Jim Cichanski, CEO of FlexHR will present HR Trends 2020
Distress in the workplace? You’re not alone. This Human Resources trends discussion will focus on the essentials business owners must know in today’s’ world, as well as to stay compliant with labor and IRS laws during current times. This review takes a deep dive into policy, best practices, and HR operations.
We’ll guide you through tangible situations and how the repercussions can cost tens of thousands of dollars to your organization. Next, we will review the “Risk Factor” of actions that are critical for managing the human side of your enterprise.
This session will include COVID conversations, details on how to stay out of trouble and reduce risk factors, clarifying policy, laws, handbook communications, managing millennials, and how to hire and fire employees in a social distancing environment. And finally, we will open the forum up to go through questions and answers.
Your presenter is Jim Cichanski, the founder and CEO of Flex HR, Inc. and a Preferred Partner of VSG. Jim also spent 27 years in the Army National Guard achieving the rank of Colonel, was inducted into the Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame, and received numerous awards including the Legion of Merit. Jim holds a BA in Applied Behavioral Sciences, is a graduate of the Department of Defense Equal Opportunity Institute, has served on the board of HealthSource of Georgia, and was an inside board member for 17 companies. He is an ongoing active member of various HR and Angel Investor professional organizations.
Jim Cichanski – CEO FlexHR
Flex HR, Inc. was selected Best of Johns Creek Award in the Business Human Resources Consultant category by the Johns Creek Award Program last year, and this year was inducted into the Johns Creek Business Hall of Fame. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution awarded Flex HR “Best of Atlanta Business Profiles” while Outsourcing Gazette magazine listed Flex HR as the “Top Most Promising HR & Staffing Service Vendors.” For 3 years INC Magazine recognized Flex HR as an Inc 5000 “Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in America”. Jim was also recognized by the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce as the “Small Businessperson of the Year.” Catalyst Magazine acknowledged Flex HR as 1 of 18 Companies CEO’s in Atlanta would like to own. Jim is married to his wife Eldeen for 40 years, has two daughters and 4 grandchildren. He recently served on the Board of Directors for HomeStretch and is an active board member and investor in several Human Resources related ventures.
I taught my grandsons there are only two places in the entire universe: “Here” and “There!”
When one would ask if I had seen his baseball glove, I would respond, “No, it’s not here. So it must be there!” They thought that was pretty neat and I would overhear them telling their brothers the same thing!
So as a business owner, you should know where you ARE – you have your numbers. But where do you WANT to be – say in 5 years? Where is your THERE?? What does it look and feel like? Why do you want to get there?
Having worked with hundreds of business owners domestically and internationally, I am always saddened to have a client tell me they don’t know or aren’t sure where they want to be in that time frame.
I remind them of what the Cheshire Cat told Alice, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there!” But that “there” may not be the “there” where you intended to go!
No one disputes the necessity of planning, but the truth is that many business owners spend more time planning a vacation or a hunting trip than planning the future of their business.
I believe the primary reason is that the cares of the daily operation of the business choke out the priority of setting aside time to do the reflection necessary for a clear path forward. Stephen Covey wrote about the conflict in his seminal book First Things First, where he addressed the URGENT against the IMPORTANT.
In Quadrant I are the Urgent AND Important issues; these are the fires that have to be put out to keep the business running. Operational breakdowns, bad quality, customer complaints, delayed shipments, employee disagreements, and the list goes on!
Quadrant II is where the Important issues that are NOT Urgent reside. This is where ALL the important issues of life reside: date night with the spouse, attending the kid’s ballgame or dance recital, reading important literature, meditating/praying, planning, reflecting, taking care of our health. We all recognize the importance of these activities in our lives, but our spouse won’t divorce us if we miss a date night – – – the fires burn up our relationships.
The paradox of this is that the ONLY way to get control of Quadrant I is to camp out in Quadrant II! Do the planning necessary to PREVENT the fires in the first place!
Let’s be honest, charting the path for a business five years out can be a daunting exercise, but it is essential to arrive at our “There!”
