Monthly Archives: June 2023

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You Can Own the Change

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The ability to envision future growth opportunities for your company and devise credible strategies to enable their realization can sometimes seem daunting to Freelancers and small business owners. Chances are, you do not have the financial resources to ride out unforeseen obstacles or changes in your marketplace that can derail your progress. That observation is especially true during extended periods of economic instability. How can you position your entity to thrive when even the present is a moving target? Attempting to devise reasonable strategies to guide your enterprise through the next 6-12 months may feel as if you’re mapping a course through a minefield, instead of merely figuring out how to dodge the usual slings and arrows of marketplace competition.

As business, political and environmental conditions continue to fluctuate, you may find it helpful to adopt a new frame of reference, a new approach that is in tune with the times, a mindset that can help you adapt to the inevitability of change. The zeitgeist of the moment seems to recommend three must-have leadership qualities—agility, innovation and communication. These characteristics enable you to have an open mind, let go of the past and encourage you to recognize where and how elements of unavoidable change might work in your favor.

Forward-thinking leaders have always found opportunity hidden by uncertainty. Hard work and determination alone have never guaranteed success. You must face up to the inevitability of change and own it. Hall of Fame hockey player Wayne Gretzky said it best— “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Communication

As is frequently noted in these posts, cultivating mutually rewarding relationships with clients is the foundation of a good business. Good relationships are built on trust. You open the door by ensuring that your company’s solutions deliver results that exceed client expectations, by going the extra mile to provide superior customer service, including after-sale service and/ or training and when you invite client feedback.

Make it possible for clients to feel that you and your organization are dependable, demonstrate that you value their business and they will be happy to share with you honest feedback that keeps you updated re: any number of changes—how their organizations operate now, shifts in focus and priorities, regulatory updates in their industry, or technological innovations—-factors that may change how your solutions fit their needs.

Communicating regularly with clients represents a competitive advantage because the information you receive can be used to get you out in front of impactful changes. Time and information are money. Conversations with your clients can inspire you to evaluate the feasibility of launching innovations, large scale or incremental, upgrades, or modifications that can position your products and services to more effectively meet client needs and enhance your revenues and long- term viability.

Agility

Let’s step into the agile mindset noted above and acknowledge that fluctuations in the business climate present an opportunity to re-imagine your enterprise and find new ways to deliver value to clients! It has always been true that uncertainty is the only certainty. Your agile mindset will guide you to incorporate a collaborative, cross-functional and communicative workflow style that keeps your organization nimble and responsive to the evolving needs of your clients. In the world of business, the clock never moves backward. You can’t afford to be left behind as the world moves on.

Innovative

Changing circumstances are known to result in new or reimagined products and services coming to market. The most reliable source you can tap into to get ideas about new products, services, or adjustments you can make to your current line is your clients. Be advised, however, that what a client suggests may not be the best change to make—remember that you see the big picture of your business in a way that no one else can.

But from time to time a great idea will surface, perhaps just a small, uncomplicated tweak, that makes your clients more satisfied with how your products and services address their needs. Invite your clients to share the backstory of what they’re facing now and brainstorm how your organization might you make their job easier and less stressful. That’s the real meaning of innovation.

By thoughtfully considering potential product or service modifications you might make, new technological tools you might introduce, or how you can update your delivery model (for example) on a case-by-case basis, you can support innovation, agile practices and beneficial communication with your clients. Best of all, you’ll ensure that your company stays ahead of the curve as you integrate what works to deliver value to your clients now.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Master’s degree students in the Medical Device Design Program at Duke University March 2021

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Perfecting Your Pivot

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If the quintessential American motto is “change is good,” then in the business sector change finds its ultimate expression in the pivot. You have no doubt noticed that business publications often feature reports of a pivot executed by one entrepreneur or another. The pivot is the new American myth, a swashbuckling action-adventure narrative that stars a Luke Skywalker archetype who launches a start-up. If sales start tanking, our brave and brilliant entrepreneur-hero correctly diagnoses the problem, intuits the marketplace zeitgeist and engineers a flawless pivot that not only saves the company from bankruptcy, but carries it to phenomenal success.

These heroes’ journeys are exciting and tremendously appealing but as you know, reality does not unfold like scenes in a movie. What’s lost in the fawning admiration is the cold fact that a pivot is a complex process. Getting it right demands a deep dive into both your data and that of your marketplace. The ability to recognize the story that the data tells and the good judgment to know what to do about it is another requirement. A dose of good luck is the third resource you’ll need.

It may take a couple of disappointing quarterly financial reports to convince you that a change must be made, and soon, to avoid getting trapped in a permanent downward spiral. Once it becomes obvious that corrective action is necessary, your first challenge is to identify which aspects of the business need to change and what might be left in place.

