Posts Tagged ‘misalignment’
The Cost of Chaos
Posted by Jane Adamson on February 2nd, 2010
During the first week of the new year, when we tend to gaze optimistically at the road ahead, a headline from the Associated Press announced “Americans’ job satisfaction lowest in 22 years.”
The article then went on to say “That is the lowest level ever recorded by the Conference Board research group in over 22 years of studying the issue. If the job satisfaction trend is not reversed, economists say, it could stifle innovation and hurt America’s competitiveness and productivity. It also could make unhappy older workers less inclined to take the time to share their knowledge and skills with younger workers.”
Well, that got my attention! Of course there are many reasons for the decline, including the worst recession since the 1930s and the fact that downsizing has created more work and more demands on the workers who’ve survived the cuts. That doesn’t change the fact, however, that such a decline has somber implications for businesses, and executive teams need to address this issue in their organizations.
Are You a “Best of the Worst” Company?
Posted by Rick McPartlin on September 1st, 2009
Lately I’ve been talking with a lot of CEOs about a concept I call “Best of the Worst” (BOTW). The term is harsh, but many executives quickly realize that yes, their organizations have a lot in common with BOTW companies like, say, GM.
In boom times, BOTW companies are enormously confident in and proud of their performance. They’re meeting Wall Street’s projections and their internal short-term metrics. They think they’re invaluable to their customers and are immune to the whims of the market. In other words, they think they’re doing everything right.
But then the environment changes. The market sours, the economy tanks, new competitors show up, legislation kicks in, or some other external variable shifts. Sales and profits plummet.
What do BOTW companies do? They blame these uncontrollable external variables for their woes. Then they just try to survive until the boom times return.
“We have plenty of leads but can’t seem to convert!”
Posted by Jane Adamson on August 4th, 2009
Recognize this sales funnel? I call it “the desperate pipeline” because it’s wide enough to catch any breathing soul who meanders by! You know what it’s like to be caught in one, receiving endless calls and emails because sometime, somewhere, you accidentally crossed a seller’s path.
Don’t be one of those desperate companies. A fat sales funnel has dramatic hidden costs and creates a barrier for consistent, profitable revenue growth. Marketing programs that focus on attracting as many leads as possible are no different from aggressive salespeople who pitch every breathing soul at every trade show, networking meeting and playground.
The solution? Shrink your pipeline!
“I have people who handle marketing and sales. What’s a Chief Revenue Officer and do I really need one?”
Posted by Rick McPartlin on May 5th, 2009
You have a sales team and a marketing director, but they’re in constant combat. Your revenue growth is flat. Margins are shrinking. And whether you realize it or not, you’re drastically overpaying for results. It’s a common problem, but the companies who solve it can remove 10-15 points of cost while driving their top line to generate predictable results.
How can you solve this issue? By becoming a Chief Revenue Officer, or CRO. No, you don’t necessarily need to hire a CRO – you just need to add “CRO Thinking” to your own job description and “act like a CRO.”
