Category Archives: Helpful Hints

August 4, 2014 · 10:17 am

Homework

One of the things you might hear at a college graduation party is “well, at least there is no more homework!”

English: Don't waste your time and do your hom...

English: Don’t waste your time and do your homework! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I hear that I don’t have the heart to tell them that the past 16 years of homework they’ve done in school are nothing compared to that which they’ll probably need to do out in the real world. Let me explain.

I’ve written before about the critical skills one needs to learn in school.  In addition to the critical thinking skills I wrote about in that post I’d add the ability to do homework to that list.  After all, what is homework but independent research and preparation for what is about to happen in the next class?  In my mind even when the homework is review it’s making sure that the concepts the teacher was trying to instill have taken hold.  The very act of having the discipline to work outside of the class setting without a teacher looking over your shoulder is a great skill as well.

Fast forward to business.  I expect that when I walk into a meeting everyone in the room (assuming they know that I’m coming) have already checked me out thoroughly.  They’ve read some of the screed, they’ve checked my website, maybe they sampled my Twitter feed and they most certainly checked my LinkedIn profile.  If they haven’t, they haven’t done their homework.  I used to tell my team that if they walk into a meeting and don’t know the agenda, the questions that might be asked, the others around the table, and what they want to have accomplished as they leave the meeting they have not done their homework.  As an ex-teacher, not doing one’s homework puts you on my bad side.

There is nothing more annoying than having a salesperson begin a meeting asking what they can do for me or my organization.  Even worse is when they ask a lot of questions that could have been answered with 10 minutes of searches.  Everyone’s time is valuable and offering solutions and value based on having done your homework decreases the time needed for things to get done.  Doing one’s homework no matter on which side of the table one sits is a basic and critical business skill.  Is it one you’re using?

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July 11, 2014 · 8:21 am

D.O.C.G.

Foodie Friday and today it’s a fun trip into the mysteries of labels.

Organic Italian Wine from Tuscany

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’ve ever gone to buy Italian wine you may have come across something on the label that says “D.O.C.”.  It’s an abbreviation of a long Italian term that means the wine is coming from a controlled area.  The grapes used to make chianti, for example, must come from that region and can’t be grown near Rome and shipped to Tuscany.

Of course, things being as they are in Italy, after a time a need arose to control the controlled label.  Although D.O.C. means the product comes from a specific area and is of a defined quality and is produced using methods specified in the regulation, the Italians added another level – D.O.C.G.  The “G” is for guaranteed which of course calls into question in my mind exactly how strictly the original high standard is followed.

You many also have seen San Marzano tomatoes at the store.  I love these and cook with them all the time.  One needs to read the label very carefully – San Marzano style is not the real thing.  You can tell the real thing by the D.O.P. certification on the label.  It’s the equivalent of D.O.C. used on other foods such as cheeses and tomatoes.  So if your tomatoes come in a jar or are pureed, chopped, diced or even organic, they aren’t real San Marzanos which are only sold peeled whole or halved.

What does this have to do with your business?  These labels are a sign for consumers that the product is real and is of the standard they expect as they hand over their cash.  The reality is that consumers find those labels in other ways even if they’re not printed on the product itself.  It starts with your marketing.  Is it authentic?  They look at the sales agent which may be a person or a web page.  Does it seem real or does something not feel right?  Smart brands know this and do what they can to offer the D.O.C. comfort.  “Intel Inside” is one example.  Verisign and TrustE certifications are another.

Is your brand giving off the assurance consumers need and want?

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July 9, 2014 · 11:52 am

Squirrels

In the movie “Up”, every so often the dogs interrupt themselves mid-sentence because a squirrel – or even the thought of a squirrel – appears. They stop the conversation or whatever else it is they’re doing to chase that distraction.

Squirrel

(Photo credit: likeaduck)

We don’t call them squirrels in business. They’re more like bright shiny objects or the next new thing. Sure, we call them something else altogether – market opportunities for one. In some cases, they really are. Most of the time, however, they’re just a squirrel that’s dashed across the business plan and provided a major distraction.

Consumers can be fickle.  For example, the typical mobile app is used fewer than 10 times before deletion and over a quarter of people use an app once after downloading.  If you’re working to monetize one of those apps, you have a very limited window in general.  Most businesses aren’t living in that fickle a world unless they choose to be there.  They do that by chasing squirrels.

So how does one distinguish between a legitimate opportunity and a shiny object/squirrel?  As always, it’s a combination of things; some consumer-focused, some business-focused.  With respect to the latter, any new business extension will require resources of some sort, even if it’s the shifting of existing support to the new thing.  Resources are finite in most businesses.  Do you have them?

Ask yourself if customers care.  We can point to any number of examples of being too early for the market.  GO had a mobile operating system and mobile, pen-based computers long before the iPad or iPhone.  NextNewNetworks was doing video long before there was broadband to support streaming.  WebTV was another.  In those and other cases consumers couldn’t understand what was in it for them.  After all, selling is about providing value.  How does the squirrel you’re considering do that?  Does it really provide sustainable growth or just a brief pop in revenues (and maybe not in profits)?

Looking over the horizon is the hardest part of any good business person’s job.  The great ones learn to stay focused on what’s in front of them while taking that peek while ignoring the squirrels.  Can you do that?

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