Resist the temptation to assume that major surgery, i.e., a pivot, is the best remedy. Choose the course of action that data indicates is the most specific and least disruptive solution and should have the best chance of successfully turning the company around. The purpose of your research is to discover and confirm growth opportunities and how to either successfully enter a new market or hit the restart button on the market you’re in, by refining your methods. Carefully research the size of potential new target markets, your access to those customers and the competitive landscape.

For example, as you analyze the efficacy of your marketing strategy, you may realize that some combination of ramping up your inbound marketing activities to increase outreach to target customers, reassessing your pricing strategy and/or upgrading pre- and post- sale customer services provided could make a substantial positive impact.

Once you’ve analyzed your business and marketplace data, you would as well be wise to review your company mission and vision statements. Before making any big changes to the purpose or mission of your enterprise, make sure that the new direction of your company will align with your values and guiding principles. Or will your pivot necessitate a rewrite of your vision and/ or mission statements?

Pivot to solve a problem

Analyze your KPIs, with special emphasis on marketing data and revenue streams. Get input from your customer-facing team members and feedback from high-volume customers—both groups have wisdom to share. Every pivot is different, but every pivot must solve a problem. Following your analysis, you can develop your pivot strategy, the roadmap that defines the aspects of your business that you’ll pivot and the aspects that will support the new direction and can remain in place.

Your pivot plan will outline the steps you’ll take to execute the pivot. It should include timelines, resource allocation and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure its success.

As well, encourage yourself to be confident once your decision is made. A pivot is a significant challenge but it is nevertheless a sign of robust strategic thinking and problem solving, essential qualities that support the long-term viability of your enterprise. Signs that a pivot might be necessary include:

  • Insufficient customer base
  • Weak brand equity
  • Unsatisfactory revenue and profit
  • Negative customer feedback
  • Overwhelming competition

Types of Pivot Strategies

Pivots offer customizable options—-there is no one-size-fits-all template. Your company’s pivot may involve a group of small changes that together result in a significant positive impact. Conversely, your pivot may be based on a very visible alteration in your signature product or service that precipitates a re-calibration of your brand and all the ways you market and sell it. Below are five of the most common pivot strategies:

Marketing Pivot: Signals a big change in your company’s core marketing strategy. Pivoting in this instance may include targeting a different audience, using more appropriate outreach channels, re-calibrating your use of inbound and outbound marketing techniques, or adjusting the company’s brand voice and messaging tactics.

Product Pivot: Describes a change of the company’s product or service offerings. Pivoting a product may include altering the product’s ingredients, features, or packaging. In a more dramatic approach, the defining characteristic of your pivot may be the introduction of new product or service lines to provide solutions that are more responsive to customer needs and priorities.

Brand Pivot: A branding pivot strategy entails one or more adjustments to a company’s characteristic image and philosophy. Pivoting a brand may include renaming the company (see Facebook to Meta), editing its mission to serve a new target market, updating the company tagline, or refreshing the visuals, e.g., the logo and/or color scheme used.

Pricing Pivot: In this choice, a company may change the pricing tier in which it has previously operated. For example, a retailer that originally priced in the mid-market tier may conclude that economy pricing will better reflect the perceived value of its products. The expected outcome is a broader customer base that generates greater revenues and increased profits.

Distribution Pivot: Closing all or most of a business’s physical locations in favor of operating in the e-commerce sector is a bold example of a distribution pivot. The strategy involves changing how a company delivers its products and services to consumers. Pivoting your distribution model could include expanding into new geographic markets, adding or discontinuing retailer partners, or introducing the franchise model.

Communicate and monitor

In advance of your venture’s pivot, encourage support by explaining the upcoming changes to stakeholders—employees, customers, investors. Outline the changes you plan to make and clearly articulate how those changes will benefit their relationship with the organization. Schedule videoconference meetings with each key constituency to discuss the pivot and make the case for why it is necessary.

Be certain that your explanation adequately answers the anticipated questions and potential concerns of each group. Consider creating a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet for each stakeholder constituency. Finally, closely monitor the pivot’s progress as reflected in the KPIs you’ve chosen, as well as feedback from key members of your constituencies.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps of Tempe, AZ

Marketing , , 2 Comments

Customer Loyalty = Competitive Advantage

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No doubt about it, being in business is about the customers and nearly all of your important functions as a business leader are customer-driven. Customers are the fuel that sustains your enterprise and they are worth their weight in gold. In exchange for just a few basic necessities that your organization provides—high-quality products and services, pleasant and efficient service end to end and prompt follow-up to whatever questions or problems, chief among them—your customers will be pleased. They’ll reward you by doing more business with you.

