All posts in Business Strategy

McKinsey Quarterly Article Business Strategy Development without a Competitive Advantage

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Any successful consulting firm has a toolbox of classic and modern business strategy development frameworks. Consulting firms and consultants employ these business strategy development methodologies to address, synthesize, and solve various business problems, which occur in different business situations. Over the past 50 years, leading consultancies, such as McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group, have researched frameworks that are widely used in the corporate world today. Many such business strategy notions hinge on the original teachings of Michael Porter, the founder of modern day business strategy development.

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All companies typically develop pricing strategy initiatives, as they launch new products and services or tweak existing products. Price skimming involves bringing the new offering at a high price point relative to the rest of the market. The approach of financial modeling is sometimes linked to creating a pricing strategy business case for a new product or offering. Pricing strategy allows the company to optimize its profitability, in addition to position itself in an optimal place in the marketplace. The product?s pricing tells the customer a lot about the product, as people associate price to quality. Penetration pricing strategy involves bringing a product or service at a low initial entry price , often lower than competitive products in the market. Excel is the application of choice when conducting pricing analysis and pricing modeling, such as price sensitivity modeling, game theory evaluations, and price structure analysis. Many times, the required pricing data isn?t readily available, so we must use Excel to forecast values, such as sales volumes, using native LINEST Excel functions. On the contrary, building a pricing strategy business case focuses one primary question initially: whether to the market or penetrate the market.

Structured business communication is typically formed under a communication framework. The Pyramid Principle is intertwined into the presentation storyboarding process. popularized ones include Pinto?s Pyramid Principle, which is widely practiced by management consultants and business executives in developing ppt presentations. To develop a robust corporate strategy, organizations must follow a business strategy development process beginning with a clear set of beliefs around its current situation and existing strategic challenges. Crawl Walk Run is a popular way of thinking for representing the progression of organizational change, from an initial crawl stage eventually to walk activities and ultimately to the run phase of sustainable processes. Proper strategy development involves more than a focus on maximizing profitability. Business strategy is about value creation, strategy is about competitive selection, and strategy isabout business agility. To properly gauge and analyze your strategic challenges, you must begin with a complete, end-to-end understanding of your situation. The next steps include deciding what the future vision of the company is and then going into the details of planning how to get to that state.

an emerging business strategy development idea addressing the growth barrier is called Blue Ocean Strategy. With value identification, a company truly understands what the customer finds most important to his or her needs and prioritizes its resources and business initiatives accordingly. Blue Ocean Strategy thinking focuses on enabling innovation, value creation, and effective execution. Effective business execution relies on both concept execution and creating a sustainable growth structure. With value creation, a business selects and develops the optimal growth option by finding the best tradeoff between costs and value. Blue Ocean Strategy represents a shift in thinking to make competition irrelevant, thus creating a blue ocean; whereas, in the traditional competitive environment, business play in a crowded, red ocean business landscape.

There are a number of paths to growth, which can be bucketized the two buckets of expanding business scope and growing the value from the existing revenue streams. To maximize the value from the existing business, a company can better its value proposition, strengthen customer relationships, optimize pricing, enter new markets with their existing services, and improve its mix of offerings. To expand the business scope, an organization can branch off into emerging segments, expand into new product categories, create new services, create new brands, create new formats and distribution channels, and expand geographically.
business strategy development

Easy Rebooking Strategies For Salon And Spa Professionals

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Every salon and spa wants high rebooking rates, but many don’t know where to begin.

Rebooking is the easiest way to increase your profits with the clientele you already service. While many beauty professionals feel uncomfortable encouraging their patrons to reschedule, studies show that clients who rebook their appointments make up to 50% more visits per year than those that book from home.

