If you are a frequent reader of our newsletters, you know we are passionate about companies identifying and communicating their competitive advantages.  We have gone into detail about how important it is to “validate” your claims.  It is simply not enough to show “98% documentation accuracy,” or “97.6% on time delivery,” without supporting evidence.  Sometimes…

Way before the Covid pandemic hit, many businesses had been concerned about China’s impact on their bottom lines.  Whether they sold B2B or B2C, we all have heard how companies’ margins are often razor thin because everything these days seems to be left to a price game.  China, online shopping, cutthroat competition.  It can be…

Everyone of us will pay more when we see a true value proposition.  If that were not true, we would all be driving cheap cars. We would do our grocery shopping at Dollar Tree.  None of us would buy an iPhone or an Android.  We all want value.  Each of us defines value differently but…

Some businesses have more measurements, controls, and processes than NASA. Others have virtually none.  In my 30 years’ experience working very closely with hundreds of companies of all sizes, I have seen only a handful with metrics that are aligned with the highest buying criteria of their customers and prospects.  Strategic differentiation depends on having…

Submitted by: Jaynie L. Smith, CEO, Smart Advantage, Inc. You Have the Wrong Number! Your Differentiation Strategy is at Risk It sometimes seems that many businesses have more measurements, controls, and processes than NASA. Others have virtually none. In my 30 years’ experience working very closely with hundreds of companies of all sizes, I have…

We all know the dangers of assuming. We all know the peril of projecting. Yet businesspeople at all levels of an organization do it frequently. Some such actions are more hazardous than others. As we work with businesses of all sizes and industries, we have picked out a few assumptions – myths, actually – that we see often. You might…

We have all learned in the last few months that not only is “change inevitable” but it is astonishingly unpredictable. Forecast Covid anyone? Did your business plan take that into account?   Businesses all over the country, of all sizes have had two basic outcomes from Covid implications: It was either “good for my business…

When a salesperson tells you they will deliver “on time,” how much confidence does that give you in your buying decision?  Do you know what that really means?   Do you sell that way also?  Sometimes when you can prove that you have had a high on time delivery rate in the past, it may minimize…

Both the 2008 recession and this pandemic were economic and business destroyers but for quite different reasons.  How will those differences impact us going forward?   On September 29, 2008, the Dow Jones dropped 777 points.  We were all shocked.  Today that kind of drop seems like an everyday occurrence with an equally shocking bounce…