Download the eBook to learn about the 48 proven strategies for success for local marketing. For example, the eBook can be used as a reference manual.
In other words, it can be useful for CEOs, CMOs, franchisees, operators, and “Mom & Pop” owners of brick & mortar operations. Several of the 48 proven strategies for success are useful for service area operations such as home services.
How to use this eBook
As the CEO of a multi-unit operation, you could download the eBook and give it to your operations and marketing teams.
For example, if you are the head of marketing for a multi-unit brick & mortar business, you could use it for ideas and ways to challenge your team.
And most importantly. if you own a brick & mortar business or are the franchisee of any retail or restaurant chain, use the 48 proven strategies for success to augment the marketing tactics your franchisor provides.
What is local marketing?
Local marketing is marketing to the people who live and work in your trade area and have a propensity to buy your services and/or offerings.
Local marketing used to be simple. To market your business in a local area, business owners used to join the local chamber, send direct mail postcards, buy a yellow-pages ad or perhaps even walk the trade area to introduce themselves to other local businesses, schools, banks, etc. in the neighborhood.
One of my favorite stories is about a small business owner who had the misfortune of being located in a strip center with two other businesses that sold the same wares. The store on the right advertised that they were having a sale, and everything was 10% off. The store on the left followed suit and put up a banner that said everything was 15% off. What was our owner to do?
He also put a banner over his front door that said:
MAIN ENTRANCE
Which door would you enter?
Examples:
#2 is how to optimize your Google My Business (GMB) page
#8 explains the importance of email marketing
#22 how to use local service ads for service-area businesses
#31 about how direct mail still works
#37 explains how to deal with the constant request for donations
#40 on how to use various kinds of signage to promote your business
In addition to ITB Partners, Doug works as a fractional CMO with Chief Outsiders. Chief Outsiders is the largest fractional CMO firm in the USA. As a result, Chief Outsiders is home to 75+ chief marketing officers who specialize in helping small to mid-sized companies grow.
Doug Reifschneider, Member of ITB Partners, and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Chief Outsiders, recently completed an extensive PE firm engagement. The PE firm’s project was compressed into 45 days, and because of the need for speed, Reifschneider partnered with a colleague from Chief Outsiders to complete the project on time. The PE firm employed the two CMOs to develop a 100-day plan for a household services firm they plan to acquire.
The pair from Chief Outsiders complimented each other because the project included:
Digital Marketing Assessment
Digital SWOT
Scorecard for the website, digital marketing, and social media
recommendations
Gathering insights about the customers, competitors, and company
Develop a growth strategy
Activated SWOT analysis
Brand positioning workshop
Brand house exercise
From here to there exercise
Developed a marketing plan for the balance of 2021, including 14 “Game-changing” ideas
Prepare a go-to-market plan if invited to continue work with the new portfolio company
About Doug Reifsc hneider
Doug Reifschneider
Doug Reifschneider is a dynamic marketing leader with 30+ years of experience in the restaurant industry. He has a history of driving growth through the creation and delivery of unique, creative brand strategies enhancing customer affinity and market position. While at Firehouse Subs, Mr. Reifschneider helped achieve a 4X increase in locations, to 1,030 restaurants generating $684M in revenues and 19.4% average annual sales.
During his foodservice career, he navigated the ever-changing marketing/advertising environment. The advertising menu proliferated from a relatively short list of tactics (TV, radio, print [direct mail, magazines, newspaper, etc. ], OOH, POP, and direct selling) 20 years ago to thousands of online options which included but was not limited to display, native, SEO, SEM/PPC, web sites, landing pages, mobile and others. Doug has experience with all of it and is always looking for new technologies to exploit such as Blockchain.
Throughout his career, he consistently strengthened brand equity, grew the customer base, and boosted revenues through the development of innovative marketing campaigns.
In my previous blog, I reviewed the three steps necessary to conduct “good” Marketing Research:
Ask the “Right” Questions,
Ask the “Right” People,
Ask at the “Right” Time
However, simple these steps may seem, getting all the steps “Right” is a challenge. In this blog, I’m going to probe more deeply into the topic of asking the “Right” questions.
Over the course of my career, I’ve seen numerous badly worded questions and poorly constructed questionnaires (yes, I’ve written many myself). There are three basic ways to fail in asking the “Right” questions:
Asking the “Wrong” questions
Failing to ask all the “Right” questions
Asking the “Right” questions in the “Wrong” way
First, to avoid asking the “Wrong” questions, it is important to keep a laser focus on the objectives of the research. Losing sight of your objectives can cause you to stray off into topics and issues that are not relevant. This is especially true when there are many levels of people providing input to the questionnaire design. One solution is to design a mock report or outline before you start writing the questionnaire. Knowing the key components of the report will define the information that you need to include in the questionnaire.
