I was reminded the other day of exactly why it is important to have an online digital presence in this day and age… Even though online and digital mediums have been around for more than 20 years, it seems that […]
Salesforce.com Pushes Businesses to Adopt New Lightning Platform
On December 17th, 2018 Salesforce.com announced a strategic move to shift all accounts to their new Lightning platform on a rolling basis… Salesforce.com’s new Lightning platform actually isn’t all that new as it has been around for a few years […]
The Industry and Technology are Killing the Industry, not Millennials
There is a fundamental shift in consumer-driven businesses that has been emerging over the past few years, and it’s shaking up industries and businesses that once stood as giants for decades. Almost daily, an industry giant is either declaring […]
CRM the Equivalent of a Paperweight in Small Businesses
Let’s first start with a few reasons your team might not be using the system: Lack of Management Use – That’s right: they learned it from watching you. At times, we do see various teams making an honest effort to […]
The Small Business Sales Quota Dilemma
Earlier today, I read “Why are Half of All Sales Reps Still Missing Quota in a Booming US Economy?” and found the article itself, and the comments within LinkedIn around the article, a little disturbing. Almost all the points were […]
The Importance of a First and Last Impression in Today’s Economy
Whether you sell million-dollar software implementations or you’re a local restaurant making your debut, first and last impressions matter! Let’s face it: in today’s market, competition is fierce, brand loyalty is down, and consumer attention spans are short, making it […]
The Importance of Interdepartmental Communication in Small Businesses
In today’s environment, businesses move faster than ever. This makes aspects such as simple interdepartmental communication within any organization extremely important—but increasingly overlooked. Things that get missed can be simple items such as an interdepartmental understanding of how new customers […]
Social Media and Online Forums, Hidden Gems of Customer Insight
There are little that essentially go unnoticed… Consumers spend significantly more time online today than they did 10 years ago, and that amount of time is projected to keep rising in the foreseeable future. When online, consumers are spending their […]
What Is Omni-Channel Marketing and Tips for Developing an Omni-Channel Strategy
Omni-Channel Marketing is a new term that has been thrown around increasingly more over the past few years, and it is a strategy that most organizations regardless of industry should develop, as it makes a heck of lot of sense. […]
Digital Document Management for Small Businesses
You would not believe how many small businesses still have no true way of managing their documents besides folders, file cabinets, or saving files directly to their computers. If you are reading this and that is how you currently manage […]
Landmark Case with TripAdvisor, Makes Businesses Think Twice About Reviews
It was announced on Wednesday, September 13th of 2018 that an Italian man would be jailed for nine months for running a business tied to fake TripAdvisor reviews. Reviews, especially for consumer-based businesses, mean everything… and unfortunately there are too […]
Sales Is a Numbers Game, How to Increase Sales Without Increasing Pipeline
Sales is a numbers game, right? In sales, this is something you are constantly told, typically followed by the need to get more opportunities into the pipeline. This roughly translates to the more opportunities that are in the pipeline, the […]
The Fundamental Change in Today’s Buying Process
The way people buy and sell in today’s B2B market segment is significantly different than the way things were done 10+ years ago. Even though it has been that long, both buyers and sellers continue to struggle with the change… […]
My How Times Have Changed.. or Have They Really – the Rebirth of Small Businesses
Something interesting has been happening over the past 10 years and it is reminiscent of the “good old days”… The 80s, 90s, and early 2000s saw a shift from family owned small businesses and restaurants to big box retailers, chain […]
Take a Sales Loss Gracefully
You’ve worked tirelessly for weeks or months on end regarding an opportunity—an opportunity that could make or break your bookings number for the month, quarter, or year. Then, when everything is all said and done, they decide to hold off, […]
Dine Brands / IHOP Announces Name Change to IHOb
Dine Brands / IHOP recently announced that they will be changing their name to IHOb, and we have two theories for this recent announcement. The first being that this could all be a marketing gimmick that will be followed by […]
The Importance of Testing in Marketing Campaigns
The challenge with marketing in small business, is that you just do not have enough budget and resources to market like the big guys. This can create a challenge when coming up with new marketing campaigns and ensuring those campaigns […]
Target Uses Local Retail Stores as Virtual Warehouse
Over the past few years, Target has become increasingly more innovative to compete against other local brick and mortar stores and Amazon alike… As an example, back in December, they announced a new mobile payments system called “Wallet” that allows customers to […]
There’s a Problem, Stop What You Are Doing!
There is a fundamental problem in businesses today that is absolutely crippling organizations of all shapes and sizes. What is that problem, you ask? It is simply the failure to address critical business problems in a timely and strategic fashion. […]
Bertucci’s Files for Bankruptcy
The restaurant industry has faced another blow with Bertucci’s filing for bankruptcy, citing changing climate along with cheaper and faster alternatives as the main reasons for the failing business. But is that really the case? We recently published on strategic innovation […]