Create a Mark for your Business with Category Design Creation

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Create a Mark for your Business with Category Design CreationThe most successful companies today are not in that position just because they created something for selling. They are not creating good or services are performing better than their predecessors. This is because they perceived the market differently and create something different from other categories of products. This is what we call a new category design creation.

Yes, most new inventions fail in the 1st attempt that is for sure. But these entrepreneurs focused on two main elements:

  • Creating a remarkable product
  • Creating a brand (business model) based on the success of their product.

And this is the reason why they tasted success while most of the entrepreneurs and companies fail.

So, what exactly is category design creation?

Category design creation is a kind of business tactic that mainly prioritizes the creation of a new product category, which can be monopolized before the other competitors in the same area. The creation of a new niche that doesn’t have any competition can increase the chances of success by a very fair margin. The newly established brand is most likely to dominate that category is such cases.

When any company establishes itself in a new category of service of category, this will be called as a new category creation. This may be a set of related goods, services and which will be based upon the buyers’ perspective.

Why should companies consider creating category design creation?

There are several reasons why an entrepreneur must consider this idea. Some of them are;

1. Market development

If the association’s items are as of now in a scope of developing markets and natural development is very constrained, then diversification into another item classification may give development openings. This would, in general, be one of Apple’s main impetuses to move into advanced mobile phones, as they saw constrained potential for development in the world market.

2. Influence brand value

Many successful companies will have solid brand value, conceivably over a scope of brands, which may have collaboration with related item classes. For instance, a vehicle producer may begin fabricating trucks, transports, and/or bikes. Right now the purpose is to influence their notoriety and popularity across into different classifications.

3. Set up a market

A firm entering another item classification would have a decent understanding of the size of the market, its development potential, generally speaking, benefit and the qualities and shortcomings of its current rivals. Accordingly, it ought to contain no genuine shocks for them and they ought to have the option to create and execute a successful marketing procedure.

Conclusion

To achieve success, most companies take the help of category design creation. And this method has proven to be effective. Mcdonald’s introduced theme parks, Apple came into the smartphone market, Pepsi expanded the scope of beverages. The chances of creating a monopoly increases when you have less competition. So, budding entrepreneurs need to explore new markets and create new categories that will be liked by consumers.

In a Newly-Virtual World, Are Ride Alongs Still Important?

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | In a Newly-Virtual World, Are Ride Alongs Still Important?All managers and leaders recognize that one of their most critical tasks is to develop the skills and competencies of their people. They agree, too, that one of the very best ways to properly understand the level of skill and competency of their workforce is to observe them in real-time, real life, operational situations: cue the ride-along.

For those not familiar with the ride-along, or for those who underestimate their usefulness, imagine a professional football coach telling the club owner that, rather than watch the game unfold from the sideline, he’d much rather read all about it the following day in the sports pages. How long do you imagine that particular coach would last? In fact, all modern coaches not only watch the game from the sidelines, they also manage and attend the training sessions, the strategy sessions, help construct the playbooks, recruit the staff and players, etc: the same too of business leaders and senior managers, of course.

The best sales leaders recognize that spending time ‘in the field’ visiting customers with their team is a critical part of their job. The best customer service leaders are also extremely used to the desk-accompaniment listening to real-time, live calls with clients and prospects, and then spending time reviewing and coaching the particular operative. These ride-along scenarios have been standard operating procedure for most developmental companies for years. But, in these times of social-distancing, has dealing with COVID-19 and the almost world-wide mandatory working from home instruction, temporarily put ride alongs on-ice as it has so many other normal work behaviors? Not a bit.

Whichever sector, business, or business-cycle, managers and leaders should develop their people now more than ever.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that lots of companies are thriving, actually booming, in the current climate: food distribution, medical supplies, cleaning-product manufacturers, video-conferencing, and a host of many others. These companies now, more than ever, need to capitalize on their upward growth-curve to ensure that the growth is well-managed and the organization does not come apart at the seams as the company struggles to keep pace with the growing demands put upon it.  Managers and leaders should schedule more time than ever to ensure that quality-spills are minimized and that individuals are up to the increased task. Leaders are obliged to ensure that all opportunities are well managed, and that customers remain satisfied. How to do this? Highly structured and regular ‘virtual’ ride-alongs, of course.

Some companies are at a relatively steady-state of revenue – although still grappling with new methods of operating, processes, and people-management policies. Ride-alongs should be Standard Operating Procedure, and managers should ensure that. Just because the ride-along may now have to be supported by video-conferencing and other technological platforms, their usefulness is just as valid as ever. In fact, social distancing, and working from home practices now afford the manager even more opportunity to spend time with their people ‘in the field’ since the usual travel-time to and from the meeting is effectively removed. What a tremendous opportunity to spend more time increasing skills even more in this, our new normal.

