Books I recommend…

Previously  I’ve written about Jeff Bezos and his encouraging his staff to read selected books.

I’m not in Bezos class, but I have suggested a reading list for my team members in the past and I’ve used these series of books as a basis for both self Learning and guided learning.

Self learning typically would encourage your team member to read the book (they are all quite short) and to identify three ideas they can implement now.… Read more

Do you really understand your Sales Team’s Strategy?

For Board members or for non-commercial executives thinking about the commercial area of their business branding, marketing and advertising occupies most focus and sales is left pretty much to fend for itself.

This mindset is to be regretted, as sales must offer the business many opportunities to add value in building and retaining a strong customer network. I have seen too many great brands with fantastic advertising flounder because no one could buy their product, or retailers or wholesalers were constantly out of stock or pricing did not reflect brand values.  … Read more

Nine benefits of social media focus

I haven’t been posting anything recently on commercial issues as I focus on HR, but a recent post on business insider  based on their original social media research, could be a useful addition to our resources section.

After several decades of engaging with consumers I am a strong advocate of focus, and so this article really resonated. In my current NGO role we (mis-)use twitter, facebook and linkedin– and the team remain confused what style of content links with each contact and with different consumers attentive to each social media channel.… Read more

The undervalued virtue of consistency

As managers we often value change more than continuity. Brand managers get promoting for changing packaging or advertising, business development managers succeed when they change the strategy. We all have stories of success following change.
Consistency is a strongly undervalued virtue in business.
We get easily bored with the things that we have done in the past, and seek the new, to change, certainly well before our customers actively seek changes.
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5 Killer Questions for Non-Marketers to ask

In moving from commercially focused businesses into the wider world, the question i am asked most often is : how can i improve my branding and marketing. This a killer question. Without getting into an in-depth review of the questioners specific challenges, i go back to first principles and ask them to think about asking similar killer questions to ask their marketing teams.… Read more