Just wipe it off and good as new!

In the various social networking groups that I belong to I often see people talking about “strong” products. The argument goes that success in the marketplace is reliant upon the importance of having software with strong feature sets using current technology.

I always find this to be an interesting point of view.

Interesting, but wrong.

In general, customers don’t purchase products solely based on strong features and current technology. Most companies routinely select products that are not considered the best on features alone because of other considerations in the decision-making process.

These considerations usually involve evaluation upon the 5 Ps:

• Product – This is the solution and focuses on benefits and values.
• Price – This is fairly obvious but can be subtle by including different pricing options to make it easy to purchase. Pricing needs to be competitive and reasonable.
• Promotion – This is the amount and type of information that you provide for prospects to ease decision making.
• Place – This is where and how you get the product into the customers’ hands and can include a channel, direct sales and retail among other options.
• People – This is the factor that defines the relationship between the customer and the product.

If we evaluate a company (and product) such as Salesforce.com, you will find many folks that believe in the superiority of their product because of their success. The argument goes “they are successful, so their product must be the best”. Their success as a company has led people to believe in the strength of the product.

This logic is inverted and, with some digging under the hood and comparing Salesforce.com at the product feature level with comparative products, people quickly find that is not the case.

This is not to say that their product is defective but rather, like all other software products, it has value and benefits in certain areas and deficiencies in other areas.

Salesforce.com as a company grew quickly not because of reliance on the single P of product  but because they performed extremely well on the other elements - in particular, price, promotion and place.

Think about this: most software purchases are run by accounting and IT groups who get invovled to slow down the process and introduce barriers to any single vendor.

By pricing and placing and promoting the Salesforce.com product the way they did – in a time where others were selling software in a traditional fashion (requiring accounting and IT group input), Salesforce positioned themselves to have a quick go – no go decision made at the departmental level within departmental spedning limits.

No accounting or IT involvement needed and, most likely, those other departments only found out about the purchase after the fact and entrenchment had begun.

This allowed Salesforce to turn sales faster and make more sales possible in a compressed amount of time as compared to the traditional solutions.

As an interesting aside, because of their tremendous success, Salesforce has created a situation where they are now at a crossroads as they continue their drive for bigger and more. Will they transition outside of their core business successfully (like Nike) or will they fragment into a confusing mess (like Microsoft)?

Putting aside Salesforce’s current challenges, let’s talk about the flip side to how Salesforce acheived their success.

What happens to a company that has so-so product and they fail to execute exceedingly well on the other 4 Ps?

As a specific example, what would happen to a company that had such so-so products (either by missing the mark of customer desires or by not keeping product features and technology current) but instead of executing like Salesforce, they:

1. Priced themselves too high (price) – either by price increases or simply not paying attention to the competition.
2. Dramatically shifted how customers are introduced to the products (place) – this could be by eliminating or alienating a current distribution method (retail stores, channel partners, etc.).
3. Replaced quality support with untrained staff (people) – this could be a result of shifting distribution methods or not investing properly in customer service.

I think in this type of situation, a vendor might see some short-term bottom line gains until the marketplace adjusts to the new reality. After such time, the long-term outcome for this company would begin looking bleak.

Let’s focus on just one of the elements above – specifically how a weak placement would impact a vendor. In particular, let’s say a vendor organization decides to restructure their current distribution method and start using direct sales efforts that either completely replaces their channel or actively competes with it with no regard to properly communicating their plans with their channel.

The immediate impact should be a short-term revenue increase as the shift reallocates monies that formerly went to support channel activities in to the vendor’s coffers.

I say “should be” because changes of this nature can create a short-term downfall as well during the transition as existing channel members would be distracted, confused and otherwise spending too much time absorbing changes as opposed to traditional activities such as marketing, selling and servicing new accounts.

And long-term? The situation is less certain for the vendor.

This all hinges on the fact that channels exist for many reasons – most of which are economic in nature. (Some might naively feel that the channel is only in place to show brochures and conduct sales demonstrations but this is a short-sighted view at best.)

