In a posting last year, I discussed the basics of cloud computing and its pros and cons . This posting looks at the progress cloud computing has made since then. First a quick review:  Last year, I defined Cloud computing as sharing of computer, network and related applications such that they are virtual to the [...]

%  Do you know what your customer retention rate is?  If not, stop what you are doing and quickly figure it out before it might be too late. If you do know, are you sure it is correct or it might be a misleading percentage.  Let me explain about both situations.  First, a reference point.  [...]

Recently, I have read a number of articles about why businesses’ growth has either stopped, or worst, declined.   Some reasons given for little or no growth are:  the economy, lack of good marketing, wrong product, can’t find the right talent (really!) and my favorite, no one is buying.    I contend there is really only one [...]

Before I get into different methods to improve your business analysis, let me be very clear about one thing. I am not so concerned about the method or methods you use but more importantly that you or someone is DOING an analysis.  In today’s age with all of the types of methods and tools available, [...]

One popular strategy for companies is a growth strategy that focuses on sales (revenues), or market share (SOM), or assets, or profits.   Regardless of which growth strategy/target one picks, often overlooked is; are the management and its structure ready and prepared for growth. Typically companies go from a very simple organizational structure to some form [...]

In one of my posting I asked the question, Who is Responsible for Customer Satisfaction?  I stated that customer satisfaction is the responsibility of EVERYONE! Everyone “touches “  the customer and how everyone performs their job relates to the customer being satisfied.  I also listed several steps for starting a customer satisfaction program within any [...]

It is the end of June, and the year is half over.  The stock market appears to be heading down, unemployment is still high and there is talk of a double-dip recession.  In putting the 2011 plan together in the fall of 2010, the outlook was more optimistic and “aggressive” targets for sales, revenue and [...]

For those who always read the last chapter in a book first, the answer is there is no there is no difference between for profit companies and non-profits. For the rest of you please read on. In one of my postings titled Why Marketing Products and Services Are The Same, I discussed why, from a [...]

  Value propositions are very important to business because if they are done correctly they uniquely define something that a company offers to their customer that addresses their need(s).  Unfortunately many marketing people and some senior management people are so close to their products or services that they actually feel their value propositions are compelling [...]

Bad news Timmy, not only is there no Santa Claus, but account control no longer exists! So if you are living in the old world where sales people knew everything about their accounts, where they provided the customer with all the “necessary information” and helped guide them down the path that eventually led to an [...]