Ever wonder why strategic implementation is so tricky? Why is it that best made plans go awry during implementation? You are NOT alone. After speaking to thousands of executives from across the country, I have learned it is the number one concern regarding strategic planning. However, it is NOT the number one problem in strategic …
Here are fourteen things you should know: How much revenue each contributes Rank of customers by revenue Rank of customers by unit volume Number of customer orders and trends (ordering more, less, same?) Average revenue per order (hint: frequent small orders are often unprofitable) Average number of units per order (perhaps you can get them …
I don’t sign my email with a smiley face but I know a very well regarded Fortune 500 leader who does! By the time we reach middle management and above we are used to the grind and a bit cynical about making lemonade from lemons, and looking for rainbows and four leaf clover. I get …
Ever feel like a guinea pig on a tread mill? No matter how fast you run you never go anywhere? Turn up the heat, run faster, work harder, sweat more and you are still in the same place. Frustrating isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be so much more preferable to be rich and famous like R. …
Many of you have heard me speak of a book called Islands of Profit in a Sea of Red Ink. Written by Jonathan Byrnes, an MIT professor and a colleague on the speaking circuit, it shares alarming insights into the profitability of our customers. For example, after significant empirical study he found only 40% of customers contribute …
As leaders of our companies, the buck stops with us. Yet clearly, nothing would happen if we couldn’t delegate. So how do we decide how to allocate our precious time? In fact, statistics say that executives are making more decisions (since we are running leaner) and have less time to do so (an image of …
As the leader of your business, most things start with you. You are working incredibly hard to keep the business performing at the highest possible level. It is likely you wear many hats and juggle a lot of balls—all at the same time. Leaders are making more decisions than ever with even less time available …
As regular blog readers you may know that from time to time we publish interviews with amazing leaders that have accomplished a track record of high performance while leaving a legacy. Some of you ask how do I get interviews with such high profile people like Dan Cathy of Chick-fil-A or Joe Scarlett of the …
For the last few years my message has been that growth is not only possible, but preferable, even considering the hardships we have to overcome to achieve it. Sound obvious? And yet, far too many companies are exhausted trying to fix problems caused by today’s market with traditional approaches, reluctant to change their attitudes and …
You may be aware that while I help companies do strategic planning, I really don’t like to use the term, “strategic planning”. Seems odd, doesn’t it? The reason is that far too many people are in the strategic planning business and, in my humble opinion, it is confused with meeting facilitation and/or process. Let me …
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