There are three simple strategies that industry insiders can put into practice in order to increase their rebooking rates:

1. Consultation. Client rebooking starts in the chair. As a beauty professional, it is your job to use your expertise to determine how long your product can keep fresh. Ask your client questions about their style, such as “how long did it last” or “when did it stop looking its best”? Your clients will respond to a more personalized approach, rather than the basic “see you in 6 weeks” tactic.

2. Highlight. The more often you reinforce the idea of rebooking to your client, the more likely they are to actually rebook. Take time throughout their appointment to emphasize the advantages to rebooking. Even clients with hectic schedules can benefit from setting something up in advance.

Trying phrases like “my evenings/weekends have been booking up” or “I’d like to see you before the holiday rush” can motivate clients that are on edge about scheduling out. Creating some sort of time reference (ie. an upcoming birthday, an important business trip) can further persuade.

3. Front Desk. Consult your reception staff about the rebooking timeframe you set up for each client before checkout. Make sure that your staff is selective about how they offer appointments; no client wants to hear that in four weeks, your books are wide open. Additionally, if a client knows that you are completely available, they have no incentive or need to rebook.

The front desk should portray your schedule as always being busy. Instead of offering “any time between 9 and 5”, coach your receptionists to ask “would you like a morning/afternoon appointment” or “what is the earliest/latest you could come in that day”. Rephrasing key questions will go a long way with clients.

No client should ever leave the salon without being advised and re-advised to rebook. Clients should be properly informed on when they should return for their next appointment, and given several opportunities throughout the duration of their visit to do so. By following these three simple steps, you can ensure a higher rebooking rate for your existing clientele, helping them to get through the door on a more frequent basis.

How To Run A Successful Event To Build A Better Business Network

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How To Run A Successful Event

Events are a powerful tool for marketers to truly engage their consumers and leverage their brand. No matter what type of event you plan to run, there are a few points you need to remember to ensure your event is a success.
A successful Event Marketing Campaign is one that:

* Meets your brand objectives.
* Delivers a meaningful message directly to the target market.
* Complements your overall marketing plan.
* Provides a talking point amongst consumers.

The Strategy

Choosing the right event strategy for your product or service requires a thorough understanding of the brand objectives. You may require an experienced event agency partner if you do not have sufficient in-house resources to help you to achieve your goals. Look for a good team of experienced and creative minds who are ready to analyse every element of your product and service and its current position to design the best possible strategy. The following points should be considered:
Event Outcome

Clarity and agreement around the issue of event outcome is imperative. Key stake holders will have different views and perspectives of what they want out of an event. Defining and agreeing the desired event outcome means that the correct approach is taken. It means that the creative development of the event and the content to all work together to produce the right results. Ask yourself the following questions.

* What is the outcome you want for this event?
* What change do you want to effect?
* What tangible changes do you want? Eg Increase in sales, lead generation?
* What is the best thing/outcome that could happen as a result of this campaign?
* When the road show is over what do you want the guests to be saying about the event over coffee to their friends?
* What would be the ultimate sign of success for the event?

Target Market

Your target group are your guests. They could be prospective or existing clients or they could be staff. Again ask yourself: Who are they? Where are they? Why do you want them to attend? What do they like to do? How do we get their attention? What do they think/know/feel about your company now? What do you want them to think/know/feel about your company post the event?

Think about what events they have experienced before either with your organisation or with your competitors. What is their age group, are they an even mix of male and female? Understanding your audience is a good first step in the event planning process.
Message

A clear message is critical to the success of any event. Knowing exactly what you want to say is imperative. Its about what you want to say rather than how you want to say it at this stage? What is the main story you want to tell? What is imperative that they know when they leave? Communication of the message needs to be clear and concise. Consistency is key and your message needs to be included in each step from the invitation to web marketing campaign, to the event, the marketing collateral and the carefully planned post event strategy.
Brand Positioning

A good understanding of your brand position is crucial in building an event strategy. Is the event about a new product or service? Is it the launch of a new variable product or service? Are there set sales objectives for the product or service? Your brand position will assist in clarifying the best type of event your company needs and the most appropriate communication vehicle to engage your audience.
Creative

