Sales :: Lean Sales and Marketing thru Service Design Thinking

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Apr

Find the Right Customer at the Right time

Posted by: business901 | Comments (0)

How do you generate a bunch of prospects that have low risk with a high earning potential. This is what most companies seek and should streamline their organizations to take advantage of these types of orders. It is not about disregarding anyone product/market group even a high risk and a low potential. It is about matching these opportunities with the Right Customer and at the Right Time. Understanding this is key. Orders designated high risk and low potential with the Wrong Customer are selectively chosen and may not be considered in your peak production. Taking a high risk job – low potential may be the right call with the Right Customer in the off season.

I often discuss being Customer Centric which not only a fantastic business opportunity but a requirement going forward. Even though most of us claim to be customer centric, the majority of us still think in a product centric manner. Why change this? When you are product centric, you have a product for everyone and standard list price. It is the way you think. When you are customer centric, you find the right customer for the right product at the right price – huge difference. But don’t think in applying your product (inventory and new products), think about product/markets. Think outside–in versus inside-out. If you think in broader terms before zeroing down you can adjust offerings and pricing accordingly.

As an example, you can sell more services, bundle offerings and as a result quit selling products as a commodity. You increase potential, looking for ways to be innovative and work with customers that will allow this – “your right customer”.

This way of thinking does not mean you wing it or you do not understand your cost. If anything you need to understand them better. The risk becomes smaller, because your internal processes get better. That is the carrot to get better internally and what will sustain improvements.

You will also grow as the definition of the Right Customer broadens. A result of understanding your prospects/customers wants and desires better which happens through increased knowledge transfer. A better definition may be that you achieve a better understanding of the work to be done which spurs innovation and design.

Lean Software & Systems Conference

Posted by: business901 | Comments (2)

Three Events, One Venue – 3-Day Conference, Lean Camp & Lean Tutorials
Lean Software & Systems Conference 2012 (LSSC12) May 13-18, 2012, in Boston, MA

LSSC 2012 Boston is bringing three premiere events to one centralized location to facilitate the next wave of ideas in methods, process and organization for software & systems engineering development. Boston is the premiere place to be for those innovating in the Lean community.

The Lean Software and Systems Conference emphasizes Lean concepts representing the next wave of ideas in methods, process and organization for software and systems engineering. It brings together an international community of practitioners, consultants, thought leaders and authors to cross-pollinate ideas and foster a sense of community for those promoting better economic and sociological outcomes in their workplace.

Steven Spear, Gregory Howell, and Yochai Benkler will be appearing as the keynote speakers for LSSC 2012 Boston. As some of the leading minds in today’s ever-expanding lean software & systems landscape, these speakers will inform, engage, and inspire LSSC attendees.More details about these speakers and LSSC12 are available on the conference website at http://lssc12.leanssc.org.

If you have interest in attending contact me for a Discount Code!

The Lean Software and Systems Conference focuses on Lean, Pull Systems and the Kanban Method and how each can be used to improve predictability, frequency of delivery, risk management and quality. Kanban is a term used to describe a type of pull system and is originally found in lean manufacturing. In Kanban for knowledge work, development processes are streamlined by better coordination driven primarily by improved visibility and greater focus on highest value work. Knowledge work environments such as software development have special challenges since inefficiencies are harder to pinpoint due to the absence of physical inventory and the constant variation in the work produced.

I have the honor to be one of the invited speakers and have a very difficult act to follow, Steve Denning’s, author of the book, The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management: Reinventing the Workplace for the 21st Century. My topic will be “Is Lean still on the Wagon or is it Ready to Fly?“.

Other Speakers that have participated in the Business901 Podcast: David Anderson, Jim Benson, Steve Denning, Alan Shalloway, Yuval Yeret, Dean Leffingwell and Claudio Perrone.

P.S. If you can’t make Boston there are still a few seats left for the Indianapolis Lean Sales and Marketing Summit on April 17th and 18th.

Lean Engagement Team Book Released

Posted by: business901 | Comments (0)

Sales and marketing can no longer operate in a vacuum. It has become a process output that intertwines across many of the departments within the organization. As companies have become flat, their decision making is increasingly being done by committee. As a supplier, you must mimic your customer decision-making path and as a result your sales and marketing will also be done by committee. Our highest priority is to deliver to the customer content that he deems valuable to his decision-making process.

Lean is the future of marketing and one of the main reasons is the development of Agile under the Lean umbrella. Using the Agile Manifesto as a basis for Agile marketing or Lean marketing is a good start. In summary they are based on these principles:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Content-rich material over elaborate promotion
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Response to changing customer needs over following a plan

The further we are from our customers’ knowledge base the more effort has to be made to create a larger and larger supply of prospects. The ability to share and create knowledge with your customer is the strongest marketing tool possible. Successful Sales and Marketing Teams are no longer trying to get their message out but developing strategies to get the message in.

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