Channels serve many critical functions – particularly with vendors that are weak in multiple facets of the 5 Ps. A strong channel supplements and complements the vendor’s activities to ensure proper penetration and exposure of the products.

When discussing the effectiveness of a channel, it is important to start by understanding the fundamental idea that channel business owners have a high economic interest to sell and service their selected vendor’s product. This is their livelihood and their financial and personal goals are intrinsically tied to doing a great job in representing the selected vendor’s products.

Typically, this vested interest goes far beyond those of a standard employee in a similar direct sales role. In fact, most vendors actively discourage consolidation in channels as one plus one usually equals less than 2 as former owners become employees.

In such a situation where consolidation is actively or passively encouraged by vendor policies, a fragile situation can occur in which big channel partners are dramatically impacted by even the smallest shifts in the vendor’s channel.

In such situations, such partners built upon consolidation can be placed in precarious situations that jeopardize their solvency if the vendor makes moves such as cutting margins or shifting to direct sales. This is a dangerous situation for everyone involved – the channel partner, the vendor and the customers.

The other long-term consideration is that when you eliminate (or being competing with) a channel and do not consider the costs of replacing these functions, there will be unintended consequences across the customer’s perception of the vendor and the vendor’s products.

This will quickly start to erode efforts in creating or continuing vendor brand development as new employees at the vendor with less education and understanding of the products are placed on the front lines in replacement of long-standing channel partner employees with countless years of real-world experience and understanding of customer business needs.

Ultimately, the results of this type of shift is robbing tomorrow for today’s gains.

These types of situations look good for the short-term but the long-term is uncertain at best and a train wreck at worst.

This is just one example and, of course, many companies without strong products exist without a channel or a weak placement component. However, their success is contingent upon them executing exceedingly well on the other elements.

In our example above, the hypothetical company is looking at deficiencies in four of the five Ps: product, price, place, people.

If I was a shareholder of such a company, I would be concerned.

In summary, the five Ps have been a long established tenet of successful businesses. Ignore them at your own peril.

She has taken excellent care of him and their family.

She took on the responsibilities of being a homemaker – handling the finances, keeping up the house, cooking the meals, taking the kids to school, ensuring the kids grow up healthy and strong.

It’s a lot of work to make those tasks look easy.

If you ask her, she would say that she did it willingly – knowing that she fulfilled an essential role in the partnership. She took on these responsibilities and chores to ensure the overall well-being of the family.

She’s no saint though and wouldn’t suggest that she is. Just as he has benefitted from her taking on these tasks to free him to pursue other responsibilities for the family, she has benefitted as well.

He appreciated her playing this role and I can tell you without revealing any big secret that he wouldn’t be where he is today without her.

And man oh man … let me tell you – he has come a long way from his humble beginnings.

A lot of our mutual friends have commented for years on what a great relationship it is. A true partnership where they have built a wonderful life together.

Sounds perfect, right?

It was.

Early last year, he came to me and said he was re-thinking their relationship. Apparently she isn’t fulfilling his needs any more. Upon pressing him, it goes further than that. He feels that she is actively holding him back from reaching his life goals and objectives.

I can see how that happens after 20 years. Particularly in this fast-changing world we live in.

The problem is that instead of talking to her and figuring out a game plan that they both could live with, he has slowly started making changes in their lives to improve his own situation with no regard to her feelings or her life goals and objectives.

He changed the limit on their credit cards to ensure she is in line financially with his expectations. He replaced her leased car with a bicycle. He took over some of her closet space as his own.

Sure … he has his reasons for these moves ranging from sensical to downright bizarre (such as “other wives are asking for smaller closet space”).

Regardless.

The list of changes goes on and he isn’t done yet. He keeps making these unilateral moves that seem designed to weaken her and strengthen him.

Some of our mutual friends suggest that this all started when he began hanging out with a new crowd of single guys – most of which have not been in a mutually beneficial relationship for any real length of time.

And these new advisors don’t really understand why he can’t do whatever he wants however he wants whenever he wants to achieve his goals. They don’t see why he should have to consult with her – after all, they are *his* goals and dreams and they don’t see why her goals and dreams would impact that.

