Posts Tagged forecasting
Our research proves that an effective WIN/LOSS ANALYSIS process IS the 21st century “CANARY IN THE COAL MINE”
Posted by Cordi in Methodologies, Practical Advice on March 24th, 2010
Want to know how your business plan is working? Our experience shows that competing effectively in a fast-paced global economy requires a disciplined win/loss analysis process that takes into consideration every aspect of sales effectiveness. Win/loss analysis should be conducted at least quarterly and in the current economic uncertainty preferably on a monthly basis. Sales, Marketing and Operational Management should examine all aspects of the Go-to-Market process.
- Measuring the health of the sales pipeline
- Calculating the return on marketing investment
- Segmenting customers and then targeting specific customer segments
- Discovering early indicators of shifting demands – product-based or market-based.
- Managing and sharing internal sales best practices
- Conducting a forensic transaction analysis on so-called “big deals” after their close.
By comparing the results of the win/loss analysis to the revenue plan management can quickly determine whether they are on track to meet or exceed their plan or need to make adjustments to that plan immediately –
- Increasing or slowing manufacturing to meet product demand
- Speeding or slowing new product introduction
- Expanding or revamping advertising
- Adjusting sales personnel etc..
An effective win/loss process is an essential tool in the quest to maintain focus on Bottom-Line Excellence even in the most challenging of economic conditions – just as the 19th and 20th century coal miner was warned by the canary of unseen danger below — .
@copyright Cordi and Associates
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3/2010
Marketing By-The-Numbers
Posted by Cordi in Methodologies, Practical Advice on March 2nd, 2010
The Marketing Executives Network (MENG) released the results of its annual member survey today. As a participant in the survey, I selected Marketing ROI as the “concept of the year”. It appears that many of my colleagues felt similarly – making Marketing ROI number one this year over Customer Retention and Brand Loyalty.
This ranking does not diminish the importance of Customer Retention (based, of course, on segmentation and customer profitability studies) or the importance of “living” and enhancing the Brand. What it does reflect is a new appreciation for the “business of marketing” over the classic “art of marketing”.
The majority of respondents believed that 2010 will be a “better” year than 2009, even as the economic facts point more to “hope” than “expectation”. In such a fluid situation, the best marketers are going to spend marketing dollars carefully and where those dollars have the most impact. They can only spend as wisely as they measure well.
Determining the Return on Marketing Investment does not have to be complicated and difficult to implement. It can be as simple as measuring the cost of new revenue from existing customers compared to new customers. Detailed analysis should be done only as a pattern emerges – and the pattern will be different in different business segments and different companies within a segment.
Measuring the effectiveness of marketing, also, helps executives to understand the impact of larger economic forces on their business – so that they can make choices in their tactical approach to their Go-to-Market Strategy earlier and more surgically than in the past. This, in turn, leads to sustainable bottom-line profitability and long term business success.
In Business, Timely Renovation Avoids Restructuring
Posted by Cordi in Practical Advice on April 29th, 2009
During this serious recession the business news is driven by stories of job losses, forced mergers and bankruptcies. The question that must be asked is whether these events were inevitable or are the result of management failures?
I would argue that these events were not inevitable. They happened because executives focused on doing whatever was necessary to “make the quarter (revenue)” without considering that these decisions could have mid-term and long-term consequences. High tech companies, auto manufacturers and major banks and insurance companies currently under duress based their most important decisions on a common, but flawed, assumption: they could grow their way out of the consequences of bad short-term business decisions. When a business assumes inevitable growth, it forgets that both history and gravity tell us a different truth.
In the technology industry, Sun realized too late that hardware was no longer a differentiator – especially when associated with proprietary operating systems. Sun never made the total commitment to JAVA and its other software products – turning itself a cheap acquisition target for Oracle.
GM did not misinterpret consumer sentiment toward larger vehicles over the last decade. For proof, one needs to look no further than the SUVs offered by every major import vehicle manufacturer after the success of the Chevy Tahoe. The GM mistake was to build that consumer sentiment into their revenue strategy and fixed operating costs. Their competitors were more realistic in their model mix and their (business) operating model. Toyota has both its hybrid Prius and its SUV Pilot – but neither model is encumbered by high labor costs, expensive retiree benefits or out-dated factories.
Neither Sun nor GM’s failure was inevitable. If the assumptions underlying short-term strategic and operational decisions had been tested against potential consequences developed in mid / long-term scenarios – the outcome for either (or both) would have been different. The short-term plan would have been modified to incorporate mitigation strategies for mid / long-term impacts resulting in a corporate renovation over time rather than an urgent restructuring.
Businesses that take the extra 10% time to plan their present and their future in tandem will continuously renew themselves – and, by so doing, insure their survival in lean times and their prosperity in good times.
@Cordi and Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved
www.cordiconsulting.com
4/28/2009