Strategic planning is of paramount importance. If you would like more information, feel free to contact me for a FREE 45-minute “The Bridge to There” presentation in your operation. Get a high-level view of what your future path can be!
Ralph Watson
Ralph Watson has a varied and extensive career spanning 45 years of increasingly responsible positions in both sales and operations in a very diverse mix of industry specialties, including food processing, textile and apparel, financial services, and professional management consulting.
Ralph served as a Senior Executive Analyst with a number of international consulting companies focused on the family-owned, privately held market where he distinguished himself as one of the top analysts in a highly competitive field. In early 2014, he personally coached 10 businesses in Europe.
Ralph C. Watson, Jr. 404.520.1030
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
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Doug Reifschneider is a dynamic marketing leader with 30+ years of experience in the restaurant industry and a demonstrated 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.0, 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.
Register in advance for this meeting:
James Weber is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: BENG Atlanta Chapter July Meeting
Time: Jul 14, 2020, 07:30 AM Eastern Time (the US and Canada)
Robert Steele has 40 years of Insurance, Employee Benefits, Healthcare, and Technology experience as a sales and marketing executive. Robert’s biggest asset is his ability to take companies in transition and turn them around when sales, marketing, or product development was causing financial or operational bottlenecks.
He has taken four companies that were all facing growth problems with a different underlying problem at each company and created new opportunities for growth, financing, or product development and enhancement. Robert loves challenges. Adapt to dealing with C-Suite executives where a trusted advisor relationship becomes the difference between making a sale and losing a sale is a key to his success. His innate ability to ask key questions, at the right time, to get executives engaged in the process has led Robert to close six, seven, and eight-figure deals.
Robert’s passion is helping teams re-invent themselves to a level of excellence in their sales activity and exceeding objectives. He has mentored peers, colleagues, and even competitors to think differently about themselves and their approach to problems that have been plaguing their sales challenges.
Like the eye of a hurricane, businesses raked by the leading edge of the COVID-19 pandemic are now taking a cautious look outside. Though the winds have subsided, and it’s tempting to think that the worst is over, the eye simply gives us a chance to prepare for what’s left to come. But the time is now to begin planning for the rebound.
If you withstood the worst of the impacts of the pandemic so far, you likely have accepted that the storm was coming, and had battened down your hatches (or at least applied for PPP funding to keep vestiges of your business afloat). Now, as we can start to imagine a future, it’s critical to have your plan in place when the rebound hits.
For those who haven’t been willing to consider the details needed in your post-pandemic recovery plan – or simply weren’t willing to “go there” – now is the time to plan for your rebound.
The public has been released from their quarantine in many states and other states are scheduled to open. Research indicates consumers will be ready to shop and dine. The world into which they will venture will indeed be changed. Will their appetite for dining with you also be transformed?
In my view, planning for the rebound – the re-grand-opening into the brave new world – will require a three-step planning process:
An accurate assessment of NOW – Analysis and cost-cutting based on where you are today, and how you’ll conduct business until social distancing is no longer needed;
Planning for NEAR – Executing on pivots or changes to your offerings to help your cash flow to improve your survivability, and;
Plan NEXT – Stop random acts of marketing and follow the 12-step approach that follows “The Growth Gears,” a strategic marketing book authored by Art Saxby and Pete Hayes, to plan for your recovery.
Where have your customers gone? Are they still in need of your unique brand of hospitality? Have you maintained your competitive edge? Can you keep your employees active and engaged in the business? Many businesses are grappling with these and other questions, as they fight for survival in an apocalyptic present, and uncertain future. Here are four tips to consider when planning for the rebound and assessing your business:
Review costs
Most people have already done this – things like canceling recurring services that are simply irrelevant, asking for payment terms on necessary services, and in general, having a series of difficult conversations about labor, supplies, and rent. Job No. 1 is to understand your cash flow – and factors influencing it.
Review competition
What is your competition doing now? How have they pivoted? Did they reduce hours of operation? Were they forced to close? Is there something you could do with your local competitors to encourage customers to order takeout and delivery? For example, an entity called “The Great American Takeout” has formed, and has encouraged customers via social media posts to takeout food to support restaurants every Tuesday since March 24.