These guys are great, smart guys but, because of their backgrounds, our group of friends don’t think they have a solid understanding of the mutual benefits of what can be accomplished with a strong partnership and why he still needs her around. They speak the language but they just don’t seem to have the proper perspective.

I mean, let’s face facts here.

I love my buddy but he’s kind of let himself go to pot in a few areas.

He is grossly overweight these days, he smokes like a chimney and has developed a nasty, persistent cough. Even more dangerous to his future well-being, he’s never been a believer in keeping current on anything.

Don’t get me wrong – he’s a great guy in a lot of areas and has a lot to offer but I think he needs to do an honest assessment. And part of that assessment will show that she has been a key part of helping him succeed in spite of any perceived short-comings. And I would guess that she is critical to acheiving his new ambitions as well.

And what about her?

Well … it’s true that she has let herself get a little complacent over the years. She settled in to a comfortable rut and seems pretty happy with the status quo even though the world around her is changing (although she doesn’t like to hear that).

Putting that aside, she is still fit, looking great and sharp as a tack.

A lot of guys would love to be in a relationship with her and she regularly gets propositioned out of the blue. (I’m not suggesting these other guys are any better than my friend but the excitement of the pursuit and the chance of something new and better is very appealing to her.)

I don’t think he or his single friends that have not have a long-term partnership experience have thought that through all the way.

And with all the changes that he has been forcing upon her, she has become extremely uncertain about their future together. I’m sure that he’s heard it same as me – she is beginning to respond to some of the overtures and is flirting around with other guys. It’s just a matter of time before she does something irreversible.

Putting all that aside, I’m worried about their kids. I asked him point blank about this – what is he going to do about their kids they’ve had together?

He was pretty clear that he feels that they are his kids – not hers. That was shocking to me.

I’ve been to their family functions. They have a LOT of kids together. Some of the kids love their mom deeply. And, for sure, some love dad better. Regardless, the kids are going to be effected by these changes and I’m not sure it will turn out the way he thinks.

I guess we’ll see.

One thing is for certain though – if things keep going the way that they have been, it’s unlikely that she is going to have any more kids with him. As I said, odds are that she’ll be taking up with another guy and probably wind up with kids with her new man.

Look – I’m not naïve about the difficulties of marriage. I completely understand my buddy’s fear of the future and his desire to change in response to what he sees coming. I get it.

But … I think he’s going about it all wrong. Because he hasn’t had the courage to sit down and talk with his wife about his fears and his goals, he is risking losing her completely.

And it’s going to happen soon. Very soon.

Putting all appearances aside based on his actions, I know he truly doesn’t want that. Ok, he may not love her like he used to but he is the first one to admit that he still needs her to keep up the household and take care of the kids so they are happy and healthy.

(As an aside, I get the sense that he doesn’t understand exactly how much work it is to keep the current set of kids happy and healthy. He thinks she should be cranking out new ones all the time and can’t understand how she can have a fulfilling life without a regular batch of new kids. It seems to me that there is a lot of work just taking care of existing kids and plenty of opportunities to nurture them but I’m not sure he understands or believes.)

Do things need to change for both of them to have a prosperous, happy future? Yes. Absolutely. No doubt about it. Both sides will need to change and adapt to the current realities.

My recommendation to my friend is pretty simple: sit down face-to-face and plan a future together … or expect a future apart.

And don’t just talk.

Listen too. And be prepared to change your plans based on what you hear.

It’s simply not reasonable to re-define the relationship at this stage without any consideration to her dreams and goals.

Bare minimum, he has to understand that adopting a policy of steadily changing the rules without explaining or discussing them makes him seem insensitive, irrational and irresponsible. It really paints him in a bad light to her and to all their mutual friends and to the kids.

Personally, I wouldn’t treat anyone like that – particularly someone that has stood by me for years. I think it shows a serious lack of character on my friend’s part and it flies in the face of the great guy that I know he is and strives to be.

Either way, I can guarantee that if he keeps acting as if her views don’t matter, she will leave him. Soon.