A more insidious problem is when you “think” that you are asking the “Right” questions, but you wind up leaving some key questions out. A classic example is the case of New Coke. Coca-Cola introduced a new formulation of its flagship brand in 1985. Extensive marketing research had shown decisively in blind taste tests that the taste of the new formulation was preferred over the current Coke formulation and over Pepsi. The Coke marketing team thought they had a winner, and the new formulation was launched with heavy advertising and public relations. But, soon after the launch, the company began receiving letters and telephone calls from people all over the country expressing anger and disappointment about the “new” Coke. What happened? One issue was that in the marketing research, consumers were asked blindly whether they liked the taste of the new formulation relative to Coke and Pepsi. They were not asked, either directly or indirectly, whether they would be in favor of replacing the Coke brand with a new formulation. Loyal Coke drinkers couldn’t accept that their beloved Coke brand had been changed. Aside from taste, there were strong emotional connections that people had with the brand that were not fully considered in the research. They neglected to ask all the “Right” questions, such as “how would you feel if this new formulation replaced the current Coke formulation?”. Perhaps the negative consumer reaction may have been predicted or mitigated if they had these insights developed from the research.
Finally, to avoid asking questions in the “Wrong” way, there are 6 errors to avoid:
Leading or Loaded questions:
Perhaps the most common way to bias a question is to lead the respondent toward an answer that you’d like them to make. For example, if you wish to get positive answers to a satisfaction question, you could ask “How excellent is the customer service you receive?”. An unbiased alternative is “Please rate your level of satisfaction with the customer service you receive.”.
Loaded questions:
Loaded questions are similar to leading questions in that they subtly (or not so subtly) push the user toward a particular response. Here you are making an assumption about the respondent that is included implicitly in the question. An example is, “What do you love about shopping online?” This presumes that a person loves shopping online and will bias their response.
Unbalanced scales:
One way to lead questions is by using an answer scale that is unbalanced. Asking, “please rate your satisfaction with the service on your last transaction” is unbiased. But, you can bias the answers with an unbalanced scale, that provides more positive than negative choices, such as:
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Double-barreled questions:
Double-barreled questions attempt to ask about two constructs in the same question. “Please rate your satisfaction with the courtesy and competence of your customer service rep”. The customer service rep may be perceived as very courteous, but not very competent. Or vice versa. Therefore, the answer to a double-barreled question is not clear. To solve the issue, you need to break the two constructs into separate questions.
Unclear questions:
Questions that are too long, grammatically incorrect, using acronyms or jargon, or written above the heads of the target respondent will either be skipped or answered invalidly. Keeping the reading level slightly below what you think is the average reading level of your target respondent.
Unanswerable questions:
You can get skewed results to survey questions when you are asking something that the respondent can’t easily answer. Perhaps it is information that is obscure, that they would have to look up, that happened too long ago, or that is just unknowable. An example is, “Please tell me how much you paid for Title Insurance when you purchased your first home?” Unless a respondent closed on their first home very recently or has easy access to their records, you are probably going to get inaccurate answers to this question.
In summary, to assure that you are asking the “Right” questions:
Keep focused on the objectives of the research. If a question doesn’t contribute to answering the key questions in the objectives, eliminate it.
Are there questions that you are missing? Look at your report outline. Do you have all the key information covered?
Be aware of and avoid the common question bias pitfalls.
Have a colleague read the questionnaire over and make sure they understand it and it is free of spelling and grammatical errors.
The time you spend upfront to get the questions “Right” will save you the embarrassment of having to explain why you don’t have the insights that were expected.
Look for my next article next week that will probe more deeply into how to “Ask” questions of the “Right” people.
Carl Fusco
Carl Fusco is a Marketing Research and Consulting Executive skilled at directing the application of research techniques and insights to solve problems and support data-based business decisions. Over his 35-year career, Carl has built a reputation for quality, integrity, and creativity by establishing trust, credibility, and acceptance with clients and associates. He has built a proven track record of success in organizational management and leadership, research design and implementation, and analytic rigor and impact.
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“War is a grim, cruel business, a business justified only as a means of sustaining the forces of good against those of evil.” Dwight Eisenhower
My maternal grandfather came over from Germany to the United States in 1926. He saw what was shaping up in Germany, concluded it was not good and decided it best he leave. He died when I was in grade school. I heard him often say, loudly, he was an American. I asked him how he knew things were going to go bad for Germany at such an early point in the events. He told me he saw people standing on others. This response is all he would share with me for his answer. I knew he was not talking about a cheering squad standing on shoulders. I liked him, but he was a stern man at times. He was nice to me. I miss him. I have learned over the years standing on others always goes bad. Standing on anyone is called oppression. A more accurate term for oppression is evil.
Dwight Eisenhower never served a day in combat. I am not sure how he rose to be the head of the effort to win World War II. Eisenhower worked for Douglas MacArthur about a decade earlier, but he ended up being MacArthur’s peer and boss even though Eisenhower was much junior in tenure to MacArthur. Life has no shortage of surprises when it comes to work promotions, demotions, and terminations. Eisenhower traveled across much of Europe after World War I to observe the terrain of the battles that occurred there. This first-hand information served him well in his role as leader. It seems to me he knew he would one day need this information gained by direct observation. It turned out to be part of his research for the strategic planning he did not know he would be forming in his near future. I wonder if he knew during his walks across the European terrain then how many people from such a diverse group would want to be included to help eradicate evil at Normandy.