For those businesses that are scrambling to pivot, or even survive, the next few weeks and months will be most telling. This is a critical time for many businesses ensuring that their supply-chain is as stable as possible, their customers are as well-communicated with as possible, and their sales and customer-service skills are as honed as possible. If there are fewer opportunities than ever before for these businesses, the importance of each opportunity increases proportionately, of course. This means that highly structured and regular role-plays, pre-call plans, and post-call reviews should now be mandatory.

Whatever business you are in, managers these days should be spending most of their time  supporting their people in the field with customers, prospects, suppliers, and staff with incredibly structured and organized ride alongs. Virtual is the new normal: and virtual ride alongs are the new way to ensure that businesses are as well managed as possible during the global pandemic.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Antonio GarridoAntonio Garrido is a charismatic and experienced trainer, speaker, and consultant. He runs a Sandler Training Center in Miami, FL. The author of THE 21ST CENTURY RIDE-ALONG: How Sales Leaders Can Develop Their Teams In Real-Time Sales Calls, Antonio works with highly-motivated entrepreneurs, business leaders, and companies who are ready to work smarter and commit their time, money, and energy to attract new clients, sell more, and generate more profits.

For more information, please visit https://www.Sandler.com/resources/sandler-books/21st-century-ride-along/.

4 Ways to Support Your Clients During Covid-19

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Covid-19|4 Ways to Support Your Clients During Covid-19Few would have guessed we would be in a practically global lockdown a month ago. The impact on businesses has been significant. Many have been forced to make redundancies, delay paying suppliers or even fold due to the inability to trade. Governments have stepped in to help businesses’ but how are businesses’ supporting their clients during this uncertain time? It will be survival of the fittest between businesses. Those who adapt and innovate will be left at the end, with great opportunities to dominate markets. This article will explore some practical tips to support client’s during lockdown.

Regular Contact

Depending on what industry you are in, contact can differ, but one of the most important things a business can do right now is continue to communicate with clients. Account managers need to be ringing their clients, giving support and feedback that will help their clients on a daily basis. This will ensure that a client is feeling valued and will provide goodwill to the client. It will also help client retention in the long run as clients that feel appreciated are more likely to stick with you.

Temporary Discounted Prices

Offering a temporary discounted price will go a long way with your clients. Naturally, how much discount you can offer will depend upon your margin but there are certain industries like the subscription-based industry that can slash their prices radically. We found a poker training one offering as high as 90% discount during Covid-19 lockdown. It is worth checking with your finance department how high a percentage discount you can offer. Logic dictates the higher the discount percentile, the happier a client will feel. Be careful though, it is probably better to keep the price static than discount an insultingly low amount like 5% or less.

Educate

Another way to support clients is educating them on the situation. Many are oblivious to the resources available to them and are not investing the time. If you are diligent and getting access to the support available from the government and grant schemes, share it with your clients. If you help them with their cash flow by saving them money or getting access to funds they otherwise wouldn’t, they are far more likely to stay loyal to you.

Offer Solutions

As previously stated, innovation and adaptability are key to getting through the next few months. In addition to selling your services or product to clients, why not offer suggestions and solutions to help them? Not everyone is capable problem solvers that can react to the changing business world. Perhaps your client is a Psychologist, perhaps they can move to video conferencing for their 1 to 1 consultation? Perhaps your client sells ladders in a retail store. Could they move their sales to online and setup ecommerce? Most industries have the capacity to change the way they operate, if the owner is willing to change. When this is all over, the business world is likely to be radically different and those who have solutions will have opportunity to make a lot of money.

Conclusions

As challenging as it is at the moment, businesses’ need to remain positive and get through. The most important thing is surviving this period so you are placed to take advantage of opportunities on the other side. The reality is, many companies will go bust due to their inability to plan, manage cash flow, innovate and react to the changes going on. The companies that are supporting their clients now are more likely to keep them and be there afterwards with potential to grow. I hope yours is one.

5 Simple Methods for Boosting Employee Productivity

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Employee Productivity|5 Simple Methods for Boosting Employee ProductivityWithout hyperbole, employee productivity is arguably the biggest factor that determines if a business is successful or not. When those productivity levels are labored, this negatively affects every aspect of the company.

Yet when everything runs smoothly, where employees are completing their tasks on time and in an effective manner, the entire business will thrive. Although, as the saying goes, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. If a single staff member fails to do their job as expected, it will be felt at all levels of the company.

Due to this, it’s imperative to maximize the effort of every worker. However, how do you reach this point? How can you turn an average performer into a productive powerhouse?

This article is here to help answer those questions. Below are five easy methods you can implement for boosting employee productivity.

Be clear with goals and instructions

When you are setting tasks for your employees to complete, you need to do so in an effective and careful way. If you feed them instructions which are muddled or complicated, this is only going to compromise their productivity.

