A lot of companies struggle to close deals not due to defects in product, pricing, market relations or sales savvy, but due to an imperfect understanding of the customer. A global study conducted by the strategy unit of PwC on one-hundred and sixty-one executives has revealed that majority have claimed business success when adopting a closer customer strategy. First of all, companies must accept that innovations are continuously possible as long as they have a relevance with the audience as achieved by Uber, whose success further fuelled Lyft, Haxi, BlaBla Car and Sidecar. Granular business intelligence must be procured about customers so that informed decisions may be made. The customer outlook must be streamlined with the overall corporate strategy. Those customers must be targeted, who are realistically convertible. Customers must be treated like assets, who on nurturing while grow in value. The entire ecosystem involving buyers, vendors and suppliers must be leveraged. Customers must be able to experience a smooth omnichannel experience. This should lead to excellence in delivery of services. Any organizational transformations need be done with the customer as central to plans. Finally, a corresponding company culture must be fostered to align with the customer strategy.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/10-Principles-of-Customer-Strategy?gko=083a5

Uploaded Date:14 December 2017

Jack welch, the legendary business head of GE had once spoken about how market leadership must be the long-term corporate strategy of every company. While business practices have now evolved and technology has exponentially got upgraded, this basic maxim will never change. Conditions often exist for innovations to emerge which will have a substantial impact. In order to face up to disruptions, companies will need to create certain structural changes within their hierarchy. Even many who are successful at developing business innovations do not know how to leverage the situation for deriving benefits. Three specific scenarios can exist where such ground-breaking innovations emerge. One is when market is static, but no one has conducted any study to understand requirements of customers. Another is when the market is in flux, things are changing and the existing scenario is in upheaval. The third is where the market is about to change for the foreseeable future. Apple is a case in point where instead of communicating to its customers in the language of technology, they started to speak in the way the customers best understood. For this the offering and experience need to be altered. The business model similarly needs to evolve. The message to be communicated also needs to change with time with social and emotional markers attached.

Source:http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2017/09/12/the-secret-formula-for-achieving-market-leadership/

Uploaded Date:24 November 2017

Fifteen sales superstars from different industries have shared their advice on ways to close more deals. Jill Konratt, who is a writer and sales consultant says that failures must be seen as opportunities to learn. A motivational speaker, Grant Cordone feels that professionals must invest in their own education. Trish Bertuzzi says that specific corporate training is required which is best done by enlisting the services of a sales coach. Another says that, there needs to be a detailed plan on ways to react to each kind of sales calls. Other important tips include- keeping one’s ego in check, embracing the challenges ahead with an open mind, developing consistency by eradicating the so-called ‘hacks’ and importantly, never to sell something one does not believe in oneself. Juliana Crisp who is the CEO at Provide, feels that sales is an art form so constant practice is necessary. The number she quotes is ten-thousand hours before achieving perfection. A great way to track business intelligence is by listening to recorded sales calls, feels Neil Patel, who is the CEO of Crazy Egg, Kiss-metrics and Quick-sprout. The other tokens of advice are – to experiment but not repeat a mistake, surrounding oneself with the smartest people possible, learning from others who’ve gone through the same path, have empathy towards the prospects to study their pain points and finally, to commit to the greater vision on why something is being done.

Source:https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/15-sales-superstars-share-their-best-advice-for-closing-more-deals.html?cid=sf01001&sr_share=twitter

Uploaded Date:23 November 2017

While companies often provide discounts at opportune moments to increase their sales, or to clear inventory, such policies often work to the detriment of the brand. This is especially true with loyal customers who tend to generally buy at an earlier stage, so do not get the discount benefits. It can also lead to the market getting delayed as a significant portion of the customer base waits till the expected time of discounting. So, a study was conducted by a team from Wharton to study the effects of such pricing changes, and when is the best time to go for such. For this business intelligence was gathered from two different,though somewhat related fields- a symphony orchestra and a sports team. It was realized that customers’ perceptions depended on three factors- static pricing, dynamic pricing and product variety. Most viewers wanted the gallery or the stadium to be at least four-fifths full. This is an issue which even plagues the concept of surge-pricing at cab operators- Uber and Lyft. The mathematical model of the demand curve needs to be well balanced with the human element involved. Source: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/price-pliant-considering-risks-rewards-dynamic-pricing/

Uploaded Date:23 November 2017