Customers behave differently across industries, and it's safe to say that within industries, customers have slightly different expectations for what products and services should deliver. But when you look at competitive industries in isolation, a clear pattern emerges. Industries Create Their Own Benchmarks Every industry has created unwritten benchmarks, and businesses have made adopting those benchmarks their goal. Everyone's chasing the same standard. I worked with an inde

In a recent engagement, I was working with a client to create a better workflow for front-line staff. The goal was simple: reduce congestion in the work area, minimize time away from the customer-facing counter, and ensure staff could greet customers and start them off on a positive experience. While observing employees throughout the day, I noticed something odd. Multiple times an hour, the person making coffee would slap the sugar dispenser after pressing the button, then p

Anyone who's been in an industry long enough notices the changes happening around them. With the wisdom of intuition, academics, and industry experts, we can safely say that customer interactions in sales have undergone a noticeable shift. The biggest change? A move away from isolated touchpoints toward the complete customer journey. While this shift started years ago, adoption isn't the problem, execution is. Most businesses are still operating as if individual touchpoints a

Investments in human capital are thought to be effective drivers of business growth and key KPIs like profit, customer retention, and referral business. While this holds true for most businesses, one aspect many miss is this: customers need to reach that human interaction in an emotional high so they can be continuously engaged and influenced positively throughout their journey. That's why it's critical to ensure all customer-facing employees are trained to add value at every

The right positioning can put your company on your customer's map. It opens the door to your offering and gives you the chance to shape how customers perceive your product and brand, landing you in the consideration phase of their journey. What happens next is the most crucial step. It will determine whether customers continue to see you as a contender for their business. The Problem with Buzzwords Using buzzwords to shape audience perception has become common practice. But t

If you've ever been to a bazaar, you see something unique to markets: multiple vendors selling the same items using the same customer acquisition method. While this works in high-traffic markets, it's not an effective approach in competitive markets. Unfortunately, this bazaar mentality has made its way into our business environment. Many companies are simply copying what everyone else is doing and it's constraining their growth. The Problem When you do what everyone else is

Growth initiatives take on many forms, but the engagement needed often seems very limited. One common approach we see is driving growth through big announcements and demanding outcomes. End results, packaged as growth KPIs, are communicated alongside motivational speeches and margin-cutting incentives to engage employees. While this approach generates initial engagement, the hype tends to fizzle out. And if it doesn't convince every employee, sporadic heroes emerge, carrying

Small businesses often feel pressured to be copycats. The illusion that innovation is reserved for the big and affluent has taken hold in the minds of many small business operators. In conversations I've had, I've heard that innovation must be something never seen before, something that changes perceptions by the millions. This self-imposed barrier prevents many small businesses from even trying to innovate or be creative. Instead, they settle into plateaus. However, research

Established businesses often hold tight to what made them successful, but those same practices can become their biggest limitation. Long-standing businesses have established themselves through market leadership, creating products that outlast long periods in the market. With product specialization, however, many companies have also held on to limited ways of managing their business. Two common practices we see: 1. Satisficing instead of optimizing Optimization can be complex

At an abstract level, if you look at businesses, especially ones with a focus on human capital, competition happens on a different level than the mainstream assumes. We consider individual talent contributions to the overall goal of a business as drivers of competitive advancement. The question arises: if all talent is hired based on the same criteria - qualifications, for example - and all talent fulfills the criteria to a certain degree, then why do some businesses advance

In highly competitive markets, relying on the position of the brand being sold seems to be the go-to strategy for most employees. Brand value is conveyed to potential customers as a main buying reason. This, however, leaves selling to chance—customers are left to decide which brand to give their business to, rather than deciding which salesperson they want to work with. By letting only the brand shine in the transaction, sales consultants take themselves out of the buying jou

In a recent conversation, we discovered that many people are primarily focused on finding the next big thing to gain a competitive advantage in their business. Their attention is centered on creating something new to sell — something no one else has yet. While this innovation-focused approach makes sense, it often draws attention away from the growth opportunities that already exist within the business. Taking a snapshot of what’s not so good , good , and great can reveal bo

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. While many people say “work smarter, not harder,” there is often a serious disconnect between the phrase and the actions that follow. Research on management practices, for example, shows that productivity or profitability improvements are often not adopted simply because managers are unaware of the practices that actually work. For many organizations, the challenge lies in not knowing where or how to start, what steps to take, or

Many sales departments focus heavily on filling the funnel—constantly trying to add more customers into the pipeline in order to sell more. However, this approach often distracts from deeper issues. If sales teams rely only on lead generation to hit their targets, they risk overlooking critical problems in process, product, and people : Process : Sales processes may not be aligned to consistently deliver successful results. Product : The offering may not fully match customers

Diffusion of knowledge – Knowledge transfer within an organization is a powerful tool to initiate or accelerate growth. Instead of...

Organizations have evolved around structures that dictate a clear distinction between management and associates, giving managers a...

Numbers today do not dictate whether your organization has the capability to grow in the future, yet they are the focus of leadership....

Most customers won't care, but some will. Therefore, we want to adjust our business as if we always cater to the few who do care....