The creative development of the event can vary enormously. Considering the questions above certainly points you in the right direction to as to what kind of event will provide the most powerful result. It could be a national road show with international speakers or it could be a half day relationship building experience with key clients. A golf day, seminar series, exhibition, conference, experiential marketing campaign or any other various type of event should focus on leveraging your brand and provide a forum for you to connect with your target audience. Ask yourself how do we best represent the brand? How do we support above-the-line marketing strategies? How do we make it a memorable experience?
Planning

Finding your market and connecting with them in a memorable way is more than just guess work. It is staggering how many events are run with the minimum of planning. People are willing to invest significant money putting events on but they tend to overlook the need to invest in planning and smart thinking.

Planning is crucial to any event not matter how small and intimate it may be. Critical paths, risk assessments, measurable results, budget control are essential tools when planning a successful outcome. You need to plan on maximising the number of touch points with guests. Plan on results or you can guarantee you are planing on a disaster.
Implementation

With the correct planning the implementation of an event is the easy part. Ensure that every member of your event team have a run schedule of the event from start to finish so they aware of all timings. Rehearsals are imperative and why not consider professional speak training for all staff that will be presenting. An overall risk assessment is probably in the back of everyones minds but unless it is written down you are open to disaster. A good event company will also supply you with a thorough mitigation strategy to ensure you get a good result from your event no matter what.
Outcome

And weve come full circle. The results of your event should be measurable or how do you know if you have achieved good value for your investment. Events are all about building strong long term partnerships with your prospects and clients. When all of the above factors work together they create a truly powerful experience that not only moves people but motivates them to act. Remember your customers and staff holds your future in their hands. They control your revenue, your profitability and they are the central point on which your economic performance balances. Events are a powerful opportunity to leverage your brand and promote your services to this influential group.

Got some more queries? Why not check out the team at JH Events?

JH Events, Sydney Australia

Zero Loss Strategy In Forex Trading

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This post will irritate many and possibly most forex traders and I say good. Actually I do not give a damn if any of you learn this article.And it is secondary to me that most forex merchants are silly or at best, sick-informed. It is secondary to me that I profiteer drastically every single day and without fail and most idiot merchants lose it all.

The reality is that the majority FX merchants are sheep who blindly drift alongside a confused path of marketing hype and most foreign exchange trainers are only huge-noting “expert status” all the time utilizing greed only pursuading the plenty one thing under masks of “guru”.I’m simply totally different as a result of I reliably and predictably make a not special $30,000 clear free cash flow profit most trading days and I have never any interest in selling you anything. There’s not a factor you should buy from my website.With the appearance of computer-primarily based Platforms Buying and selling, the palms-on however felony 4x dealer out of the middle-man market manipulations that dealing-desk trading was previously corrupted with – us retail traders have extra of an trustworthy capability to revenue from the markets. The Platforms Buying and selling mechanism is extra fair.

Although there’s nonetheless brokerage homes that scam trades through platforms trading – mostly it is just stupid buying and selling that generates losses.Anyway, with all that mentioned, let’s now get my most annoying reality on the market to be considered so you’ll be able to all vomit, and rant and rave that I in fact am a complete lunatic. Right here it is now said;”Stop Loss concepts do NOT Stop Losses – they CONFIRM LOSSES”.I state it is totally unsuitable to shut foreign exchange trades that are exhibiting a loss when with ninety five percent that commerce might be exited from with profits at some later time.Getting in your face about this – any 4x buying and selling place that dropping floor now will invariably be in or worst case break even at some future time because of modifications in market herd mentality, information occasion, Fibo retracement or whatever – almost at all times a damaging worth action immediately is unbelievable tomorrow.And due to what I am arguing here about worth motion is very true, exiting a bad 4x commerce ever is nonsense!One of the best action to take with respect to shedding forex trade is to hedge that commerce by the use of an opposite. That hedged commerce instantly neutralises any and all additional injury to your bottomline and it offers you time to replicate on what you motion next.

