May
23

Backhanded Comment – Small Business Survival Study

by

CNNMoney.com || States with worst business failure rates.

Iowa and other Midwest States are recognized in a study reported by CNN…

North Dakota, Vermont, Iowa, Wyoming, and Kansas have the lowest rate of small business failures.

Good news… I guess.  One of the key ingredients with many of the successful and growth orientated business leaders we work with is they truly discovered and know who they are and what they do for whom (customer).  With this focus, they are able to serve their customers with a laser focus and add value to the relationship.  Without this level of knowledge or focus, too many are chasing after the customer versus serving them.

We help business leaders discover their true meaning and focus as a business.  This is why their marketing execution is effective.

May
06

SMART Conference, 2011

by

Managing Economic Development Organizations

What a great conference!  I really enjoyed the speakers and the many great people who are working to impact the State of Iowa.  There was a nice group of professionals attending the “Managing Economic Development Organizations” and we covered how to align and engage the Board of Directors to achieve results. 

Here is the PPT from the meeting along with the survey results.

May
04

Top 100 U.S. markets lead the world in economic clout | The Business Journals

by

Top 100 U.S. markets lead the world in economic clout | The Business Journals.

Des Moines is well represented at #59.  We have a long way to go to reach the Top 10… and we are working to make this happen!

Find out how to grow, build wealth and establish a Business Legacy.  Give us a call.

Apr
15

“Knowledge Worker” – Achieving Results

by

“The knowledge worker must be focused on the results and performance goals of the entire organization to have any results and performance at all.  This means that he has to set aside time to direct his vision from his work to results, and from his specialty to the outside in which alone performance lies.”           Peter F. Drucker, The Effective Executive, P 30

Peter Drucker has a unique style of writing and presenting his theories in human behavior in the work place.   His style is direct and requires me to read, re-read and re-read much of his writings just to understand the profound message that he is communicating.  He is one of the authors that provide me with an understanding of many best practices that defies generations.

The comments highlighted above continue to be a foundational element for businesses today.  The “knowledge workers,” in my opinion are the employees who must use their mind as much as their physical attributes for many of the job requirements today.  Technology and automation have removed much of the brute force work, process only, types of positions found in past generations.  Today everyone is a “knowledge worker,” or should be… it is critical to have an engaged (thinking, evaluating, judging and adapting) workforce to achieve the results a business needs in this competitive world.

To be effective, the worker must know the goals, direction and vision of the leaders… or the work becomes an activity.  Business leaders are constantly seeking a more effective and engaged group of workers who are committed to achieve a higher-level purpose for their work; starting with caring about the businesses competitive advantage and their performance.  Activity does not generate “value” and those who misunderstand the direction, purpose and goals are wasting precious resources.  This is where many owners voice displeasure with their workforce and fail to understand how to solve it.

Rule one for a business leader is… “a lack of a clear vision, direction or message does not mean one does not exist; it just means that someone else (other than the leader) is determining the vision, direction and message.”  This hits at the heart of Peter Drucker’s message… performance and values are only measured against the results of the business; not the activity or work effort of an individual.  

Here are some steps for business owners to align their workers with meaningful results:

  1.  Know what you want… purpose for the business, vision for direction and goals for expectations.
  2. Clear communication of step 1.  Live it, believe in it and evaluate it (plan, do, check and adapt) as you go.
  3. Establish expectations that can be understood by the workers.
  4. Stay the course… walks the talk and is cautious about being distracted (difficult for true entrepreneurs where the business is continuously liquid).  Leaders must put some structure in place for the workers to understand and not become confused.

Leadership is setting the guidelines and generating commitment to an understandable message.  This is one side of the equation; the other side is up to the workers to move the business toward the vision and achieving the goals.  This is a vital step to establishing your business brand and eventually building your business legacy.

Apr
07

National, regional employers concerned with filling positions

by

National, regional employers concerned with filling positions.

Very interesting survey results on Midwest businesses finding it difficult to find and hire good talent.  Some of the business leaders we work with have mentioned this and it is becoming more critical as the economy improves.

What is very alarming is… the lack of a motivated or developing workforce.  Prior to 2008 most warm bodies worked somewhere (or many places) and it was acceptable to be a warm body.  Today, it is vital for a business to have an engaged, committed and trained team.  Owners/Leaders are focused on “value” in the labor market and warm bodies do not fit the bill.

