Convert sales-qualified leads to real customers effectively using these four tips.
4 Smart Ways to Speed Up Your Sales Cycle Effectively
B2B Sales, Sales, Decision Making, Marketing Automation, Alignment, Brand Positioning, Sales Strategy, Marketing FunnelMarketing Budget: How Much Should You Spend on Marketing?
Predatory Marketing, Business Strategy, Branding, Marketing Strategy, Decision Making, Business Growth, Challenger Brands, Alignment, Brand Building, Strategy Frameworks, Brand Positioning, Measures That Matter, Strategic Planning, Brand SaliencyHow Do You Overcome a Bad Decision?
Business Strategy, Decision Making, Productivity, Culture & Leadership, Scenario Planning, Institute of Change, High Performing Teams, Business Opportunities, Smart Decision System, Smart RiskWhen you've made a bad decision, how do you overcome? Here are four simple ways to recover from a bad decision.
Do Your Best Work Yet by Mastering This 2-Letter Word
Productivity, Culture & LeadershipNot all opportunities are created equal. You will find that some are worth saying yes to — they advance your business and your career growth. But saying yes all the time can be unhealthy.
Invest with Confidence: 6 Questions to Unlock Business Opportunities
Business Strategy, Innovation, Business Growth, Challenger Brands, Customer Centricity, Brand Positioning, Business OpportunitiesEver been let down by a business idea you thought had so much potential?
The only thing worse than a poorly developed business idea is investing in a poorly developed business idea. Nobody wants to spend time, energy and resources on a product or service that doesn’t fly. So how do you ensure your new business idea is poised to win when it enters the market?
10 Key Business Areas Powered with AI: A Guide for Board Members
Technology, Business Strategy, Artificial Intelligence, Innovation, Decision Making, Digital, Business Growth, Marketing Technology, Marketing Automation, Software, Challenger BrandsWhat’s all this noise surrounding artificial intelligence? Is AI worth the hype? And how do you even get started? Do these questions sound familiar?
With marketing technology (martech) and AI becoming a critical part of mainstream business strategy, getting the buy-in from the top brass is essential. But lack of understanding, fear of the unknown, ethics, biases, and costs can get in the way.
So how do you demystify martech and AI and get the ball rolling?
UPDATED: As of 30 March 2023
How do you prepare for the unpredictable?
While some businesses have managed to leverage disruption to their advantage — many companies are falling behind.
Where others have emerged with better workforces, efficient operations, and improved customer experiences, some continue to struggle at the back foot of change.
The difference? Strategy. Most organisations don’t have a game plan to navigate the evolving business landscape. So how do you prepare your business for disruption?
6 Ways to Identify Unmet Customer Needs
Customer Journey, Business Strategy, Standing Out, Innovation, Disruption, Customer Centricity, Lean PrinciplesUPDATED: As of 21 July 2022
Finding a product, a service, or a niche that delivers results largely depends on understanding exactly what your customer needs. And in a time when the competition is manic and ruthless, it is all the more essential to deliver a high-quality product and service that gets the right traction.
What ChatGPT Doesn’t Know About Brand Salience
Business Strategy, Sales, Ashton Bishop, Artificial Intelligence, Branding, Marketing Strategy, Creativity, Challenger Brands, Brand Building, Differentiation, Distinctive Brand, Brand Positioning, Brand SaliencyUPDATED: As of 23 February 2023
Are you even really running a business if you don’t know what it’s like to fight for recognition in today’s market? Getting attention is one thing. Being unforgettable is another.
Pay attention to the first brand in your head in a particular situation. Chances are, it’s one with higher brand salience than the rest of its competitors. The good news is you can have that for your brand, too.
A quick ChatGPT conversation will say brand salience is about awareness, consistency, repetition, relevance, differentiation, emotional connection, and user experience. If you’re a challenger business, AI will mainly tell you that you just have to strive for awareness and consistency. But what does that even mean? And how can you begin to incorporate those elements into your long-term and short-term goals?
It’s no lie — AI does have a pretty good grasp on ‘what’ you need to be more brand salient. But if you’re looking to get your hands dirty with the ‘hows’ and more importantly, get results, you’ve come to the right place.
3 Ways to Transform Board Meetings with Measures That Matter
Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Decision Making, Business Growth, Board, Strategy Frameworks, Measures That Matter, Tracking, Strategic Planning, ReportingUPDATED: As of 25th January 2023
Ever been to a board meeting that left you feeling unproductive and confused?
In an increasingly data-led world and with the rise of artificial intelligence, businesses are able to track more than ever before. But it’s easy to get caught up in tracking and forget to drive results altogether.
As a board member, it’s critical that you’re able to look beyond the documentation and into the priceless insight that lies between the lines. Question is, how?
Funnel Metrics: 5 Steps to Link Your Marketing and Sales
Customer Journey, Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Business Growth, Alignment, Conversion, Sales Strategy, Marketing FunnelIt’s easy to think that marketing and sales are completely different functions of a business. But both share a common denominator of engaging customers and integrating the value you offer into their lives.
That said, every business needs customers. Not just any customer, though — but ones you can serve and who can get behind your product or service offering. When done right, sales-informed marketing can be a catalyst in delivering more qualified customers and optimising a customer journey that makes them stay and buy more. But with the nuances of sales and marketing, how do you know which aspects are relevant to the other? This is where the Funnel Metrics tool comes in.
Insight: When marketing and sales come together, they deliver the right customers suitable for businesses to thrive.
Data: Organisations with a service level agreement (SLA) between marketing and sales are three times as likely to be effective. (Hubspot)
Key Action Point: Utilise the Funnel Metrics to master the key pieces of information needed to align marketing with sales efforts and deliver more qualified customers.
