There are paying customer lines longer than job interview lines - in this market!
It's true!
Creative Biomass in MA had a line of paying customers for wood pellets at the site of their soon to be built mfg plant that was longer than the line for job interviews for the 30 new positions it needed to fill. Did you catch that? The plant hadn't even been built yet when customers lined up to buy! http://www.creativebiomass.com/
Self-funded Proxycomm launched in January of this year and now boasts over 9,000 customers and distributors. Did you catch that? SELF-FUNDED!!
http://www.proxycomm.com/
Check their Live stat and watch them grow - or better still, get a glove and get in the game by becoming a distributor.
Or look at all the innovative ways Walgreen's is changing how healthcare is consumed and delivered with their in store Take Care clinics or their onsite programs at major companies like Level 3 Communications. And the lines of paying customers just keep growing! Did you catch that? Paying customers.....
So if you think "waiting until customers start buying again" is a strategy for success, read on.
Customers haven't stopped buying - they're making choices about what matters and what doesn't. What they need vs what they don't. What they want vs what's just a really nice thing to have.
It's business as usual, from way back when there were no VCs and no "uncollateralized debt instruments" to trade in Ponzi scheme markets until the last fool cried "foul" because we ran out of fools. (but I digress)
So if you don't have a line at your door of paying customers, get a glove and get in the game!
Gotta go now.... phone's ringing, paying customers are calling. Did you catch that?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Everyone Driving Revenues Has Left The Building!
Have you noticed, yet?
Those executives responsible for driving revenues have "left the building"?
(If yours are in their offices all day, be very afraid...)
Customers are everywhere BUT in your company's building. In a world more global everyday there are unlimited choices - the customer is driving!
And that's what's driving every company's mobility strategy - it's hard enough to "find" new customers , but you can bet they are not in your building.
That's why you can never get a meeting with the CEO, no successful VP of Sales is ever by her phone and the best sales people are never in the office anymore ...
Those product vendors that 'get this' are racking up sales - in this market! Mobile products for the constanly mobile...It's not rocket science.
Here are just a few of the brilliant products I am seeing:
Need to 'web conference' from your iPhone?
http://www.callwave.com/landing/mobileVisualVoicemail.aspx?r=NONE
Want to do SAP approvals from your Blackberry?
www.3i-consulting.com
How about speaking to your Smart Phone and having it convert to text in multiple languages, in real-time? http://www.apptek.com/
Two questions for you:
1) What mobile products are you seeing out there?
2) Are you....still in the building?
Those executives responsible for driving revenues have "left the building"?
(If yours are in their offices all day, be very afraid...)
Customers are everywhere BUT in your company's building. In a world more global everyday there are unlimited choices - the customer is driving!
And that's what's driving every company's mobility strategy - it's hard enough to "find" new customers , but you can bet they are not in your building.
That's why you can never get a meeting with the CEO, no successful VP of Sales is ever by her phone and the best sales people are never in the office anymore ...
Those product vendors that 'get this' are racking up sales - in this market! Mobile products for the constanly mobile...It's not rocket science.
Here are just a few of the brilliant products I am seeing:
Need to 'web conference' from your iPhone?
http://www.callwave.com/landing/mobileVisualVoicemail.aspx?r=NONE
Want to do SAP approvals from your Blackberry?
www.3i-consulting.com
How about speaking to your Smart Phone and having it convert to text in multiple languages, in real-time? http://www.apptek.com/
Two questions for you:
1) What mobile products are you seeing out there?
2) Are you....still in the building?
Monday, May 4, 2009
2009 - The Year Of The "Every Day" Hero
2009's economic challenges, pale in comparison to the extraordinary circumstances some Americans have found themselves in this year.
First there was Captain Sully, the Hero of The Hudson and the entire crew involved in that rescue.
Then there was Captain Phillips, who gave himself to Somali pirates in exchange for the safety of the men on his ship and the entire crew involved in that rescue.
Every day, entrepreneurs navigate the rapids of an economy no one has ever seen before. They are adopting game changing business models, filling unmet needs, hiring new employees and retraining existing ones.
