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Business Growth - Getting the metrics right

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Emer O'Donnell

 

Recently we have been doing a lot of work with companies on trying to get the right metrics for their business. Done well, implementing the right set of metrics or KPIs can be a real game changer in transforming business growth. But it’s not easy to get this right. 

So here are a few tips based on our experience:

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Posted in: Business Growth, Performance

Why asking for referrals really works

Posted on May 07, 2015 by Clare Gallagher

In one of our publications, Three Steps to More Referrals, we discuss the fact that most clients who receive great service are happy to recommend you – yet industry figures suggest that only 20% actually do.

Why is this? Well, the simple answer is that in most cases companies just don’t ask. We always ask for referrals. They make good business sense.

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Posted in: Business Growth Transformation, Business Growth, Customers, Customer Referrals

Is your calendar making you a busy fool?

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Paul O'Dea

Time is the great enemy in growth companies; too much to do, lots of meetings, hard to make the right impact. What you were doing last year may not be what you should do this year. 

You know the time-crunch symptoms. Everything is a rush. Last minute impatience creates stress. Procrastination and indecisiveness make 'to do' lists longer. You feel handcuffed to email technology. 

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Posted in: Business Growth Transformation, Business Growth, Leadership

How 'Power of 10' helped SalesForce transform growth

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Paul O'Dea

Many CEO's have to operate in a split personality mode, like Dr Jekyll and My Hyde when it comes to business growth. Most of the time they are in an operational or ‘in the business’ mindset and only occasionally do they actually take time out to focus ‘on the business’.

The operational ‘in the business’ questions demand capability, decisions and action. They are operational mindset questions and require urgent attention.
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Posted in: Business Growth Transformation, Business Growth, Leadership, Sales Teams

Is your company fit to transform Business Growth?

Posted on February 06, 2015 by Paul O'Dea

Many CEOs did a stellar job in leading their companies through the last recession. They made tough decisions. They dieted and trimmed the fat out of the cost line. As a result, they are fitter, healthier and have cash reserves.

However their companies now face a different set of challenges. New markets are emerging and product choices need to be made. Their value proposition needs to be reviewed and the sales and marketing machine needs an overhaul.

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Posted in: Business Growth Transformation, Business Growth, Leadership

3 reasons why business growth transformation projects fail?

Posted on November 04, 2014 by Emer O'Donnell


We’ve all been there. The CEO stands up, presents his vision of the future.  He outlines the great and detailed plan the senior team has been working on for weeks. There are usually drinks. Everyone is on a high.

Then next morning everyone goes back to the day job.  Nothing changes and that great plan (which cost $$$ in consultant’s fees to develop) is consigned to the shelf behind the CEO’s desk.
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Posted in: Business Growth Transformation, Business Growth

Founder Denial Versus Product/Market Fit

Posted on November 02, 2014 by Paul O'Dea

In a previous post (Getting to Product/Market Fit - how can startups get there faster) and in the book The Business Battlecard (www.selectstrategies.com) I wrote, about the science of product/market fit and  different approaches to get their faster. The scientific and tools based approach to product/market fit is promoted so widely now by people like Steve Blank, Eric Ries, Sean Ellis, Tristan Kromer, Morgan Brown and others that sometimes we forget the human element. I got a sharp reminder recently.

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Posted in: Entrepreneur, Founder, Product/Market Fit

Fix your "leaky bucket" pricing and double profits

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Paul O'Dea

You love to win deals. Right! They pay the wages. You beat that competitor you dislike. But how profitable are these deals? Does your CFO know?

Is your pricing sometimes 'finger in the air'? How do you handle discounts? Do you reduce scope when discounts are given? Is your pricing like a leaky bucket?

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Posted in: Pricing, Profits

Getting to product/market fit - how can startups get there faster?

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Paul O'Dea

Startups can be dark places. Founders can be both confused and manic in equal measure. The heroes journey is tempered with lack of cash and lots of uncertainty. Yet the joy and freedom of choosing to follow your dream is so rewarding. Incubators, universities and investors ask whether there is a better way to get to product/market fit? They ask how startups can learn to build their companies more efficiently?

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Posted in: Startups, Product/Market Fit

Startups - What's in a name?

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Emer O'Donnell

Have you ever wondered how startups go about selecting a name for their businesses? Often it seems they choose a name that reflects what the product does. Seems to make sense – yes? Yet when you are an early stage startup trying to find product/market fit that can be tricky. What if you pivot to a new industry or application of your product?

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Posted in: Startups, Product/Market Fit