Market Research is Essential Prior to Capacity Investment Decisions

What To Do When Your Company Reaches Capacity Limits? [People, Facilities and Equipment]

Status Quo Strategy

You selectively determine what sales opportunities to pursue in order to optimize available capacity.

This short-term strategy will lead to trouble mode and storm clouds will eventually appear on your horizon.

If market research proves a total available market that is growing or significantly higher than your available capacity, then status quo is a high-risk strategy.  When your market share declines you will become a higher cost producer in your category.  This opens the door to growth mode competitors who will become more attractive to your customers and employees.

Growth Strategy

You aggressively pursue all sales opportunities that match your ideal customer profile.

If market research proves a total available market that is growing or significantly higher than your available capacity, then lower your risk by implementing a growth strategy to maintain or increase your market share.  You will improve your position as a low-cost producer in your category.  This will spell trouble for your competitors as you become more attractive to their customers and employees.

If you opt to invest in more capacity in order to elevate a key aspect(s) of your business, you will also need to invest in skill development, process enhancement and productivity tools in order to capitalize on your growth opportunities.

Market Research Competency Is Essential

Without the appropriate market research competency [in-house or external], you won’t be able to make objectively correct capacity investment decisions.

By John Bernardi

The Top 20% Ask For Customer Feedback

How Do You Receive Customer Feedback?

Why don't companies request feedback at each stage of their customer relationships?  Is it because they fear negative feedback and an inability to deal with it?

Why wouldn't a CEO want to understand how their company is performing at each touch point along with how their product or service lives up to its brand promise?

Without this knowledge, how can you expect to continually improve and generate the profit that you think you deserve?

If you measure repeat business and referrals as KPIs, but you are not achieving these goals, why aren't you asking for feedback?  In person quality reviews and online surveys are great tools for gaining insight and for building a raving fan base.

By John Bernardi

Create Easy Paths For Risk Averse Sales Reps

Top tier sales reps continually stretch their comfort zones.  They gain confidence by enhancing their professional and technical skills.  They focus on expanding their horizontal and vertical contacts within their accounts.  They smartly approach new prospects in unfamiliar industries and territories. They represent their entire product line and are always searching for new applications. They create and tell Success Stories that prove how customers enjoy significant results by overcoming challenges through the solutions they provide. 

Mid-tier reps risk daily disappointment from their status quo strategy.  Instead, they should expand their comfort zones to smoothly navigate an uncontrollable sea of customers, competition, economy and their own companies.

An integrated sales and marketing leadership team can make it emotionally easier for these safety seekers by cuing them into areas where top performers have blazed a path for them.  They can tailor these ideas to their own style, which enables originality and authenticity.

At a minimum, mid-tier reps should retell success stories of top performers as they develop confidence and skills to develop their own.  This content will expand their horizons and they will find it less risky to look for similar opportunities and apply similar solutions because others have blazed the path for them.

Build a portfolio of online press releases and success stories fit for the moment.  Make this part of ongoing sales training and an agenda item during all sales meetings.  Online Press Releases reveal why a customer or partner has selected your company.  Success Stories prove that you delivered on your promise. Video Testimonials make the story real.