We have found your effort to accomplish your strategic planning work is not going well for you. We determined you have a people problem causing your work not to be accomplished as you prefer. We are considering if this problem can be fixed and, if so, how to best fix it. You are looking to swap out some of your people by either changing their work assignments or having them leave your organization. You are looking for some new faces to do the work you need to be accomplished. Let’s see if working to keep evil out of your organization will help you find new faces to work for you.
EVIL
The definition of evil is simple: death. Evil always causes the result of death. There are times when death is welcome, necessary, even good. It is a matter of how each death occurs. I am saying evil is not good, and good is not evil. If I cause death to help my organization, then I am doing evil. Destruction is not death. I could raze a building to put up another building at the same site. If I harm anyone, then I hurt the organization I lead. This anyone list includes those who work for me, any matrix-supplied folks involved in doing work with my people, my customers, my strategic partners, and my supply chain network.
HOW MUCH HARM?
Anger is a prelude to violence. Violence is a prelude to conflict. Conflict is a prelude to war. I talked about abuse last week. It has been my experience strategic planning work that is behind schedule in any organization does not help form tranquil conditions in either those organizations or for anyone external to the organization who needs the strategic planning work accomplished. Tension among work relationships is often high when work is behind schedule, to the point of anger being more frequent among members of the organization. If these attributes are not the case, then the workers do not care about doing the work. The answer to resolving this condition is simple: get rid of those who do not care about doing their assigned work. They may pretend to care about their work, but what evidence do they provide to you to prove their assertion? They have contributed to the work delay by hiding their work values from you as their leader. They have enabled the conditions to happen in your organization. There is neither a viable reason nor means for them to continue to be a member of your organization. Reassignment is not an option. Their actions are an example of evil. It is best for the organization to end their membership, and do so promptly. Then, you have to consider how you let this happen in the first place.
THAT BAD?
If evil is bad, then how much bad do you want in your organization? Can you afford to have any form of evil occurring in your organization? How can you stop all evil? The answer is you cannot. What you can do is not allow it to continue once it is realized. I shared recently people conditions change, so they must be measured frequently. Frequently can be a matter of seconds.
The events of US Airways Flight 1549 ending up in the Hudson River show a good example of the work progress matter we are discussing. There was a clear plan: fly from New York to Charlotte. An in-flight accident occurred. The pilots landed the aircraft on the water where the aircraft would float. The flight crew then had the passengers disembark the aircraft by standing on the wings in an orchestrated manner. Boats arrived at the aircraft, taking the passengers onto their boats. Here is the key to the success of their collective efforts: no one panicked. The aircraft captain made it clear within seconds of landing what will happen next. If panic would have occurred, then it is probable at least one death would have occurred. It is also probable the aircraft would have sunk within seconds. I encourage you to watch the film Sully to gain a deeper understanding of these events.
How about you? How do you foresee you would have responded to these events as a passenger, as a member of the flight crew, or as captain of the aircraft? I will go out on a limb here and say I do not see evil occurred by either the flight crew or the passengers. I make this statement because I do not see evidence of it. I cannot imagine how anyone on that plane felt during that experience. I can say, for certain, a leader must be ready to handle such events in the minutia of their work. Planning, training, scenario concepts, and…here it comes…a strategy for what to do in your planning, training, and conceptualizing efforts. Meaning, you must live as a leader performing continuous strategy development to stay out of whatever conditions you define as bad.
David Daniels and I discussed the best practices of inclusion in the concept of diversity. Dave shared, “Tangible mission statements and values allow successful organizations to align diverse ideas while creating an environment that allows everyone to bring their best by inclusion. Inclusion, bringing the best out of everyone, is one of the critical strategic imperatives in any successful organization.” My experience with successful organizations shows those organizations determine how to achieve inclusion well before they face difficult circumstances. They overcome the difficulties by having their people placed in roles that suit them well, thereby structuring the organization to be focused on the same mission by living what they value.
CODA
I am averse to conflict. I am no longer into violence. I, for many years now, would much rather walk away from being ill-treated than to respond with like-kind behavior. Having made these statements, I both have fought and will fight tooth-and-nail to defend those who I love. I will define the term love to you in a forthcoming column. I speak in both the literal and metaphorical for the term fight. I would rather suffer harm defending them than have them suffer harm. I am fortunate I have only had a few life-threatening events in my life. I hope you never have one in your life.
You as a leader are asking your people to trust you in many ways with each second you serve them as their leader. I have no interest in risking either harm or experiencing any form of evil if I can avoid it. Any leader I chose to follow must have a good reason as to why they would need to subject me to harm in my followership of them. I will not, repeat…will not…allow any leader to expose me to any form of evil by their choice, whether their choice is planned or unplanned. The point here is their choice. We, they as my leader and I as their follower may face evil on the journey we are taking together. It is then a matter of what we allow to continue.
How about you? What are you asking your people to do for you? What conditions are you asking them to experience as they do whatever it is you have asked them to do for you? How much productive work output do you expect your people to accomplish as they work either with or in any form of evil you allow to exist in your organization? What is the quality level estimate you foresee for the work output your people deliver to you while working either with or in any form of evil you allow to exist in your organization?
Read the letter from Eisenhower to his people dated June 1944 to see if you have the same level of commitment to your followers. Then, decide for yourself if Eisenhower was serious about his commitment to his people. Then, read the radio announcement from Roosevelt to the United States to decide for yourself if Eisenhower had the support he needed to execute the planned strategy. Finally, read the note Eisenhower wrote to Roosevelt a few hours before the execution of the planned strategy. “If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.” These words are evidence of a leader.