I hope that doesn’t happen. I believe strongly that the two of them can achieve more by staying and working together than they can by drifting apart.

The ball is in his court now. Let’s see what he does with it.

For all I know, maybe he really doesn’t care. Maybe he has grown set on succeeding without her?

We’ll see.

If you have any advice for the troubled couple, please share it below.

[Here's a link to the video for those interested: WARNING FOR LANGUAGE AND THEMES THAT MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME. Please don't click if you are one of those folks that get offended at such things. In fact, no one should click on it. I'm asking you not to.]

I think the themes are appropriate as the next few articles are going to focus on the Sage Transformation journey.

What exactly is the “Sage Transformation” journey?

From what I can tell (and please understand that the following is just my opinion and is not endorsed, confirmed, approved or in any other way agreed upon by anyone at Sage), at its core, the Sage Transformation journey is a plan designed to help Sage respond to the rapidly changing landscape of software publishing.

It includes many different elements including re-branding, introduction of subscription pricing, re-organization efforts, direct sales, closer interaction with end user customers, improved cross-selling, connected services and many more. We’ll cover some of these topics in the coming days but for now, let’s keep our focus on the big picture.

To me, the big picture boils down to this: Sage isn’t going to lie down and fade away as the world changes around them.

They are taking steps to be more pro-active to ensure their survival and prosperity in the coming years.

That appeals to the competitive side of my nature. To me, Sage has always been rather conservative and slow-moving in responding to things.

For good, bad or ugly, they have shown that they are willing to move … and move fast.

Realize that I recommend CRM solutions for a living (Sage CRM naturally ), so to me this makes a lot of sense. Long standing organizations and even entire industries are slowly being marginalized as the efficiency and effectiveness of business over the Internet keeps changing the economic landscape. (For more on this, click here.)

If you aren’t responding … and responding fast, you are limiting your future.

The challenge for Sage is two-fold:

1. Sage has historically been a (mostly) pure channel sales and service driven organization.

2. Sage has historically grown through acquisition of products and their channel representatives.

This history of growth has resulted in a channel that – like most things in life – falls prey to the Pareto Principle. Simply put, this principle states that 20% of the channel accounts for 80% of the sales. Flipping that around, 80% of the channel accounts for very few sales.

If we really want to be harsh, we can assume Sturgeon’s Law is in effect. Sturgeon’s Law says that 90% of anything is crap.

So – what does an organization like Sage do to reconcile the existing channel with the desire to move aggressively to assert control over their fate?

The answer is complicated.

There are reasons that publishers have traditionally used channels and most of those reasons have to do with the fundamental economics of software publishing and the sales process.

Here’s the bad news, sunshine: the Internet has dramatically changed both the economics and the sales process.

We live in an era where customers can – and routinely do – gather their own research from vendors – white papers, case studies, videos, comparison sites, pricing matrixes, web sites, self-running demonstrations, you name it.

Does it still make sense for a channel partner to get the sale for a customer that signs up, swipes their credit card and starts using the application immediately? Probably not.

The part that is still in question is that last bit.

There aren’t too many businesses just yet that can start using an ERP or CRM system without some assistance.

Knowing this, Sage needs to move carefully to ensure that the channel remains mostly intact as they move forward.  Without the channel partners and the certified consultants available, the infrastructure collapses.

Imagine if every Toyota dealer disappeared over night. Or switched allegiances to Honda.

It wouldn’t be long before Toyota owners and future potential Toyota owners began to experience frustration and look elsewhere for their next car.

Bottom line: it’s a balancing act as we all move into the future.

What’s going to be important for both Sage and the channel partners?

Sage needs to communicate their needs more clearly and directly. Up to date, they have been communicating their message through a series of policy changes and strategic and tactical changes.

I don’t think that’s enough. And I don’t think that’s fair, reasonable or right with respect to the current channel partners.

There are thousands of partners – whether in the 80% or the 20% is irrelevant for this point – that have been loyal, dedicated Sage partners for decades. They deserve the truth and they deserve to be treated like the intelligent, loyal group of individuals that they are.

