Share of Customer: 5 Awesome Tactics to Increase Profit

Create a New Value Proposition

In this article, you’re going to learn how to increase profit by growing your customer share.

I’ll tell you two things:

(1) Why focusing on share of customer is surprisingly better than increasing market share.

(2) 5 awesome techniques you can use to boost your customer share.

(All of this illustrated with real-life examples.)

The first sale is the hardest

When you want to sell a product to new prospects, your most difficult task is to win their trust. Your prospects need to trust you before buying from you. They must believe your story.

Read the whole article: Share of Customer: 5 Awesome Tactics to Increase Profit

(Estimated reading time: 6:41 mins)

How to Give Constructive Feedback That Really Helps People

Lead a High-Performance Team

Give constructive feedbackSharing constructive feedback gives you this ability to guide your team members and help them learn and grow.

Unfortunately, we never learn how to give feedback. We assume that it is intuitive; and that you should naturally master this skill.

But in practice, giving feedback feels uncomfortable.

We even often avoid doing it…

[In these reflections, I focus on “individual feedback” given to a team member (e.g. superior, peer, or subordinate). This excludes traditional employee review, team performance check-in, and managing yourself with feedback analysis.]

Feedback is an undervalued tool.

Read the whole article: How to Give Constructive Feedback That Really Helps People

(Estimated reading time: 5:40 mins)

The Best Books for Entrepreneurs and Executives in 2018 (Updated)

Lead a High-Performance Team

Gathering the best books for entrepreneurs and other great resources wasn’t an easy job.

You will agree with me that there are so many books about entrepreneurship out there…

So I narrowed down the list only to the best resources. This is going to save you so much time. ?

If you like these recommendations, share it with your friends, classmates, and colleagues.

Successful entrepreneurs, including Steve Jobs, read a lot of business books
Successful entrepreneurs, including Steve Jobs, read a lot of business books

 

The following lists focus on the crème de la crème of resources and books for entrepreneurs and executives.

Read the whole article: The Best Books for Entrepreneurs and Executives in 2018 (Updated)

(Estimated reading time: 7:17 mins)

Use Worldviews & Storytelling to Build a Strong Brand Positioning

Create a New Value Proposition

There’s something that the most successful brands do well:

They leverage existing beliefs to tell stories.

That’s because a person’s way of viewing the world is a major indicator of the decisions they make and the types of stories that resonate with them.

(Some call these beliefs “mindset”. In Positioning, Al Ries used the term “customers’ minds”. In All Marketers Are Liars, Seth Godin used the term “worldview” that I like the most, as the word is self-explanatory.)

As a marketer or innovator, using worldviews to look at your market helps you understand what stories resonate with your target customers, what products and services they consider buying, and why.

Read the whole article: Use Worldviews & Storytelling to Build a Strong Brand Positioning

(Estimated reading time: 7:44 mins)

How to Get Your Dream Job After an MBA or MSc

Business Miscellaneous

From day 1 at business school, you’re already thinking about the future.

You’ve not even settled down. And you’re already looking forward to getting a dream job in a kick-ass company.

Let’s see how you can get this done, the right way.

What the Hell Is Happening to the Job Market?

As a business school student, you’re ambitious and have high expectations for yourself. Right? So you want to prove that you can get the job you want.

Here’s the thing:

The job market is saturated. Each job opening gets hundreds of applications.

Read the whole article: How to Get Your Dream Job After an MBA or MSc

(Estimated reading time: 6:29 mins)

How to Speculate like a Successful Trader

Business Miscellaneous

You want to learn how to speculate?

Jesse Livermore is your guy.

He is one of the most methodical speculators—a real advantage in an area where adrenaline kicks in frequently.

Speculation differs from investment. Investors buy stocks looking for high-quality companies with long-term potential, while speculators only look for opportunities where significant price movements are likely (Investopedia).

As Keynes said:

“Speculation is knowing how the market will move before it does.”

Read the whole article: How to Speculate like a Successful Trader

(Estimated reading time: 6:26 mins)

Estonian Mafia: A Technology Powerhouse that Influences the World

Business Miscellaneous

Estonia?

Two years ago, I knew nothing about this small European country. Then, I started working with the Estonian Mafia. It changed how I think about innovation.

A No-limit Country

We are our own limits. Marcus Aurelius said it very well:

“The mind knows no obstructions, except those from within.”

Estonians decided that limits weren’t a good idea. So they used digital technology to get rid some limits:

  • Kazaa popularised peer-to-peer download;
  • Skype made flying for a meeting out of fashion;
  • Playtech changed what going to casino means;
  • TransferWise transformed how transferring money abroad is being done.

Read the whole article: Estonian Mafia: A Technology Powerhouse that Influences the World

(Estimated reading time: 2:21 mins)

This Is How You Plan & Run a Great Workshop

Lead a High-Performance Team

Running a workshop is an effective way to train a group or get them to do collaborative work.

But there’s still lots of misunderstanding around how to do this.

As part of running innovation projects at What If, we use workshops as a tool to harvest and leverage the creativity of our project teams.

Though I cannot recreate online the exciting experience of participating in one of these workshops, I wanted to share with you some of the most useful things you can implement in your workshops.

Read the whole article: This Is How You Plan & Run a Great Workshop

(Estimated reading time: 9:53 mins)

19 Things to Keep in Mind Before Speaking in Public

Lead a High-Performance Team

Knowing how to deliver a great speech is an essential skill for a leader.

Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, Barack Obama… They are great speakers. We all remember them for how they spoke in public.

But we don’t deliver speeches to such large audiences every day. Right?

We’re more likely to talk to the team we lead, to present something to stakeholders, or to speak at an event.

So it’s good to use these public figures to inspire us. But we also need practical tools to improve how we convey a message or tell a story.

Read the whole article: 19 Things to Keep in Mind Before Speaking in Public

(Estimated reading time: 1:18 mins)

Run Better Customer Interviews: Never Ask These 3 Questions

Create a New Value Proposition

“What do our customers really want?” That’s what you want to find out.

But are you asking the right questions?

Some questions should never be asked. Never.

1. Do you think this is a good idea?

2. Would you buy this?

3. How much would you pay for this?

Why Are These Questions Bad Market Research?

There are many reasons asking these three questions won’t help you.

  1. Your customers can’t predict in the abstract if they will buy a new product, in the future

Read the whole article: Run Better Customer Interviews: Never Ask These 3 Questions

(Estimated reading time: 1:07 mins)