a way to kick those buts! Too many "buts" can prevent a company from adapting to changing market conditions.

Tough Test

If you want to test your company, ask yourself, "If the market was totally informed of your product offerings as well as those of your competition, would they still choose yours?"

Your job isn't to foist inferior and overpriced products on an unsuspecting market. Successful companies are making the product the market wants, and selling it to them the way they want to buy it.

Get Ready To Quit Your Company

Your company has so many buts in the way, you would probably have to quit in order to accomplish what needs to be done. Maybe that isn't such a bad idea.

What would you do differently if you and your selected management team quit (starting your new company permits you to pick which players you want to keep) and started your own company, a company that could take advantage of all the opportunities your old company missed?

Ready To Leave...

Before you left your current company you would no doubt want to pause to get a good handle on the entire market picture. That would include the important people, the suppliers, employees, distribution system, and customers.

You would also want to study the product, the features that are most important to the majority of the customers and how your product might be improved.

Price would be another area you would research, finding out whether the market would be willing to pay for a more feature laden and higher quality product, or whether the greatest opportunity might be in a very affordable "adequate' product.

Finally, you would want to investigate promotion, finding the most effective means of letting the world know where to go to find the products from your "on target" company.

People - Suppliers

Everyone knows about relationships with suppliers - you fight to get the best prices possible, then you keep the competition hot between as many suppliers as possible in order to keep prices in line. Or maybe not. Some companies have had a great deal of success with single sources of supply. They have discovered they are better being a larger customer to a single supplier than a smaller customer to several suppliers.

What about competition? Don't worry, you represent a much bigger catch to the lucky salesperson, so competitors will continue to keep your supplier "honest".

Sole source customers also have a better opportunity to partner with their suppliers to develop new or custom products since the effort expended by the supplier is less likely to end up benefiting competitors. Sole source isn't for everyone, but ask questions about how your company purchases - what can you do to become the kind of customer that deserves (and gets) the best possible support and pricing?

People - Employees

Others can purchase from your suppliers and they sell to your customers. Your employees are what most differentiate your company, so attracting, retaining, and continuing to motivate your employees is one of the most important functions of management. Unfortunately, this is not an easy task, so it is one that is generally avoided until it is time to do it poorly.

The perfect personnel program would recognize an individual's contribution to the organization's success, and reward that employee accordingly. Unfortunately such performance appraisal is generally only seen on professional sports teams (where folks really care about performance!), so we give the same bonuses to everyone, slackers and key players alike. To return to the sports metaphor, would a team keep its star players if it failed to recognize their unique contributions?

Enough said. The best employees do the best job, and keep your costs low. Since costs affect selling price, and price is a marketing issue, you need to make sure the best employees are the ones your new company attracts and retains.

People - Distribution System

First things first - your dealers and distributors are not your customers, and they never will be, not any more than United Parcel Service is your customer!

Like UPS, your dealers help you get your product to the end users who actually use your product. These people are your customers, and whoever controls the customer relationship controls the market. If your dealers know your customers better than you do, you work for them. If you know your customers best, your dealers work for you. You decide which shoe you want to wear.

By recognizing that your dealers are not customers you can begin to treat them properly, helping them sell your product rather than trying to make them buy your product. The companies that will win are those who are selling customers what they want to buy, the way they want to buy it. That means you have to look at your distribution system to find ways to better serve your true customers. Some may be better served by dealing direct, a fact that displeases dealers.

Your new company can break tradition and do what makes the most sense, so examine the distribution system for opportunities to gain a strategic advantage.

People - Customers

The only people sending money into your company are your customers. Everyone else looks at your company as a source of income, so customers' voices are the ones you should pay the most attention to.

You need to be in contact with your customers so that you truly understand them. Know how they use your product, what they like and dislike about it, what features they aren't aware of, how they perceive your competitors…… You need to maintain a constant dialogue with your true customers so that you can anticipate their needs and wants, and have the right products ready when they become aware of their emerging needs.

As you plan your new company, write out some job descriptions. Make sure every job description makes it possible for that employee to draw a straight line from their job description to a pleased customer. If an employee isn't doing anything to please a customer, what do you need them for?

Product

As a manufacturer probably the most difficult product related task you will run into is remembering that your "product" has two major components, the tangible part that goes into the shipping container and the features that don't.

There is no excuse for producing an inferior or overpriced product, and staying in touch with your customers should provide you with what you need to know in order to give them what they want.

The key is to recognize the intangible factors that are part of the product, features such as warranty, payment terms, pride of ownership, and a pleasant voice at the other end of the telephone.

Since you are starting a new company from scratch, you have the opportunity to introduce the perfect product. Remember, when your old company entered the market, it succeeded because it offered a product with enough appeal to seduce customers away from their previous suppliers, a product that worked better, cost less, or shipped quicker. How will your new company improve the product to win the market over?

Price

When a consultant tells you that you need to improve quality, have you ever asked whether such a change will optimize your bottom line? If your market buys according to a standard spec, would your customers prefer quality higher than the spec, or an "on spec" product that costs less?

You want your new company to produce what your customers want, not what consultants and management books happen to be pushing that month!

