customers

Reinventing Customer Relationships

Are yours updated or out of date? Have you taken a serious look at your customer relationships recently? If not, now would be a good time. Recently, IBM polled more than 1500 CEOs, general managers, and public sector leaders around the globe on a variety of topics, including customer relationships. This cross-section of executives represented…

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What the World Cup Is Telling Us

Have you been watching the World Cup? I am a huge soccer fan and really enjoy the World Cup because it’s such a fascinating international spectacle. Plus, it never fails to serve up some interesting lessons that have real application in the business world. For example: Life isn’t always fair. The U.S. team was victimized…

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The Complexity Wakeup Call

The world is only going to get more complicated and move faster – will you be one of the few keeping up? Have you responded to the wakeup call that has been sounding for business leaders? For the past few years I’ve been talking about and sharing with anyone who will listen – clients, seminar…

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Time For a Project Premortem?

In most organizations, it’s common practice to conduct “postmortem” or lessons learned review sessions upon completion of major projects. If the project achieved its goal, management questions typically focus on what went right. “What did we do well? How can we sustain this success? What could we improve to make the outcome even better?” If…

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Making the Leap to Disruptive Innovation

Does your organization struggle to innovate on a consistent basis? If so, you may want to get your customers involved. Innovative companies have always intuitively understood the importance of customer feedback. But now there’s evidence that strongly suggests that direct customer involvement in the new product development process can make a real difference in your…

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Are You Overdue for An Assumption Inventory?

It’s been said that in today’s chaotic markets, the only sustainable competitive advantage may be the ability to learn faster than your competitors. I disagree. The ability for leaders and managers to learn quickly is certainly a critical advantage. Especially in industries where new technologies and/or rapidly changing customer expectations can disrupt the status quo…

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What We Can Learn from the NFL Draft

I have a confession to make – I love the NFL draft! I don’t sit in front of a TV for three days, hanging on every pick. But I like the suspense of wondering who will get selected first. I enjoy seeing the differences between what the experts predict and who the teams actually draft….

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Two, Four, Six, Eight… Are You Going To Innovate?

Are you sick and tired of hearing about the constant need to innovate in today’s markets? If so, I have some bad news. Innovation is not just another catchphrase of the day. It’s a new business imperative, and it’s not going away any time soon. The good news is that most leaders and managers are…

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Are You Killing Innovation in Your Company (Without Even Knowing It)?

In today’s world, innovation is a business imperative. You either find new and better ways to add value to your customers, you play follow the leader with those who do, or you go out of business as others change the game and you lose. Most business leaders intuitively know this. Which is why more and…

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Are You in Denial?

They say that denial is a river in Egypt. Maybe so, but I contend that denial is also running rampant in the conference rooms and corridors of most of today’s companies. I’m not talking about the stuff you need to see a psychiatrist for. I’m referring to something far more subtle and insidious, a kind…

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The New Inside Track to Connecting with Customers

It’s no secret that more and more companies are using Twitter and other social media to connect with their customer base. But just who are they Tweeting and what kinds of results are they getting? Socialmediatoday recently published a fascinating survey report entitled “The Coming Change in Social Media Business Applications: Separating the Biz from…

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Tips for Managers: Leading During Turbulent Times

In my last blog I mentioned how critical it is for leaders to stay focused during tough times but of course, this is much easier said than done. I suggest that you all take a moment to think back on this past week. Where did you spend a majority of your time? What were the…

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