Business owners are fussier and expect more from workers today.  BUT, this requires a new commitment from the leaders… communication, purpose, vision, mission and clearly outlined expectations are necessary.  Both owners/leaders and the worker must become aligned in their understanding.

We are here to help you… give us a call to discuss your situation and identify the options that fit well for your business.  Best wishes

 

 

Oct
04

The “Wiz” to Business Finesse & Confidence!

by

       “Ding-Dong the Witch is dead; the wicked ol’ Witch… 
                                     the Witch is dead!” 
It is hard to get this lyric out of your mind once you hear it. 

The “Wizard of Oz” had all the scary and wicked things that created nightmares… strange people, a cute dog, Dorothy, a tornado, munchkins, lions, tigers and bears… not to mention the flying monkeys.  Scary, but all is right with the world when Dorothy wakes up with her family around her.  Now that the experts have evaluated the data… our scary “financial crisis” is over with the recession declared dead in 2009 (nobody told the flying monkeys)!  Some are still in the state of “now that the wicked witch is dead” why are we not home like Dorothy?

Remember, Dorothy accomplished her mission, but the clouds did not automatically open until she attacked the issue.  She confronted the Great Oz and forced him to make good on the promise to return her to Kansas.  Dorothy soon discovered that she had the “keys” to returning all along and she needed a renewed determination to return.  We are in the same place… the experts have spoken; we have the keys; are we going to use them or wait for someone else to take us where we desire to go?

Some discovered the answer to future prosperity the same way Dorothy figured out how to go home… by putting their mind to it and making it happen.  Businesses are moving forward & have cast off the fear of “flying monkeys”, and found customers are in the market.  They may not be as aggressive with spending habits, but they are moving forward.  Are you getting the results you should or expect yet?

Here are 4 business practices to do now!

  1. PLAN – take time to evaluate your business and determine what adjustments are needed to meet the customer’s current needs.  Ensure everyone in the business understands the new reality and marketing strategy.
  2. IMPROVE YOUR TEAM – from your planning session, fix your
    weaknesses.  Hire the right team to serve your customer’s needs.  Invest in training  to make sure the business will execute efficiently for improved results.
  3. FIND A MENTOR /SUPPORT COACH – leadership is a lonely
    profession.  Studies show leaders who work with a qualified, experienced and knowledgeable mentor discover tremendous results (average of 5-6+ times the investment).  Professionals use mentors to improve their performance… invest in yourself and reduce your stress with greater results.
  4. ADAPT – never stop learning from your customers or striving to serve them better than your competition.  Just like driving a car… sometimes you accelerate quickly and other times you brake hard.  Most of the time, you guide the car in-tune with the flow of traffic toward your destination!  Without a plan, a vision or goal, adapting is nothing more than activity.

Simple, focused, driven and innovation (adapting) is a solid foundation to serve your customers.  Keep the message easy to understand and delivering on your value promise wins.

To help you… Strat Exe, Inc. launched “Business Finesse;
the art of confidence for personal and business success!” at
http://www.business-finesse.com.  Do not miss the special evening of personal development, business networking and fine dining with “The Business of Enterprise Etiquette” celebration in Cedar Falls at t

Jun
21

Execution Beyond Words – What is going on at Sprint?

by

Execution beyond Words, Slogans or Advertising

Business leaders will sometimes act as their companies spokesperson and try to convey confidence, trust and “we are solving past problems for the

Business marketing & performance company. Contact www.stratexe.com

Business Marketing & Service Performance Execution Mis-Alignment!

better.”  Lee Iacocca did this with Chrysler in the 1970’s and rebuilt the company.  CEO’s & Presidents convey a heartfelt message that “they are paying attention and will make their company a better place.”

Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint, is one of the more recent leaders to try to convey Sprints commitment to customer service and their innovative 4G service.  He appears comfortable with a trusting demeanor during his TV commercial. As a Sprint subscriber, I find the commercial comforting and positive.  However, as Paul Harvey say… “Here is the rest of the story!”

Marketing is a vital part of creating confidence with a value message and necessary to drive revenue and growth for a company.  Marketing is the whole of an organization… no one department, division or area of a business can operate separately if the marketing strategy is to have impact and accomplish the goals for the business.  In my opinion, Sprint has dropped the ball and has created serious doubt in my mind that their message carries any weight. 

