I started the day with Alltop to see what my favorite bloggers were talking about. I found a link from Guy Kawasaki to an article about story-telling–what intrigued me was the title: 7 Deadly Sins of Business Storytelling. It’s based on Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith’s book, The Dragonfly Effect. And it was a coincidental topic, since The Whale […]
Recently Gini Dietrich predicted “All companies will become media companies.” If you’re in the marketing/PR business or if you’re a keen social media afficionado and follower, maybe you already know this. But I’ll bet for most of us, as small biz entrepreneurs and salespeople, that’s still news. What that means–becoming a “media company”– is that […]
To mitigate the risk of losing, small companies must become incredibly disciplined about vetting new business opportunities against their target filter. The more selective you become about pursuing new business the greater your close rate will be. Don’t waste your time going after new business that isn’t a good fit and therefore you will have a low likelihood of winning.
As we teach companies to become whale hunting organizations, we talk about what it means to be hungry for new business and what it means to have that same warrior spirit. Think about your team, and ask yourself, “Do I have the right people on the bus?” For small businesses that aspire to be in fast-growth mode, it’s a critical question.
To manage the handoff between sales and delivery, you may want to start with a checklist. The checklist is the next step up from a to-do list because it creates organizational process. That’s one of the reasons that The Whale Hunters Process™ works—we help companies build the bridge between what’s sold and delivered through process. Communication is great and can always be improved. Process on the other hand can be standardized, written down, charted out, and taught without the risk of mis-interpretation
Today’s guest blogger is Dave Cooke–more about Dave at the end of the post. Thanks, Dave, for sharing your words of wisdom with The Whale Hunters readers today. As businesses continue to drive their sales teams to bring new customers into the organization, they need to be mindful that revenue growth also involves the effective […]
This week’s newsletter is Know What You Don’t Know About Customer Strategy. It’s all about Internet and social media predictions from Gini Dietrich, who’s Founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, a non-traditional marketing/advertising/PR firm. Gini has a lot to say about what she expects to see happening in the online/offline world of attracting, engaging, and […]
Today I’m writing issue #4 of my blog series based on the 2011 edition of the Top Ten Small Business Trends from Small Business Labs. I’m analysing these trends as they apply to entrepreneurs whose companies are whale hunters. Trend #4: Alternative Financing. “While the improving economy is leading to increased small business access to financing from banks […]
Hi there! I’m starting a new blog feature today that I call “The Sunday Show.” Each Sunday I’ll post a podcast with a Whale Hunting concept or tool to help you in the week ahead. I know that many of us use some time on Sunday evening to get your thoughts and to-do lists organized […]
It’s a new year. Of course. But I think this is a special kind of new year, one in which the lousy economy of the past three is finally going to come back strong for small business owners and their teams. [more about that in Thursday’s post] My question to you is this: is your brand promise […]
This is issue #2 of my blog series based on the 2011 edition of the Top Ten Small Business Trends from Small Business Labs. I’m analysing these trends as they apply to entrepreneurs whose companies are whale hunters. Today we look at Trend #2: Variable Cost Business Models. The authors write “More small businesses will shift from fixed cost […]
The 2011 edition of the Top Ten Small Business Trends from Small Business Labs is a must-read for small business owners. Several of the trends will surprise you, and understanding all of them will position you for greater success. In the coming days, I’m going to look at these trends one by one and suggest what […]