Reconnect with your employees
Did you furlough or lay anybody off? With the crew that is left, what has the pandemic done to morale? How are you? Now is the time for frequent communication with your current and past employees. To prepare for reopening, you should prepare a plan to re-hire and train employees.
Reassign tasks
To keep employees on the payroll (assuming you have sales because you are offering curbside pick-up or delivery), reassign team members to answer the phone, shuttle deliveries, or serve as curb-side ambassadors. In the short term, this could also mean repurposing the business for strictly philanthropic purposes. One restaurant invited the American Red Cross to park its Bloodmobile in their parking lot for a blood drive to help medical professionals.
Step 2: PLANNING FOR NEAR
Planning for the rebound needs to happen now. If you’ve withstood the worst of the pandemic so far, you may find that the tweaks you’ve made temporarily should be considered for permanence. Now, more than ever, understanding the customer’s needs and wants – and how you are positioned to be a guiding force in their upturned lives – can be a make or break proposition. Here are some ways to be a part of this change:
Rethink offerings.
If you’re a restaurant, you might offer groceries or sell toilet paper. Most restauranteurs reduced their menu offerings to optimize the to-go experience. For retailers, this can involve sticking with conveniences like online ordering and curbside pick-up. Creativity is key. Here are some creative examples:
Red Roof Inns: The lodging company offered up hotel rooms as a remote office and alternative resting spaces during the day for truckers for only $29.
Fogo de Chao: The unique Brazilian restaurant shifted its focus to offer curbside packages of ready-to-grill cuts of meat.
Wow Bao: The restaurant has begun “selling the materials necessary to make a simplified version of their menu of bowls, buns, and potstickers to other restaurants and ghost kitchen facilities,” according to the website Restaurant-Hospitality.com.
Subway: The sandwich chain is testing a Subway Grocery concept in California. The beta program allows customers to order items such as baked bread, deli meats, sliced cheese, vegetables, and soups.
Panera: Like Subway, Panera Bread has launched a grocery offering at scale to allow customers to order essential grocery items such as loaves of bread, milk and produce, and to have the items available for delivery or drive-up pickup.
Reconsider sacred cows
As businesses rethink their offerings, they can run smack into certain “sacred cows” that seem to be integral to their identity. For example, a full-service eatery may balk at delivery options, since that fish dish might be ruined in the 30 or 45 minutes it takes to deliver it. This is no time for those kinds of pretensions. Find a way to make a meal pack, or focus on offerings that can be delivered successfully. Several restaurants have created pop-up drive-throughs, with no more than a tent and a landlord’s blessing. And the likes of Home Depot have shifted to curbside pick-ups even as it prided itself on counseling customers in the store.
Reschedule Initiatives
Retailers and restaurants that had planned remodeling projects could move those up, but only if the resources exist to do so. Only the best-capitalized businesses will be able to embark on a remodeling project now, but if you can move up the date, it’s worth doing while your dining room or bricks-and-mortar location is closed. Of course, such initiatives can still be hindered by government directives that limit non-essential work and will vary by municipality.
Reconnect
Communication matters more than ever. We may be keeping our distance physically, but we’ve never been more social. We have regular Zoom happy hours, and we can still call upon clients virtually on a regular basis. B2B companies will have closer relationships since they sell directly to their clients, but B2C companies shouldn’t go quiet either. They need to reach out every few days, so long as they are mindful in tone and content.
On an April 8 webinar sponsored by Valassis and featuring data from Technomic, they suggested:
Source: Valassis
If you can maintain communication with your customers through advertising, social channels, and email, do it. You must be mindful of your tone and message, but the research of the past 93 years is clear – if you can maintain or increase your advertising during a downturn, especially when your competitors don’t, you will be rewarded with higher sales and market share during the recovery.
Step 3: PLAN NEXT
Opening Soon
Planning for the rebound sooner, rather than later, is critical. Those who wait for the rebound to begin will be late to the party. If you wait too long, you will likely lose market share to more aggressive competitors.