Some will become your cheerleaders and happily spread the good news of their positive experience with you. They’ll write glowing reviews and award your company five stars. Not only will they give you repeat business, they’ll also refer their colleagues and grow your list of customers. Good customers are the foundation of a successful enterprise and in particular for small and midsize businesses they are one of your most impactful competitive advantages.

Now, you may have built a strong brand that within your target market commands admirable brand awareness, but it is undeniable that small and midsize entities do not have the powerful brand influence wielded by even regional companies, let alone the multinationals. Furthermore, in the big picture, the products and services offered by Freelancers and other small entities are seldom perceived as unique. For the most part, small and midsize companies are all-too-often uncomfortably close to being considered a mere commodity and more or less interchangeable with competitors. Ouch.

So how can Freelancers and other owner – operators of small entities distinguish themselves and get positioned to thrive in an increasingly globalized marketplace? Fortunately, one of the most attainable and effective competitive advantages you can bring to your brand to rescue it from the taint of mediocrity is the loyalty of your customers. You nurture and sustain that powerful competitive advantage by the customer experience that you (and your team) present. When your organization gives the gift of a first-rate customer experience to those who do business with you, that happy feeling will become the defining memory that customers have of your organization.

A strategy, not an afterthought

You can showcase as competitive advantages any attributes or resources that your business holds, but the particulars of the customer service and experience your organization offers are personally and uniquely yours. What you do, how you do it and how your customers feel as a result will distinguish you from all competitors.

The customer experience you present is an extension of your company values and culture. When your guiding principles direct you to place the customer at the center of how you interpret best practices, you’ll incorporate that perspective into your business decisions, strategic directions and every customer touch-point. The customer service training you provide to customer-facing employees will reflect your standards of customer service best practices. The desired result is a rewarding customer experience that encourages customer loyalty and customer retention.

Products and services that consistently deliver

It is a given that the quality of your products and services is the leading factor in creating customer loyalty. Excellence is the expectation and customers will quickly abandon your organization if its solutions do not meet that standard.

If for some reason a product or service fails (as the customer defines it), your best defense is to respond quickly, deliver an apology that expresses genuine empathy for the inconvenience and provide a well-delivered correction that exceeds customer expectations.

Surprise and delight

It is always good business to thank your customers for their business and show them that you appreciate their confidence in you and your organization. That they choose to do business with you is the most sincere compliment. A thoughtful gesture costs very little and has the power to repay you many times over with customer loyalty, retention and referrals made.

Providing perks or VIP status is one way you can show gratitude to your best customers and it’s known to encourage repeat purchases and create enthusiastic brand advocates. Depending on your product or service line, consider inviting certain customers to have pre-release access to a new product or service. You might offer those customers a small discount in exchange for their inclusion in a case study that you’ll publish or appearing in a social media campaign.

Another way to show gratitude to customers is by sending a hand written note to thank them for their business. A short, simply written thank you note is an elegant and powerful way to express your appreciation for the opportunity to work with them. At the December holidays, remember to send a (secular) holiday card to customers you’ve worked with over the past four or five years.

The little extras you provide are an expression of your guiding principles, an extension of the memorable customer experience that your organization presents and a welcome change of pace from the digital realm, where most business interactions now take place.

Enable community

When your company’s guiding principles point you toward a customer engagement focus that is centered on customers, you won’t limit yourself to one-way broadcasting of company updates. Instead, you’ll spark conversations that have the potential to inspire your customers and motivate them to interact with each other, along with you and your customer-facing employees. Engagement means that customers feel that they’re part of a community, one that welcomes them with bonding activities that can include interesting conversations, receiving cards and personal notes, or gaining access to special product or service offerings.

Because your customers will find it most convenient to have these types of conversations online, take care to participate in social media platforms that first, make this type of communication accessible in terms of text and images, as does Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok and second, that your platform is one that customers are comfortable using.

When you take steps to build and nurture a satisfying and memorable customer experience, you can be certain that your brand will be recognized and appreciated by customers and prospects alike, who will be delighted to do business with your entity again again. Their loyalty will become one of your most powerful competitive advantages.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Talking Your Way into the Sale

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Selling is an inescapable part of life and plays a significant role in your personal and professional sectors. Selling is a foundational life skill and your mastery of it can be a game-changer. When you’d like to get your hands on something that you value, it’s often necessary to sell a decision-maker and persuade him/her to agree that you deserve what you want—the acceptance of your proposal, approval of your promotion, or maybe just agreeing to have Italian food for dinner tonight instead of Mexican. But if the decision-maker declines to give you the green-light, you are left with two choices:

1.) Give up and walk away, perhaps to wait for a favorable outcome that might emerge in the future.

