Finding Strategic Success in Letting Go and Moving On

In times of planning, we ask questions like, “How do we continue this momentum?” and “How can we improve results?” We want to understand the keys to success – the path we should follow to get where we want to go. And yet, we sometimes forget that the path to success is simply moving forward.

Letting go of the old is a precursor to ushering in growth.

There are many times personally and professionally when you will need to let things go and move on to grow. How do we stop doing what we’ve always done and start doing something new?

Topics: Strategy Strategic Revenue Growth Planning Change Management

Why I Almost Left My Job as a Senior Content Marketer to Work for Minimum Wage at McDonald’s

For the last 15 years I have worked as a content creator and copywriter, first for (what was then) the world’s leading ecommerce software provider and later for myself as a business owner. And today, I considered walking away from that to work for minimum wage at McDonald’s. Let me explain what happened...

Topics: Revenue Growth Leadership Change Management

Your Revenue Resiliency Toolkit

“The ability to withstand unpredictable threat or change and then to emerge stronger.”

This is how the team at McKinsey & Company defines resilience in their recently published an article on what they call The Resilience Imperative. They elaborate further that resilience is going to be more important in the coming decade than ever before when they explain, “Catastrophic events will grow more frequent but less predictable. They will unfold faster but in more varied ways. Disruption is becoming more frequent and more severe.”

Resilience can be financial, operational, technological, organizational, or reputational in nature but the greatest resiliency comes when an organization can anticipate and respond to threats across all categories to dynamically adapt as needed. Obviously, this kind of resiliency does not just fall into place – it is the result of careful planning to develop a revenue resiliency toolkit.

Topics: Revenue Growth Profitability Profit Sales Leadership B2B Sales Assessment Strategy Strategic Revenue Growth Action Plan B2B SMART Revenue CRO Chief Revenue Officer Revenue Generation Planning Revenue Development Action Plan Change Management

The Revenue Implications of Women Leaving Your Company

The pandemic hit many industries and demographics hard, but some shouldered the burden more than others. Women, especially working mothers, were overwhelmingly negatively affected.

In fact, the 2020 Women in the Workplace report revealed that 25% of working women and over 30% of mothers with young children were “contemplating downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce” with mothers citing increased domestic and child-care responsibilities as their primary motivation for doing so. The study summarized,

“Women in particular have been negatively impacted. Women—especially women of color—are more likely to have been laid off or furloughed during the COVID-19 crisis, stalling their careers and jeopardizing their financial security. The pandemic has intensified challenges that women already faced. Working mothers have always worked a ‘double shift’—a full day of work, followed by hours spent caring for children and doing household labor. Now the supports that made this possible—including school and childcare—have been upended. Meanwhile, Black women already faced more barriers to advancement than most other employees. Today they’re also coping with the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Black community.”

While these challenges impact women individually, the cumulative effect of women leaving the workforce significantly affects the companies they work for as well.

So, how can B2B companies keep women among their ranks and on their leadership teams?

Topics: Revenue Growth Profit Leadership Strategic Revenue Growth B2B SMART Revenue Revenue Generation Sales Training Excellence Business Culture Business Development Brand Integrity Revenue Development Action Plan Change Management

Rebounding after a Downturn: How to Restart and Move Forward

“Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it.” – William Durant

During a downturn unemployment can rise and economic uncertainty can abound in both B2B and B2C arenas. Consumers and businesses will continue to spend, although what they consume will likely change. Businesses will make purchasing changes based on supply chain availability and selling changes based on necessity. In some instances, these changes can be temporary, but more than likely they will be further magnified as things start to pick back up again.

While an economic recovery will almost certainly happen slowly, your business needs to be poised for revenue growth ahead of time to quickly seize opportunities as they arise. So, how will your business capitalize when the economy starts swinging upward again?

Do you know how to move forward in a restart? Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do you know how to control your spending without thwarting growth?
  • What will you do to preserve essential customer relationships?
  • Are you equipped to find revenue in new ways?
  • Do you understand where new revenue opportunities exist?
  • Can you change your way of thinking to adapt?
Topics: Profitability Leadership Strategy Strategic Revenue Growth Planning Forecasting Revenue Development Action Plan Change Management

How to Transition from Remote Work to In-Person Sales

In 2020, B2B sales abruptly transitioned from a face-to-face game of relationship-building to a digital game that aimed to do the same. Sales representatives traded long drives and flights for their home offices as companies nationwide closed themselves off to non-essential personnel. Video conferencing and email became the new standard as processes and systems shifted. However, the need to develop and build relationships never faltered.

Now, as companies look toward the future, they need to make difficult decisions about when to move employees back into the office, while considering the needs of both their employees and their clients. The other big issue facing employers is the variety of protocols that will need to continue and be enhanced to bring people back in safely while accounting for the fact that not everyone is planning on getting the vaccine. Ultimately, control of COVID-19 and the rate of vaccination is going to affect the speed with which we return to the workplace.

The timeframe on this decision will be heavily influenced by industry segment. Companies that have an internal focus and can work in a bubble likely have not stopped going into the office, at least to some degree. For example, manufacturers never stopped going into the plant, instead they implemented strict protocols to keep their workforce safe and on the job. However, externally focused companies, like professional services firms, started going back into the office since the first of the year, but are not interacting with clients yet. Meeting with clients and partners is still being done virtually in these settings. Most other companies will likely be back by this fall, all things equal, but not in the same way as before.

Topics: Revenue Growth Profitability Profit Sales Leadership Networking Strategic Revenue Growth Action Plan B2B SMART Revenue CRO Chief Revenue Officer Revenue Generation Commissions Referrals Business Culture Professional Development Revenue Development Action Plan Change Management

Are Remote Employees Preventing Themselves from Doing Great Work?

There are an endless number of studies that indicate that remote workers are more productive and happier working from home – some reporting rates as high as 94% of those surveyed claiming to “as productive” or “more productive” than working in the office. Furthermore, data shows that they also work more hours and have higher job satisfaction. Erin Nelson summarizes this perspective when she says, “Remote workers demonstrated a productivity boost because they eliminated distractions like commuting into the office, changing their work hours to fit their schedules, and worrying about being late. Remote workers found it easier to concentrate at home.”

And while that’s (apparently) the majority opinion, we’ve seen firsthand how very untrue that is for a large segment of remote workers – workers with children who are at home with them. Just ask Aaron Blank. His recent article “Dear Working America, Please be Kind to Working Parents Right Now” sheds some light on how the rest of the workforce is struggling right now.

But children are not the only distractions at home – there’s also pets, partners, laundry, and ourselves.

Topics: Profitability Leadership Management Business Culture Professional Development Collaboration Personal Development Change Management

Shifting Buyer Priorities: Understanding the B2B Landscape    in 2021

2020 saw the biggest shift in B2B buying, selling, and marketing in recent history. What was originally speculated to be a temporary pivot ended up being a cataclysmic shift in how revenue is generated in B2B organizations. The trends and strategies that emerged have permanently altered the future of B2B buying.

The biggest change to the B2B landscape over the last year has been the move to digital selling strategies. Digital is now the preferred contact and buying method for B2B buyers to do research, order products, and schedule service. And like many of the changes we have seen arise in 2020, the digital trend does not appear to be going anywhere any time soon. In fact, 80% of B2B buyers want to stick with digital interactions (remote interactions and digital self-serve) in 2021 and beyond.

Topics: Revenue Growth Profit Sales B2B Sales Strategy Strategic Revenue Growth B2B Technology Customer Relationship Management Business Culture Business Development Change Management