With what you’ve gleaned from studying your competitors and company in Step No. 1, above, it’s time to learn more about your customers as they exist today, to get an idea of what and who they may be in the future. The shifts in public policy, social interactions, virtual workspaces, and personal hygiene will likely be tectonic in scope. As a result, you need to understand how the shifts will affect your business and which ones you may be able to exploit.
Ways to learn about your customers now, so you can plan for the Next.
Google Analytics – Look for shifts in devices used, demographics, source of traffic, etc.
Email surveys – Query your customers about their lifestyle, media preferences, food choices, favorite foods, etc. as they were prior to the pandemic, and as they are now. Do a gap analysis to find opportunities.
Read – Information abounds online regarding perceived or guessed new behaviors by many sources. Pete Hayes, CMO, and Principal for Chief Outsiders outlined the basic steps to follow in his blog “COVID-19 Crisis – 12-step Pre-Recovery Checklist for CEO’s. Also, McKinsey & Company posted an opinion on how to prepare for the next stage of the crisis. Their opinion is deeply rooted in management consulting expertise and is more about preparation for the next stage of the crisis vs. recovery.
Regardless of your current posture on the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a certainty that the danger will eventually come to an end. Now is the time to be sharpening your pencils and honing your strategies so you can be ready for the next steps.
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Stocks shook off the 5.9% S&P 500 Index drop a week ago Thursday by gaining three days in a row before fading a bit at week’s end. While researching and reading this week, two charts stood out to me that tell us quite a lot about how investors have reacted during this volatile market and what could be next.
Incredibly, nearly a third of all investors over 65 years old sold their full equity holdings. With stocks now back near highs, this is yet another reason to have a plan in place before trouble comes, as making decisions when under duress can lead to the exact wrong decision.
As shown in the above chart, according to data from Fidelity Investments, nearly 18% of all investors sold their full equity holdings between February and May, while a much higher percentage that was closer to retirement (or in retirement) sold. Some might have bought back in, but odds are that many are feeling quite upset with the record bounce back in stocks here.
Along these same lines, investors have recently moved to cash at a record pace. In fact, there is now nearly $5 trillion in money market funds, almost twice the levels we saw this time only five years ago. Also, the past three months saw the largest three-month change ever, as investors ran to the safety of cash. If you were looking for a reason stocks could continue to go higher over the longer term, there really is a lot of cash on the sidelines right now.
Stocks are Overbought
Last, I noted a few weeks ago that the extreme overbought nature of stocks here is actually consistent with the start of a new bull run, not a bear market bounce, or the end of a bull market. Adding to this, the spread between the number of stocks above their 50-day moving average and 200-day moving average was near the highest level ever.
Looking at other times that had wide spreads, they took place near the start of major bull markets. Near-term the potential is there for a well-deserved pullback, but going out 6 to 12 months, stocks have consistently outperformed historically.
About 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) An 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
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I thought it was time to look into the crystal ball. After scouring news articles for 60 days, several themes arose from the ashes of the pandemic to reveal the top-10 changes for restaurants after the crisis ends.
Chains will rule – 7 of 10 restaurants are owned by individual operators according to the National Restaurant Association, most of whom are independent. Unfortunately, those independents have been the majority of closures and if 10-15% of all restaurants permanently close during the pandemic, then only healthy chains will be left.
2) Growth will rebound – Chains will increase unit growth to fill the void left by closed restaurant locations. New independents will arise out of the ashes. The new wave of restauranteurs will have learned from the recent crisis and will focus on sustainability of operations by leaning hard into delivery, take-home, contactless payment, and other enabling technology.
3) Ghost kitchens – new and existing concepts will cooperate together to develop ghost kitchens where multiple cuisines live in harmony to satisfy the appetite of urban dweller and the virtual food court will become a thing.
