Business analytics focuses on developing new insights and understanding of business performance based on data and statistical methods. It can answer questions like why something is happening, what if these trends continue, what will happen next, and what is the best that can happen.

Business analytics can be used for many purposes. Banks use it to predict and prevent credit fraud (saving millions). Retailers use it to predict the best location for stores and how to stock them. Pharmaceutical firms use it to get drugs to market more quickly. Even sports teams are getting in on the action, using business analytics to determine both game strategy and optimal ticket prices.

To lead your organization in today’s challenging economic climate, you need fact-based answers that you and others can believe in.

Today, organizations commit to deploying their people, technologies and business processes in new ways. They commit to a culture that is based on fact-based decisions – which helps them anticipate and solve complex business problems throughout the organization. By embracing an analytical approach, companies identify their most profitable customers, accelerate product innovation, optimize supply chains and pricing, and identify the true drivers of financial performance.

Analytics is dependent on data. The most important factor to the successful implementation of business analytics practices is sufficient volumes of high quality data. The difficult part is ensuring the quality of the data and deciding how to use it correctly.

In the next blog posts I will talk about the essentials you will need in order to use business analytics to elevate your company.

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group

When asked, most business owners will admit that their companies have changed, adapted and evolved over time, to better serve their clients’ needs. These natural course corrections will often lead to entirely new products and services, yet the original corporate identity often remains in place. This old, static image can be confusing at best and costly at worst.

• Only a tiny fraction of Radio Shack’s sales comes from radios.

• Southwest Airlines flies all over the U.S.

• Burlington Coat Factory sells more than just coats (and has used a good deal of marketing budget to drive that message home)

One sure sign that you may need to rebrand is if you find yourself continually explaining what your company really does. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing had to rebrand to 3M to accommodate their growth into other areas. Kentucky Fried Chicken rebadged to KFC, allowing them to expand their menu and avoid the negative connotations of “fried” foods.

Another way to look at the issue is to think in terms of a drag co-efficient. If your company brand is outdated, inaccurate or misleading, estimate how much more advertising it requires explaining and clarifying the message — 20%, 30%, more? And what about lost opportunity costs of potential clients who simply don’t consider your company when it comes to buying your products and services. Would most consumers know that The Company Store sells bedding, bath accessories and sleepwear?

Solution?

Make the shift from a product-identified name to a metaphor type name. For example, Apple chose to officially drop the word “Computers” from their name and expand into music. Amazon used the image of rich diversity and abundance, and their product line expanded to fit the image. Books-A-Million, a product-identified brand name, works hard to let consumers know they also sell kids toys and coffee mugs.

Another alternative when rebranding a company is to go with a key attribute name. These timeless names work well even when your products and services change. They focus on the benefit behind your company and not the goods it currently offers. Examples include Best Buy, as well Tim Hortons, TruValue, Comfort Inn, etc. By aligning with your core benefit, you can continually modify your service offerings without having to change your company name.
Re-branding your business can improve your bottom line by conveying your company’s core value and brand message. It can shift your sales team’s focus from a defensive posture (i.e. explaining common misconceptions about your company) to a more productive discussion of your key benefits and solutions.  If you find yourself limited by a product identified, or geographically-identified company name, rebranding offers the opportunity to clarify your image, while allowing room for future growth.
Where would your business be three years from now if things go really well? What will your office or store or plant look like three years from now? What will you sell? How different is it from what you’re selling today?

Some would call this dreaming. But dreaming ahead, dreaming the future is a vital part of business planning. Dream it, then focus, set the steps to make it happen. Track, follow up, and manage.

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group

Marketing is about having a good story that motivates the customers in a targeting segment that wants your products and telling it in the right places often enough to generate the leads you need.

A strong brand is based on clear values and a focused proposition aimed at a recognized market segment. Trouble is over time the message gets diluted as we add extra things to our core offer so every so often we need to take the time to refocus and re-define ourselves and present it in language that makes sense to them.

Making the connection means understanding how we think and feel as well as our customers so that we can tell our story in the right language and in places that they will respond to.

Different types of organizations respond in different ways – some are focused on results, some are focused on the group and the rules and some manage a bit of each.

We need to find the common ground which allows our people and the customer to be genuinely enthusiastic about working together. Our story should motivate those we want to work with – as customers or as colleagues as it’s based on their values.

In a service business 50% of your marketing effort needs to be spent on your own staff – because they own the customer relationship and can make or break the business.

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group

 Start planning today. Create your business plan!

