Posts from —

William Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, “All the world’s a stage; and all the men and women merely players.” If he is right and life is a stage, then your company is a venue filled with people playing their roles.

The leading characters vary by company. When a company chooses only one or two dominating roles, they tend to become self-centered. Their dark side overtakes the stage, encroaching on other players. Fortunately, we can fix the surly dispositions by transitioning to an ensemble performance where the positions are equal (or close to it.) [Read more →]

If you had 90 days to improve your company’s return on investment (ROI), where would you start? Reducing costs is usually the first thought, followed quickly by increasing sales. Both are good short-term solutions. If you want to make a long-term difference, integrate your marketing and operations departments.

Marketing and operations integration (MOI) is one of the hardest challenges any company faces. The tribal feud between the departments crosses channels, divisions, and generations. [Read more →]

STOP! Before you reach for the low hanging fruit with another discount or free shipping, did you know that you might be trading tomorrow’s lifetime value for today’s sales?

One of the privileges of being a consultant is that you get to see the results from a variety of clients. If one client benefits from reducing the number of discount emails, it’s an anomaly. When most clients that try it, benefit, it’s a best practice.

It is a hard recommendation to sell when people are in the habit of churning out sale emails. It usually involves a little begging on my part. “Just test it. That’s all I ask. Please? Pretty please?” are words I’ve been known to say. Some clients require more persuading than others (you know who you are!), but I digress.

Continuously sending discount emails trains your customers to wait for a better price, reduces your return, and doesn’t improve your relationship. [Read more →]