4) Cleanliness is next to Godliness – Serve-Safe and other entities who train restaurant employees to prepare and handle food will proliferate and the constant disinfecting of communal surfaces such as counters, door handles, tables, chairs, and condiments will become the expected norm. The reopening guide by the NRA will be followed by all and probably expanded by many. https://go.restaurant.org/covid19-reopening-guide
5) Off-premise will continue to grow – Now that consumers are getting used to ordering food digitally and internal and external delivery is expected, the trend may slow after the pandemic ends but the trend for facilitating delivery, take-out, meal kits and the like will proliferate.
6) Digital Rules – Every restaurant, whether they be independent, or part of a chain will provide as many e-commerce channels for guests to order food as possible. Wing Stop, Domino’s, and Chipotle are doing well during the pandemic because they were positioned to survive in a crisis. All restaurateurs who don’t learn that they need to embrace digital orders and provide ways for customers to get the food where they want it and when they want it will fail. Perhaps this should be #1 on the list for the top-10 changes we will see in the restaurant industry.
7) Shrinking dining rooms – Because of the shift to off-premise dining, new restaurants in all categories will reduce the square feet of their dining areas. Existing locations will remove tables and chairs to always be prepared for social distancing.
8) Marketing mix shift – Whereas TV was a big part of the advertising mix for national chains and larger regional chains, the shift to off-premise will force restaurant brands to lean much more heavily into digital advertising channels. The shift will occur because restaurants will more easily track conversions from online visibility to online orders as a key metric. The brands that do continue to use to TV will determine how to make Outcome-Based TV buying work.
9) Marketing Messaging – All restaurants will need to understand their consumer and know the new customer journey better than ever before. Every brand will also need to nail their brand proposition because if they don’t, all ads after the pandemic ends will be about digital ordering and delivery. Digital channels may be a convenient benefit, but if every restaurant offers the standard digital channels, those digital channels will not be unique to anyone.
10) Counter Culture – There will also be creative and innovative individuals and organizations that will buck the status quo. Whether they embrace video dining, reinvent food halls, or return to a cash-only payment model, we will see successful attempts to do everything they can to not be trapped by the previous 9 changes.
In conclusion, the top-10 changes for restaurants may be different from this list but you can bet many of the themes will occur because they are happening now.
Doug Reifschneider
https://www.itbpartners.com/doug-reifschneider/
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
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.
According to a recent study by Chief Outsiders, a national marketing strategy consulting firm, 88% of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) see the difficulty in staying ahead of Marketing Technology.
Why?
According to Forrester, technology has not just impacted business, it has disrupted it. So much so that CNBC reported that the average life span of an S&P 500 company is about 20 years. It was 60 years in the 1950s according to Credit Suisse. 1
The way technology is evolving, imagine what that figure might be in 20 years.
All you have to do is look at Moore’s law to understand why technology is moving so fast.
What is Moore’s Law & How Does It Impact Marketing Technology?
In 1965, Gordon E. Moore, the co-founder of Intel, made this observation that became Moore’s Law.
Moore’s Law refers to Moore’s perception that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, though the cost of computers is halved. In addition, Moore’s Law states that we can expect the speed and capability of our computers to increase every couple of years. Plus, we will pay less for them too. Another tenet of Moore’s Law asserts that this growth is exponential.2
Moore’s Law tenet is that the number of computer chips on a single board grows exponentially.
Source: Moore’s Law graph3
It is hard for a human to keep up with exponential growth. And marketers are human. This is why marketers are having trouble keeping up with marketing technology.
Why specifically do CMOs think it will be hard to stay ahead of technology?
Because many CMOs haven’t kept up with marketing technology to-date. And the exponential growth that is expected to continue will be mind-boggling.
The Marketing Menu Changed!
For example, as recently as the 1990s, marketers had a finite list of advertising and promotional tactics at their disposal. The tactics to increase sales, improve brand awareness, and grow market share were low tech too.
Out of Home (Billboards, transit benches, and shelters, taxi’s, etc.)
Promotion (sports teams, schools, etc.)
Yellow pages if a local or multi-location business
Today, with the addition of OTT (Over the Top) TV, banner ads, advertising on social media, and other digital options, the choices on where to place advertising dollars are staggering.