They may not appreciate the message – particularly the 80% – but they will understand it and it will end the unproductive what if games.

The most important point here (to me): they all deserve to be told the hard, cold facts and not to be slowly marginalized as Sage makes the necessary moves to re-invent itself.

I’m not suggesting that is the goal of Sage but it’s easy to see why many partners feel this way. So … let’s fix that please, Sage?

Now then … what’s important for the channel partners?

Partners need to realize what is going on here. It’s not an “us vs them” issue at hand.

I look around at the Sage channel policies and commissions and I compare them to other software vendors and guess what? The grass isn’t greener in the other pastures.

All the software publishers are making similar moves and setting similar policies (or even more demanding policies) for partners to continue receiving margins.

I would suggest that you sit down for a long weekend and evaluate where you are, where our industry is and where you want to be in three years. Five years. Ten years.

And then? Move forward. Execute. Create your future.

Re-ignite that entrepreneurial spirit that you had when you started your practice. Get hungry again.

Just as Sage has woken up and is moving, you have to do the same. If you don’t, you will be left behind, run over, marginalized, etc.

And if you haven’t taken the opportunity yet – take a look at the vehicles that are in place to help us transform our businesses:

• Sage Fast Track for Marketing is having a new enrollment period. I cannot recommend this enough for those in the channel that want to stay competitive. I will be writing more about that in the next few days.
• Sage Firm of the Future program has some upcoming classes. I promise you that if you attend one of these sessions and apply the principles, you will receive 3 – 5 times the attendance fees back within the first twelve months.
• 90 Minds / OASIS is a group of resellers that form a loose collaboration to share technical, marketing, sales, competitive information to improve the individual members’ situations and help ensure the customer satisfaction. Request to join today! (ignore the fact that it seems to be MAS 90 only)
• The LinkedIn Sage Partners group is an essential element for active partners to collaborate with like-minded individuals and share the good, bad and ugly. You may not like social networking. I “get it” but too bad. Unless you are checking out and retiring in the next year or two, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage by not joining this group.

In closing, unlike the protagonist in The Wall, I would suggest you have a much more positive path in front of you.

The future is what you make of it unless you sit back and let others define it for you.

Sage isn’t sitting back. What are you going to do?

The checkered flag is mine!

Dan Wilzoch, Head Honcho of the Sage CRM Group, has been making regional visits lately to meet with Sage channel partners and to discuss the future of the Sage CRM solutions – Sage CRM and Saleslogix.

I was fortunate enough to attend the roadshow in Chicago on 02/23/12. Dan was accompanied by Frank Downes, Brian Potter and Brian Neirby for the well-attended event (roughly 40 attendees).  While there were some points of contention, overall, I was pleased with what I heard.

Most impressive was the bold, take no prisoners attitude expressed by Wilzoch. To me, this is a breath of fresh air and gets my blood flowing.

I am a big believer that attitude, not aptitude determines your altitude (thanks to Max Sacks for that quote).

A fundamental truth of software applications: there is no perfect solution for every business. Shocking, right? If you accept that truth, then success comes down to the team with the better strategy and execution.

Sage has a great strategy – working with a strong channel of extremely talented individuals to market and sell and support the Sage CRM products.

There have been some hiccups lately in execution of this approach by Sage but overall Wilzoch’s message was strongly partner-centric. The last 60 minutes or so of the roadshow consisted of Dan fielding questions and queries with refreshing directness. After responding to each point, he would re-state “Ok – what can we do for you?”.

I greatly appreciate Dan’s “Ok – what can we do for you?” approach. He wasn’t making bold, outrageous comments or suggesting sweeping changes. He was talking about a fundamental connection between human beings that resonated nicely.

It goes further than that though.

Asking a question like “ok – what can we do for you?” over and over like that begs the reverse question “ok – what can we do for Sage?”.

Maybe I’m alone in that thought but if we are partners – true partners – we have to ask that question of ourselves.

As a partner, what can we do for Sage? How can we help them sell more software? After all, doesn’t helping them, help us as well? And, more importantly, if we believe in the software, doesn’t it help our customers?

