The Step Change Blog

Finalising your budget? 

When you've made a bad decision, how do you overcome? Here are four simple ways to recover from a bad decision.

Not 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.

Ever 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?

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?

UPDATED: 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.

UPDATED: 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.

UPDATED: 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?

It’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.

I fear failure. Don’t you? It hits at our self-worth and self-esteem. 

UPDATED: 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.

Massive 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.

Welcome to a new episode of the Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! Ready to ask better questions to get better insights?

Welcome to a new episode of the Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! Ready to ask better questions to get better insights?

Welcome 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.

Welcome to another episode of the Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! Ready to ask better questions to get better insights?

Welcome back to Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! It’s time to ask better questions to get better insights.

Welcome to the first episode of Insight Hunters with Dr Norman and Detective Flash! Ready to ask better questions to unlock better insights?

Have 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”.

When 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. 

3 Essentials of Strategy

Strategy is often hard to define, which makes it all the more difficult to distinguish what actually constitutes a good strategy.

UPDATED: As of 4 May 2022

Unless 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.

Companies 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?

Learn about the scenario planning mistakes and how you can prevent them from misfiring your strategy so you can navigate complexity efficiently.

The more specific we can be about our category, the better chance we have to be remembered and related to by our customers. Are you in the right category?

The more specific we can be about our category, the better chance we have to be remembered and related to by our customers. Are you in the right category?

Many companies today are opting for procurement to manage their marketing spend. But marketers and agencies have always been at odds when it comes to procurement. Understanding the role that procurement plays and how it impacts marketing is crucial to not only save on costs but to pave the way for better alignment in achieving the brand’s vision.

Growing your business sustainably can be a tough egg to crack in our current condition. The slowing economic growth and faltering customer confidence mean business conditions are declining. One wrong move and you could end up wasting your money on initiatives that are bound to fail.