Two things struck me in reading the announcement that I thought that we could all do with reminding of:

My own personal cult brand? Yes, I am one of those Saab fanatics to whom Mr. Muller refers. Time to win “me” back. The lesson to all of us, don’t lose “me” in the first place: I am your bread and butter customer.

This point is made in the first part of the book because, all too often, successful companies become order takers. They have been wooed by the good times in which the phone would ring and now they sit and stare at it aimlessly, forgetting that, yes, it can dial out, too.

One of our colleagues and contributors, sales scientist Adrian Davis, President and CEO, Whetstone Inc explains, “marketing must now tie the end of their funnel directly to the beginning of the sales funnel”.

The success of innovation depends on telling people about what it is that you have innovated. Yes, there are some very strong traditional and marketing tools that can help raise awareness of your company or brand, and increase the number of people phoning in to you. But, don’t be complacent. Ensure that your lead generation process systematically ties together your innovation and marketing to a strong, proactive sales program.

I know, it can be tough. I am definitely not a born salesperson so I have made myself into a disciplined one – actively attending events, making well researched introductory calls and generally making sure that everyone in the company opens their eyes to opportunities and feeds them back to me to follow up on.

Remember, your phone is still your company’s best friend … but nobody can dial it for you.

-Ken Tencer

At Spyder Works, whether it’s working one-to-one to solve a client’s immediate problem or making enough time to write a book, the process we use is geared to achieving a balance that meets the immediate demands of running the day-to-day business and the need to work towards our longer-term plans.

Each business day I start by asking myself three questions:
• What am I going to sell today?
• What one thing can I do today to make my business better?
• How will the answers to these previous questions mesh with the long-term vision of the company?

The answers to these questions keep me constantly thinking about growth, innovation and long-term focus. Making them a part of your daily routine will help you to replace short and long-term with continuous and sustained.

- Ken Tencer

“President Akio Toyoda said he was “deeply sorry” for accidents caused by safety problems with Toyota vehicles…and that a period of explosive growth may have weakened the automaker’s internal controls.” He also said that “We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organization, and we should sincerely be mindful of that (Krolicki, 2010, Globe and Mail)”.

This is a classic example of an organization  not having a full compliment of people in the process of assessing, contributing and allocating internal resources to new opportunities. The company did not have enough human capital and management capabilities to handle the rapid expansion. They didn’t have the people in place to achieve their objectives and handle the speed of the growth. This in turn led them to move away from their costumer-centric focus that made Toyota such an  innovative and renowned brand.

The one question that we remind our clients to ask during the strategic process is: What resources are you going to need to get this done? It ensures that they take the time to think through the implementation in cross-disciplinary team … carefully identifying the resources that will be needed to successfully execute on the opportunities that they wish to pursue. And, most importantly, to do so at a pace that they can manage and control.

Ken Tencer

* Krolocki, K., ‘Toyoda ‘deeply sorry’ for accidents’, The Globe and Mail, February 23, 2010.

Every business begins as an idea in someone’s mind, a notion that transforms into the vision and courage needed to make the business happen. Success requires a magical mix of intuition, insight, head-splitting thinking and the sheer will to see it, distil it and execute it.  It’s a lot to ask, and those who succeed are the exception to the rule.

What is not the exception is where success begins. When you look back and explore how you got to where you are today, you will nearly always find the “gems”, the key passions and motivations that made all the difference.

Maybe you felt that the business of weight loss should, in fact, be a process and not a quick fix … so you put together a supportive program around the products. Maybe you were on a plane, skimming magazines with pictures of outdoor furniture when the category struck you as ugly and outdated … so you started your own design-oriented outdoor furniture company.

Exploring your origins leads to a rediscovery of purpose that then points the way ahead. To grow your business, your best bet may be to simply reconnect with that drive for quality and individuality.

Many companies crash and burn trying to expand their products and services into hot new markets. The 90% rule can help you identify your most natural opportunities, saving you money and time.