I believe in Sage CRM. I believe that small and medium-sized businesses are struggling to do more with less. I believe CRM is the answer to these problems.

How can I do better at getting that message out there? Helping more customers? Helping Sage? And, of course, helping my firm?

I don’t have all the answers to that one but leaving the roadshow left me more determined than ever to get my ass in gear with my own marketing efforts and spreading the gospel of Sage CRM.

We’ll see how it goes in the coming months and years but, one thing is for certain, my future will be in my hands and not anyone else’s. And isn’t that why I started my own business? And why I’m proud to be a part of a small business? I’m sure many of you reading this feel the same.

In summary, Dan Wilzoch clearly drew the line in the sand at the roadshow: we aren’t settling for where we are – we are going to kick it up a notch and start to make sales.

I applaud this attitude and encourage Sage to have more of these types of events.

Anything missing from this before I drop it in the mail?

I’m going to keep this one short and sweet.

Like a lot of folks, I’m drowning in information every day – phone calls, emails, appointments, meetings, social networks, you name it. I’m sure regular readers of this blog are in the same boat.

So …

If you email me and ask me to call you … or even if you aren’t asking me to call but there might be a chance that I will call … how freaking hard is it to include a signature line that includes the best way to contact you?

Preferrably a phone number – right there at the bottom of your email.

It could not be any simpler and it takes no time to set up.

Oh yes … I could pull up my favorite CRM system and look up your record and your phone number but why should I have to? If I’m staring at your email, it should be there.

I can’t think of a single reason why it wouldn’t be.

All businesses serve two functions: marketing and innovation (thanks to Peter Drucker for that truth).

Your email is a form of marketing and it says a lot about your character and how easy you want to make it for others to reach you and work with you.

Do yourself – and your prospects and customers – a favor. Include your damn contact information.

And every day the paperboy brings more ...

If you are like me, you probably get way too many emails each day.

Some of them – from co-workers, customers, prospects, your spouse – absolutely need to be reviewed. Ok … maybe “absolutely” is the wrong word for some co-workers, customers and prospects, but you get the idea.

A lot of them, again if you are like me, are digests, summaries, information from various sources. Personally, I’m subscribed to more than a few blogs, marketing lists, LinkedIn Digests, Facebook feeds, Google Alerts, etc.

And I shouldn’t forget about the three (more?) different feeds from Wayne Schulz’s different properties!

There is no problem with all these information sources … if you are actually reading them and getting value from them.

If there are certain feeds that you read religiously and rely on as great information sources to guide your actions (think of them as a new world version of reading the daily newspaper), then these are keepers.

But what about the rest of them?

You know … the ones that just seem to pile up in your inbox and give you that twinge of “man … I really need to make time to read those”.

I was recently given a great suggestion by the one and only Ed Kless.

It was so simple, so damn stupid simple that I almost blew it off.

Here it is: Unsubscribe.

Shocking, right?

Just unsubscribe from those sources that you don’t rely on and don’t regularly read. Most of them are available at the originating  source so … let go.

So you miss a post or two? So what? Life goes on.

Besides – you are probably missing them anyway as they stack up in your inbox.

Getting rid of them will do nothing but boost your productivity and will have a side benefit of eliminating the twinges of remorse of not finding the time to read them.

You no longer need to find a lazy Saturday to go through them. Reclaim your days and peace of mind!

Some might suggest that it’s no big deal to delete them. I would suggest that attitude is much like having a newspaper delivered that you never read. Sure – you can just take them out to the recycling bin every once in awhile but, in the meantime, they pile up and clutter up your space.

Unsubscribe – save yourself the hassle.

Part of the reason why this simple suggestion took a bit longer than necessary for me to act upon was the old view that unsubscribing from a list lets them know that you are a legit email address. The concern is that will bring more and more junk to your inbox.

I think that was true years ago but with new and improved spam guards and spam laws, it is no longer true.

So … take this simple advice and free yourself by unsubscribing from those distracting sources.

PS. If you found this article of interest, please subscribe in the box on the right.