Here in the midst of all the bad news being broadcast is the opportunity for the every day hero to turn this economy around. Courage and leadership are the true bail-out plan that will rescue this economy.
2009 will be "The Year Of The Every Day Hero" and the entire "crew" involved in the rescue.
First there was Captain Sully, the Hero of The Hudson and the entire crew involved in that rescue.
Then there was Captain Phillips, who gave himself to Somali pirates in exchange for the safety of the men on his ship and the entire crew involved in that rescue.
Every day, entrepreneurs navigate the rapids of an economy no one has ever seen before. They are adopting game changing business models, filling unmet needs, hiring new employees and retraining existing ones.
Here in the midst of all the bad news being broadcast is the opportunity for the every day hero to turn this economy around. Courage and leadership are the true bail-out plan that will rescue this economy.
2009 will be "The Year Of The Every Day Hero" and the entire "crew" involved in the rescue.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
How Extraordinary Times Create Extraordinary Wealth
Each year in human history, dating back to Cleopatra, historians looked for patterns of extraordinary wealth and almost 20% of the names they came up with had come from a single generation. (think Rockefeller, Cabot, Vanderbilt etc.. and the Industrial Revolution)
As noted in Malcolm Gladwell's Book - Outliers: The Story of Success, when "all the rules of how a national economy had functioned had become broken" these intrepid men and women transformed an economy and rewrote the rules of success.
Our current global economy is no different, at least in this one respect - all the rules of how our economy had functioned are broken.
These are extraordinary times. This is our opportunity to rewrite the rules of success. We are each living in that very generation.
You can be one of the intrepid who will transform a global economy and create extraordinary wealth ~ Carpe Diem!
To join the community of contributions where everyone can add their new ideas, knowledge and insights, sign in to: http://drawingonbrilliance.ning.com/
As noted in Malcolm Gladwell's Book - Outliers: The Story of Success, when "all the rules of how a national economy had functioned had become broken" these intrepid men and women transformed an economy and rewrote the rules of success.
Our current global economy is no different, at least in this one respect - all the rules of how our economy had functioned are broken.
These are extraordinary times. This is our opportunity to rewrite the rules of success. We are each living in that very generation.
You can be one of the intrepid who will transform a global economy and create extraordinary wealth ~ Carpe Diem!
To join the community of contributions where everyone can add their new ideas, knowledge and insights, sign in to: http://drawingonbrilliance.ning.com/
Monday, January 12, 2009
So You Want To Be A Billion Dollar Company?
Not in this economy! Or maybe not ever - again!
I got a call from a friend tonite, VP of Bus Dev for a multi-billion dollar company. He told me they "just laid off 30% of their sales staff"
(You know a company is calling it "gameover" when they start laying off large percentages of sales teams.)
Many multi-billion dollar companies are cratering under the weight of their own inefficiencies in this recession.
But this isn't just another recession - a down cycle from which we will soon recover. This is a tectonic shift in how companies do business, forever.
How customers buy, what they buy and where they buy is changing faster than any company will ever again be able to keep pace with - as one company, sustainable enough to grow to become a billion dollar company.
Will 2009 be the end of the multi-billion dollar company? We'll see.
What I see for 2009 is billions of dollars in opportunities for millions of entrepreneurs!
Needs still go unfilled, compelling problems are still seeking truly disruptive solutions and now......
....there's an abundance of talent and creativity that's been unleashed from the vise-grip of those billion dollar companies.
Oh the irony! Corporations claim their greatest challenge is finding and managing talent.
Has our global economy outgrown the "billion dollar company" as a business model?
I got a call from a friend tonite, VP of Bus Dev for a multi-billion dollar company. He told me they "just laid off 30% of their sales staff"
(You know a company is calling it "gameover" when they start laying off large percentages of sales teams.)
Many multi-billion dollar companies are cratering under the weight of their own inefficiencies in this recession.
But this isn't just another recession - a down cycle from which we will soon recover. This is a tectonic shift in how companies do business, forever.
How customers buy, what they buy and where they buy is changing faster than any company will ever again be able to keep pace with - as one company, sustainable enough to grow to become a billion dollar company.
Will 2009 be the end of the multi-billion dollar company? We'll see.
