Dodo Loves Marketing

Jack Welch argues, ‘When the rate of change inside the business is exceeded by the rate of change outside the company, the end is near:

Today’s markets can evolve incredibly quickly. New ideas and structures, standards and expectations can spread in a way that was previously reserved for fads and fashions. Speed is driven by the connectivity of people through technology, the rise of non-locational communities and the constant desire of consumers to have the latest, best, coolest, smallest, fastest devices. ..more

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Complex markets, intense competition, expectant customers and demanding shareholders require more intelligent marketing. To see the emerging form of markets and how they can be shaped, to target the best opportunities before others, to beat competitors in smarter ways than price discounting, to innovate more radically in new directions, to build brands like nobody else, to engage with customers in ways they have never thought possible, and to deliver returns to shareholders that would make analysts jump requires a new and different approach. ..more

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Test your range

No large manufacturer of consumer goods ever invests in a product without testing it first. You must do the same. Show it around. Compare it to products already available. Get feedback from people whose opinions you trust. ..more

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Just to whet your appetite here are a few of the vast number of craft choices and possibilities: ..more

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CEO at a subsidiary of a South American conglomerate was promoted to another position, leaving six top managers vying to succeed him. The six fell into a competition that undermined their unity as a management team. The conglomerate called in a consultant to sort out the strengths and weaknesses of the six and thus help them come to a decision. ..more

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One way to keep focused on finding things that really sell stuff is to make conversion rates one of the key measurements that you track. Retailers do this by counting how many of the people who come into the store actually buy something. The fast-food business measures incidence, or the number of high-profit side items such as fries and drinks, that it sells along with the low- profit burgers and chicken. ..more

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One big lesson that everybody should learn from Starbucks is that, even though consumers have to understand your product if you want them to buy it, sometimes consumers can understand a product too well. By that I mean, sometimes people will fix a product in their minds as being for Purpose A, and then you have to work real hard to get them to see that it can also serve Purpose B and C. But the rewards can be enormous. ..more

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The purchase incidence of toys, games, and dolls has been up and down since 2000, ranging from 45 percent in 2000 to 54 percent in 2001 and 50 percent in 2003. While children represent the core user market for toys, more adults are buying toys, not just for kids, but for their own playtime. Toys are popular adult collectibles, and more toy companies are recognizing that adults, just like their kids, want to play with toys. ..more

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Level 3: At this level customers expect partnership. They want you to listen to them, to be responsive to them, to make them feel they are on the same side of the fence as you.

Service businesses have long realized the importance of this partnership expectation. That’s why Wal-Mart positions hearty senior citizens at their front door to smile a welcome and remember names. That’s why all airlines create loyalty clubs offering special treatment to frequent fliers. And that’s presumably why video stores offer a “staff picks” section: “We’re like you. We watch videos, too.” ..more

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Required steps only prevent dissatisfaction. They cannot drive customer satisfaction.

You, and every other employee worth his salt, want to do everything in your power to build a growing number of loyal customers. You want to take prospects, who have never tried your product or service before, and turn them into advocates. Advocates are customers who are aggressively loyal. They will not only withstand temptations to defect, they will actively sing your praises. These advocates are your largest unpaid sales force. These advocates, more than marketing, more than promotions, even more than price, are your fuel for sustained growth. ..more

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Although great managers are committed to the concept of “fairness,” they define it rather differently from most people. In their mind “fairness” does not mean treating everyone the same. They would, say that the only way to treat someone fairly is to treat them as they deserve to be treated, bearing in mind what they have accomplished. Jimmy Johnson, the coach who led the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl rings and who now manages the Miami Dolphins, captures their atti_ tude toward “fairness.” He made this point in a speech to the Miami players immediately after taking the reins from Don Shula: ..more

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Sooner or later every manager is asked the question “Where do I go from here?” The employee wants to grow. He wants to earn more money, to gain more prestige. He is bored, underutilized, deserves more responsibility. Whatever his reasons, the employee wants to move up and wants you to help.

What should you tell him? Should you help him get promoted? Should you tell him to talk to Human Resources? Should you say that all you can do is put in a good word for him? What is the right answer? ..more

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These levels of achievement will certainly help redirect an employee’s focus toward becoming world class. However, the manager’s efforts at career redirection will be forever hindered if all of the pay signals are telling the employee to look upward.

