Pay Attention, Think Again - Create Advantage

By Rebel Brown

The Best Place for Competition is in the Rear View Mirror

<div class="at-above-post-cat-page addthis_tool" data-url="https://rebelbrown.com/2009/05/14/the-best-place-for-competition-is-in-the-rear-view-mirror/"></div>One of my first CEO clients - a leader in the early days of the Search industry - gave me a great piece of advice about the competition. I still follow it. "If you pay too much attention to the competition - you'll always end up following them." At the time I actually think I thought he was nuts. After all, as a young idealistic marketing consultant, competitive analysis was one of those B school standards near and dear to my heart. Now, some twenty something years later, I see how brilliant he was. Companies have to think for themselves, not like their competitors. I'm not saying that you have to ignore your competition. That'd be kinda silly, now wouldn't it. What I am saying is that companies have to stop focusing on what their competition is doing as the baseline for defining their future direction. Following the competition's lead won't help you be a leader. Leveraging the competitive information you have to think differently, now that's the key. As my grandpa used to say, "The view never changes unless you're the lead cow."_______Come back tomorrow for Competitive Assessment that Works! <div class="at-below-post-cat-page addthis_tool" data-url="https://rebelbrown.com/2009/05/14/the-best-place-for-competition-is-in-the-rear-view-mirror/"></div>

By Rebel Brown

But It’s Our Best and Biggest Seller

<div class="at-above-post-cat-page addthis_tool" data-url="https://rebelbrown.com/2009/05/08/but-its-our-best-and-biggest-seller/"></div>Getting down to the nitty gritty about a client's 'best sellers' is one of the first things I jump into when I start a new project. More often than not, those 'best sellers' are the source of more problems than anyone would expect.How can that be? It's the biggest seller (which is easy to prove with revenues), the cash cow, sacred cow, the product that delivers major corporate differentiation. Right?Sometimes it is. But more often it's not. It may generate the most revenue - but you have to look deeper, much deeper, to find out how the product is impacting your business.<ul> <li>How differentiated is this product - truly? I often learn that it's not, really. It was at one time, but it's not now. In fact, it should be well into its end-of -life. So why is it selling? Sometimes the reps are discounting it to get more revenue. The company is OK with that since well, it's revenue. Sometimes it brings a significantly bigger dollar value per sale than any other product - so even a small number of sales make it look 'big time'. Sometimes it's simply on the brink of starting its decline. </li> </ul> <ul> <li>How much is it costing to continue this product? I had a client who was measuring product success at the contribution margin level. The leading product looked like it was a real winner. The problem? Well, turns out the product required a lot of integration and testing before it was delivered. The reps were selling 'specials' more than ever - so, the costs below the line were eating up the margin - and more. But the company just kept selling more and more of this favored technology. Yes, even in business, love is blind. </li> </ul> <ul> <li>How many and which customers are using it? I'll sometimes find a handful of the best customers using the product in question. Which sounds like a good thing on the surface. But what if those customers really aren't that great for your business? What if they aren't the market of your future? What if they are a market that costs you money? Ask yourself. How much is it costing you to develop and support a product for customers who don't represent your best, or most profitable, market opportunity going forward? </li> </ul> <ul> <li>How much are reps allowed to discount? This is one of my favorites. I continue to be amazed at the number of companies who measure reps on revenue and not margins - and celebrate the $2M deal which secretly cost them money. I'm not going to get into sales incentives and motivation here. But IMHO if you have to heavily discount your 'best selling product' - you might want to think again. </li> </ul> <ul> <li>What are you NOT doing because if the investment in this product? Here's another big rub. A client was investing almost 40% of their R&D budget into a legacy product that was losing margins. The installed base was strong but small (and declining) and its applicability was growing more limited. Why? Because it was really cool technology (5 years ago), differentiated (for those who needed it) and was frankly, the client's adored 'baby'. The problem? The company's future,the set of products that were potentially <a href="http://peoplewhoknow.typepad.com/phoenixrising/2009/03/what-exactly-is-game-changing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">game changing</a>, were being strangled for resources by this legacy beast. </li> </ul> I'm not claiming this is always the case. Certainly not. Some clients point to a best seller and it is truly the lifeline for the business.What I am saying is - <a href="http://peoplewhoknow.typepad.com/phoenixrising/2009/03/throw-everything-in-the-fire.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Throw Everything into the Fire</a>, test that best seller. If it rises as a key asset for your Phoenix - then ride it to the sky. Just make sure it's a <a href="http://peoplewhoknow.typepad.com/phoenixrising/about-the-phoenix.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Phoenix</a>, and not a vulture in disguise. <div class="at-below-post-cat-page addthis_tool" data-url="https://rebelbrown.com/2009/05/08/but-its-our-best-and-biggest-seller/"></div>

By Rebel Brown

Throw Everything in the Fire

<div class="at-above-post-cat-page addthis_tool" data-url="https://rebelbrown.com/2009/05/01/throw-everything-in-the-fire/"></div>As you begin a Phoenix Rising® process - you have to let go of all the tightly held assumptions, beliefs and just plain 'hard facts' you hold about your company, your value, your product, your customers and your market. Some of them are true - but many of them aren't. Markets and customers change. More often than not a company's beliefs about itself lag behind those changes. Why wouldn't they? Even if you're selling to the masses at ever more commodity prices you still have a good business, right? The danger is when 'false truths' continue to drive company strategy long past their time. Be just like the <a href="http://peoplewhoknow.typepad.com/phoenixrising/about-the-phoenix.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Phoenix</a>. Take everything you know to be true and cast in into the fire of scrutiny. Question everything. Be tough, be fair and honest, and most of all - let your customers' perspectives be the most powerful flames of all. After all, their opinion - demonstrated by the dollars they spend with you - is what really matters, right? Take the assets that stand the test - along with the new ideas born within the flames - and use them as the foundation to recreate your company. The result will give you the best and brightest definition of your company, its power, the value it brings to customers today, and tomorrow.It's always hard to get started. Human beings bring their perceptions and beliefs with them every where they go - including their business beliefs.*** But the more diligent your are in your appraisals, the better the results. So how do you kindle the fires of change? Start with a <a href="http://peoplewhoknow.typepad.com/phoenixrising/2009/03/the-power-of-a-blank-whiteboard.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Blank Whiteboard.</a> *** I'm writing about the common beliefs that I've asked clients to challenge through the years, beliefs that they need to rethink. You can check them out in <a href="http://peoplewhoknow.typepad.com/phoenixrising/drowning-the-bird/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Think Again</a>. <div class="at-below-post-cat-page addthis_tool" data-url="https://rebelbrown.com/2009/05/01/throw-everything-in-the-fire/"></div>