Your vision of the future starts with a well-planned rethink of your purpose, your history and your passion. And here’s the good news: you’ll find your next big opportunity will be 90% founded on what you have already built.

- Ken Tencer

Do you know how your business will survive and grow over the next decade? Do you even know how to begin planning for the post-recession future?

I don’t so much care about the product you have sold for the past twenty years, or what you sell today; I want to understand the benefits that your company is already 90% capable of delivering, and how those benefits can change your customers’ lives. This is the 90% Rule. It can help you identify your most promising new markets.

In working with clients on marketing and branding campaigns, I have discovered, over and over, that the answers are rooted not just in who you are and what you do, but in what you believe you can be. It’s about exploring the passion that got you here and transforming it into benefits that improve your customers’ lives.

When you see your company through the lens of the 90% Rule, you begin using benefit-driven thinking that is anchored in what your customers want and need, not simply in what you do now. This fundamental perspective is the bedrock on which clear corporate vision and strategic intent are built. It opens the door to new opportunities and profitable growth.

- Ken Tencer

Extend your current capital base don’t over-leverage to acquire a new one.

- Ken Tencer

However, up-front thinking can actually help mitigate risk and enable you to develop more relevant and actionable ideas, more quickly … especially if the thinking moves along a path that systematically becomes more in tune with your vision, goals and customer needs.

What thinking needs most is a complementary process that corrals the “blue sky” ideas, marshals them toward the desired goals and molds them into doable actions that drive growth.

Because, yes, sooner (rather than later) somebody has to sell something.

- Ken Tencer

•   If you don’t believe in yourself and your ideas then
    you can be sure that nobody else will
•   If you don’t have passion for your business it won’t
    come from anyone else
•   If it was supposed to be easy, everybody would be
    doing it
•   The problems are there not to stop you from
    succeeding but to stop the others from going
    where you go
•   If there are but a few words to live by, let them be
    audacity, vision, belief and persistence

Or as Arthur C. Clarke wrote, “The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”
What are you going to make a possibility for your business?

- Ken Tencer

But, like my clients, I just can’t do that.
So, what’s the solution? What if we applied some entrepreneurial business principles to the business of economic reform?

Re-engineer, don’t cut. Re-engineering your business means finding innovative ways to deliver the same (or better) product and service at a lower cost. Cutting means saving money at all costs. Every business retains clients that may not be as profitable as they appear to be, or has products that no longer contribute to the bottom-line at the levels that they should. When was the last time that you truly looked at the various clients or groups of clients that you service and the products that you offer to them? You may find that you are trading dollars in a specific area and that you may actually be better off ‘streamlining’ that part of your business and focusing all of your time and energy to nurture the most profitable areas. Remember, you get paid from the bottom-line, not the top.

Invest, don’t spend. I am the first to get on the bandwagon that says that recessions are the best times to grow, and to not cut your marketing and R&D dollars because they are your company’s future. So, where does the money come from? Well, if you have taken the time to re-engineer then you will be acutely focused on your future opportunities. And so will your company’s cash flow.

Guarantee, don’t promise. Last but not least, picture this prospect: have the politicians (senators, congressman, MPs, MPPs etc) personally guarantee one million dollars each of the incremental debt. Sadly, we know that would never happen. But in our gut we know we want to say, “Don’t just promise that it’ll be better, fully stand and feel what it means to stand behind your words”. One million dollars each may add up to only a nominal amount relative to the total debt. But a guarantee would really enable these leaders to fully feel the ‘entrepreneur’s stomach’….who must do just that. Entrepreneurs know what it is like to sit across from the banker and sign for his or her life savings and kids’ education because they believe in and commit to an idea, opportunity and business direction.

It might not fully answer decades of lax financial policy. But one step in the right direction may be the adoption of sound business principles used everyday by smart entrepreneurs and business managers: Re-engineer, invest and guarantee … to me, it’s not a ‘small’ business idea.

Your thoughts?

- Ken Tencer