Tags
Market Strategy
How Smart Businesses Thrive In Uncertain Times
“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” – Warren Buffett Right now, fear is rippling across every market. It might feel natural – even prudent – to tighten your belt and pull back on sales and marketing. But when the economy feels shaky and the future uncertain, is cutting […]
Wise Up with Alternative Data
Alternative data levels the playing field between investors and corporate insiders. Venture capitalists leverage alternative data to provide them with crucial information about companies’ performance. Wall Street research analysts can monitor business operations throughout the world without ever stepping foot inside the business. “Alternative data is information gathered from non-traditional information sources. Analysis of alternative […]
Customer Patterns, Marketplace Disruptions
Businesses are driven by customer demand. Customers have expectations that are patterned by what they see and hear around them, what they experience in their personal and professional life, and by financial and social influences. The process of exploring these patterns can enable business leaders to prepare for opportunities and avert disasters. Every market has […]
For A Family Enterprise – Image Is Everything
Legacy is a family business. For family enterprises built upon generations of hereditary wealth, elements that comprise their legacy are both tangible and intangible. Beyond the value on the balance sheet, there is value in the family name. John A. Davis, chairman of the Cambridge Family Enterprise Group, expands on the idea to say that […]
Why Impact Investments Matter
Merchants of Death. The MOD Squad in Thank You for Smoking has long been the abstract idea of the types of companies that some investors avoid. Portfolio managers will circumvent businesses which attract negative marketplace sentiment in fear of the potential backlash from investors. Recent negativity towards weapons manufacturers, health and alternative medicine groups and […]
Measuring Quality
How you define and measure quality matters. Organizational leadership within a single entity may define quality differently. Does your organization have a clear definitional understanding of quality and a well-defined approach to measure and continuously improve the excellence of your products or services? Adopting a “continuous improvement” mentality only excels when the voice and the […]
Satisfying Your Customers
Do consumers perceive and appreciate your company as a brand or as a specific product provider? Understanding how your customers see you can have an impact on their overall satisfaction. The marketplace may react differently when end-users consider the business to be product driven versus consumer driven. This concept is more than a marketing nuance. […]
Do Your Customers Recommend You?
Business owners will be familiar with the old adage that a happy customer will tell 1-2 people, but an unhappy customer will tell seven. Know your organization’s NPS. If one customer is passionate about solving a particular problem, there are likely others who are less vocal yet have similar opinions. Customers are more enabled than […]
All Influencers Are Not Created Equal
To effectively measure source influence, it is essential to understand the ratio of influencers to followers on an individual social channel. Large followings do not always equate engagement. Businesses should measure how many reactions influencers receive when sharing brand messages as a percentage of their overall followers. An online channel that engages with an influencer […]
Never Underestimate the Power of a Good Message
There is a new expectation concerning the right to access information to build a purchasing decision. Businesses may recognize the need to be active in social media, yet many do not truly understand how to do so successfully and how they should be measuring their involvement effectively. Businesses need to know what persuades customers or […]
Why Customers Control The Value of Your Brand
Marketplace intelligence begins with listening– to your customers, the market, industry experts, your competitors, and anyone that is mentioning your brand online. Business leaders and companies must measure the impact of social influence on their brand presence. This means mining, managing, and analyzing vast amounts of data across millions of digital sources to understand customers […]
Don’t Assume Businesses Know What Their Customers Want
When a business operates with limited knowledge for what their audience appreciates, valuable indicators that validate marketplace strategies or signal that it may be time to pivot are lost. Recently, I was asked by a private equity group to speak to an executive leadership team from one of their portfolio companies, a specialty beverage company. […]