MARTech = Marketing Technology
The modern CMO is faced with options in Martech and Adtech. Yes, those are real terms used within the marketing world. In 2011, we had about 150 MarTech choices. By 2019, there were over 7,000 choices.
In 2011, there were about 150+ Martech vendors. By 2019, there were over 7000!
To put in perspective, RedHat published the following tech stack that is aligned with the customer journey. One brand using this technique would interact with over 30 Martech vendors.
Who can keep up with that, let alone stay ahead of it?
Illustrates 30 MarTech companies have to work with to manage the customer journey.
Source: 4
Technology has disrupted business in many ways. According to Forrester, the primary reason technology has disrupted business is based on three issues:
Empowered consumers
Blurred lines between digital and physical
Disruptive business models powered by data and tech
In their reports titled “Winning In The Age Of The Customer,” and “The Customer-Obsessed Enterprise” Forrester suggests that companies that are not just customer-focused, but customer-obsessed, achieve higher revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction.
Enter the COVID-19 pandemic
To put into perspective how important technology to business is, consider how different brands in food service were impacted by the pandemic.
Chipotle sales decreased 16% in the last two weeks of March compared to -25% at McDonald’s & Pizza Hut, -30% at Taco Bell and -35% at KFC
According to Black Box Intelligence, sales reported by all restaurants in their database for the week ending April 19 were -47.6%
As reported in QSR magazine for Domino’s “What’s happened in the first four weeks of Q2 (March 23 to April 19) has been more enlightening. Domino’s witnessed U.S. company comps jump 10.6 percent. Franchises are up 6.9 percent. Blended, it’s a 7.1 percent year-over-year same-store number.”
The first 3 examples are from brands that were already focusing on their digital capabilities. Wing Stop was one of the first restaurant brands to offer chatbot ordering on social media platforms. And Domino’s has become the de facto leader in the pizza segment when it comes to technology.
The key takeaway for restaurants is that the pandemic created a new set of consumer desires and demands and the brands (often chain with marketing teams) already knowledgeable and leading in technology won. This plays out in retail too. If you’re a retailer and you didn’t have an eCommerce platform prior to March 13, you’re probably hurting bad, or closed.
The pandemic forced many brands to accelerate their use and adoption of technology to meet the new consumer needs.
Conclusion
The bottom line when it comes to brick & mortar businesses is that marketing technology is part of the customer experience and great technology can create a great frictionless user experience. Bad technology can do the opposite. The pandemic forced business owners to embrace eCommerce, digital ordering, and contactless payments and transactions faster than ever before. Consequently, brick & mortar brands must:
Own all the consumer touchpoints
Own customer data
Connect offline to online for a true omnidirectional view of your customers
It’s not easy to keep up with technology. The effects of social distancing and working from home simply made every business pivot or adapt to less touch and more connection via technology.
If Forrester is right, the technology we marketers use to reach intended customers needs to pivot and more companies need to become customer-obsessed to succeed.
Staying ahead of that trend will be very difficult, very difficult indeed.
Doug Reifschneider
Doug Reifschneider is a 30+ year marketing veteran in the foodservice industry. He currently works with Chief Outsiders as a fractional CMO.
We humans and “E”cosystems (Es) must unite as WeE to preserve and foster the ability to joyfully experience a natural and healthy life. “Es” sustain We with natural air, water, soil, and healthy food, but “Es” are dying from human poisons/pollution and intentional “T”yrant taking. WeE must unite and build meaningful WeE experidigm group rights to ensure WeE ability to survive and pursue healthy experiences. Learn how to create lasting WeE experidigm group rights. Unite and joyfully WeE experidigm together. Live healthy and experience Amness joy. Use Part 4 as a Field Guide to help WeE and “E” successfully survive and experidigm together.