Although each of us is motivated by money in different ways, the fact of the matter is that few of us are repelled by money. All of us may not hunger for it, but only a tiny minority of us find money positively distasteful. Therefore the simple truth is that it will be much easier for managers to redirect employees toward alternative career paths if some of those paths involve a raise in pay. ..more

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Great managers have to survive in a hostile world. Most companies do not value excellence in every role. They do not provide alternative career paths for their employees. And they do not give their managers the leeway to design graded levels of achievement or broadbanded pay plans. If you find yourself living in this restricted world, what can you do? ..more

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At some point during your performance planning meetings, the employee may want to talk about his career options. He may want to know where you think he should go next. A healthy career discussion rarely happens all at once. Instead it is a product of many different conversations, at many different times. However you choose to handle these conversations—and each will be unique, according to the potential and the performance of the individual employee ..more

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People often think of ‘networking‘ as something that is only done at high-powered levels. Not so. Letting mothers at the school gates know about your services, swapping information with friends at the rugby club is all networking. ‘I found that other mums were my best customers,’ says Sarita, a beauty therapist. ‘When my sons were invited to tea with their friends, they’d often mention that I ran a beauty business and I got plenty of of clients that way !’

You cannot afford to be too indirect about offering your services. On the other hand, old contacts may be put off if you continually pester them for work. It is better to engineer a meeting about another matter and then explain what you can do for them, rather than endlessly cold calling. Persistence may pay off — but it can also put people off. This is why ‘forums’ for networking are so important. ..more

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Shyness affects just about everyone under certain situations. While most people cope reasonably well with occasional shyness, there are some who live in a personal prison, unable to reach out and make friends or relate positively to others. Being shy at work can severely limit work effectiveness, unless of course, you work generally on your own with little or no contact with others.

Shy people present themselves at work in many varied ways. There is the quiet wallflower who fades into the background and is not often noticed. At the opposite extreme, there is the raging extrovert who can be loud, aggressive and abrasive, but who finds it difficult to relate on an intimate level to others. In between, there are many other people, such as the knocker, the person who knocks or degrades others. ..more

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There are thousands of grants and low interest loans available for small businesses. The problem is finding out what they are and whether your business qualifies. Some fields are more liberally provided with grants than others. For instance, the Crafts Council has a setting-up scheme which allows selected craftspeople to receive a grant of £2,500 for maintenance and up to £5,000 for equipment (they pay half of equipment costs), provided they apply within two years of setting up. While this would not cover your start-up costs entirely, it could certainly be a very useful addition. Other areas where grants may be forthcoming include : ..more

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Homeworkers also need to work especially hard at ensuring they know what is going on within the office and avoiding isolation.. When BT conducted a teleworking experiment, allowing some of its Inverness operators to work from home, they found that one of the main grumbles was that the operators felt they were not kept up to date with company news the way they had been in an office. For those who work only a couple of days at home, this can still be a problem. It pays to phone in on your days out and to take part in any social events in the office. When you are in the office, make sure everyone knows that you are there — and keep your wits about you. ‘I make sure that when I’m in the office, I listen very carefully to what’s going on,’ says Helene Hook of the computer firm ICL. Kevin Attwood of Nat West Bank has formalized the process by having an updating meeting with his boss every week. ..more

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Even if you know that your job is 100 per cent suited to working from home, you still need to ask yourself some hard questions about whether your personality is suitable for homeworking. See the quiz or ask yourself briefly :

How suitable am I for homeworking? If you get a buzz from being with people, love to be in the thick of things and can remember just who’s dating who in which department, homeworking may not be right for you. The same applies if much of your social life is based around the office or your place in the hierarchy is very important to you. On the other hand, if you are a self-starter, enjoy your own company in limited doses and find it easy to concentrate, you may be well placed to work from home. Confidence in your ability, self-discipline, a good network of local social contacts and enough space to work are all vital for a homeworker. ‘I thought that I would spend more time working at home than I actually did,’ says Ken Davey, who initiated Mercury Communications flexible work project. ‘I used it for writing reports and initiating strategy, but I came to realize how much of my job depended on interacting with colleagues.’ ..more

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