I'm the guy with the white t-shirt - do I stand out?

I recently read a great article by Jason Blumer on the importance of creative pricing and getting out of the time and materials business.

It was a tad overlong for my infant-like attention span (think: “and to summarize my position, I would like to say … oooh something shiny! Pretty! Uhm, what was I saying?”) but well worth the read and I encourage everyone to give it a shot.

Jason drives home some great points about the importance of aligning goals through strategic pricing (aka pricing on purpose, aka value pricing, aka goal-oriented pricing) and all of the surrounding issues.

With me, he’s preachin’ to the choir and, of course, the choir always loves the good preachin’. Lay it on me, Mr. Blumer!

It got me thinking along a tangent though.

All the folks out there in service firms that are still billing by the hour are killing their businesses. In fact, it’s even worse than that.

Billing by the hour is killing the service industry.

How can I make such an outrageous claim?

It’s somewhat a matter of perspective. I help businesses become more profitable through effective and efficient usage of CRM.

In that role, I work with a lot of small and medium sized businesses and get a first-hand view into what’s happening out there. And it ain’t pretty.

The internet has changed the game for all of us. I’ve written about this previously so I won’t re-cover it here except to add one sobering thought for all of us:

Even if you have a one in a million idea, there are at least a thousand other folks out there on the internet – just a click or two away.

There’s little to no differentiation out there.

Most service firms have visions, missions, values and messages that are completely interchangeable. You could swap corporate names in and out of their marketing literature like some kind of demented fill in the blank, Mad Libs exercise designed to point out how similar each firm is to their competitors.

Combining this lack of differentiation with pricing by the hour guarantees a slow and steady drive toward a competitive landscape filled with “me too” solutions at increasingly lower prices.

Oh, I can hear some of you saying “But damnit, we ARE the best service firm and we do truly partner with our customers! Those other guys are just saying that but we really do it!” or even “But damnit, we ARE the experts in this particular field!”

Ok, ok … I believe you.

But – you don’t need me believing you. You need the customers and prospects to believe you.

And just like driving by a block full of McDonalds, each one looking nearly the same, how can your customers and prospects tell which one is going to provide the best experience? The best value for their dollar?

Hint: they can’t.

Pricing projects based on value received and offering a money back guarantee is a good start to standing out from the “me too” crowd.

Again, it’s a good start. It’s not an end game solution.

When done correctly, pricing projects based on value will change your culture and change what drives you. It enables you to discover what you really love to do and are good at and can make money at.

*This* is the start of true differentiation and will serve you well in the coming years.

If you aren’t prepared to do it, don’t be surprised as customers steadily start going to the low cost provider over the next five to ten years as they can’t figure out any other reason to choose you over your competition.

I’ll leave you with this quote (first introduced to me by confidant and fellow game-changer, Ed Kless):

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”  General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army

Wait … what?

Recently I was in a phone call with a vendor representative who was talking about how he would need to “interface with his team to determine a resolution to the current matter”.

Wow.

The first thought that comes to mind when I hear people talk like this is … “no”.

“No” – as in … no – I didn’t actually hear you say that. And no – I can’t believe someone would actually say it.

Just using “interface with” when “talk to” works (and works better) makes my skin crawl.

I get how it happens.

Sometimes it’s a sign of an overly complex corporate culture run amok – where big words are a part of the landscape. Typically though, using big words is a sign of over-compensation and covering up of a perceived weakness.

Here’s the thing though: it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy because when we use big words to look smart or important, it kind of makes us look … dumb. Particularly if they are used incorrectly or bastardized from their normal definition (which often happens when people break out the ten cent words).

Maybe “dumb” is too strong of a word.

But, certainly, there are many times where being a sesquipedalian makes your language stand out like a clown attending a funeral.

Personally, I think it’s better to be useful than smart anyway. If I have a choice between working with someone that gets the job done with no muss, no fuss or someone that is too smart for their own good, I”m going with door number one every time.

To me, the worst part about this interaction was that the individual in question was in the marketing department and really should have known better. One of the fundamental rules of marketing is “communicate clearly and concisely”.