If you view your job where you serve as a leader as too small to come close to the colossal events experienced by Eisenhower, then you would not be alone. I suspect your followers view your role as their leader as quite important to them. Lead them by serving them as their leader, holding the scale of your leadership work to give it the respect it is due. Then, see how fast things improve for your strategic planning efforts.
Please spend time this week watching the Sully film to see how Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger III, Eisenhower, Roosevelt, and you line up in your work today as a leader. Think about the present status of your strategy work effort. If the result of evil is always death, then what form of evil do you see in the midst of your organization?
So, I ask you: where do you want to go? I hope your answer is to develop the plans necessary to accomplish the strategy you know you need to achieve to arrive at your desired destination. If this is the case, then let’s get to work. If not, then I wish you the best of everything.
I hope we will see each other here next week. Email me if you need to talk before then.
Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL
Executive Strategy Consultant
Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. He has more than thirty years of service and consulting experience in delivering successful international business development and program management outcomes in the US and SE Asia. His weekly column, “Where Do You Want To Go?,” appears on Thursdays.
Dr. Dawson has served in the technology, banking, and hospitality industries. He is a noted strategic planning visionary. His pursuit of music has been matched with his efforts to lead by service to followers. He holds the clear understanding a leader without followers is a person taking a long walk alone.
Stephen has lived his life in the eastern United States, visiting most of the United States and several countries. He is a graduate of the Regent University School of Business & Leadership. Contact him at service@shdawson.com.
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Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.
Jim Weber is inviting you to the May 11, Zoom Meeting of Great Careers – The BENG.
Nadine Walley will present Preparing for an Executive Interview in a Virtual World
Great Careers – The BENG provides mid-to senior-level professionals with a platform to enhance their networking activities and skills.
Members in transition benefit from tools to accelerate their job search (including opportunities for networking), targeted employment information, and emotional support.
Employed and self-employed members benefit from a platform to network and cultivate relationships with community leaders and professionals interested in expanding business.
We rely upon the generosity and cooperation of our members – whether in transition, employed or self-employed – to accomplish the mission of “Members Helping Members.”
For more information about Great Careers – The BENG, Click Here!
NADINE WALLEY CAREER COACH | EXECUTIVE RECRUITER Certified Global Career Development Facilitator Silver Certification in Resume Writing Certified EQ Coach through the Adele Leadership Institute 404.725.7956 | NMWalley@gmail.com | https://linkedin.com/in/nadinewalley
Nadine is an Executive Recruiter and a Job Coach. Her previous work experience includes management and senior management roles in marketing, business development, economic development, and corporate responsibility, and community relations with organizations such as the Georgia Department of Labor, APS Healthcare, and Saint Joseph Health System. Nadine has served as a board member with the Greater North Fulton County Chamber of Commerce and volunteers with other chambers and non-profit boards. Nadine has a BA from the State University of New York at Binghamton and an MSA from Central Michigan University in Administration. She holds a Global Career Development Facilitator Certification from the Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE), Silver Certification in Resume Writing, and is a Certified EQ Coach through the Adele Leadership Institute. She is certified from AIRS for Recruiting including Diversity Recruiting. Nadine is involved with St. Ann’s CareerQuest and leads the Life Lessons Over Lunch Networking at Hotel Equities for those in transition (currently virtual). She presents regularly to these and other career ministries in the Atlanta area. As an executive recruiter with Handler & Associates, she recruits for leadership positions for some of the top companies in Atlanta. Prior to Handler, she was an executive career coach and business consultant with the Frontier Group where she focused on Emotional Intelligence and helping her clients get ready for the job market. She currently has a private practice of consulting with job seekers who are looking for their next role or who may be in a job transition to find their dream job. Nadine has worked with various clients in many industries (e.g. Sales, IT, CFO, Accounting, Marketing, Learning & Development, Admin type roles, Insurance to name a few). Nadine helps those who don’t know what their next step might be and helps them focus on their transferrable skills in their next role. In her spare time, Nadine loves reading, eating, and exercise and is a boot camp instructor (currently virtual), and enjoys trail running. She is married, has a grown daughter, and a golden retriever named Brix.
If you’re ready to grow your own business in a long-term, sustainable industry, it’s a particularly good time to learn about this Healthcare Franchise Investment Opportunity. Join me for a short online overview:
Remember – strong franchise brands are looking for business people who can lead a team and execute a business plan. Direct industry experience is not necessary (and often not desired).
Leslie Kuban
Franchise Consultant | Franchise Owner | Best Selling Author | SpeakerLeslie Kuban is a nationally recognized franchise industry expert, CFE (Certified Franchise Executive), and owner of FranNet in Atlanta; a locally owned and operated franchise consulting firm. Leslie and her team offer more than 60 years of combined industry expertise and her personal experience as a franchise owner provides a unique perspective to help her clients assess their real opportunities, risks, and timing to make sound decisions. Leslie and her team have helped over 400 individuals and families achieve their dreams of business ownership.