Worse, it might even lead to them doing the task wrong.

As a result, provide them with clear instructions and goals to target. The less time they spend confused and asking for assistance, the more efficient they will be.

Streamline work with automation

Automation is a gift which your business should cherish. Rather than your employees spending precious time on completing monotonous tasks, this can be completed automatically with technology. This then gives them additional time to focus on more important tasks.

Automation can be utilized in various different ways. For instance, software specialists PaperSave can assist with streamlining invoice management and data entry.

Give them a break

It might sound counterproductive on the surface, but allowing employees to take regular breaks from their work is recommended. It gives them a chance to recharge and have a mental break from their work.

Based on research, 52 minutes of solid work before a 17-minute break is an ideal balance for productivity. While you don’t have to be quite that specific with your timing, it demonstrates why allowing employees to regularly rest pays off.

Measure their work

If you fail to measure the work of your employees, you won’t be able to gain an accurate picture of their productivity. Are they meeting deadlines? Are they following directions? Is the work of a high quality? The answers to these questions might slip away if you don’t measure their productivity.

Thankfully, the task is made easy due to the number of effective software tools available for monitoring employee productivity.

Reward success

When employees complete their job to a successful standard, don’t let them feel their hard work was overlooked. Acknowledge the work they did and supply them with a healthy dose of praise. Even just a few kind words will help boost their morale.

However, you could always take it a step further and provide the employee with a reward. This could be everything from the afternoon off to a free meal at a local restaurant.

How To Attract Your Target Customer

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Target Customer|How To Attract Your Target CustomerUltimately, the key to success in all industries is identifying your target customer and then taking steps to attract this group to your business. The target customer is the group of people that will benefit from the products and/or services that you use, and identifying this group will enable you to make key business decisions; but how can you go about attracting this group? This can be challenging, particularly in competitive industries, but there are a few highly effective strategies that will help your business to succeed, allow you to develop a positive reputation with this group, and compete with the top brands in your industry.

Determine The Target Customer And Their Needs

First, you need to make sure that you have a clear definition of your target customer. You then need to identify what the wants, needs, and priorities for this group are, which will then help you when it comes to marketing and promoting your brand. A few key questions to ask, which will help with this are as follows:

  • What problems does your company solve?
  • Which specific customers will benefit the most?
  • What is the age, gender, location, income, lifestyle, and attitude of this group?

It is then helpful to create a profile for your target market, so that you can picture this individual and keep them in mind whenever you make any kind of strategic decision.

Analyze The Competition

Your direct competitors will have the same target customer as you do, so it is a good idea to carefully analyze the competition in order to see what you can learn, and to take advantage of any gaps in the market. In addition to looking at what the most successful brands are doing well, do not forget to look at what the struggling brands are doing wrong—this can be just as insightful, and will help you to avoid making the same mistakes.

Create Engaging Content

In today’s internet-driven age, a brand needs to create content in addition to providing a high-quality product and/or service, as this is how you promote your brand, demonstrate your expertise, and engage with your target customer. The content must be of value to your target customer, stand out from the crowd, and use a variety of media. If you are in the health and fitness industry, for example, then you have a lot of good options, such as:

  • Workout videos
  • Nutritional infographics
  • “How-to” guides for specific exercises
  • Interviews with key figures
  • Live Q&A sessions on social media

Use Influencer Marketing

Following on from this, social media is a key platform for engaging your target customer, and one of the most effective strategies for this is using influencer marketing. This involves an influential figure in your industry promoting your products and/or services to their followers (your target customer), which is a highly effective way of reaching a much larger group and improving your brand reputation. The key to success with using this increasingly popular form of marketing is finding the right agency—you can do this by searching online, for example, by looking for the best influencer marketing agency in Los Angeles.

Host Events

It is vital that you take steps to engage your target customer online, but you must not overlook the value of also doing this offline, as this can be an excellent way of building real-life connections with this group. The best way to do this is by hosting events, which will help to create a sense of community with your target customer, while also portraying your brand is an authoritative figure in the industry. Using the above health and fitness example, you could host fitness classes, lectures, live screenings of sports, and anything else that will bring your target customers to your business.

Surveys

Another smart step to take is to send out surveys to your target customer. This will help you to identify areas in which you could improve your brand in order to appeal directly to this group—as the saying goes, “the customer is always right.”

Improve Customer Service

No matter who your target customer is, you will need to make sure that you provide them with excellent customer service in order to retain customers and build a positive reputation. Keep in mind that people have different preferences when it comes to customer service, so you should have a range of options, including:

  • Phone
  • Email
  • Social media
  • Live chat

Understanding exactly who your target customer is—and knowing how to reach this group—will be critical to success. Follow the above steps, and you should soon start to attract more people to your business, improve your reputation, and compete with the larger brands in your industry.