So if you find yourself over-syllabating in an oppulent manner, shift your paradigm and adjust your linguistic demeanor pronto.

The folks you are “interfacing with” will surely appreciate it.

(For a slightly different take on word usage, check out Ed Kless’ article here.)

Stuck in neutral?

This article is an extension of an idea put out there by Seth Godin: if you’re an average worker, you’re going straight to the bottom. [If you don't know who Seth Godin is ... start here and carve out some time for reading.]

I agree whole-heartedly with his sentiments. In the last ten years (give or take a year), we have seen a seismic shift in the way business is done.

It’s no longer enough to do business as usual.

Customers have access to a host of choices on where they spend their hard-earned dollars. If your business can’t (or won’t) provide them with what they want, they will go to Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Yelp, you name it and ask their real-life friends for suggestions.

Heck, they will even ask advice of virtual friends who -for all intents and purposes – are not much more than strangers to them!

And … while they are asking for a recommendation for one of your competitors, your name will probably come up and your perceived deficiencies will be broadcasted far and wide.

Customer call the shots – now more than ever. They are demanding a consistent, high quality experience from your entire team.

How will you provide this?

For any one interested on my take on the “how”, you can check out some of my articles at Azamba Partners.

Putting aside my bias towards my personal musings for a second, there are a lot of resources available on the Internet that can help you. The real key is to identify and accept what’s happening.

Once you have done that, the fun begins.

Start looking around at what other businesses are doing. Competitors? Sure but don’t stop there.

Look at businesses that you relly upon – personally and at a company level. What do you like? What do you wish they did differently? What do their competitors do? Why aren’t you using their competitors?

Look at your customers. What are they doing that’s cool and engaging? What’s working for them?

The changes required to stay ahead of the pack in this brave new world are manifold and oftentimes overwhelming. If you approach it right, you may find it renews your excitement and passion that got you into business in the first place and helps you challenge yourself and your team to scale new heights.

Best of luck to us all!

[BTW - thanks to Paul Ziliak for bringing Seth's article to my attention. Paul's no stranger to shaking up the status quo and looking for better ways.]

The question is a potential minefield as the mysteries of the female mind have stumped humankind for countless millenia.

I’m certainly not going to try to answer it.

And frankly I’m not sure our protagonist, Don Draper, truly answers the question. I believe he comes up with “any excuse to get closer” and the matter is dropped.

But the answer to the question isn’t really at issue here.

The interesting thing is the question itself and how it arose.

“Mad Men” is a television show set in the 1960s and explores the changing mores and values of America while focusing on the creative geniuses at a Madison Avenue advertising agency.

The episode in question begins as the creative team has been tasked with introducing the revolutionary new (to the folks in the 1960s) aerosol spray Right Guard deodorant that comes in a solid steel can.

Draper’s junior team comes up with several “manly” advertisements depicting astronauts and focusing on the futuristic elements of the space-age, metal can.

Draper, obviously sour on the approach, quickly gets to the heart of the matter: who’s buying this stuff?

It’s not the men – it’s their ladies that buy it on their behalf. Their wives, their mothers, etc.

So the heart of the matter becomes: what do *they* want? What do these women want? How do we appeal to them to buy this product?

Draper astutely realizes that the packaging is irrelevant and is, in fact, distracting from the core message to the buyers. And, furthermore, the perceived target market of men are not the actual buyers.

These are important lessons that we can all benefit from remembering when marketing:

1. Figure out who your buyers are. You could have the best marketing materials in the world but if you direct it to the wrong audience – people that aren’t going to spend money with you or don’t have the authority to spend money with you – you are wasting your money.
2. Figure out your core message. Customers don’t care about your packaging, your features or really anything about you. They care about themselves and they want to know how your stuff, your services are going to make their lives better, easier, whatever.

As the episode relayed, even very smart, creative people can get hung up on the wrong audience and the wrong message.

Spend a little time considering these two points before putting together your next marketing effort – whether it’s a brochure, a webinar, a customer letter – and you might be pleasantly surprised by the results.