I was being recruited in 1994 by a big-name record label out of Nashville to serve as bandleader for an up-and-coming country music guy. The deal terms proposed to me were pretty good, but I did not feel good about the deal in my gut. I passed on the work for one reason: they had not heard me play a note. They knew of my education and experience credentials but did not know too much about me as a person.
I recommended last week a short film for you to watch. I hope you watched it. We were going to talk about how your viewing experience of this short film went for you during our time together this week. The part about the whole person we covered last week is key to both this week and all things going forward. We will discuss the concept of inclusion as we meet now to go through how you felt during your viewing experience of the short film.
INCLUSION
I, for lack of a better way to say it, was in the band of this up-and-coming country music guy in 1994 without accepting the offer. My customer was going to be out in a sea of lights. They would be nameless and faceless to me. I would be paid bi-weekly if two things occurred. First, the new material we were going to record into an album sold where the record company was happy with album sales. Second, concert tickets supporting music material the guy had going on before me and supporting the pending record album sold. I would be replaced in an instant if both of these conditions were not happening consistently. I was okay with this criteria combination, as it is the nature of the work. Not everyone sees it this way. The album Centerfield is the third solo studio album by John Fogerty. Fogerty played all the instruments on this album himself. I guess John did not want to have the collective risk of some people problems anymore at that point in his career.
The identified people problem suffering your ability to have strategic planning work accomplished was compacted into a few minutes during the Most film. The older main character realized the problem, considered it, and acted on it. He had to act, one way or the other. He acted under duress imposed on him from the circumstances, not any person or persons. All options presented to him hurt him. It hurt me to watch the film. It is probable resolving your people problem is going to cause you some hurt, one way or the other.
The definition of inclusion is simple: included. Included, in the form of being…in. The degree of in is another topic. The fairness of being in or out is another topic. All I am saying to you now is a person who is included in your organization is in your organization, period.
A recent discussion with David Daniels had Dave sharing more of his wisdom with me. “Inclusion as part of the D & I equation revolves around people feeling like their voice is heard while leadership supports this concept because they believe it produces better solutions, thus better results, both financially and with higher commitment levels of employees i.e. the ability to attract the best of the best in their industry.” I agreed with Dave. I see people providing their input as many rivers coming together in a pool to feed a tree. The tree, in this example, is the work the people need to accomplish. It is tough to remain distinct when mixed, but this condition is similar to a cake. Add the ingredients, mix them, bake them, and there are no more ingredients. There is cake. Altering ingredient amounts and types means a different tasting cake. A structural approach to strategic planning for the who part and when they get involved part helps to accomplish a preferred result.
HOW MUCH IN?
Remember I wrote a few paragraphs back my customer would be out in a sea of lights? Well, those people were to be a part of my organization. I needed them to be happy by spending their money for me to keep my band leader job. I was not sure I could deliver the collective satisfaction the folks in that sea of light were after, as the big-name record company out of Nashville had not heard me play a note. There had to be a stronger connection to know if we would make it to success by a probability calculation.
Your strategy work is not getting accomplished as you prefer. We pushed off the option it is not a time or skills problem causing the work delay. It would be best if you now changed who you include doing your strategy work. This change does not mean they need to leave your organization; only stop doing this work. If you realize they do not have the skills to do the work, then you have a separate set of staffing actions to accomplish. Additionally, you have to take a hard look at if they should have done the work based on the time allotted to them to do the work combined with the workspace resources where they perform their work. Again, as I said a few weeks back, you have to call it for what it is.
Thelonious Monk made a strong point without saying it. One must first be in the band before one can lead the band. Franklin Roosevelt made the same point: “You are either with us or against us.” Today, we are faced with how to best recover from the 2020 global pandemic. It is clear the definition of work for many roles has changed forever. So, who is in your band, so to speak, for your organization going forward?
Richard Florida and Adam Ozimek addressed some of the challenges with remote work going forward. “Before the pandemic, a number of communities developed strategic initiatives to attract newcomers—some aimed at high-tech workers but others open to anyone who commits to moving. Many include the lure of cash incentives, akin to the moving expenses paid by companies to new hires.” This criterion is no longer valid for many industries and companies. “To lure and support the growing ranks of remote workers, communities will need to build out more complete ecosystems for them to live, work and gather.” Meaning, the ability to do remote work effectively as a whole person has changed the workforce forever by establishing suburban life a primary regardless of distance from the office to home locations.
Nataly Kelly wrote about the complexities of having inclusiveness in a global organization. “While it might not be immediately obvious why an employee in Tokyo should learn about the history of slavery in the United States, if we want our global teams to work together, they need to understand one another’s realities.” Going deeper, the concept of data is still not managed well at the executive level. Data, in the form of understanding the facts for how we as humanity got to where we stand today.
Thomas Davenport and Randy Bean found in their survey executives are excited about implementing artificial intelligence in their organizations, but they do not have reliable data leadership skills and leaders based on “nascent and evolving” leadership roles. “The executives are usually pretty bullish about technology but quite bearish regarding whether their organizations are becoming more data-driven.” The survey shows the role of data officer at the executive level is not agreed on by a high majority of executives.