Description
The future of humanity depends on the human ability to better live together and do activities together – I call this experidigming. Our future does not depend on how well we work together in business. We are pretty good at that now. We are poor at living together with and supporting all living entities in ecosystems (“Es”). Over 7.8 billion people are consuming “Es” at an unprecedented rate. Left unmanaged and unchecked, people may consume all “E.” Our future depends on how well We humans respect, steward, and support all living entities in “E.” This book describes how to have We humans and “E” living entities experidigm together as WeE, building a sustaining and thriving relationship for all within the WeE experidigms. One fact is certain – humans cannot survive without the life giving power of “E” to deliver clean air, water, alive soil, and trillions of living entities that share healthy food with humans. WeE experidigm groups can protect, sustain, and foster “E” while defending WeE using experidigm group rights. We and “E” must unite as WeE to sustain life and create the necessary balance of life to sustain daily living. Join a local WeE experidigm group to do activities and receive joy. This book describes how to UNITE and participate in the joyful experience of We and “E” combined WeE.
About The Author
Mark Grace
Described as a rainmaker and innovation leader, Mark Grace lives by the adage, “Aim higher, achieve more!” For Grace, “There will be setbacks, but the good side just points upward and you go upward to better. You might not see better right away, but better is there if you keep looking and seeking. You can avoid, deflect, and ignore the bad people who try and stop your growth.” As an inventor, Grace has received over 18 patents, many trademarks and has been honored with international technology awards. He is the author of a series of personal and corporate “how to grow” opportunity books: 1) Elements of Visual Talking, 2) Soaring to Awesome-Turd Throwers Beware, 3) Choosing Up, 4) Avoid Takers, 5) NEXT: “I Am…” Experidigmer 6) MORE: “We Am…” Experidigmers, 7) GO: “We Will…” Experidigm, and 8) UNITE: “WeE Will…” Experidigm. Grace earned his MBA from Washington University and Chemistry degree from St. Louis University. He is the founder of the growth advisory firm, Beyondvia Technologies. Beyondvia.com offers practical better ways to liberate individuals and organizations to grow and evolve their visions and value. Grace regularly advises global organizations and contributes to leading journals across a myriad of industries. Experidigm.com is the signup gateway to participating in Applied Experidigm Zones (AEZ) and building personal experidigms.
Do you know the best time to plan your exit strategy??
The first day you stick the key into the front door of your new office!
Franklin Covey said, “Start with the end in view!”
I know in the excitement of launching a new venture and all the chaos that ultimately ensues, an exit strategy is the LAST thing on an aspiring business tycoon wants to consider. The problem is that once it is pushed to the back burner, it tends to stay there for the next 30-40 years!
So let’s compromise! If you are 55 years old and own a business, it is time to start giving serious consideration regarding what your ultimate destination will be. An “Exit Strategy” is about selling the business off and a “Succession Plan” is about passing it down to the next generation, but both demand serious consideration well before you are ready to step away.
Two realities must align at the same time to maximize the value of a business: The owner must be mentally and emotionally prepared to walk away from a business they birthed and nurtured for the last 30-40 years AND the business must be structured to operate without the daily oversight of the owner and generating the highest level of profitability possible. Invariably, the business owners get to the finish line before the business is ready to command its highest multiple!
Now a good M&A guy can recast your financials to take out the country club membership and the spouse’s Cadillac, but if profits have been leaking out of the business, there just isn’t enough lipstick to make that pig win the blue ribbon!
The reason a 10-year runway is advised is to be able to make any necessary corrections in the business and run at that higher level for at least 3 to 5 years prior to going to market to demonstrate sustainable profitability.
As Dr. Ortego used to say, “The VALUE of a thing is the PRICE it will bring!”
Plan NOW to MAXimize Your Exit!!
Ralph Watson
Ralph Watson has a varied and extensive career spanning 45 years of increasingly responsible positions in both sales and operations in a very diverse mix of industry specialties, including food processing, textile and apparel, financial services, and professional management consulting.
Ralph served as a Senior Executive Analyst with a number of international consulting companies focused on the family-owned, privately held market where he distinguished himself as one of the top analysts in a highly competitive field. In early 2014, he personally coached 10 businesses in Europe.
Ralph C. Watson, Jr. 404-520-1030
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Do you know the best time to plan your exit strategy??