2.) Develop a strategy that might persuade the decision-maker to approve your request. Presenting the right information to the right person can open doors.

Because you are a savvy Freelancer, I am confident that you will not accept no for an answer. Your DNA tells you to climb through a window when the door shuts in your face. Achieving success usually requires a strategy, a road map and a script designed to overcome obstacles and objections. Those of you whose livelihood involves boots-on-the-ground selling must devise a proactive sales strategy, one that is finely attuned to the prospect’s needs, goals, competitive landscape, anticipated objections and budget availability.

In this era of economic uncertainty, prospects are inclined to scrutinize every dollar spent. Selling is more than ever an uphill climb that entails a delicate balance of relationship-building, negotiation and communication skills. Here are five steps you can take to help you persuade prospective clients to spend money when budgets are tight:

1. Stakeholder perspective

Because the most successful sales pitch is personalized and addresses the unique needs and concerns of those who will hear and discuss it, ask your prospect if you might schedule a 10 minute conversation with one or more of the project stakeholders in advance of submitting a proposal and/or having a meeting. At the very least, ask your prospect to supply background info that provides context.

You would be wise to learn, for example, what the stakeholders hope will be the expected impact on the prospect’s organization when the chosen solution is implemented? You would also be wise to ask how the stakeholders define success and, on the other hand, find out what worries them?

Your purpose is to get an indication of the perhaps unexpressed expectations that stakeholders have for the project. Once you figure out what’s going on behind the scenes , you’ll incorporate that information into your written proposal and talking points for the meeting.

2. Articulate benefits

Again, what do the stakeholders really want to see happen when the chosen solution is implemented? Is your solution expected to improve the company’s competitive position, create excellent PR and significantly enhance brand awareness and reputation? Or is your solution expected to position the company for growth or expansion?

Your proposal and sales pitch should clearly describe your solution, detail how it will achieve the prospect’s goal or resolve the problem and how it will also satisfy stakeholder expectations and concerns. Provide examples of tangible and intangible benefits that your solution will deliver and what the results will mean in terms of ROI.

The idea is to make it as easy as possible for your prospect, the stakeholders and the final decision-maker to agree that your solution is the ideal choice. When spending money is an issue, focusing your proposal and sales pitch talking points on the value your solution delivers and the return on investment derived is the best strategy.

3. “Now is the ideal time”

When persuading others to take action, it is wise to create a sense of urgency. The background info that you learn in pre-meeting talks with stakeholders and your prospect will help you to communicate the cost of lost opportunity if the stakeholders and decision-maker fail to step up and approve the necessary funding for the project. Remind the stakeholders that enabling the project to move forward with your proposed solution will not only ensure that the problem will be resolved or the goal achieved, but the organization will reap substantial benefits as well.

Consider how you can persuasively describe how delaying a decision or under-funding a credible solution will be more costly in the long term. How can you demonstrate to your prospect and the stakeholders that they can’t afford to not take advantage of your solution?

4. Anticipate objections

Again, your off-the-record talk with the prospect, along with conversations you have with stakeholders before you submit a proposal and/or sit down for a meeting, will likely give you insights into any objections that lurk. In fact, you should directly ask if anyone opposes the project and what causes that hesitation.

You can take on matters that concern the naysayers in your proposal and in your talking points for the meeting, but it’s wise to be prepared for anyone who is not convinced by initial attempts to quell objections. I recommend the “feel, felt, found” technique, which shows empathy as you present a rebuttal:

  • I understand how you could feel that the solution proposed might not be entirely effective for this aspect of the problem/ goal.
  • Others have also felt that the solution proposed might not perform well in such challenging circumstances.
  • However, those who were initially reluctant, once they became aware of the documented efficacy of this solution, gained the confidence to move forward and found that the desired outcome was achieved.

5. Propose a logical next step

Once the objections have been settled and removed or, if there were none, once the benefits have been accepted by the stakeholders as likely to occur, move to conclude your meeting with a suggestion of next steps. Honestly, you want to get out of the room before someone gets the bright idea to raise a red herring issue that undoes your deal. Your purpose is to help the decision-maker and stakeholders see themselves successfully implementing your solution.

Ti that end, you might confirm the project timetable and ask when your proposed solution will be implemented (and note that your organization can adhere to the prospect’s preferred schedule). You might also ask if, since the stakeholders agree that your solution will be effective, s/he who has the authority to sign the contract would like to do so now, or on a date in the near future? Preparing a hard copy contract for your (we hope!) soon-to-be client to review and sign is another way to politely and firmly steer the decision-maker and stakeholders toward confirming that they’ll choose you.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933-2021) and American actress Jean Seberg (1938-1979) in Breathless (France, 1960). Directed by Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022)