You need to choose between price, quality, and value orientations. Assuming you have a product that has the right quality level for your market, should you price it to maximize margins or penetrate the market as deeply as possible?

Actually, the right answer will be dictated by your individual market situation, but don't eliminate either option until you have studied its impact on your new company.

Promotion

If you have controlled your costs, you can sell your product profitably at competitive prices, and if you have been listening to your customers, your product incorporates the features they prefer. At this point marketing is simply a matter of telling the truth to the people who have every reason to be interested (if your product is inferior or overpriced, promotion becomes a matter of skillful lying since the truth would not sell much).

It is amazing how much advertising and promotion money at your old company got spent on projects that appealed to the management team with no real regard to what will actually motivate the end user to purchase your product.

Since your new company will be customer driven, let your customers drive your promotion - ask them what they read, what they attend, what sort of advertising makes a difference.

Winning With Watermelon

There are three parts to the watermelon, the rind, the heart, and the seedy section. The rind has little value, the best part is clearly the heart, and the seedy part is something we just put up with. As kids we learned that we couldn't eat just the heart, because our parents wouldn't let us have any more watermelon until we ate the seedy portion too. That lesson was good for the family picnic, but it can hurt you in business.

All too often companies try to meet everyone's needs, and in the process, produce an extremely diverse product line, with the basic products (heart of the watermelon) subsidizing the fringe (the seeds) products. This makes it possible to add market share, but it makes you less competitive in your core market.

As you structure your new company, you may want to consider attacking the heart of the watermelon, the core market, leaving the seeds to your old competitors. The core market is defined by more than just your basic product, it is also those customers that pay well and are easy to sell and service.

Concentrating on your core market could give you the lowest operating costs, making you the most competitive player in the game. Without the core business to subsidize them, your competition's costs would go up on their fringe product laden mix they are so proud of, increasing your competitive advantage.

Close The Door Behind You

Your new company can only succeed because the dominant players in the market have neglected the market, providing opportunities that you can exploit.

Learn from their mistakes, and close the open door to the market after you enter it. You do this by staying in touch with the end users, continuing to provide them with the products they want, the way they want to buy them. That leaves no room for a new competitor to enter a new market, the market someone neglected.

Resign And Design

Now that you have done your research, it is time to take your team and quit your jobs. Leave next Friday around noon, go off to a nearby retreat, and spend the weekend designing a winning company "from scratch".

Without all of the "buts" in the way you are free to design a company that can really compete.

Come up with a business and marketing plan for a startup that has good market knowledge, but limited funds.

Then see how the plan changes if you have money, less market knowledge, and so forth.

Soon you will have seen the market through the eyes of your most likely new competitors, companies without buts. These scenarios are the ones your old company faces.

Free enterprise abhors a vacuum, and if one company doesn't meet the market's needs, another will. By looking at your market from these different perspectives you can better anticipate potential threats from competitors.

Return And Conquer

After you have completed this exercise you have an idea of what could be accomplished without buts.

If your new company could enter your old market, your old company needs to consider closing those doors.

Those opportunities should be profiting your company instead of some new competitor.

Now it is time to get your job back, and do what needs to be done, kick "but".

Best Picks...

....If you are in a hurry and can only read a few articles, the following five are the ones we hear the most about...

They are a bit longer than most of the others, but they will give you something to think about....

Could You Run A Winning Football Team Like You Run Your Company?

Teamwork - Coaches and players speak to business professionals, encouraging them to build teams that can win.  Let's compare your company to a professional football team....

Eating The Heart Of The Watermelon

The heart of the watermelon is the sweetest and lowest hassle part - so why bother with the rest?  You may not want to follow this thinking at your next picnic, but it sure works when making customer and product decisions!

Quit Your Company - An Exercise

This exercise will force you to see your company and the competitive landscape differently than ever before.  It will help you decide what needs to be done in order to stop the competition you don't even have yet...

Dealers And Distributors (Short Version)

You may need dealers and distributors- or not.  The real issue is whether your end users feel that they need your dealers and distributors!  Companies win when they offer end users what they want....

Dealers And Distributors - And "Going Direct"

If you have a dealer and distributor network, should you consider "going direct"?  Let me ask you this - if a major competitor did, what would happen to you?  That's your answer - this will help you see how to do it....

Management Theories

Not all management theories work - and this section discusses some theories that have problems

Reality Instead Of Theory

You can't believe everything you have been taught about business.  Most of it is true, good information - the trick lies in knowing which parts to believe, and which parts to reject.

Positive Reinforcement Myths

Positive reinforcement can result in training and motivational miracles - but there is one little catch...everyone in the "real world" seems too well fed for it to work!

Truth About Advertising - What Advertising Awards Mean To You

Advertising awards are something ad agencies love to display - perhaps it gives them a feeling of credibility.  It's a shame those awards don't reduce their client's advertising costs or increase their client's sales...

"One Size Fits All" Management Fads

Management fads do a lot of damage - they send companies off in wrong directions, and they erode the confidence of managers.  How?  Managers try the latest fad, and when it doesn't work, they assume it is because they were not good enough - it's a shame, because their instincts are almost always more effective than the fads...