1. Perform a SWOT Analysis
   SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It’s a great way to break out of that planning inertia. It’s especially good when there’s a team involved. Take an hour or two and jot down bullet points under each of these four categories. 

   Don’t spend all day. A couple of hours should work fine. Just do it!

   Don’t argue about what goes where. Don’t criticize contributions. It’s brainstorming. Just jot down the points and record them. Strategy follows. You can’t help it. You do a SWOT, and strategy follows. 

2. Compare plans to actual sales.
   Think through what turned out differently and what didn’t, and why. Soon, you’ll be thinking about your marketing strategy, target markets, marketing messages, customers, channels, packaging, delivery, complaints and competitors. I’m amazed at how much of business, and the business planning process, pivots around the difference between planned and actual sales. 
3. Talk to 10 well-chosen people
   Funny how much time goes by for most business owners without really talking to their customers. I was shocked the first time I did it. I felt like I talked to customers often, but that’s nothing to what you get when you dedicate time and have a real conversation. 

   First make a good list. Don’t cheat yourself and talk only to the people you always talk to anyway. Stretch yourself further and find some people you don’t know, so you get a fresh look. Ask them for their time, not as a survey taker but as the owner or manager of the business. A lot of people will turn you down, but if the conversation is framed right, you’ll find some people interested. 

   Start the conversation with interesting questions. The first couple of questions are critical to the success of the talk. Grab their interest. Wake their curiosity. 

4. Imagine a customer story

Imagine your ideal customer. Give him/her a gender, occupation, family (or not), children (or not), route to work, favourite magazines, television shows, hobbies, websites, music, and movies. If they own a car, what make and what model. Imagine favourite vacations. 

Now imagine how they find your business. What do they like about you, and what do they dislike? What prompts them to look for you? Where do they look? What do they tell other people about your business? 

How do you want to be described by your customers to their friends? What do you want to make them set you apart from the competition? 

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group

Great ideas often come from unexpected sources. One good idea can galvanize both your business and your attitude. Create a list of your past accomplishments and define where each achievement originated. Did it develop from a customer suggestion, a visit to a new store or something you read in a magazine? Keep your mind open to new possibilities by adding these specific development channels to your strategic plan.

1. Focus on your unique ability to improve your customers’ lives.

Build on your success by focusing on your customers’ needs and desires. Create a list of potential expansion ideas by reviewing testimonials, requests and development ideas customers have shared with you over the past year. Integrate these items into your product improvement process. If you don’t currently have a mechanism for obtaining customer feedback, devise a plan to glean this information from your most loyal clients. This input is the most valuable data your business can receive, bar none.

2. Create new product extensions and variations that relate to what you’ve learned.

Entrepreneurs become vulnerable to competitive forces when they forget to tailor their offerings to specific customer requirements. Based on the information you collect, ask yourself, “How can a customer request be transformed into a product variation or a completely new product?” Linking customer suggestions to your endeavours keeps your business personal and helps you sustain your competitive edge. Keep your entrepreneurial energy and motivation high by ensuring the new project is something you will enjoy implementing.

3. Experiment with an execution strategy that differs from your normal business routine.

Executing your decisions is imperative to your success. However, what may seem like your most prized business practices might actually prevent your business from growing efficiently. Use your new offering as an opportunity to test fresh implementation methods. For instance, if you always launch products through retail stores, investigate how to sell them online. Developing innovative distribution channels can be as profitable for your company as offering additions to your product line.

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group

As we aspire to new beginnings and improvements we must look ahead with even more diligence and creativity to maintain positioning. Here are some very basic-but-necessary pointers that will help steer your business success in the coming year:

1. Re-Evaluate Your Mission.                                                                            

 Re-visit your purpose for being in business. Seek the real roots for defining your mission – your passion and expertise, for starters. Then, evaluate your target audience, your product description and your business philosophy. Fine tune these points so that your mission is clear and accurate. The mission is the compass for all business goals.

1. Set New Objectives.                                                                                                

What goals are you seeking to achieve this year? Is it to obtain a certain level of market share? Is it to increase sales? Improve your website? Is it to stay abreast of emerging markets? Ask yourself which goals really contribute to sustainability.

1. Leverage Assets & Increase Efficiencies.                                             

Perhaps your strongest assets (and we’re not talking cash either!) are not only underutilized, but they aren’t even on your mental radar as they should be. Maybe your greatest asset is your staff but there is a need to reconnect or grow your relationship with them and other key stakeholders (i.e. the community and end users)? Perhaps there’s the need to take advantage of seminars and other important perks that are provided by professional affiliations? Or, maybe it’s the need to cultivate dormant partnerships and capitalize on the ability to cross-promote with them?