WATCH: Let Step Change CEO Ashton Bishop walk you through the Funnel Metrics tool.
Shitting Diamonds: Expensive Lessons Forged Under Extreme Pressure Preview
Success Principles, Personal Growth, Ashton Bishop, Transformation, LeadershipBrand Strategy: 5 Steps To Unlock Powerful Business Opportunities
Predatory Marketing, Customer Journey, Ashton Bishop, Step Change, Branding, Customer Centricity, Differentiation, Distinctive Brand, Brand PositioningUPDATED: As of 3 November 2022
Let’s face it— we’re in a marketing battleground. Your business is only one of the hundreds or even thousands competing for your customer’s attention. If your goal is to win the war for attention, you need to differentiate yourself in a way that actually matters to your customers.
While this sounds obvious, it’s not. All too often, businesses assume they understand what is important for their customers.
Insight Hunters: 6 Critical Questions Every CEO Must Answer
Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Disruption, Culture & Leadership, Better Questions, Norman Chorn, Better Insights, Thinking Routines, High Performing Teams, AgileMassive change and disruption have transformed the way we work and live. The old ways are no longer working and innovative and more creative solutions are called for by the day.
Insight Hunters EP5: What’s the One Mistake Leaders Make the Most?
Ashton Bishop, Culture & Leadership, Leadership, Better Questions, Norman Chorn, Better InsightsWelcome to a new episode of the Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! Ready to ask better questions to get better insights?
Insight Hunters EP4: Improving and Integrating Thinking Routines
Ashton Bishop, Better Questions, Norman Chorn, Better Insights, Thinking Models, Thinking Routines, High Performing TeamsWelcome to a new episode of the Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! Ready to ask better questions to get better insights?
Insight Hunters Special: How Has COVID-19 Changed the Way We Respond?
Ashton Bishop, Disruption, Better Questions, Norman Chorn, Better Insights, COVID-19Welcome to this special episode of the Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! So let’s start asking better questions to get better insights.
Insight Hunters EP3: What Are the Best Strategy Frameworks?
Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Better Questions, Norman Chorn, Better Insights, Strategy FrameworksWelcome to another episode of the Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! Ready to ask better questions to get better insights?
Insight Hunters EP2: Evaluating Roles and Rewards For Agile Companies
Ashton Bishop, Better Questions, Norman Chorn, Better Insights, High Performing Teams, AgileWelcome back to Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! It’s time to ask better questions to get better insights.
Insight Hunters EP1: Distinguishing Between Good and Right Ideas
Ashton Bishop, Better Questions, Norman Chorn, Better Insights, Ideation ProcessWelcome to the first episode of Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! Ready to ask better questions to unlock better insights?
Knowledge Nuggets: How Minds Change
Better World, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Decision Making, Productivity, Knowledge Nuggets, Leadership, Team EfficiencyHave you ever tried to change someone’s mind? Have you ever found someone trying to change your mind? And how did these experiences go? Like it or not, many of life’s interactions are but replays of these two scenarios — only with different choices and characters.
Sure, influence and persuasion are must-haves in every leader’s toolbox. But have you ever looked beyond your agenda and asked yourself — wait, how do minds change? And how does this shape the world that we live in today?
That’s exactly what journalist and self-proclaimed psychology nerd David McRaney did in his book “How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion”.
Knowledge Nuggets: Life in Half a Second
Success Principles, Business Strategy, Personal Growth, Ashton Bishop, Knowledge NuggetsWhen it comes to success, there's already so much content based on opinion. But what if there was a proven path to success based on science and research? Join us as we dive deep into Complexica CEO Matthew Michalewicz’s fact-based formula for success in his book, Life in Half a Second.
The world has embraced the truth about how finite our natural resources are. In the real-estate world, professionals from architects to engineers to property managers know that there’s a huge opportunity for businesses to address this concern.
5 Elements You Need to Create a Powerful Value Proposition
Predatory Marketing, Branding, Popular Posts, Value PropositionUPDATED: As of 2 June 2022
When creating your value proposition, one thing you should never forget is that people make emotional decisions and then rational justifications. They are not buying the product or service. They are buying the benefits or outcomes they receive.
A truly great value proposition focuses on this by including these 3 things to get maximum value:
- Ground in insight and an understanding of what your customers really want
- Powerful and relevant brand messaging
- Alignment with your purpose and tone to be memorable and believable
The 3 Absolute Essentials of Good Strategy
Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Knowledge Nuggets3 Essentials of Strategy
Strategy is often hard to define, which makes it all the more difficult to distinguish what actually constitutes a good strategy.
What Are Brand Archetypes? How Do They Power the World’s Most Memorable Brands?
Step Change, Branding, Brand Archetypes, Popular PostsWhy Do Strategic Plans Fail? 5 Mistakes And How To Counter Them
Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy6 Things No One Has Told You about Culture
manifesto, Marketing Strategy, Culture & LeadershipUnless you’ve been running your business under a rock, you would know that businesses today are operating in a VUCA environment. In this context, it’s the quick-thinking, action-oriented, and strategic organisations that win. Those that produce strategic documents and leave them in a bottom drawer — well, they come second or simply fail to finish.
An Effective Framework for Strategic Decision-Making
Decision Making, Culture & LeadershipCompanies do not come to faster decisions by osmosis — it is always the result of a better decision-making framework.In agile organisations, the ability to make nimble decisions lead to 2.5x the growth, twice the profit, and a 30% higher ROI on investments.
How can you unlock your ability to make better, smarter decisions?
6 Key Principles for Creating Lightning Strike Moments: Exponential Marketing
Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Marketing Strategy, Decision Making, Creativity, exponential marketingLearn about the scenario planning mistakes and how you can prevent them from misfiring your strategy so you can navigate complexity efficiently.