The pattern playing out is clear. The leadership’s proverbial music is not making the audience (the organization) happy enough for them to want to keep listening. The organization cannot understand how data, being facts, interrelates because the leadership does not have a strong enough grasp on the data lifecycle concept themselves. Bad data, either incorrect or insufficient, feeds into both inaccurate and ineffective data analysis. This combination destroys efforts such as the planning of strategy.
REFRAIN TO CHORUS
My work as a bandleader was to play acoustic guitar, sing harmony, arrange much of the music after songwriters derived a melody, set the performance tempo, and develop musicianship in the band members. It is not easy to hide during a live performance of music. Strumming the guitar only goes so far, as we say in the guitar business. One must play the guitar, in my case, with the other musicians to have a band. Add in the singing aspect, and the sound is either is or is not pleasant to the paying customer. Your role now as a leader is to use a refrain to help get your people either to or back to productivity.
You could swap guitars, swap guitar amplifiers, move the musicians to a different location on the stage, or any number of changes to help improve the sound of a band. Say you needed to pick out a chair for you to sit down in for whatever reason. You could pick from many different seating options to meet your need. If you need strategic planning work accomplished, you will need to keep making changes to find the mix that results in productive work output. You are looking for, as an analogy, both applause and continued funding from your audience for your strategic planning work. There is a time constraint to almost everything. The older main character in the Most film was under an explicit time constraint. Staying focused on the scope of the strategy you are trying to plan is a viable means to knowing if you are either spending too much time getting the work accomplished or if you are indeed not getting work accomplished.
I used the words of James Taylor to help me walk out most of my musical journey. “I believe musicians have a duty, a responsibility to reach out, to share your love or pain with others.” The older main character in the Most film made the same choice as Taylor: sharing love or pain with others. Both this older main character and Taylor are leaders in their respective lots of life. Leading is not easy, but I never said it was easy.
Take time this week and consider the topic of who you need and want to include in your organization. Think about the associated time constraints, the money constraints, and the pains of having people come and go either moving around or out of your organization. The world population reached 7.8 billion people as of March 2020. There is no shortage of people for anything. Clearly, you cannot pick everyone in the world because you do not have enough money to pay everyone in the world. Besides, you would get so big along the way you would be identified as violating antitrust. Selecting irrevocable choices…this is the harsh reality of accomplishing strategic planning. Perhaps playing some music you like to hear during your consideration time will help you go through this thinking easier.
So, I ask you: where do you want to go? I hope your answer is to develop the plans necessary to accomplish the strategy you know you need to achieve to arrive at your desired destination. If this is the case, then let’s get to work. If not, then I wish you the best of everything.
I hope we will see each other here next week. Email me if you need to talk before then.
Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL
Executive Strategy Consultant
Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. He has more than thirty years of service and consulting experience in delivering successful international business development and program management outcomes in the US and SE Asia. His weekly column, “Where Do You Want To Go?,” appears on Thursdays.
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Jim Weber is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
David Roemer is our Keynote Speaker. Ken Fehner is our Spotlight Speaker.
David Roemer will present – The Wonderful World of Franchising
David Roemer
Dave has more than 30 years of experience as a franchisor and a franchisee. He gets both sides of the relationship as he has been on both sides.
After several years as a restaurant operator and trainer, Dave began working with franchisees as a business consultant for Dunkin’, Arby’s, and TGI Friday’s. He then purchased a Business Coaching franchise and began working with small business owners in the Columbus, OH market. After a couple of years, he decided to go back to the restaurant business and was a Director of Franchise Operations for Long John Silver’s and the Einstein’s/Bruegger’s/Manhattan Bagel brands.
Today, Dave is an independent Franchise Consultant who helps people interested in purchasing a franchise determine which brands are the right fit and then helps them through the due diligence and discovery process. His services are free to the client as his fees are paid for by the various franchise brands with which he works.
You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.” Golda Meir
Stephen Dawson, DSL
I was beaten on as a kid more than once. I was small in stature and not as smart as most kids. The worst of the beatings was the verbal abuse. It took me longer to put on substantial muscles when serving in the infantry, but I caught up and surpassed many in my unit. Later, it took me longer to get through my undergraduate degree from not having a solid academic starting point. I look back and remember those who helped me advance amid abuse. It was, always, someone who was of different skin color than I, or who came from another birthplace, or who had more strength of servant character than I do today. Adversity became livable for me. I owe each of them a debt I will never be able to repay.
I heard these words from them many times: “You need to prepare.” Often, I would get a call later from many of them asking me how things went as an outcome of my preparation efforts. Many of these wonderful people were at or below the economic poverty level, but they were wealthy beyond measure in building relationships.
I shared recently we only see if we look, and we only look by choice. I shared last week learning can continue on any topic. I see people, not combinations of demographics or psychographics. There is no…them…in my book. I made the point in past columns that a people problem is not a skills problem. People need to be nameless and faceless to be related to effectively. I hold this position for one simple reason: I was nameless and faceless for years, but people related to me in many healthy ways. No one can thrive without a name, a place, and a purpose. Resolving the people problem effectively consists of more than you looking for your desired destination using your planned strategy. It all comes together by way of the people you need to fulfill the strategy you need to be planned. So, let’s talk about some of the options you have to address your people problem.