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group

Remember that amazing employee you took on a couple of years ago? He was going to rock your world–and he did for a while. But now he’s just a rock weighing down your company. His ideas have dried up, he mopes around, and his only contribution is relaying last night’s hockey scores. Chances are he’s checked out mentally from the company–something human-resource practitioners call “disengagement.” Naturally, you fire this slacker–or maybe not. Letting somebody go is not pleasant, and it can be very costly as well. You lose the person, his expertise and sometimes even a client or more.

Figure out what’s causing your employees to be disgruntled, and try to fix it before dismissing them. After all, it’s tough finding good help. Attracting and retaining top talent is the chief source of discomfort for Canadian execs.

Quite often it is possible to fix the underlying problem. Sometimes employees stop caring because they’ve been in the same job for too long. Perhaps they feel underappreciated or undervalued. Or maybe they just don’t have the skills to do their job and are frustrated. Figure out what motivates your employees, and then use that knowledge to help get them back on track. And don’t forget to look at the managerial level. “Maybe it’s the manager who should be let go, or at least looked at, when there’s a lot of disengagement in the team.

Research has found that employees who enjoy, believe, and feel valued in their work, are much more likely to be better team players and coaches. The real trick is to ensure members of your team never stop enjoying their work. The easiest way to do that is make sure all employees know what they are expected to contribute, how it impacts the company and where they fit in the grand scheme of things. Regular reward for a job well done is also a nice bonus. It doesn’t have to be cash, just some form of recognition to show employees they’re valued. Bosses can also keep employees engaged by running efficient, organized meetings, taking action to resolve potentially bad situations, and holding people accountable when they do not perform as expected.

Get your employees on your side. Show them the big picture and what role they will play in it. Once they feel part of the team, they will produce.

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group

“No business grows forever, but there are always growth businesses”.

What do you do when your business is no longer connecting with the market as it once did, your growth is slowing and your margins are declining?

You renew your business.

Business renewal is the process by which you craft a revised business model that will bring your business back to vitality and to its valued place in the corporate portfolio.

But how can you renew your business while your employees and you are already overloaded and are in the set of mind to just run your business and deal with day to day operations? Who should take the lead for renewal? What is the renewal step-by-step process? What are the tools which make renewal available to any organization? Given all of the other priorities in your organization, how can you minimize the time and effort required for developing and executing your renewal strategies? These are the big questions which will be answered in the next few posts.

Objectives

• Rethink: Identify which parts should be renewed and which should continue under their current operations.
• Reinvent: Implement renewal strategies and quickly find one which suits you best.
• Reposition: Build an effective plan for transitioning from your current business to your renewed business.

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group

Nearly every entrepreneur I have met in my career has a purposeful and directed passion that drives their every move. It’s that energy that I find so inspirational. The indomitable belief entrepreneurs have in themselves and their dreams is by far their most valuable asset.

It takes hard work to continually transform that passion into fresh ideas and new approaches to problem solving. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the mundane yet necessary daily management activities of your business. To power your continued success, make it a top priority to constantly renew your entrepreneurial spirit.

Stay connected to your drive and let your passion infuse your business with big-picture thinking. Set aside time to keep focused on your current goals and inspires new ideas for taking your business to the next level.

In the next few posts I will go over our R9 plan. This plan is designed to recharge your business and take it the next level.  The focus behind this is to share with business owners that it is normal to rebuild your business at some point. It is not due to failure. Conditions change and businesses have to change with it. It is an exciting phase in the business cycle and should be entered with optimism and excitement.

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group

Marketing without money is possible! All you need to put in is your time and creativity.

Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb and adopt a controversial position within your industry – as long as it’s something you genuinely believe in. Those who shout loudest get heard, so controversy is a really useful tool to do just that. If you don’t want to be controversial, try to be funny, or a bit off. The bottom line is that you want to stand out, be unique and get people to talk about you.

If you’re stuck for ideas, look at what your competitors are doing to promote their business. Look for commonalities, and then try to go in an opposite direction. Most people conform to ‘industry norms’ so you’ll definitely stand out from the crowd by bucking that traditional approach.

Being creative with marketing requires thought and discernment. I encourage you to try all of these strategies in your business. All you need is a willingness to go out of your comfort zone, strong desire to succeed, and some time.

Become an attention seeker (a positive one) and start making some waves that would get people to notice you and your business.

Ross Marin

President – Marin Media Group