Frequently when and if costs continue to go against the primary order – I then hedge again and it’s common that I will multiple-hedge a nasty trade five or ten occasions!Eg, assume I open a lot and it goes dangerous which I immediately hedge – and I normally hedge it on the price most fool merchants would have exited it with a cease loss concept. As the worth motion is now going loopy in favor of my hedge, every strong probability I get I’ll open additional hedges. Before I know it my bottomline equity is effectively in front of where I was with only the one trade, and certainly I am manner into income ahead of the sheep who would have used a Stop Loss setting.It was humorous watching the NFA as it tried to inflict its willpower on the retail forex dealer banning its member brokers from facilitating hedge trading. And what a fool the NFA made itself out to be – given that all professional and smart money simply took their business exterior of the USA. The effect the NFA had significantly broken the United States as a monetary heart; further confirming London as the house of most currency action.

Even those fx brokers with United States operations shortly migrated these client accounts who demanded hedge capabilities off-shore – end of story. Smart money demands hedge capacity. Idiots with stupid cash don’t hedge uses Stop Loss concept.This article is directed on the heart of one of the idiotic issues ever about trading. It is probably not rocket science individuals – nevertheless it seems sense just isn’t so common.

Reverse Logistics has some disadvantages too, read them.

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While outsourcing the logistics services, there is only a small percentage of companies that are found happy and satisfied by the services of their logistics provider. Most of the companies face few problems that can be easily sorted out if you use a reputed and seasoned provider for your logistics operations. Written below are just the few of the problems companies face:

1. Lack of trained personals:This is the biggest problem that you might face while outsourcing your logistics. With the lack of trained professionals no service provider is going to satisfy you with their services. Only trained professionals and seasoned managers will be able to provide you with the latest and cutting edge technology.
2. Lack of inventory information: Due to the lack of inventory information, business may face a lack of key performance indicators that can cost your business big time in the future. Because performance indicators and alerts are the most important part of any supply chain management system.
3. Lack of Clear Strategy: Mostof the 3PL provider who are new in the industry and are not having the services of well established professionals might not be able to provide you with a satisfactory strategic planning, which may actually increase the challenges of outsourcing.
4. Lack of Proper ProcessDocumentation: You might face lots of problems, if you find yourself working with a company that is not providing you with proper scientific process documentation that might make the whole process more complicated, and will make it harder for you as a company to keep track of processes.
5. Improper Costing: It might make the whole process of outsourcing fail, if the provider is unable to provide you with proper costing, since the ultimate goal of outsourcing is reducing the cost. Therefore, you would want to keep a close eye on the overall costing of the processes.
6. Lack of Legal Documentation: Thisisan area where you should put extra emphasizes. Most of the employers, as well as providers tend to overlook this particular factor, which may create problems for both parties in the future.
7. Lack of Customer Support: It has been seen that since a 3PL provider is working with lots of other companies as well. Therefore, they are unable to offer their 100% undivided attention to a particular customer, which can be really frustrating for the companies.
8. Improper Project Management: It has been cited in various outsourcing setups that the lack of proper project management, baseless timelines, and undeliverable promises result in a failure of a contract.
9. Unclear Objectives: It has been cited that most of the 3PL providers don’t have any clear goals and objectives, this usually results in inconsistent behavior of a service provider, and may be frustrating for the customers.

These were just few of the problems, that you might face in case you have decided to hire a third party logistics provider, but these problems can easily be overcome if you do a proper market research and select the company that has good reviews in the market, and is of high repute, some of the companies may look a little expensive to you, but the quality of their service will eventually turn into huge profit for your company.

To Get Excellent Reverse Logistics Services And To learn more about the most trusted and reputed 3PL provider, visit splustech.com