A few weeks ago I received a phone call from Sprint in an attempt to make sure I understood my plan and if I needed additional support.  This is good… staying in touch with your customers, asking questions and being helpful with ideas or suggestions, (valuable information) is excellent.  OK, but I could not understand the agent on the phone… very difficult to understand the dialect.  I asked the agent to slow down so I could understand what they were saying… which meant they started again with the script from the beginning.  In addition to the poor English, the noise in the background (obviously a call center) was more of an issue; I asked where they were calling from; the Philippians was the response. 

After the call, using Sprint’s website, I sent a message to customer service concerning the use of a very difficult to understand agent with a scripted message.  The individual had limited ability to manage the call without the script and when asked questions that required some thought or understanding, they could not handle it.   My confidence in Sprint was sinking.  There was a reply the next day… “We are sorry and please let us know who the agent was and we will correct…” standard response.  Sorry, (confidence sinking, anger rising & surprised to receive a response) I was not upset with the agent… As an American company (with unemployment at record levels and many well-educated Americans available who communicate effectively), I am upset me with an obvious mismatch of message and execution.  My point was directed at the execution of the marketing and service strategy. 

I could not let this go… I responded again about my concerns and asked to be contacted… Strat Exe (American marketing and service performance company) can help you!  Surprise… the next day a call came in from a person based in the United States who displayed concern and had the ability to engage in a discussion.  I shared my thoughts and the response was “I have no idea why they…” – STOP, who are “they?”  “You know the people who decided this approach” was the response.  Now I know all the “theys” at Sprint do not own the company, participate in the marketing strategy, or concern themselves with making the company a marketing execution machine!  In fact, this person, who has worked at Sprint for seven years, did not convey a connection to the company… its mission or marketing message – “they” conveyed a message of “I punch a time clock and go home at the end of the shift.”  Now you know “the rest of the story!”

What do you think?  Do you think my reaction, response or thoughts are out of line?  The economic times we live in today require an engaged, committed and aligned team to carry out the brand message.  Businesses that we work with GET IT.  They are finding new opportunities with growth that their competition does not understand yet.  Simply because a business is larger… with greater resources and deeper management potential does not mean THEY have it figured it out…

Marketing is all about execution from the bottom up… top down and throughout the customer base.  Give us a call; Strat Exe, Inc. (www.stratexe.com) can help you.

Nov
09

SECURE & PROTECT YOUR ONLINE BRAND

by

What would life be like if you were called by the wrong name… all the time?  Yes, everyone experiences this at some time.  Mistakes happen, but not all the time!  Your name belongs to you and it represents your character.

What about your business?  Is your online name protected?  Is your online business “real estate” protected for you?  How do you present a professional online image with an internet service provider’s name (i.e.: yourname@mchsi.com, hotmail.com, aol.com, iowatelecom.net, gmail.com or yahoo.com…), what does this say about your brand image?

Securing the “URL” and setting up an email that secures your family heritage or business positions is relatively simple and if you need help, contact Strat Exe.

Take these steps:

1.  Select a “URL registration” site like www.godaddy.com, www.register.com or other online registration services.

2.  Set up an account and then search for the URL you want to secure.  If the URL name is taken already, you may have to try different combination of words and special characters (“-“ or “_”).  .COM is most common for companies with .BIZ growing in popularity.  .ORG is generally for organizations and .NET for technical support businesses.

We suggest setting up an account first to help secure the URL quickly when you find what you want.  Generally, the URL will cost from $5 -$12 per year to register (you only rent it).

3.  Once the URL is secure, there are many options to evaluate, but the key is to make sure you secure the URL to protect your name and business.  The other options can be evaluated at a later time.

Besides the business name (www.stratexe.com), I also registered www.martystratton.com; www.martinjstratton.com and www.strattonconnect.com to make sure my name is protected.  Other URL’s were secured based on possible business needs… example:  www.the-e-revolution, www.p2p.com, and www.thepowerofalignment.com.  These are reserved to support new business ventures and protect potential online business “real estate.”

4.  When the URL is secured, search for a mail server for your URL name.  These typically cost $12 – $50 per year depending on how many emails you want (name@yoururl.xxx).  Several online companies, such as Godaddy.com or 1and1.com, provides these services without a website.  You can always build your website with the URL and combine both in the future.

This is not a difficult process and you do not have to be a tech-head to register and secure a URL.  Stratexe provides this cost effective service for you… contact us and discover how affordable it is to have your Branded business name for your email.