TQM - The Quality Myth

TQM has been a major force for a number of years.  Although it has lost some of its luster in many circles, its proponents (consultants getting wealthy, perhaps) continue to re-invent it under a constant flow of new names....

Your Departments

The last group of articles in this section apply to sales and marketing.  The reason this area is receiving so much attention here is that there seems to be more confusion in that area.  Let's just take a quick look at some of your key departments...

Accounting Excitement

If business was a sport, the accounting department would be keeping score.  Unfortunately, the accounting department seldom provides the kind of information managers need in order to make good decisions....

Purchasing

Purchasing is more than "buying what you said you wanted", it is a proactive role that investigates better products and anticipates demand.

Engineering And R & D

Engineering creates your "new and improved" products - you need to make sure they know what your company and your customers want from them.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing - Manufacturing efficiencies largely determine your costs - and costs largely determine your competitive position!  Efficiency requires great management, management willing to do what it takes to attract and retain the very best people.

Entering New Markets - Then Closing The Door Behind You

Entering new markets - you couldn't do it if the companies already in those markets were staying in touch with their customers!  Remember that after you enter a market - or you may become someone else's "new market"!

Innovate, Renovate, But Satisfy Your Customers

Things have changed faster than most companies have changed - the web, overnight delivery, long distance charges, longer lasting products, direct (to consumer) sales - there are many ways to combine these things to satisfy your customers - and gain market share.

A Winning Marketing Campaign - Lousy Sales

Heartbeat Of America.  The ad campaign won awards, but market share slipped.  Winning companies match great marketing with great products - then the competition loses while consumers win.

Strong Companies Win In Efficient Markets

Marketing is not the art of lying without getting caught.  When your product is the best choice, there is no need to lie.

Applied Market Research - Satisfied Customers

Market research can come from a consultant, but it should also come from your own employees.  Having market research means nothing, however, if you don't use it to make customer driven decisions.

Selling To People - Not Markets

Sometimes we can forget that markets don't buy anything, people do.  Market research is valuable, but make sure it tells you about real people.  Nobody wants your product - they want a way to solve a problem or meet a need - perhaps your product can help them accomplish that.

Advertising For Sales, Not Awards

Advertising - why are you doing it?  If it is for sales, you may need to make sure your agency understands your priorities - instead of pursuing "awareness" and "impressions" - if you want sales, hold them accountable for sales!

The Rest Of It...

Not everything fits into a file, box, or compartment - this is the rest of it....

StrategiesThatWork.com Homepage

Marketing should not be a lie - build a company with productive labor, efficient purchasing, great design, accurate accounting, rational distribution - and the result is a truth you are proud to tell.  Marketing becomes a simple matter of telling the truth to people who are interested!

Eating The Heart Of The Watermelon

The heart of the watermelon is the sweetest and lowest hassle part - so why bother with the rest?  You may not want to follow this thinking at your next picnic, but it sure works when making customer and product decisions!

Dealers And Distributors - And "Going Direct"

If you have a dealer and distributor network, should you consider "going direct"?  Let me ask you this - if a major competitor did, what would happen to you?  That's your answer - this will help you see how to do it....

Dealers And Distributors (Short Version)

You may need dealers and distributors- or not.  The real issue is whether your end users feel that they need your dealers and distributors!  Companies win when they offer end users what they want....

Quit Your Company - An Exercise

This exercise will force you to see your company and the competitive landscape differently than ever before.  It will help you decide what needs to be done in order to stop the competition you don't even have yet...

Three Kinds Of Employees

The right employees are one of the most important resources a company has. Most employers are quite aware of how valuable a great employee can be, but have a difficult time figuring out who the great ones are.  It helps to divide the work force into three groups.... 

Your Mission Statement - What It Means

A mission statement is not something you can carve in a plaque next to your door, because it needs to change.  Mission statements establish priorities, and if customer satisfaction is not at the top of those priorities, you may have a problem.

Could You Run A Winning Football Team Like You Run Your Company?

Teamwork - Coaches and players speak to business professionals, encouraging them to build teams that can win.  Let's compare your company to a professional football team....

Performance Reviews

Performance reviews.  Yawn.  While performance reviews are not exciting, few things can do more to shape your company.  Done right, they can make a big difference...

"Honey, We Need To Talk"

"Honey, we need to talk" are terrifying words when they come from your spouse.  You may feel that you have an "open door policy", but walking in that door feels a lot like "Honey, we..." to most employees.  You need an easy way to stay in touch - like lunch!

Partnering And Sole Sourcing

Partnering - we hear a lot about it, but if you aren't willing to be a partner in your purchasing, you are not ready to ask your customers to trust you in that role....walk in their shoes for a moment.

Customer Focus

"Customer Focus" is something we hear a lot, but seldom results in much action.  Funny, isn't it, that customers are the only people who leave money in your company - everyone else is there to take some out....

Science Of Yourco

You don't have to look further than the nearest business magazine to find a few easy steps to management success - so why bother to develop a "Science Of Yourco"?