If people are a part of your organization, then you must care for them as a whole person. If this is something you cannot do, then you would do well to either separate them from your organization or stop leading your organization. There is no one-size-fits-all for this decision point. Take the actions to communicate the separation milestone, deliver any severance, handle public relations, handle any litigation, say goodbye, and move on. This recommendation goes for both the person you are separating from your organization and yourself whenever you stop leading.
Let me be clear. I endorse, without hesitation, putting a person into a role by their skills in combination with the espoused morality of their worldview found in their ethics. There is little value in doing anything to meet the demands of anyone who has no interest in you. Yes, there are times when codified mandates exist contrary to your position. However, you are still faced with a whole person to either have or not have as a part of your organization. Let’s dig deeper into the reality of having the whole person in your organization.
MICROPROCESSORS
There is somewhat of a new obstacle in current events claiming there is a recent shortage of microprocessors. Imagine trying to run your organization without all of the resources that use microprocessors. Ford had to cut production of their F-150 recently due to semiconductor chip shortages. The F-150 is noted for sales achievements. Bindiya Vakil and Tom Linton described this situation from the global perspective. Let’s use this microprocessor topic to help address the people change problem you have in getting your strategy planned.
David Daniels, a noted diversity and inclusion (D & I) professional I work with during management consulting efforts, told me his initial approach to the people part of our collective work. “There are so many different definitions out there when it comes to D & I, and I always work with each individual organization to frame it around their vision, mission, and values.” He shared with me some of his wisdom. “The analogy that has always stuck with me to succinctly describe D & I is this: Diversity = you were invited to the dance; Inclusion means you were asked to dance all night.” His analogy makes quite a bit of sense to me. I encourage you to read David’s Reflections article to understand more of his insight.
If fame is a skill, then you are staffing a role based on a fleeting skill. How long will such fame last? This question must be answered to assign meaningful present value and calculate the probable future value of the work delivered from this skill. Fame has a bit of energy to it, but it is similar to eating sugar. Sugar is fleeting energy, not lasting energy. If you need quick energy added to your organization, then fame is a way to get it. However, fame pushes those who are not famous aside and disables some of their ability to deliver productive work output to you. Now, let’s use the communicating-preparing-pursue plan I experienced as a child to see how it can help you with your identified people problem.
COMMUNICATING
Building the understanding of what another person has going on in their head to know how they can contribute best to your organization is a constant action. These conditions change from what Chesterton shared, so they must be measured frequently. It is the intersection of demographics and psychographics for each person combined with knowing where they fit into your organization based on how the other folks in your organization are doing at the time. It is going from nameless and faceless to a name with an identity to form a purpose, to determine their place in your organization. This purpose and place combination is not static. It is likely to change, knowing people have good and bad times, as do organizations comprised of the people you serve as their leader. The needs and wants combination for everyone will change accordingly. Communicating with your people is the only way to know these answers first hand.
PREPARING
It is unlikely you will be able to resolve the identified people problem with a single decision criterion. I make this statement as people are much more complicated than either a machine or a microprocessor, though both have features and benefits. Preparing has both an exact checklist of actions for the work at hand combined with actions specific to each person. We measure by outcomes, so the preparation matching the outcomes is only varied by the preparation’s execution actions. I am talking much more than Monday Morning Quarterbacking. I am talking about measuring outcomes without bias.
PURSUE
The follow-through of planning and doing is then pursuing understanding the outcome of the doing. The phone calls I would receive from loved ones looking out for my best interests had a combination of encouragement, recommendations, and a bit of tough love correction. You as the leader must, I repeat…must…use a similar formula in fixing your people problem. Why must you do this? Because you have a whole person in your organization for now. You are trying to decide if you need to move them to other work assignments in your organization or say goodbye to them as their leader.
WIND UP
Okay, getting back to the microprocessor illustration I spoke of earlier in this writing. Think about small devices as you consider how you select people to be a part of your organization. Think about the diversities combined in the technologies to make a device you use as you think about how you value the diversity of people to do the work you need and want to be accomplished. Then, take some time to watch the following short film.
I saw the film Most about a dozen years ago. It gripped me with the reality I was not viewing people then as I do today. I was limiting my view of people to those who I knew personally. Your selection of people to be a part of your organization most likely will mean you do not know every one of them as well as you do your close friends. Take the time this next week and watch this short film without interruption. It is 32-minutes long. I recommend you prepare your schedule to watch it uninterrupted. I hope it will help you measure your willingness today to see people as a whole, especially the part about them being nameless and faceless, to decide what you need to change about your people seeing willingness going forward. We will talk about how your viewing experience of this short film went for you during our time together next week. I anticipate you will be both shocked and irritated at the realities you experience from this film. I was when I watched it. I remember to this day how I felt at the end of the film: ashamed to find my unknown willingness not to see a whole person, but enabled to change for the better.
So, I ask you: where do you want to go? I hope your answer is to develop the plans necessary to accomplish the strategy you know you need to achieve to arrive at your desired destination. If this is the case, then let’s get to work. If not, then I wish you the best of everything.
I hope we will see each other here next week. Email me if you need to talk before then.
Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL
Executive Strategy Consultant
Dr. Stephen H Dawson
Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. He has more than thirty years of service and consulting experience in delivering successful international business development and program management outcomes in the US and SE Asia. His weekly column, “Where Do You Want To Go?,” appears on Thursdays.
Dr. Dawson has served in the technology, banking, and hospitality industries. He is a noted strategic planning visionary. His pursuit of music has been matched with his efforts to lead by service to followers. He holds the clear understanding a leader without followers is a person taking a long walk alone.
Stephen has lived his life in the eastern United States, visiting most of the United States and several countries. He is a graduate of the Regent University School of Business & Leadership. Contact him at service@shdawson.com.
I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.
Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.
Inflation is not dead. It is not gone. It has not been tamed. I know it seems like it, especially after the past few decades which generated in many an “inflation-complacency” that feels justified. After all, following the 2008 Financial Panic, many predicted Quantitative Easing would cause hyper-inflation.
When the Fed boosted the Monetary Base by more than $3 trillion dollars during Quantitative Easing 1, 2 & 3, and the federal budget moved to a huge deficit, gold and silver commercials proliferated. So did predictions of a collapsing dollar. But inflation never came. Since the end of the 2008-09 financial panic, the Consumer Price Index has increased by an average of just 1.7% per year, falling short of the Fed’s 2% target.
During the 2020 COVID-induced round of Fed money printing, instead of using QE to put reserves in the banking system, the Fed financed government programs to fund loans to businesses and direct payments to individuals. As a result, the money supply as measured by M2 has grown 26.3% in the past year, the fastest annual growth I can find in US history, and roughly double the pace of M2 growth the US experienced during the 1970s.
According to those who believe in Modern Monetary Theory – (which isn’t all that modern, btw), and is just vaguely a theory – the US can increase real output enough to absorb it. In other words, they say that while inflation is “too much money chasing too few goods” – they expect the output of goods to increase enough to keep inflation low.
I find this impossible to believe. In fact, I think many are living in denial. Inflation is already on the rise. In the past six months, the Consumer Price Index is up 3.6% at an annual rate and if it rises a modest 0.2% per month between January and May, it will be up 3.4% over 12 months. Part of this is because COVID shutdowns led to weak inflation in early 2020, but I expect inflation to move higher in 2021.
But, in addition to M2 growth, incomes and savings have increased, while production has not. Demand is exceeding supply. All personal income combined – wages & salaries, employee benefits, small business income, rents, interest, dividends, and transfer payments – was up 6.3% in 2020 versus 2019. Total after-tax income was up 7.2% in 2020, the most for any year since 2000.
Combined, Americans saved about $2.9 trillion in 2020, more than doubling the previous record high of $1.2 trillion in 2018. As of the third quarter of 2020, the amount Americans held in checking accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and money market funds was up $2.8 trillion from the year prior. Add another $1.9 trillion in federal government stimulus spending (borrowing from the future, to spend today) and the US is awash in cash.
Unfortunately, in spite of a strong recovery in output, industrial production is 3.3% below pre-COVID levels, while real GDP is 2.5% below. In other words, demand is OK, it is supply that’s still hurting – a perfect recipe for inflation.
All this money printing threatens to eventually create a sugar high in equities. We aren’t there yet, but markets are floating on a sea of new money. Inflation hedges (real estate, commodities, materials companies) will do well. Traditional fixed income (long-term bonds) is at risk. The return of inflation is a very real threat to the long-term health of the US economy, and something you will hear me talking about more in the months ahead..
Integrated Financial Group
Kevin Garrett – Integrated Financial Group
My firm specializes in working with people that experience what we call “Sudden Income.” Typically the income came from one of these events:
1) Accessing and Managing Retirement Assets
2) A Performance Contract (Typically a Sports or Entertainment Contract)
3) Divorce Settlement
4) Inheritance or Insurance Payout
5) Sale of a Business or Stock Options
6) A Personal Injury Settlement
I believe the unique nature of these events requires specialized professional experience, empathy, and communication to deal with both the financial changes and the life changes that inevitably come with them.
My clients value my ability to simplify complex strategies into an actionable plan. They also appreciate that I am open, non-judging, and easy to talk to about their dreams and fears. Each client defines financial success differently and my goal is to guide them from where they are now to where they want to be. As my client’s advisor, my goal is to provide them with a lifetime income stream, improving returns, protecting their funds, and managing taxes.
Firm Specialties:
Retirement Planning For Business Owners & Executives
Woman’s Unique Financial Planning Needs
Professional Athletes
Investment/Asset Allocation Advice
Estate Planning
Risk Management
Strategic Planning
Kevin was listed in The Wall Street Journal as “One of the Financial Advisors In The Southeast That You Need To Know”
Kevin was listed in Forbes Magazine’s Annual Financial Edition as a Five Star Financial Advisor
Kevin has been awarded the Five Star Professional Wealth Manager in Atlanta Magazine in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017,2018, and 2019.
Award based on 10 objective criteria associated with providing quality services to clients such as credentials, experience, and assets under management among other factors. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers.
KEVIN GARRETT, AWMA, CFS
Integrated Financial Group
200 Ashford Center North, Ste. 400 | Atlanta, GA 30338
Phone | 770.353.6311
Email | kgarrett@intfingroup.com
Website | kevingarrettifg.com