5.  SPECIAL OFFER:  Ask about an affordable professional website that you can manage – for as low as $495 (www.elocal-ink.com), plus normal monthly hosting.  New technology and techniques allow everyone to use “MS Word” like tools to build your business web site. Why pay more than you have to.  Contact us to learn more.

We believe in delivering practical, affordable and useable solutions to expand the entrepreneur spirit.

Do not let someone else take over your online identity.  Take action now, it will save you head aches and add creditability to your business.  Contact us at:  solutions@stratexe.com or call 641-831-9440

Visit us at www.the-e-revolution.com for additional support to grow your entrepreneur spirit!

Nov
07

Workers, Owners & Execution Perceptions

by

It is interesting to hear business owners and leaders complain about the “workers” lack of support with new products, services or strategies.

”It is like running in quicksand” according to one business owner who spoke about the amount invested in a new project that failed due to poor execution. 

The battle cry becomes, “We need to find new people!” 

This can be the never-ending spiral of FRUSTRATION! 

“The execution of strategy is dependent upon team members on the front line being clear about the organization’s priorities and how they must act to achieve the stated objectives. It sounds simple but is highly complex.”
                                                             ~ Harvard Business Review

Execution begins at the lowest levels… with proper communication
and involvement.  Wishing is like hope; they both achieve
the same results.  Give Strat Exe a call and end this cycle of wasted
time, energy and money – we can help save more & make more! 

email:  solutions@stratexe.com or call 641-831-9440

Nov
03

Confusion, Trust and Sales — with Fine Dining!

by

In today’s Des Moines Register, Miss Manners’ (Judith Martin) etiquette tip focused on restaurant dress codes.   A reader was confused about the codes used to describe various restaurants dress guidelines that summarized with the following words:  Elegant, Dressy, Coat Preferred, Coat Suggested, Casual Elegance, Dressy Casual, Smart Casual and Casual.  This is an excellent concept with the attempt to manage the customer experience, expectations and comfort.  To summarize, Miss Manners agreed these terms were confusing and proper etiquette is to dress up and enjoy a night out and not dress down to poorly defined expectations.

This brought back memories of dining at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in San Diego a few years ago.  What we considered elegant fine dining with excellent food did not translate with other diners who dressed casual (shorts, ball caps and flip-flops) and made us wonder why they dine at Ruth’s Chris and dress for fast food.   Evidently, the menu prices do not translate or define appropriate dress etiquette.

Whenever a customer is confused, trust is low, stress is high and sales do not happen. 

We may make other choices in the future for fine dining based on our experience described.  The guideline approach has the best of intentions, but it may be creating lost sales instead.  People will default more often to the known and may feel the descriptive word used creates a risky situation.  Everyone needs to have the same understanding; especially the differences between men and woman when these code words may have different meanings.

Does your business create confusion?  Do you view your materials, message or signage from the point of a customer? 

Too often, I hear comments from business owners to the effect that the customer should understand the reasons to do business with them (the business).  This comment can be as misleading as the restaurants attempt to give guidance.  The customer’s understanding is the key… not the intent and belief of the business.

Here are a few tips to consider and use to minimize customer confusion:

  1. Seek customer input and feedback.  We do not advocate formal “focus groups,” wasted time or increased cost, but simply ask those that will give you honest feedback.  Use this feedback appropriately and adapt accordingly.
  2. Sleep on it.  Give your idea some time and space.  Great ideas in the morning sometimes look different later in the day.
  3. Define the word in a way your customer will understand.  Single word descriptions leave open the door for confusion based on the customer’s knowledge, experience and viewpoint.  Add an example (words or graphics) that clarifies the word… in the terms your audience understands.

We need to focus on the customer in these situation and this point is equally important for your business team. 

If you experience “miscommunication” in the business, you should evaluate how well you define key guidelines with the team.  Clarify, define and use examples to make sure everyone is on the same page and confusion is minimized.

Being brief and to the point is fine, but it is understanding that provides greater trust and eliminates confusion for your continued success. 

Strat Exe executes business strategies for your sales growth.  We bring effective, practical and affordable value driven solutions focused on your business needs from experience.  Contact us to discover innovative and integrated marketing methods guaranteed to improve your business opportunity for today and sustainable growth in the future.  

Email:  solutions@stratexe.com or call 641.831.9440

Older posts «