What I see for 2009 is billions of dollars in opportunities for millions of entrepreneurs!
Needs still go unfilled, compelling problems are still seeking truly disruptive solutions and now......
....there's an abundance of talent and creativity that's been unleashed from the vise-grip of those billion dollar companies.
Oh the irony! Corporations claim their greatest challenge is finding and managing talent.
Has our global economy outgrown the "billion dollar company" as a business model?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Innovate or "Detroit" ?
HAWAII MOVES TO CAR 2.0 MODEL
With all eyes on Washington this week, Better Place, working with Governor Linda Lingle, announced a plan to help Hawaii move to the Car 2.0 model of electric cars powered by renewable energy. Hawaii, which has an annual $7 billion addiction to oil, has set a plan to reach 70% renewable energy by 2030, which we think we can help them reach faster. With renewable generation powering cool electric cars – like our Better Place Nissan Rogue demonstration vehicle – Hawaii will serve as a blueprint for the US auto sector's future.
While the United States debates a plan to spend $25 billion on Detroit's Car 1.0 model built on the internal combustion engine, China, Europe, and Japan are all quickly moving to the Car 2.0 model of electric drive transportation. In fact, the European Union just last week upped the ante, by announcing a $6.5 billion "European Green Cars Initiative" plan for European automakers to build safer and greener cars.
"What we have to do for the car industry is to help it transform into a more modern industry, more friendly to the environment and in fact adapting it to the new trends in overall demand," said European Union Commission Chief Jose Manuel Barroso when he announced the package. "We are not proposing an old-fashioned industrial plan for the car industry. We believe it is counterproductive to have this sort of thing."
With all eyes on Washington this week, Better Place, working with Governor Linda Lingle, announced a plan to help Hawaii move to the Car 2.0 model of electric cars powered by renewable energy. Hawaii, which has an annual $7 billion addiction to oil, has set a plan to reach 70% renewable energy by 2030, which we think we can help them reach faster. With renewable generation powering cool electric cars – like our Better Place Nissan Rogue demonstration vehicle – Hawaii will serve as a blueprint for the US auto sector's future.
While the United States debates a plan to spend $25 billion on Detroit's Car 1.0 model built on the internal combustion engine, China, Europe, and Japan are all quickly moving to the Car 2.0 model of electric drive transportation. In fact, the European Union just last week upped the ante, by announcing a $6.5 billion "European Green Cars Initiative" plan for European automakers to build safer and greener cars.
"What we have to do for the car industry is to help it transform into a more modern industry, more friendly to the environment and in fact adapting it to the new trends in overall demand," said European Union Commission Chief Jose Manuel Barroso when he announced the package. "We are not proposing an old-fashioned industrial plan for the car industry. We believe it is counterproductive to have this sort of thing."
Monday, November 10, 2008
Cheer up! Better Times Are Ahead
As I prepare for the final 2 CEO dinners of our 2008 'For CEOs By CEOs: Turning Problems Into Profits' series I wanted to share with everyone these words of wisdom from Roger Babson.
In his 1932 book written around the time of the Great Depression, "Cheer Up! Better Times Are Ahead", he shares inspiring insights on business cycles and how to thrive in them. Babson provides this for all to read: http://tinyurl.com/56juu3
I have personally spoken to 1,000's of CEOs across the globe this year and it's times like these that show us who the " Warren Buffetts of This Economy" really are.
They are hiring! They are buying! They are self-funding! They are taking advantage of this very market to disrupt those dying industries that had long since stopped innovating. They are focused and fearless. They are navigating the rapids of change.
And their vision is clear - better times are ahead.
In his 1932 book written around the time of the Great Depression, "Cheer Up! Better Times Are Ahead", he shares inspiring insights on business cycles and how to thrive in them. Babson provides this for all to read: http://tinyurl.com/56juu3
I have personally spoken to 1,000's of CEOs across the globe this year and it's times like these that show us who the " Warren Buffetts of This Economy" really are.
They are hiring! They are buying! They are self-funding! They are taking advantage of this very market to disrupt those dying industries that had long since stopped innovating. They are focused and fearless. They are navigating the rapids of change.
And their vision is clear - better times are ahead.
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