The Competitive Advantage

November 15, 2016

Planning for revenue growth in 2017: Part 2 of 6

As many of us are sitting down to start thinking and planning for next year, we’re posting this 6-part blog series highlighting a number of proven marketing & sales tactics that you can employ to help with revenue growth in 2017. Last week, we kicked-off this series discussing effective use of the telephone.

This week… Start Blogging.

November 8, 2016

Planning for revenue growth in 2017: Part 1 of 6

It’s getting to be that time of year… when we start looking ahead to next year and thinking about and planning for how we’re going to move our business forward (and upward). To help with that, we present this 6-part blog series. Each week, we’ll outline a different – and fairly easy to implement – activity that you can employ to get a leg up on revenue growth in 2017.

October 31, 2016

Revenue Growth? Try the ‘5% Challenge’… it’s Brilliant!

I’ve known John Boyens for more than 15 years now. John is the Founder of the Boyens Group and is one of the top sales and management consultants and trainers in the country.

John recently delivered a presentation on revenue growth at a conference (see photo) where the topic was his “5% Challenge!” The premise of his challenge is that several types of small, incremental gains (5% gains, to be exact!) can lead to significant revenue growth.

As I looked at the details of the challenge, I couldn’t help but think that they were a great fit for our industry, as well.

Challenge 1: Improve client retention by 5%.

Look at your business over the past 5 years. What percentage of your clients in 2012 returned in 2013? And what percentage of your 2013 clients returned in 2014. And so on… and so on. Imagine if you could have retained just 5% more of your client base… what would that mean for your business?

October 26, 2016

Stop Setting Stupid Sales Goals… Think Small Instead

I had a boss (the company Founder) several years ago who would set the annual sales goals for our company… without much regard for what was really happening in the marketplace. The trouble was – and no surprise here – that he set ridiculously high goals (think 50%+ growth or more). Then, the rest of the team would jump through hoops to re-do all of the plan and budgets… all the while knowing that there was no way in hell we would come close to achieving those goals.

That’s NOT how to do it.

October 18, 2016

Your Key Accounts Need More Love!

Here are 6 ways to make that happen.

In the 4+ years we’ve been open, I don’t think I’ve spoken with a single research firm that doesn’t have 40-50-60% (or more) of its revenue tied up with just 3, 4 or 5 clients. Losing a small client is bad enough, but losing one of these ‘Key Accounts’ can be devastating. So, what can you do to ensure this doesn’t happen to you?

October 11, 2016

The Secret to Sales & Marketing Success? It’s Right in Front of You.

Maximize revenue growth by leveraging your sales database.

There are two kinds of sales prospects – those you know (and who know you) and those you have yet to meet. However, too many sales & marketing initiatives focus on trying to uncover more of the latter.

I submit, however, that the opposite (focusing on those you know) is a more efficient and more effective way to grow revenue.

Think of it this way… you’ve spent a ton of time, money and effort trying to increase the number of contacts in your sales database. Now it’s time to leverage all of that work.

October 2, 2016

Should you ever walk away from revenue?

Yes, unfortunately. In fact, there are two circumstances under which you should ‘fire’ a client… and two when you should walk away from the opportunity in the first place.

Recently, I was chatting with a senior-level contact at a mid-sized research firm located in the Northeast. We were just getting caught up with each other and talking about business in general. During the conversation, he said that his business was off a bit this year and that one of the reasons for it was that he had to walk away from one of his largest clients (i.e. he ‘fired’ them). He said the stress on his staff of working with them just wasn’t worth it any more.

Which got me to thinking about those times in our industry when – as much as you hate to – you have to walk away from the revenue because it’s the right thing to do for your firm…

September 27, 2016

Innovation for Innovation’s Sake?

Early last year, I wrote a post about a blue-tooth frying pan that notifies you when it’s time to flip your pancakes. Silly!

Well… the “innovators” are at it again! In the October 2016 issue of Fast Company, there’s a small article on Nike’s new self-tying shoes! Whuut?!

Now, if these were being developed to help frail seniors or those with physical disabilities… I kind of get it. But they weren’t. They seem to have a somewhat less noble purpose, according to a Nike engineer, “You can feel it tighten, hear the motor run, and see the laces [move]. It’s a shoe that ignites the senses.” Seriously?!